surreal surges

Biryani Buzz!

2008-10-01T04:03:00.000-07:00

‘ello all! As my husband can attest, I’ve been on a bit of a cooking binge these past couple of months. I think the procuring of my new combi oven might have been a catalyst for what I hope will continue to be a rather successful run of pulaos, curries and sautéed veggies and while on the one hand, I’m quite keen (now that I’ve resumed updating the blog) to chart these endeavors for posterity… on the other hand, I fear that my friends shall use all these entries as evidence that I can cook which means more work for moi :D But hey, I gotta do what I gotta do, right?

How the “dish-du-jour” came to be a Biryani, was the backfiring of a much-awaited trip to Mohhamed Ali Road for some Haleem and Bheja. We ended up appeasing the stomach demons with a rather delectable Nalli-nihari but I clambered home that day and decided to find myself a Haleem Recipe that would satisfy the baser cravings. A rather unsuccessful dive into the nether realms of Google left me still wanting that elusive recipe (…one that I will share once I get my hands on it, I promise!) but did yield a rather comprehensive Biryani “how-to” list that was too tempting to resist…with a few alterations, of course!

So here it is….my own version of the ever-popular Mutton-Biryani…and while this might sound tedious..(I generally need three different casseroles for the frying, parboiling and finally the pressure cooking of the meat) its pretty par-for-course and doesn’t take more than an hour at the most…I like to do it with the layers of meat, rice, potatoes and onions but you can just mix up the whole lot if that’s what gets your goat! Try it and tell me what you think…

For a biryani for two you’ll need:
3 potatoes
3 large onions (thinly sliced)
500 gms of Meat (I like to use the cut off the shoulder)
10 cloves
3 pieces of Elaichi (the big black stuff)
7-8 strands of Saffron (soaked in two teaspoons of hot milk)
5 bay leaves
3 sticks (about 4 inches long) of Cinnamon
A teaspoon of Black Peppercorns
400 gms Basmati Rice
Half a cup of Mint Leaves (washed and finely chopped)
Half a cup of Coriander leaves (washed and finely chopped)
2 Tomatoes. (skinned and chopped to pieces)
Half a teaspoon of Turmeric Power
Half a teaspoon of Red Chilly Powder
Two Green Chillies (I like the light green ones)
Half a Cup of Curd
Two spoons of Ginger-garlic paste
Salt to Taste
Sunflowers seed oil.

Method:
1. Skin the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Add salt to taste and deep-fry the quarters till golden-brown and set aside.
2. Fry the onions till they’re soft and remove half and set aside. These are to flavour the meat. Fry the rest till crispy brown. These are to add to the top of the Biryani layers.
3. Wash the meat and drain the water.
4. Heat up some oil (about 3 teaspoons) till smoking. Add the cinnamon, peppercorns, bay leaves, elaichi & cloves and toss around for a minute. Add the onions that we set aside to flavour the meat and stir for another minute or so.
5. Add the ginger-garlic paste and the tomatoes and stir for another 3 minutes.
6. Add the Meat and sauté until the meat releases its own juices.
7. Next we need to add the Red-chilly power and Turmeric and salt to taste.
8. Now add the curd and sliced green chillies and stir till well mixed in with the meat.
9. Add a half cup of water & pressure cook until the meat is done..(about two whistles)
10. In a separate microwavable bowl, wash the rice and then soak it in about 400 ml of water. Cook in the microwave for about 3 minutes or till the rice is half-cooked or has soaked up all the water. (I generally add an extra stick of cinnamon to the rice as well just for a bit of flavoring)
11. Once the meat is cooked spread it evenly at the base of a heavy bottomed deep pan.
12. Layer the rice evenly on top of the meat. Then layer with the quartered potatoes, chopped coriander and mint leaves and finally the crispy fried onions.
13. Add the saffron flavored milk and cover the pan with a tightly fitted lid and cook on a low flame for about 15 mins.

Viola…your biryani is done!

I don’t like to use cumin in this recipe at all so if you are so inclined to you can add about a spoonful of powered cumin when you add the chilly and turmeric powders. But serve this with a freshly made boondi raita and it’s a complete meal!

Enjoy!

Blog-worthy!

