Thank you friend!

So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your jobs a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A.

It's like you're always stuck in second gear
And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month,
or even your year
but..

I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

You're still in bed at ten
And work began at eight
You've burned your breakfast
So far... things are goin' great

Your mother warned you there'd be days like these
Oh but she didn't tell you when the world has brought
You down to your knees that...

I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

No one could ever know me
No one could ever see me
Seems you're the only one who knows
What it's like to be me
Someone to face the day with
Make it through all the rest with
Someone I'll always laugh with
Even at my worst I'm best with you, yeah

It's like you're always stuck in second gear
And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month,
or even your year...

I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

I'll be there for you
I'll be there for you
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...

What would life be without friends? Don't even want to imagine.... !!

Too bored to give a title!

I am amazed. Don’t have any other words. I am simply amazed. It’s the 5th day that I am workless and it is driving me nuts, completely nuts. There have been times when I have longed for 2mins of free time, and now I am longing for work (not too much of it mind you!). Here’s the thing – most of my friends who joined the company with me have had more or less a consistent work schedule (at least for a major part of the 17months that we’ve been working). And mine has been the most erratic so far. No kidding – look up my work hours for the past 1.5yrs and you’ll know it is crazier than the people who work shifts.

I started off with a pretty laid back schedule; a month of ok-kind-of-work. But a person like me, out of sincerity and a conscience bigger than most, I could have been granted employee of the month award. As a result, I left quite a few people impressed. :D ……. Ok ok, I wont brag much now 

Then I got this new project which was officially my first project as a professional. How 8 months just flew after that I have absolutely no clue. It has been my best project so far. Work was ok (read work-I-could-manage-to-do-satisfactorily), team was great, had loads of fun, still remember all the luncheons and the dinner parties… and my schedule? Well, lets just say most of my waking hours were spent in office . But I didn’t mind because office used to be fun. I made some great friends in that project. There were days when my team members used to know more about me than my family! That’s bound to happen when you spend 14-15hrs a day with your team……….. yep, one time I remember reaching home at 4am in the morning and reporting back at 10am the next day!

The next project was less hectic. Work that I could finish in the 9-6 slot, go home on time and get the required amount of sleep. The only not-so-good part of the day used to be the 2hrs of travelling everyday to and from office. But overall, ok types of project. It lasted only 3 months.

Then came the most grueling of them all. Client being one whose product you all use almost everyday and the logo you see everytime you switch on your computer ;) It was a 47 day project to be precise; 47 most hectic days of my career so far – most of them I spent sleepless or foodless, or sometimes both! Now who would have the energy to cook at 11-12 in the night? But all said and done, it was a great experience; hurdles galore, but nevertheless one hell of an experience!

And here I am now, an ideal time to relax and unwind… but the workaholic that I have become, I have no idea how to pass the time! As a result of which, you get to read my blogs :P

Incredible ads!

Bunch of cute little you-don’t-know-whats frolicking around and promoting Vodafone – Zoo Zoo’s as we affectionately call them. Nice ad, cute ad.. certainly a treat to the eyes during breaks..! I remember when these ads were on air and I used to visit my sister’s place, all I could catch on the television was cricket and zoo zoos! My bro-in-law would watch cricket and my niece wouldn’t let anyone touch the remote during the breaks lest she misses the cute little ..umm, I still don’t know what they are. :D

A lot of ads do seem to get their message across and persuade (cough cough..read fool) people to buy their products – some useful, some not-so-useful. I am sure half the girls in our country have tried Fair & Lovely and the likes at some point in their life to realize(or not) that creams don’t make you fair! One of my friends has been using it for the past god knows how many years and still using…….really amazed at her patience and stupidity!!!

Why am I suddenly writing about ads you ask? Well these days I am hooked onto this soap ad featuring Mrs. & Mr. Bachchan. Beautiful! Not the lady (yeah yeah, she is beautiful :P) but am talking about the ad here. It is a pretty regular ad but something in this ad (really can’t figure out what) reaches out to you. Is it the chemistry between the husband and wife, or the song or just her beauty – I have no clue. I may not watch television, but I come running into the room when I hear this one, just as my niece (and me :D) used to come running to catch a glimpse of zoo-zoos!

