An awkward silence

One of our manager's had decided that it was time to move on.It was his last day.A small group of 15 people had gathered in his cabin to wish him success in his future endeavors.He had been working in our company for the last 10 years and was respected by one and all. Employee 1 : So what is the secret of your success ? Manager with a smile : People like you . Employee 2 : Yep . We work , you grow . 28 seconds of awkward silence followed by laughter. Lol :)

It's surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at the time. ~Barbara Kingsolver

Last Sunday I celebrated my 28th birthday.*Sigh. I’m getting old but not mature enough. At least I did not act like I did last year. About gifts and presents : A Musical Greeting Card :When I was in school, one of my classmates showed me a cool Christmas card which when opened would sing “We wish you a merry Christmas “. That was when I had this intense desire to own one. It took a whooping 15 years to fulfill that wish .Of course mine sings Happy Birthday. A wind chime : I always wanted one for my bedroom. I hate the sound of silence either be it my workplace or my room. The tinkle of bells is said to soothe your mind and ward of evil spirits.hah! Money : I was telling my sister how we would look forward to that Rs10 or Rs 20 we got as our birthday presents from our relatives. We would spend it giving “treats” to our classmates. Treats included eating 3 by 6 masala puri and Cadbury éclairs. This was a long time ago when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime minister and “Star “was just a celestial object to be viewed when the sun went down. T-shirts : 4 color color ones :) Books : Thanks to my friends for “Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories “ by Agatha Christie. I wanted to treat myself and so I bought “ The Eye of the World “ ~ Robert Jordan. Flashback: Let us take a walk through memory lane and see how I celebrated my birthday hmm lets say it’s my 13th birthday. The day before my birthday , I would be busy shopping with my parents buying a box full of Cadbury éclairs .On your birthday you could wear “color” clothes to school (hah! color clothes ).Yippee no uniform. On D day I would be all excited , beaming in new clothes .In school , my classmates would sing “ Happy Birthday “ and I would be smiling and giving them chocolates, hoping that Julie would take 2 ( uhahahaaa).Giving extra chocolates to my best friends. A few to my brother and sister’s friends. I think I remember the nuns at my school giving me stickers of Lord Jesus (Vc scratches his head) . Back home mom would have prepared hot gulab jamoons and pulav .In the evening, I would be distributing jamoons to my neighbors .My grandparents and relatives would give me money, Rs 2 and Rs 5, which I blew on more chocolates and “treating” my friends to pani puri and masala puri. More later….. Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things. ~Pierce Harris, Atlanta Journal

Its like that

Its raining. Its Bangalore Bandh. Its time to go home and explore the lands of fantasy and Trollocs and wolves bowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. The shadow and the light.

Hey this was taken on Lalbagh Road ..check out the 3 boys.. :) thanks for the pic Anand.Oh that's how huge the Ganesh idols are in Bangalore.. hmm not as huge as the Mumbai ones...

An ethnic Albanian refugee from Selce, Macedonia, and her child look through the window of a bus as they arrive in Prizren in Kosovo on March 27, after fleeing the fighting in Macedonia two days earlier.

Currently devouring

It is a time for prophecies to be fulfilled. The Wheel of Time is weaving a Web in the Pattern of Ages, a Web to entangle the World. It is a time when Time itself may die, when the Eye of the World may be blinded. What was, and what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Hmm...

How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?

~ Dr. Seuss

Wonder what they are reading !! hmm...Maybe deciding on which film to watch this weekend :) uahhahaaaa...

There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won’t.

