The great retreat

My Uncle recently got a plot in Karjat...that seems to be in vogue right now - buying plots and then building a weekend home there. It sure sounds fun the way my Uncle talks about it.

My uncle's plot is nestled among several others, which are surrounded by beautiful green woods. A little stream goes running by this land, meandering its way through large, intimidating rocks. One can usually find my Uncle, Aunt, their two kids and two other kids (labradors) sitting on the rocks and splashing around in the water.


My Uncle's got big plans for the plot. He and his elder brother (Big Uncle) plan to erect a wind vane (the prototype's already whirring away on their land), windmill (will be ready soon), a tree house (how Enid Blytonish!!!) and shed. They plan to live in a container rather than build a house...reminds you of Enid Blyton's Famous Five, Five Find-Outers or Secret Seven stories, right? Well, considering he's been brought up on those books, I guess he's just fulfilling his childhood dreams. And how cool they are! I wonder how many years would pass by before I could fulfil my dreams...


The kids love it and the dogs simply go wild at Karjat. You get your space there and not to mention quiet. The human mind is such that it needs open spaces to run free...only then one can be at peace. Its seems like an ideal retreat for our minds cramped in flats and offices.


I haven't been there yet...excuse: office. Will go there next weekend if my Uncle's free.

Someone's bursting crackers - ouch! That one startled me! I HATE fireworks, especially the noisy ones. Gosh, now they're bursting two-three together...sounds like atom bombs, the bloody fools. I thought such high-decibel ones have been banned...crap, there they go again. I'm getting a headache now :x

Anyway, I shall now attempt to sleep amid all the 'celebrations'. I thought Diwali meant festival of light, where the heck did all the sound come in from?

Lovely weekend!

Its seems years since I've had such a great weekend...the last time I remember having fun was when I....I...see, I just can't remember!

Ever since I joined work I've been so involved that I just couldn't keep off it...even at home I used to think about office and talk about it. How irritating I must have been! But not anymore...I've decided to turn over a new leaf. Now I plan to bar everthing related to my office from my doors...I won't even think about people, nice though they may be.

Anyway, I digress...as always. My I had a nice Saturday. First of all, my parents bought a Maruti Ritz - a cute n unique car. And my Uncle wanted to gift her a music system so we all drove down to his place (the driver was a pain though, he came late n kept chewing on paan like a cow). Another reason to celebrate was my young cousin Sudip's birthday. A few of his friends came, made lots of noise, played Dragonball Z (awful graphics and highly colourful) ate pasta and went. After the kids left my Uncle's family n my Mum, Amey and I went out to eat...and drink of course :D

We returned home well past midnight. Dad wasn't so pleased, but it was the car's first night out na! :)

Woke up late on Sunday and lazed around, which is one of my favourite things to do. Surprise, surprise, the love of my life cooked butter chicken for me...I think he's a better cook than I am and he should take up the kitchen work in our later years :D

Now I'm listening to some lovely music and just about to sleep...love me tender love me sweet...a perfect end to a perfect day! :)

'Night all!

A working holiday

Gandhiji was such a hard worker that I'm sure he would apprectiate the way I plan to spend my day. We're bringing out a special issue this month, so I have to work today as well...no holiday for me. Sigh, in one fit of madness I name my blog 'Life is beautiful' and now this happens :)

Anyway, I actually have lots of topics to dicuss but no time right now. I always seem to be making excuses, don't I? But there's nothing I can do about it. I guess I'll post something later on today. Right now I need to edit some articles...ciao!

Completely knackered

Thanks to Omi, Paresh, Sanket, Sudha and the Little Voice Inside me (no I'm not mad, referring to my conscience) - I'm back! And guess what, I'm here to stay! Now, now, don't be so skeptical and critical...I know I've said this before and never stuck to my word, but this time I will...really. Just wait n watch.

Anyway, like my post declares, I'm truly well knackered right now, so I'll beging posting from tomorrow onwards. Arre, really!!!

Feels nice to be back...for like, the tenth time! :)

I’m Back!!!

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m that happy to be back in the good ole blogosphere!

Ok, Omi, you were right. I was ill again…don’t worry, nothing serious. And before you ask me again, let me tell you I left the scripting job. The workload at office got too much…and my health wouldn’t allow me to do two jobs.

Anyways, now that’s over. So chapter closed.

Right now I’m on cloud nine coz I have the time to do a lot of stuff – blogging, sketching, painting and most importantly reading. I’m planning to buy a whole lot of books soon.