Advertising world, keep up the good work and keep drilling holes in my pocket! :P (who said I am not one of those who has been fooled ;) NOT fair & lovely!! The market is full of other crazy believable products )

Mind you, though I’ve loved both the above mentioned ads, they still haven’t convinced me to buy either! Sorry Vodafone and Lux!! :D

Remembering 26/11 …

Fear, hatred, chaos, sadness – a heavy mix of emotions is all I can remember of this deadly, blood-boiling and ghastly episode in the history of our commercial hub – Mumbai.

I remember it was 5 in the morning; I was at Pune airport waiting to board my flight to Mumbai. The day before had not been the best in my life, I got the news that my dad was in the hospital, my niece hadn’t been keeping well – basically a day full of fear and apprehension for my family. In fact, I was on my way to be with my mom and dad.

It didn’t register. I sat there staring at the television set at the terminal. With an emotionally charged day – being emotional and trying to be brave at the same time, and with hardly 2 hours of sleep that night, it just didn’t register. My first fear was that the flight would get cancelled and I won’t get to meet dad. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. I reached Mumbai on time. Not once did the fear cross my mind that I had landed in the city where terrorists were brutally murdering the innocent that very moment. All I could think of was boarding the next flight and seeing my parents. I looked around; security tighter than usual, crowds staring at television sets with sad fearful faces. I asked the cleaning lady what the current situation was, she told me a taxi blew up a few hundred meters from the airport, and that we are still fighting the terrorists in the Taj and the Oberoi. The heart skipped a beat. Friends started calling up to check on me and to see whether I was ok. Some part of me was fearful, but not enough to overpower my thoughts of reaching dad’s hospital.

Boarded the flight, reached the hospital, met dad, wished him (it was his birthday). And finally I was at peace when dad said “Don’t you worry, I am absolutely fine now. These people just wouldn’t let me go home!”

Have a happy and healthy life everyone!

And a message to those who don’t think twice before destroying life – one earth, one life – why can’t we all live harmoniously? Isn’t life greater and above countries, religions and castes?

Wake Up Sid, Independence and the special someone

Its 9 mins to 1am in the night (or in the morning, depending on whether you are a normal person or an owl!), and here I am running a temperature of 100 degrees and sleepless. No, I haven’t given this blog three titles because I am delirious from the fever; the multitude of titles comes from the fact that there’s this bucketful of thoughts in my head and I have no idea which title I am going to be writing about.. but mind you, all three are closely linked to each other, which you will discover in a moment if you have the time and patience (and the craziness :D ) to keep up with my thoughts without thinking that I am some tortured soul from a Nazi camp or a person delirious from the above mentioned fever… which I am not! ;)

Wake up Sid – now I don’t know whether this movie has been well received by the audience, but it has gained a very special place when it comes to me. It is one movie which I have been able to identify with. And Konkona’s character… well, there were times when I could completely relate to it! For those who haven’t watched the movie yet, she is this young woman who has come to Mumbai to make a career. Living alone, living independently, living by her rules – that’s .. umm, well I forgot her character’s name.. that happens when you are running a temperature of 100.. and NO I am not delirious!! ;) Not exactly the same story, but here I am living alone, living independently and yes, living by my rules! Now, when A here (oh, by the way, I decided to call her character A… well, you gotta give the lady some name!) came to the city, she didn’t have any friends, she was nervous and she would have liked someone to be there by her side, you know, to get accustomed to the new surroundings. I happened to start my career with the same nervousness, with no friends in the company and someone to get my mind off work pressures and guess what, like A, I got a friend who did just that.. helped me consciously/unconsciously in settling down in my new surroundings… God bless him!