I was referring to the serial " Kyunki .... " . As you guys know ( of course you don't) Tulsi aunty the main character of Kyunki the soap serial .. was diagnosed with ...( Vc holds his breath )..... Lung Cancer ( wait let me make it more dramatic and give you the term the Doctor used .. ) oat cell cancer or was it small cell undifferentiated carcinoma naah it was Pleural mesothelioma (yeah that's better ). So the other day ( which means 4 weeks ago) I was eating dinner, in front of the tube, like always and was shattered to hear that Tulsi aunty was dying! . My mom seemed cool with it...she said " This serial has been running for 5 continuous years , let her die.. we need new faces *sigh " .Yeah the sigh said it all . From that day on I was curious as to know how the serial would continue without one of the main characters. It’s like Ramayana without Sita , The Lord of the Rings without the Ring . Harry without his Broom .... eh .. hmm I think you get the idea. In the next 15 episodes, every character of the serial comes to know that Tulsi has very little "air time" .They take turns visiting her and don't even bother to bring her apples. How slowly and accidently the news spreads to each member , could quiet easily have been made into another serial. But killing Tulsi was not enough, she gave bold statements to the media “ Yes I am dying”, the viewers could feel the kashish.. the dard, the pain , the anguish. ( I wonder how much she was paid to say those 4 words ) . To top that these guys ran a poll. Do you think Tulsi should die ? Sms your answer to this number NOW . ( Wait a minute .. what was my mom doing with my mobile ?) Then one fine chilly Thursday night ... the results were announced and we were informed that Tulsi would not be dying.. at least not in this century.The question that was nagging me was “how was she saved “, I believe she was in the 3rd stage of Pleural mesothelioma, the incurable stage. No she did not fly to US of A for a complicated Operation nor did Lord Krishna intervene ( I believe quite a lot of people and many Mahila Mandali's performed yagnas( pooja's) to save her ). My mom then explained that the director simply changed the script and the viewers .. sorry the faithful viewers were informed that " the medical reports were switched " . You could imagine my reaction !!! .. 5 weeks ... 5 weeks of waiting and this is all they could come up with ..... " the medical reports were switched ".What the #!$@#$ were the doctors doing , munching peanuts ? what about the symptoms ? what about the other tests that were supposed to be done when she was admitted to the 7 star hospital ? What about the..... Vc coughs.. clears his throat .. Sorry got carried away.

O, wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

"Eulogy in stone to a musical genius, Neuchwanstein Castle beckons from its Alpine setting far behind a country church near F�ssen. Bavaria's King Ludwig II was so taken with Richard Wagner's operas that he built this castle expressly to capture the spirit of their soaring romantic strains." �From "West Germany: Continuing Miracle," August 1977, National Geographic magazine

Best Photo�Mountain Adventure: "Mitch Toelderer on Cliff Drop, Arlberg Area, Austria" by Peter Mathis of Hohenems, Austria .Courtsey: National Geo

Something that will make you go hmm.....

http://prashanthpoetry.blogspot.com/2005/02/promises.html What can i say .. Sp rocks...

Trick questions

Dee :Who do you think is pretty ? My sil or me? Vc: ( Oh God another trick question ) hmm.. your SIL is an hmm hmm figure and you are round . Dee: eh ? Anyway she's getting married tomorrow. Vc: Tomorrow ? Che Che.. how come you never invited me ? Dee : ( whispers ) We are not going . (sniff) Vc: What! Can't hear you ( A remix song is playing in the background ) Dee: Marathon .She's doing a marathon . Vc: A what ? Dee : What do people do in a marathon ? Vc : Are you talking about the event where people run till they are exhausted ? Dee : Yes yes.. so what do they do ? Vc: run ? Dee : Yes Yes.. Vc: So your SIL is running around . ( I think hmm maybe its shopping )So who is she marrying ? Dee: A cousin . Vc: Aaah hmm hmm.... So you are in charge of all the preparations and stuff? Dee: WHAT !! NO!!! we are not going as she is running away . Vc: eh !! ( Silence) OH MY GOD!! .. she's running away to get married ? Dee : Yes.( sigh)Vee I think you have lost it.. You were so smart.. Now you are so.... Vc: Hey blame it on the music and its 8pm I am tired ... Dee: Excuses Excuses .