My Mom and Dad are so sweet. They gifted me 5 books, but only 2 appeal to me. Two books are by Sudha Murty – her language is too lame. I got bored with the simplicity of it all. Another book is ‘The Sea of Poppies’ by Amitav Ghosh. I started reading it, like it but soon switched over to Coelho’s ‘Brida’. Man, what a book! Awesome! It had me completely gripped. Dad also got me a Robin Sharma, which looks promising. Now I'm doing my best to finish Murty or my Dad will feel hurt that I didn’t like his choice. Sheesh, after this mental torture I’m going to Strand bookstall and getting myself some nice and classy literature.

WARNING: Buying Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Three Mistakes’ is the Fourth Mistake you’ll make! I haven’t dared to read it coz I heed good advice.

Every step that I take is another mistake to you…

This is how I started feeling. Everything was going wrong….terribly wrong. I felt I would never be able to get anything right. I was getting fed up with life….with people and with myself.

There were people who were judging me, criticizing me and assuming a whole lot of trash about me. People who spoke out of turn and never bothered to apologize…and who managed to blame me for things I could never dream of, let alone do.

I’m will to change myself for others, but what do I do when I don’t know what they expect from me? I like things to be very clear and straightforward – and I don’t mind people telling me anything, but they don’t. That keeps the situation shrouded in mystery and I’m left feeling guilty and with the hopeless question – ‘what do I do next?’

Then there were those who felt they were being cruel to be kind. I felt like the poor priest Peter Gilligan who said - “I have no rest nor joy nor peace.”

I knew I was cracking under the strain of controlling my anger and I was afraid. Afraid of my own brutal strength and force and afraid of what anger is capable of doing to a person.

Besides this there was lots of crazy stuff happening in my life. I couldn’t do anything about this problem and that freaked me out. It took every ounce of my self-control and will power to stop myself from going crazy. I wanted to scream, cry…do anything at all. But my throat was too parched and I found all my tears had dried up even before they could reach the eyes.

I was inconsolable. I was guilty of so many things and deeds that I soon lost count. My friends say it wasn’t my fault, but the doubt persists in my head like a slow poison – what if…

I hope this phase doesn’t come again in my life…I know it may and I’ll have bear it like I just did - my own little secret suffering.

Memories

(2^nd August post – sorry about the delay)

I just spoke to my best friend Sudha about our college days. She's in Banglore right now working for The Express Group.

These are some of our fond memories:

Once one Professor (she hated me) threw me outta the class for no fault of mine. Incensed, I stormed off to the Library and wrote down all my feelings, which were basically made up of unprintable adjectives.

One of my friends' Mayur, snatched that note from me and started blackmailing…at first I used to plead with him to return it, but then the matter gradually faded from my mind.

Today on Friendship’s Day, that rascal called me and read out the entire note! Gosh, it’s been like 5 years since that incident!!!!

Then there was a time when I bunked my Economics lecture. Unfortunately, the Prof knew me very well. She entered our next lecture in the IT Lab to find out who all has bunked her class. And what do you think I did? The minute I saw her I hid under a table! I’ve even hidden behind doors and cars and God knows where else to escape Profs! But what fun we had!

It was nice to talk about all those memories and that too with my best buddy. We all miss you Sudha! Well, except me :)

Work = Fun!

Today is my tenth day at office! Though it’s a different matter that I’m not at work today… :)

Anyways, I’m still having fun at work. Some things piss me off a lot, but I’ve learnt to keep my anger in check. I’ve bottled it up and yeah, I know that’s bad. But I’m confident of controlling myself…hmm, somewhat.

Rakesh, Kavita and Sundeep had not come to work on Friday, so the room was kinda empty. But hey, a new guy joined us!

Richy is a tall, dark and handsome guy from Banglore. He looks very promising, let’s see. Dirty minds, stop thinking, I’m already engaged! :D

Manas used to sit with the team, but now he’s shifted to a cabin of his own. He was toh maha happy and so were we! :)

The senior sub-editor, Serious Sarita and I share a common friend, Aruna. We talked about her and then used the cliché “it’s a small world!”

Whenever I joke wid Sarita, I have to clarify that it’s a joke lest she get pissed.

Paresh and I have a common Prof. He’s the most loved Prof. we ever had. Oi BMM students, remember how we used to mimic him??? Hee, hee!

Great News!

Amey’s in town and we went out for lunch! (Yipeeeeeeee!!!) It was great fun. He even met some of my colleagues – Mohan, Sanjay, Uttam, Sachin, Hemant and all.

The second day he met Anjali and Nishan (NC). NC was puffing away like a steam engine – smoking is injurious to health NC :)

Right now there’s a little green worm sitting next to me on the sofa! Cho chweet! Ouch, my Mom just came and threw it out. :(

She’s got me some coffee coz I have bad headache. She’s as chweet as the worm!