Couple of scenes that I really liked from the movie:

1. It’s her birthday, she is alone in the city… she calls Sid because she does not want to spend the day alone. Here comes the special someone part of the 3 titles. Unfortunately, I don’t have anyone who I can give a call and say, “hey, I really feel like having some company”… like right now, who wants to be alone with a fever and no one around! Hmm…so that’s how you end up writing blogs!

2. A little deviation from A… lets concentrate on a scene featuring Sid. A little backdrop about the story - so Sid is this guy who is really disoriented in life; his life is a little (well, a lot) screwed up.. he has moved out of his parent’s house, does not have a job (or a sense of responsibility for that matter) and where do you think he ends up? Of course, he has found a friend in A; and he moves in with her. Now, with some help from A, he gets a perspective about his responsibilities, his career and well, life in general. He gets a job, has become responsible, he starts caring and living with and for others (and by others I mean primarily A, his parents, his friends). And now the scene – Sid gets his first paycheck, goes to his dad’s cabin and like a responsible son, gives his first salary to his dad. Dad-son hug and dad says “Son, this time be careful and give it your full commitment”. Loved the scene. It is testimony to the fact that no matter who stands by you and who doesn't, your parents will always be there for you, unconditionally.

2. Last, but not the least – (I must say that Konkona has played the part really well). There’s this scene towards the end where A is getting used to Sid being around and she does not like the idea of getting used to him - she does not like it because she knows one day he will leave her place and her and go back to his own house and his own life. She gets irritated with every single nice thing that Sid does for her. She likes everything that he does but she knows it has an expiration date. Oops, she is starting to fall in love with him! She would have loved all of it had there been a sense of permanency. Torn between emotions and practicalities, she is helpless. Despite being this nice person, why does it happen that she has to bear the brunt in the end? Thankfully for her, the hard times don’t last long, because Sid realizes soon that he loves her too … and like most movies, this one ends on a happy note too!

Cheers to a happy ending!

PS: People who have successfully reached the end of this blog (OMG), you are as delirious as I am… at least I have a reason, what’s yours?? :P :P :P

tup-meeth-bhaat aani batatya chi bhaaji...

Whenever you meet a person for the first time, whether small talk or out of curiosity, one of the first questions put forth is – So where are you from? Needless to say, I have been posed with this question a zillion times and I have answered it a zillion times, each time improvising my answer – well, improvising or complicating– highly debatable! Until recently, my answer’s been this: Born in New Delhi, brought up in 6 cities and 4 states; Parents from a 5^th state altogether and one of my grandparents hailing from a 6^th state! And .. yeah, there’s more.. the roots of my surname lie in a 7^th state! People have their doubts whether to think I am a Maharashtrian, a gujarati, a delhi snob (though I’ve never spent more than 2 months in that place), a south Indian (for my undying love for curd rice until recently) or a Kokanasth (that’s where my roots lie!).
Well, until recently I considered myself to be an Indian (am still an Indian, no doubt).. but the reason I called myself an Indian was for the absence of the sense of belongingness. After having lived in so many states, I had become a Jack(or Jill :P) rather than a master. Mind you, I have loved every single aspect of travelling and living all over India, getting to know so many cultures, tasting a variety of food, making friends from different dialects and languages, in a nutshell – being a cosmopolitan.
But since the time I moved to Pune, 5.something years back, I realized this is where my heart lies.. after all, I am a Maharashtrian to the core! I love the language, I love the people (some sweet, some nice, some helpful, some arrogant.. love them all!), … and I cant believe I am saying this, but I simply love tup-meeth-bhaat-batatya chi bhaaji- waran….... heaven !!
Simple living, high thinking.. that’s the first thing you will notice here. The culture, the people, the food… everything has a simplicity to it .. pure and genuine.
Given a chance, I would love to explore every single city in the world – no doubt. But ultimately, home is where the heart is .. and I know where my heart is. J

Cheers to friendship!