2008-09-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

Hello again! It’s been ages since I’ve posted (I haven’t written a public post in over a year now) and the itch was finally too unbearable. Oh, sure, I managed to post a bloggy thing or two here and there along the way. But then, in more recent months, I disappeared into real space altogether.

I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long. It feels like I’m always saying that, but then, the bottom line is (…and I make no excuses here) that I have been really really lazy! I mean, why write and re-write articles when I can do a pop-quiz on Facebook!

But, in the end, dear readers, I’ve decided to buckle down and post on here again in an attempt to appease the blog-demons and reawaken those surges that are, these days, a far cry from being surreal. And, truth be told, it was fun… this writing, reading and rewriting.

But that’s not the only reason why I’m back. I’m also back because as I was surfing the net this week, I discovered an interesting article I’d like to run by you, the dedicated and gentle (albeit disgruntled) readers of this fine blog.

Tony Allen Mills of the Times Online wrote an article on ghost-blogs…or blogs that have been abandoned by its once avid writers that had me determined to not be just another dead statistic. Here’s an excerpt…

“Lost for words online as blog craze falters
The extraordinary failure rate of online diaries and claims that interest in blogging will soon begin a precipitous slide are sparking an intriguing debate about the future of self-expression on the internet and whether blogs, once seen as revolutionary, are destined to become a footnote in the history of computing.

To the embarrassment of millions of internet users — from Hollywood celebrities such as Lohan, Melanie Griffith and Barbra Streisand to countless ordinary parents, workers and would-be poets — the evidence of failed diary-keeping cannot be easily erased from search engines that continue to provide links to blogs that have lain dormant for years.

Some internet analysts call them “ghost blogs”, lingering reminders of a cultish enthusiasm for self-expression that is rapidly wearing off. Others liken the abandonment of blogs to “the suicide of your virtual self”. At least one internet writer blames the blogging culture for helping to turn the internet into a “dictatorship of idiots”. (lol… yup if the Lindsey Lohans of the world unite!)

According to research by a firm of US technology analysts, the blogging phenomenon may have peaked last October, when 100,000 new blogs were being created every day. As well as personal diaries these included corporate, professional, celebrity and other specialist blogs.

Yet the Gartner research firm also concluded that the trend would level off in 2007, with perhaps 100m people still blogging worldwide. Other analysts predict that number will fall to 30m.”

And even as I was still bristling, I took a look at my own blog. Most of my blogger friends are now happily enmeshed in the throes of domesticity and do not seem to have the time or the inclination… except for the ever vigilant Nish-pish, who continues to fight the forces on her new blog http://peppercornjournal.blogspot.com/.

So, in a renewed attempt at steadfastly-ness, I have here forth decided that I shall not let my blog die an unnatural death and shall endeavor in full capacity to address issues and non-issues from this day forth on these here pages.

May the force be with me.

Rajni-can't.... be this hilarious!

2008-01-22T05:03:00.000-08:00

a post, a post...my kingdom for a post!

you want to know who Rajanikanth is... here are the facts

Rajanikanth makes onions cry.

Rajanikanth can delete the Recycle Bin.

Ghosts are actually caused by Rajanikanth killing people faster than Death can process them.

Rajanikanth can build a snowman..... out of rain.

Rajanikanth can strangle you with a cordless phone.

Rajanikanth can drown a fish.

When Rajanikanth enters a room, he doesn't turn the lights on... he turns the dark off.

When Rajanikanth looks in a mirror, the mirror shatters, because not even glass is stupid enough toget in between Rajanikanth and Rajanikanth.

Brett Favre can throw a football over 50 yards. Rajanikanth can throw Brett Favre even further.

The last digit of pi is Rajanikanth.

He is the end of all things.

Rajanikanth does not know where you live, but he knows where you will die.

Bullets dodge Rajanikanth.

A Handicap parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact, a warning that the spot belongs to Rajanikanth and that you will be handicapped if you park there.

Rajanikanth's calendar goes straight from March 31st toApril 2nd, no one fools Rajanikanth.

If you spell Rajanikanth wrong on Google it doesn'tsay, "Did you mean Rajanikanth?" It simply replies, "Run while you still have the chance."

Rajanikanth can do a wheelie on a unicycle.

Once a cobra bit Rajanikanth' leg. After five days ofexcruciating pain, the cobra died.

When Rajanikanth gives you the finger, he's telling you how many seconds you have left to live.