I’ve been puking a lot these days besides my constant headaches and nightmares. Eeks! And I have no idea why! My Aunt has told me to drink buttermilk (double eeks!) and eat an apple first thing in the morning.

Hmm, I may have to go to the Doc soon :(

Yet Beautiful and Proud she stood, as Born to Rule the Storm

The line is from the poem Casabianca. We learnt this in school and I still remember most of the lines. I just substituted the original “He” for “she”.

The headline of this post refers to an old lady I met at Dadar station. (14^th May, 2008 at 7.30 PM).

She was old, really old. She walked with a stoop, but her head was held as high as possible. Supporting her was a small and cute boy (probably her grandson). He was only about 6 years old, but he guided and supported her well.

She wanted to go to Kalyan in a fast train, so two girls told her to go by the 7.47 PM Dadar-Kalyan. The lady couldn’t understand how to reach the other platform, so I took her.

Hell, even I get lost at Dadar station, so how can I expect an old lady to reach there alone? And would she get there in time? Anyways, I offered to carry her bags, but she looked at me and shook her head.

What eyes she had! My God, they were beautiful, green eyes. Eyes that had seen the happiness and grief of life. The wisdom reflected in those eyes was as deep as the sea. Even now those eyes haunt me.

She was really proud and independent, but I took a bag anyways.

When we got to the platform, the damn train was about to leave, so we got into a general compartment. She immediately sat near the door.

We ultimately went to the ladies compartment. This time the kid took one bag. When I asked him for it, he smiled at me and shook his head. Like Granny like Grandson! :D

It was great to meet her. I’ll always remember her and the little boy. They were vulnerable and defenceless, but that didn’t stop them from being independent and proud of their identity.

Sleepy chatter-box :)

Ok, I agree my previous two posts were weird. The thing is, I’m wrapped up in my own thoughts. I’ve started talking in my sleep and that’s making me nervous.

I always walk and talk in my sleep when I’m extremely stressed out.

What’s freaking me out is that I have no reason to feel stressed at all. Since I’m new, I’m given very little work, and even the freelancing thing is coming on very well.

I’m clueless and that irks me coz I’m usually very sure about my feelings. I analyse my behaviour on a day-to-day basis…and I hate not knowing something about myself…sheesh!

Happy Mothers Day???

This must be the first time I haven’t gifted my Mom anything. Giving her a gift is a pain, coz she rarely appreciates anything. I anyways take a shot at it every time, and try to gift her her heart’s desire.

It doesn’t matter what you do, it is never appreciated. But I still haven’t given up. I begin plans for the next birthday soon as one birthday has gone by.

She is the only person in my life I love unconditionally. I expect nothing, absolutely nothing. I don’t even expect a smile or a kind word from her.

It really hurts when someone you love so much doesn’t even bother to ask about you when you’re sick, but then life’s like that. It’s not possible to please everybody. And you definitely can’t expect love from somebody, especially when it is directed towards somebody else.

I’m used to stuff like that, thanks to my Mom.

Anyways, I was wondering about what to give her from my first salary…saaris, diamonds, gold, white gold, copper, silver, make-up sets, salwaar kurtas, pearls, books and stuff like that is done. The choice seems to be limited when it comes to choosing a gift for her…

At the same time I’m also wondering about what I’ll say when she sees my gift and says, “Why did you buy such an expensive gift for me?”

Er…I love you Mom, that’s why? (hell, she hates any show of affection).

I usually say sarcastically, “I give you such stuff coz I like wasting money on people I dislike.” Lol, this one works best! :D

Then after exclaiming over the price of the damn gift, she usually says, “Anyway you dislike/hate me. You never do anything to help me. What’s the big deal if you buy such gifts, you should help me more. I will die soon…”

And then guys, I’m well and truly stumped.

Clouds in the sky have started reflecting my Life

The sky was cloudy when I was returning home this evening. I ALWAYS sit at the window seat in the bus, and today was not an exception.

I saw all kinds of shapes – elephants, turtles, dinosaurs, eagles and one creature with three claws (dangerous)! Amongst all of them, I saw the shape of a tiny little fish.

The little fish was unnoticed among all the bigger shapes, but it was so small and vulnerable looking that I was instantly attracted.

The poor fish was ignored by all the other creatures. They all forgot that even the fish has feelings, emotions and is not merely around to bait or laugh at. The bait was to ask the fish to bite the food with the hook and sometimes to bite food that wasn’t food at all. Sometimes, the other creatures encouraged it to eat stale leftovers that weren’t of any use to them.