Friendship, friends, mitra – commonplace words that we use everyday. What’s the definition of a friend? I ask, because we tend to use the word quite liberally; be it someone we were introduced to yesterday, or a person we’ve known for last 10 years (and still knowing), or a person you met just a year back but share your deepest and scariest secrets with!

This is one term (or rather person) that we do not understand the importance of; at times we take them for granted, at times we silently ridicule what they say, and on some other occasions, god forbid, we become so complacent that we start thinking of ourselves as way better than them.

All said and done, what really is friendship? Or who can be termed as a friend? I am too small a person to really make a comment or pass a judgment… but last 24years have taught me enough and given me enough lessons to realize who the ones are that I cherish, who I can depend upon in times of need and who really value me as much as I value them. I can start a whole new thread about how the word ‘value’ can mean different things to different people and in what light they really comprehend the term… but, more on that later. Coming back to the question what is friendship – put simply, it is being there for each other in times of need, in times of happiness, being there as much in times of joys as in sorrows and vice versa. And to dig deeper, it means knowing when to hold a hand, when to lend a shoulder, when to laugh with your friend and most importantly, when to listen – listen deep, so that you hear the unspoken words, the hidden feelings and the lost cry for help. And the best part is, a close friend would never need to put in extra efforts to do all of the above mentioned things. Because he’d do it anyways because he likes you… because he wants you to be happy… because he cares for you…and he considers your achievement as part of his own J. That, my friend, is true friendship.

There are two types of friends – A) the ones who you are in touch with on almost a regular basis, they know what time you wake up, what time you sleep and the likes of whatever you do in between the two activities; and B) the ones who you call up once in a month or two, yet you feel as if you have always been in touch, with not a day lost in between. But you know what keeps the friendship ticking in both cases? If you miss a couple of days with the former or add a couple of days of touch to the latter, they wouldn’t mind – for the simple reason that they are your friends. If you are not able to call type A on a few occasional days, they know you had your reasons. And if you call type B a few extra times, they’d be happy and would greet you with an ear-to-ear smile.

That was about close friends…. the ones who know you in and out. Coming to the other set of people who we call friends. They may not be as close to you or know every single part of your life. Yet, you want to call them your friends. Because you like being in their company. They are that genuine set of people who have a pure heart and the best wishes for you. With some, you may even be talking day in and day out, yet they are not just there yet when you’d start telling them about why you use a particular brand of toothpaste… and that you started using it because of that particular dental carie that you had talked about some days back ;) Well, you get the flow…! So these are the people who sometimes knowingly, sometimes unknowingly bring a smile to your face and cheer you up on the very day that you were feeling low! God sent angels you may say. J Touchwood, I can say I have a unique set of such angels and I cherish their friendship just as much as I cherish my close friends.

So far so good….. but, there’s always a but, isn’t there? J

Sometimes relations get strained. It’s not intentional. Yet, they get strained. Maybe because you lost touch in between, maybe you got busy with office, studies, college, family or just life in general. Nevertheless, they get strained. Sometimes your friends understand why it happened- and all’s well again. But, when they don’t – that’s when hell breaks loose! You know you weren’t wrong, the situation was such that you were helpless. (As they say in hindi, ’Insaan bura nahi hota, bas waqt bura hota hai’). And you also know that your friend wasn’t wrong. After all, he might want to be there for you, but it was you who was pushing him away. You didn’t do it to hurt him. But, lets face it -there’s no harm in asking for some space for yourself to sort your own life out. One thing leads to the other and before you know it, you both have already walked miles (sadly, in opposite directions). That does not mean you have lost your friendship. It just means that your friendship is so strong, and your willingness to understand each other so much that you would try to make ends meet no matter what. But again, we are humans – and as my friend says (it’s not good to take credit for someone else’s thoughts :P ).. so anyway, as he says, “human brain tricks us whenever it can”. So, ultimately it depends on the two humans and their willingness to sustain the relation which makes the bond stronger. Well, that applies to all relationships, not just friendship. J

So cheers to friendship! And a hope that we cherish every single person in our life who is our well-wisher…