Ctrl C- Ctrl V

Bathroom Break On the first day of school, about mid-morning, the kindergarten teacher said, "If anyone has to go to the bathroom, hold up two fingers."A little voice from the back of the room asked, "How will that help?" =============================================== The Prof in our Inorganic Chemistry lectures needed sunlight to catalyse a chemical reaction in an experiment .However on 2 successive days the weather was too cloudy.When on the third day , sunlight streamed in , the professor said ,"At last we have a little sun".Immediately a voice from the audience called " Three cheers for the professor's wife! ". =============================================== Sarcasm as a writing tool was the topic for the day.Our Prof began by asking the class for an example. We were stunned a few seconds later when a voice blurted out " Oh! Professor Richardson, I just Love your class." =============================================== Must Read : Found this blog so hilarious that I browsed through the entire archives. http://alpha-2.blogspot.com/

Did I post this before ? Psst more pics on the other blog... and thanks Anand.. Haiiiiiiiiii earrings

Change is good.

How do you feel after a tough day at appice? (Office) You are tired, your senses are down and eyelids are drooping, right? Last night, I was having a simple chat with my ex Manager. This was in the cab and we were discussing cricket, Tamil movies, (though I hardly know how to speak the language, I surprised him with my knowledge of movies) politics, Abhishek and hordes of other stuff. Suddenly out of the blue he says: Ex: You have a blog, right? Me: Me: Me: Me: (Silence) I was too stunned to speak. How the. ... Who the...? A colleague who was sitting next to me thought that I had fallen asleep and so gave me a nudge. Little did he know that I was staring at my ex-manager, with my mouth wide open. Me: Err... How do you know? Ex: (With a smile) Try guessing. Me: (I hate guessing, but fortunately I am good at it. I start racking my brains, its very small and compact, I meant my brain and so I found the answer.) Renith. Ex: Yes. (Renith was the first person to comment on my blog and maintains a Photography site. (Check it out http://photomaze.com). An ex-colleague , a superb photographer, who has won lots of awards , was on radio and thinks he’s Bangalore’s Papparazzi.He promised to take me along on his next model shoot , of course as a light boy. I think the " blog topic" came up a year ago and Renith had nonchalantly mentioned that I had a blog. ) A few other people, who were eavesdropping, turned to me and asked me: They : What's a log? Me: A log is a big piece of wood. Did you know as we speak some guy in Brazil is cutting a tree to make toothpicks? (Vc shakes his head; damn I should have been an actor). They :( Confused) No not log, Blog... yeah what's a blog? Me: A blog. Oh a blog. .... Wow check that superbike ( of course it had a hmmmmm hmm chick). I'm sure its a Ducati never seen one in this area. (Everyone turns around to take a look at the Ducati). The conversation soon turns towards Moto GP, Valentino Rossi ,Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi . I give a sly smile; maybe I should write a book titled " How to change topics in 2 minutes “.

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Wow check out the color dude!!.. isn't that Flamingo pink?

So true..

"If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now, quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers..." - Homer Simpson

13 Q's to test you ...

1. What 'L' is the name given to the poet who wins the Nobel prize? ........ 2. Cantaloupe, Galia and Honeydew are types of which fruit? ............... 3. In the kitchen which container is hermetically sealed and is also known by the metal from which it is made....... 4. What name for an old British coin goes before 'fowl and 'pig' to give two names of creatures? 5. What word means the order of lessons in schools and the running of trains and buses? ........................ 6. What word can mean touch-down of an aeroplane or the level floor between two staircases? 7. In the human body what is the name of the main olfactory organ? ................ 8. What is the name of the underground part of a plant that is also the name for ancestry and heritage? 9. What is the three-letter name of the area which is the background for the sun, moon and stars? 10. Prisoner Robert Stroud was known as the what of Alcatraz? 11. In the nursery rhyme 'Ding Dong Dell', the pussycat was pulled out of the well by 'Tommy..' who? 12. A mustang is a wild breed of which animal? 13.What 'Z' is used to describe a human who has returned from the dead? Answers soon... Oh warning please do not listen to Trance for more than 2 hours. I think I am going to puke..

Psst what's a passion fruit ?