The little fish who was always jeered at, did all this and much more, but yet all its efforts were ignored.

However, they should remember that even fish have teeth and these teeth in fact sharpen themselves on the powerful steel hooks that hurt the fish’s mouth.

I’m sure, that one day, no matter how much blood, sweat and toil it takes, the little fish I’m sure will be given due respect. But by that time, it’ll be too late coz the swift and nimble fish will be caught by the bait and will be long dead.

It sounds like a Japanese fairy tale, but it's not.

Moral – Those who understood the story are abnormal and those who haven’t, are just plain dumb. :D

My Job Rocks!!!

My job, my office the people working there, the facilities, the pagaar…EVERYTHING rocks!!!

I liked all the people there who are now my colleagues (ah, what joy to finally use that word!). Let’s see…there’s Sarita, Kavita (nope, they’re not sisters), Paresh, Sundeep, Nishan, Mohan and Rakesh the Reserved. :)

They’re all nice and helpful…well, so far.

The Big Boss’s name is Manas…he’s also nice. He loves punctuality, following code of ethics and planning well in advance for every little thing. In short, he’s everything I’m not, but would like to be. :)

On the second day, another fresher n I were ragged. We were asked to introduce ourselves and sing a song.

I aksed for the option of whistling to Anjali’s (the fresher) song, but that registered as an invalid request. So I sang.

Trust me to choose a song I sing like I’m dying slowly or something – Din Dhal Jaye. I just sang (can this word be used for what I did?) two lines n then stopped. Everyone actually clapped. Maybe the price of tomatoes has risen again…

Anjali sang Hum Bewafaa (very sweetly I must say, although anyone singing after me would sound like Lata Mangeshkar)…she sang….and sang….and sang……………………till she was asked to stop! :D

Anyways, I want this happy work life of mine to continue…at least or 1 more week; I know sadness or troubles will follow soon, but find someone who cares for a change!

P.S -- I submitted my first script for a comic book, and they praised it!!! Yippee!!!

I got a job, I got a job, I got a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s true! I finally bagged a job! And they’re not only paying me more than my expectations but are also have a good reputation. Plus, I’m insured and all that!!!

My first full-time job!!! Yippeee! Work begins from tomorrow – 7^th May, 2008, a solemn day indeed.

Besides that, I have a friend called Manisha who’s giving me some freelancing work every now and then. Well, her now and then is like anytime she wants and that too giving me just a couple of hours to finish the work! Lol, just kiddin, keep your hair on, M!

I’ve got another job – freelance scriptwriting! It’s really cool. I gotta write educational scripts kids’ movies. Text book chapters are converted into films and comic books. Right now I’ve been given a chapter “Heat”. The plot has to be submitted tomorrow and I don’t know what I’m going to submit!!! Hell, this is the first time I’m trying my hand and not to mention brain at writing comics…m gonna be screwed! And that too royally!

My work timings are 9AM to 5.30 AM. I’ll reach home by 7.30PM. Then I have to submit two comics per week and that load will increase later on…sheesh! (But think abt the money :D)

My full-time job Boss and Manisha both have seen my blog. In fact that’s how I landed up freelancing for her. So blogs do have monetary value… :)

Anyways, I’ve got my plate full and even my head full of swirling ideas, and no idea how to manage it all. Life is beautiful! :D

P.S – Preets, I hope this post has answered your question! I’ll definitely keep in touch!

More people with Jobs!

Kalpi bagged a job with a PR firm as did Pri. Both have got good jobs so congrats to you both!

Some are searchin for jobs in Production Houses n I wish them all the best.

Deeps is planning further studies -- MA in English and then she wants to do her Ph.D.

The last I heard from Komal was that she's gonna do an MBA.

Natty is planning further studies.

Rupz wants to get into the theatre biz, but that needs investment. So she's searchin for a job now...

Samachar samaapt.

IIM n MICA

During the IV, I thought a lot about my blog. I'll write this, I'll write that and I'll describe the entire trip and all.

But now that I have my lappie in my hand, I'm thinkin, who the hell will take that much trouble?

I'll mention only some stuff and that too in my usual random fashion.

The first thing I'd like to say was I got bored in Ahemdabad and that's because I don't plan to do an MBA or ever go to MICA. Both the libraries were great, campuses were excellent and both have awesome facilities. Yawn...who doesn't know that?

By the way, MICA belongs to Ambani (I forget which one) and he allows them to run it the way they want. I found that fact pretty cool.

The canteen at MICA is awesome. What food!!!

Whatever pics I have I'll be uploading soon, but can't praise these institutions anymore...