Rajanikanth can kill two stones with one bird.

Rajanikanth was once on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and was the first to spin. The next 29 minutes of the show consisted of everyone standing around awkwardly,waiting for the wheel to stop.

Leading hand sanitizers claim they can kill 99.9 percent of germs. Rajanikanth can kill 100 percent of whatever he wants.

There is no such thing as global warming. Rajanikanth was cold, so he turned the sun up.

Rajanikanth can set ants on fire with a magnifying glass. At night.

Rajanikanth has a deep and abiding respect for human life… unless it gets in his way.

It takes Rajanikanth 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.

Rajanikanth once shot down a German fighter plane withhis finger, by yelling "Bang!"

In an average living room there are 1,242 objects. Rajanikanth could use to kill you, including the room itself.

Behind every successful man, there is a woman. Behind every dead man, there is Rajanikanth.

(This one's my favorite!!)Rajanikanth destroyed the periodic table, because Rajanikanth only recognizes the element of surprise.

Rajanikanth got his drivers license at the age of 16 seconds.

With the rising cost of gasoline, Rajanikanth isbeginning to worry about his drinking habit.

The square root of Rajanikanth is pain. Do not try to square Rajanikanth, the result is death.

When you say "no one's perfect", Rajanikanth takes this as a personal insult.

Rocky Road...

2007-07-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ever notice how when you think your life’s getting to some semblance of order, something really silly and supposedly inconsequential will throw you completely off kilter? For instance, I had this really weird dream last night….(..like the dream I had the other night in which I was making out on a roller coaster! Anu’s (…mah soul-sistah and aura-cleanser extraordinaire!) interpretation of it was that my subconscious feels I’m in a rocky relationship …the boyfriend just figures we need to get kinkier! Talk about taking stuff literally!!! But I’ll get back to the dream at hand…) the bedroom closets we’d ordered were delivered with the wrong wood finish laminate. My cupboards..(in my dream that is..) did not match the rest of my furniture! I then proceeded to get up and start an all-lights-blaring-at 4-in-da-morn hunt for my rings which I eventually traced to a bathroom shelf..(..having hastily abandoned them there earlier preceding my bath)..before falling noisily back into my warm bed where I slipped effortlessly back into some much needed r.e.m.

Stupid dream, I know, but it’s kinda left me feeling restless. And not only about the meaning of the dream and its implied transgressions but the fact that my subconscious apparently now uses mismatched furnishings as iconography to flash warning signals! I am not that person!!! Am I becoming that person? Haaaalp! I always pegged my subconscious to have a little more oomph really…you know…more zing! I miss those dreams I used to have…fluorescent blue ice-cream cones, me as spider man spinning webs all over my living room, big black cats on huge spot lit chess boards! Now, it’s just mahogany cupboards in neutral browns and the likes. How vanilla am I? (although I guess it’s a step up from ‘rocky road’ no?)

The past couple of months have been kind of a blur really. There’s been so much to blog about and no time in which to actually get down to it! The new job is fun…although it affords me absolutely zero time to myself. I’ve been catching up..(albeit in small doses) with the Bombay junta. So far I’ve managed to visit Shiro (Dilli’s pre-pre-pre-birthday bash), China House (free alcohol courtesy the ‘celebs’), Mangi Fera (excellent smoked salmon ceaser’s salad), Royal China (..they have an all-you-ca-eat dimsum lunch for 425 plus taxes that’s absolutely out of this world!), Seijo (to die for hot chilli sauce & two taste tenderloin steak) & Zenzi (an all time fav). My new apartment (its in Kalina, by the way, which is in Santacruz, East…I’m a ‘burban’ people!!) is great when it comes to being centrally located...(takes me pretty much a half hour to go to most places, including work…)…but definitely not the best place when it comes to ordering in! I’ve also gone and painted one wall of my living room a bright shiny gold..(yeth it’s Delhi-babe with the underwear on the outside!!!) which actually looks pretty good if you ask me! Now I need to decide on what poster to put up on there. The two finalists are “the kiss” by Klimt on a 3’ x 2’ canvas and “Sunflowers” by Van Gogh ( I’ve been a little over exposed to “starry starry night”) both of which I’m posting on the blog as well. Pllllleeeaaaase help me decide!!