Story Time

55 words : Someone started writing small stories that were exactly 55 words in length. Here's my contribution. The Miracle “I told you a million times it can’t be done,” said an annoyed Mary.” I know I can do it. I just have that feeling, please” pleaded Jesus. The 5-year-old lad fell on his knees and concentrated. Slowly the contents of the wooden bowl changed to Chateau Haut-Brion, the best wine in all of Bethlehem. The Myth Vyasa was reluctant to look at the long nose and huge ears, but there was something in his eyes that made him stand out in the crowd. Ganesh felt the stare and looked up from his favorite TVS GOLD keyboard. Thus began the making of the greatest epic, in a small DTP centre in North Bangalore.

Reminds me of Mangalore.. deep Sigh*

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. ~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

Dude Sajjan download this Mast song : Meri Mehbooba hai thu.. http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0143GK6KRGQ3E32DNN5I7NPFP1 For Romantic enthusiasts only ... Kumar Sanu at his best.. I bet no one knows what the name of the film is. Do Indian Schools have detention? When I was in my fifth standard, we were supposed to "by-heart"/"mug" one particular poem written by H.W.Longfellow, I'm not sure maybe it was from" Voices of the Night". It was a long time ago and I think I was busying playing cricket and hmm... somehow forgot to study the poem. As the roll numbers were in alphabetical order, I was always last. Number 65 that was my roll number. I was confident that by the time the other students took turns reciting the poem, the class would be over. It was just a 40 min period. And as expected, when my English teacher stopped the class it was roll number 42’s turn. I remember giving a mischievous grin. Post lunch session we were getting ready for the boring " Moral Science" class and Holy Smoke!! Our English teacher walks in. “NO NO its not your class” we screamed. It so happened that the Sister(Nun) who was supposed to teach Moral Science was on leave and so our English madam was acting as a substitute. As a result we had another English class. I was angry and nervous. I still had some time left. So I started cramming my head with the lines of the poem. By the time roll number 58 was called, I had finished studying 2 full lines. When my number was called I panicked and forgot even those 2 lines. Our Class teacher raised her eyebrows and said " All those students who have not been able to recite the poem will stay back and write the poem 10 times". Naaaaaaaaaahi. So it happened that after school, I was outside the classroom, on my knees, scribbling furiously. I was accompanied by a couple of other guys but I was the only one fuming. These guys were busy making rockets, chatting and having fun. And then the unthinkable happened. My sister and her friends walk by. I try to hide myself, hoping that the earth would crack open and swallow me. She goes past me . I thank my lucky stars but then one of her friends turns back and sees me. Grr ,ofcourse she told my sister. My sis comes back, gives me a smile, the trick is not to look into the eyes, and asks me why I was on my knees. I think of making an excuse but couldn't think of any. I was never spontaneous. I told her that as I was given imposition ,I would be coming home a bit late. (I was still writing the #$%#$^ poem for the 3rd time). Yep went home late and got some nice pattars from Mom and Dad. I remember another incident. It was the same year, a few months after the punishment; I had then climbed the ladder and had become the Teacher's pet student. It was our monthly tests and I had prepared well for the Science test and was feeling confident of scoring good marks. The day before the test, my sister asked me questions and I had answered them satisfactorily. The next day ,I walked into the classroom to find my friends studying "Sets and Fractions”. I am puzzled. Why were they studying Maths ? Then someone switched on the Wipro ‘0’ watt bulb . It was Maths test and not Science test. I must have swapped dates when I copied the time-table . I grab the nearest maths textbook. Suddenly Julie walks up to me and says, " Your sister is here". "My sis? ". And sure enough, she was standing by the door, giving me that stare which could turn Carbon to diamond in 3 secs . She enquires " Hmm so which test is it today?" I whisper " Maths" and before she could shout at me, the school bell rings informing us to assemble for the morning prayers. I bunk the morning prayers and the national anthem which gave me approximately 20 minutes to study 3 chapters in Arithmetic, 2 in Algebra and 1 chapter in Geometry.All my friends knew that I had studied Science instead of Maths and came over to console me. ( In those days I was very good in mathematics , it seems I helped my classmates ( especially girls) with their homework. I actually don’t remember that phase very well.hmm.. Then how do I know ? Well it so happened that when I was in my 1st year of Engg , I volunteered to donate blood .You know those organizations which go to colleges asking students to donate blood. My classmates and me decided to visit this camp, the reason being we could bunk a couple of classes. It was there that I met one of my old schoolmates.Shaheen , weird name right !! She used to sit next to me and I distinctly remember copying Hindi from her. We talked a bit and then she poked a needle into me, she was a volunteer too but not giving blood but collecting it. She was studying to be a Dentist. Later when I was drinking Badam milk and munching on an apple ( read checking out chicks) she came over and said She :“ Hey you know I used to copy maths from you ? “ . Me : “Really ?” * I was blushing .. come-on all my new Engg classmates where standing next to me. ) The Test began and our maths teacher started distributing the question papers and as I was her pet student she smiled at me. I was distraught, what would she say when I failed the test ? I don't know how, I think someone must have told her, but she knew that I had screwed up the timetable. She said," So you studied Science instead of Maths? It's alright I know you'll do well ". I smiled and sat down to tackle the problems. The worst part was that she stood right next to me for the whole duration of the test, trying to see what I was writing. I think she was trying to sort of help me. I scored 67. That evening got some nice pattars at home,Courtsey: Sis. The next day, when my class teacher was distributing the Science question papers she looked at me and said aloud:" Now that you have studied Science twice, I expect you to score 90”. I was ready for the challenge and yep-scored 91. Post Script : The teacher was Mrs. Phyllis. She used to teach both English and Mathematics. One of the best teachers in our school , she retired last year.This post is dedicated to the teacher who inspired me to do well in Mathematics. A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others. ~Author Unknown