My friend Amey was green with envy when he heard I got to visit IIM, Ahemdabad. It's supposed to be the best one in India. And I was ready to trade places with him any day!

But I liked the campus a lot. That too coz of the trees and the prevailing peace.

I always wanted to go to a Boarding School like that...but my parents found me too precious to part with! And now they're regretting this decision :)

To make up for the lack of Malory Towers n St. Clares in my life, I decided to do my Ph.D in English from IIT, Mumabi. It has a beautiful campus and it's a place I spent most of my childhood in. I really miss that, and if I got an opportunity, I would just dash off to IIT.

One minute I was studying…and 21 years later I’m a GRADUATE!!!

Hurray!!!! Yippee!!! I’m finally a graduate!!!

Ok, so what if I haven’t got my results? My Profs. say that it takes a lot of effort to fail this course (BMM)…and I’m too lazy and the word EFFORT doesn’t exists in my dictionary!

But this exam was different in every way for me. Usually I plan to study, make endless time-tables and promise myself that I’ll make my parents proud. But then, things fall apart.

I console myself thinking I’ll do well in the next exam. But this time was the last time. I had reached the final lap and I knew, I had to do well.

I ignored all health problems, stopped looking at the clock and just did it somehow. It felt great to study. I was happy and gave even the worst papers my best shot. Is this how geeks feel? Now I know it’s possible to love writing exams…wow, maybe I’ve finally grown-up. Or am I demented? Who cares…

Our exams got over on 12 April and I left for my Industrial Visit (popularly known as IV) on the 13^th!!!

This time we visited IIM and MICA in Ahemdabad and then Mount Abu. We all had a great time. Totally “raapchik” trip, as my friend Kiran would say!

I’ll elaborate on that later. I got back from the trip on the 19^th, rested and caught up with my family on the 20^th and then began my interview sessions.

I learnt a lot through interviews and I’ll have a separate post for that.

Good News –

My best buddy Sudha got a job as a reporter in a BIG media house! Alas and alack! She will be going to Bangalore for the job! Anyways, I wish her all the luck in the world, and hope she doesn’t forget me! Will miss you, Haathi!

Preeti, Nikita and Vikas have also got jobs as reporters in the same organization.

Two of my Ad friends, Dish n Sweetu have got jobs in reputed Ad Agencies.

If anyone from our class has got a job, then do comment and let me know. At least I can be in touch that way.

I’ll be updating like crazy soon, so be prepared for that.

P.S – Those who haven’t got a job shouldn’t get worried. There are lots of openings and one just has to keep a look out for them. Good Luck to all!!!

Early morn Lectures - yawn...zzzzz.

Gosh just got the news...we're having early morning lecs.


Wed -- 8 AM to 11.30 AM.

Fri -- 7.30 AM to 10.30 AM.

Sat -- 8 AM to 11 AM.

Note:
Be on time, our coordinator is anyways pissed off with us. These lectures are very important coz internal assessment will be done during these lectures. Only 3 lecs for the entire subject.

Do you believe in Ghosts???

I believe in spirits. I think they're all around us. Sometimes, you can sense them, feel them and if you're luck (or unlucky) you can hear them.

You may think I'm weird, but when I was a kid I used to say goodnight to my Grandfather...who died long before I was born. I've never met him, but I feel very close to him. I feel he's with me, a good spirit, my guardian angel. In fact, I'm a lot like him...

A lot has been written about atmosphere. Like sometimes you get the feeling of evil in certain places...or feel afraid for no rhyme or reason.

Sometimes you're sitting all alone in the night and then you get the feeling that there is somebody else in the house besides you family members...someone who is watching your every move...I get that feeling a lot, but I don't mind coz I feel the spirits are benevolent.

Ciao for now my Earthlings!

Busy Days

Sunday was a really hectic day for me.

Our group had to shoot that debate on SEZ I've been talking about and we had the worst luck ever.

• The camcorder got spoiled.
• Our Anchor of the show Sheetu couldn't come because of urgent work.
• Our cinematographer was free only for a few hours.
• And the location was available on that particular day.

The only good thing was that I had prepared a detailed script...anyways, our substitute anchor Disha, did a great last minute job like the other actors Sudha, Rupz and Vikas.

Rupz was the star of the thing coz she memorized her dialogues on the spot and acted well.

Amey helped us a lot, so a big thanks to him.

Shit, I sound like I'm giving a speech at the Filmfare Awards or somethin!

Anyways, tomorrow I have to submit 2 projects (will start on them tmrw only!) and then we have to dub for the debate video.

Cheerio!