And on yet another bright note, my niece and god-daughter Amelia (sprung forth of the Fabulous Nish-pish loins urf “Kramer”...its just the hair!!!) is now holding her head up all by her little self! How cool is that! Pretty soon she’ll be all growed up! Have also been awarded the extreme privilege of shooting photographs of her for posterity …which I shall get to this upcoming weekend. Watch this space peoples!

More when it happens!

This is me!

2007-06-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

In the absence of hawaii/london pics to post..(haven't gotten around to downloading them off the camera yet...lazy lazy!) here's the results of yet another personality test...:P

Random 3 am posting…

2007-06-04T03:29:00.000-07:00

Am finally back in the motherland after two weeks on various continents….suffering severe lagging and post-vacation blues. Have to get act together and post on blog. Met up with favorite and most-loved cousin Moshe (and a whole bunch of others I shall blog about later…including the most effervescent ex Siddu, the infamous Nomita Kohli, Intrepid pilot Krix.) and am delighted to report only good things. Other than the fact that he's absolutely gorgeous..(yea...the good genes..:P) he’s also now the big heap photographer in the San Fran doing major artsy-fartsy stuff. More power to him!!!

Hawaii was great and London rocked as usual!

More tomorrow…

...

2007-04-04T04:51:00.000-07:00

Grasshopper rocks!

Happy Birthday Gappy!

2007-03-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

So its Gappan's birthday today and this is what i gave him ...a caricature! Couldn't pass up a chance to put it on the blog though..:)

Oooo-wee!

2007-03-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

“When a true genius appears in this world you may know him by the sign that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.”

- Jonathan Swift

Ok…so as you’ve figured out I finally managed to finish “A Confederacy of Dunces” and I must say that it was absolutely brilliant! Utter genius! Not since Coetzee have I been this smitten by an author… He has a way with words that left me reeling! The novel is a satirical account of the misadventures..(misdemeanors?!) of one flatulent and exasperating Ignatius J Reilly, a self-professed savior-of-the-world and blubbering idiot with a penchant for adding to the misfortunes of everyone that he chances upon! Add to the mix a liberal dose of the nonsensical in the form of various superfluous characters like his poor mother Irene (heroine in this formidable saga), the coquettish stripper Darlene and her ambitious Cockatoo, poor bumbling Patrolman Mancuso, sodomist and fashionistra extraordinaire Dorian Greene, the lurid Levys, devious Miss Lee, languid Jones who’s forever hiding behind his glasses and racist grunts and of course that mangy minx Myrna Minkoff, love/hate interest of our unlikely hero. The result is a complicated yet well-orchestrated masterpiece that culminates, after many comic hitches and pit stops, with grand pomp and flourish! A definite must-read and newest addition to my 100 best books of all times! Seventeen thumbs up!

I had a chance to finish Confederacy on the train ride back from Chennai where I was visiting Shivi and his girlfriend Nasim for the weekend. And what a weekend it was! Managed to get in shopping (sarees, silver, home accessories), great food ( pizzas, steak, chops, bone soup, Kerala parathas, bheja fry), partying( ..the Leather Bar absolutely rocks! That DJ could teach a couple of our Bambaiya counterparts a thing or two!) and of course my US Visa! Am now totally equipped to pack my toothbrush and whisk off sans warning to New York for the weekend, darlings!

Also managed to get in some unscrupulous movie watching this last week! Saw Snake Eyes (..fun), Phenomenon (...preachy) and Bringing out the Dead..(…totally and astutely skewed!). Nicholas Cage plays an overworked and edgy pre-medic/ambulance driver working the graveyard shift in Manhattan’s crime/drug infested districts. His decline into the dark side and final reemergence is the basis of this exceptionally well-directed (Scorsese) flick. He is aided in his venture by a brilliant cast led by Patricia Arquette, John Candy, Ving Rhames & Mark Anthony. Deep. dark and totally wonderful! Reminded me a little of Trainspotting in the way that it takes abject horror and puts a comic yet human spin on it. Another Top 100 addition…

So all in all a good week/weekend and its back to work time..:). Also it's been two whole years since my first post on this here blog so will put up a celebratory type article tomorrow...more when it happens!

Erotica!