This is Cho Chang , Harry Potter's GF. Check the Owl out..Vc whistles...

The curse ..

A 10 year old girl cursed me... it went something like this.. " I curse that you fall off your bike and you fracture your hand". Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahi .......... The circumstances on how and why I was cursed will quiet easily fit 3 pages(A4 size) ..will explain in a new post.. Me too sleepy today .. Vc yawns ... We had been to a movie on Sat..( less said the better) .. lalallalaa .... ( we are still searching for one Mr Sajjan ). Anand managed to click some pics will upload them soon. .zzzzz ...... Merry Christmas !!

A typical Indian Bharathanatayam Dancer.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. ~Douglas Adams

What else can I wish for ?

*I got a nice “thank-you” comment from my sis and to top it, she was funny…. that’s kind of spooky. *Dee called to say that my gift was better than the “diamond necklace” her Mother-in-law presented. Of course she was lying. *Kk wrote a post thanking me.Wow. Not sure if I deserve it though. *Our book has been highly recommended by a couple of Engineering colleges. Yahoooo. *I finished all the Harry-Potter series in a week.Enchanting, mesmerizing...

Nowadays most men lead lives of noisy desperation. ~James Thurber

You guys must have heard me mention Sajjan and his weird sense of humor. When I started blogging a year ago, I used to ask him , no in fact I used to blackmail him, to read my posts and to drop comments. Here’s an example. Right now he's in Hyderabad and hopefully will be coming down this weekend (Hey get some Hyderabadi biryani) Hehe ...He's a veggie. Where was I? aaah... so he sends me a mail asking me to check out a blog. Yep some chicks blog. I was surprised . I mean Saj and blog hopping ? Is this the same guy who read 4 pages of the Da Vinci Code and quickly came to the conclusion that waiting for a few more months and watching the movie was better than reading the rest of the book. So I fired a mail asking for an explanation. His reply (edited): "It so happened that I was strolling down the office cubes and saw a colleague reading a blog.So I asked him if it was his? He said he had no time to write and maintain a blog but he frequently visited the above-mentioned one and follows it everyday. I then showed your blog and told him that "I often visit this one". Suddenly the room was filled with an eerie silence." Now I appeal to the 4 people who visit my blog. Pray 'O' great ones what the hell did Sajjan mean when he said "Suddenly the room was filled with an eerie silence."