2007-03-05T23:43:00.000-08:00

…and its over! My fabulous and oh-so-looked-forward-to, “debauchery-in-Delhi” weekend has well and truly passed and it’s back-to-work time again! I’ve managed to fit in quite a bushel of activities in my too-short mini vacation and this is just some of em..

1) Delhi Gymkahana: Met up with the entire Delhi gang including Pooch, Shals, Vinu, Neels, Pooj, Sanjay, Proms, Noms-Jeej,…well everybody really…and got my fill of those awesome chicken-cheese-chilli sandwiches the club dishes out with unequalled zest! Talk about your several birds with one stone! It turned out to be quite a night cos we then went on to Rick’s next and then another place called Bacci at Malcha Marg. Quick stop at the 24/7 for “Hog-gogs” and then home-sweet-home!

2) Indi-ism: Was first hand witness to another gem by the infamous Indi Auntie..it went something like this…

Lady Doctor: So have there been any improvements since you moved him to the ICU?
Indi Hoon: No Doctor! To the contrary, in fact! He hasn’t been sleeping very well since we moved him here...
Lady Doctor: Really?
Indi Hoon: Yes…I’ve noticed…he has very erotic sleeping patterns..
Confused Lady Doctor: *bumbling* errr…aahem…(*to self* I hope we’re charging him for the extras..)
Nomita Hoon: Mum, you mean “erratic”...
Indi Hoon: *bustling* Haan, haan beta…same thing!

3) Ministry of Sound: Delhi’s own mini Louvre, the massive-ass glass pyramid is definitely home to a wide variety of varied part-goers! Was fun though… tore up the dance floor till the wee hours of the morn!

4) Taipan: yea…no trip to Delhi is quite complete without it! Couldn’t eat a morsel after the 28th portion of dimsum so the previous record still stands.

5) Holi: Did a whole silver-paint number this year. Walked around looking like a verry frazzled Robocop until of course, it was time to wash it all off and wound up with a red nose instead… ala Rudolf! Luckily there are no pictures to serve as evidence to the debacle!

6) Also managed to get in some junk food…the usual chola baturas, gol gups, tikkis, chelas…you know…soul food…(or in my case Thai food cos that’s the region it eventually hits! :P)

Flew back this morning and am now nestled in bed after a nice long walk and diverse assorted limber-ments..(so-to-speak!). More when it happens people…

Life IS all heehee haahaa!

2007-02-28T03:33:00.000-08:00

Caught stand-up comic Russell Peters' show last night. The man is hilarious! Couldn't resist putting up a older video here on the blog...Enjai people!

...like a kid in a candy store!

2007-02-26T02:02:00.000-08:00

So yesterday, despite my solemn efforts to get some work done, the heavy hand of fate deemed it fit to cause a power cut, thus effectively thwarting all those well-laid plans. So after a bunch of hours of lolling around the house waiting, I went off to the mall…(figured I’d catch a flick). Now the PVR at Forum boasts a total of 11 auditoriums, capacities ranging from 32 people in the smallest to about 150 in the largest. Being a Sunday evening however, there were absolutely no tickets available for any flick worth seeing (…there was a kanada movie which I was kinda leaning towards…but was vetoed by sane part of brain…thank gawd!) …none! Until of course we happened to chance upon the “Gold Class”…

So after managing to get our hands on tickets for “Ghost Rider” at 10..(..somehow I figured if you’re paying 600 bucks for a movie, it should damn well start when you want it to…but whatever!) we had to then figure out a way to kill the intervening couple of hours. And this is where I suspect the Karnataka Electricity Board authorities play a part in supporting the retail market! I went into Landmark (mega store extraordinaire!) and ended up going a little berserk..(despite my erstwhile anti-furious-spending-spree promise to self…:P). Bought me a whole bunch of music, movies and (…yup I know…am a slave to my guilty pleasures…give other women the shoes and the handbags…leave me my oddities!!!) two more books (A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole (..highly recommended and on reading of the first 83 pages am duly impressed!) & Above Average – Amitabha Bagchi (..my little endowment towards promoting Indian authors in the delusional hope that some poor sods might return the favour and buy copies of my book… if and when I see fit to publish!)). So after an other hour spent pouring over my new acquisitions at the food court we finally upped and went for the movie..

And boy was I pleasantly surprised! After a short pit-stop in the Gold Lounge..(..ahem!) we were then escorted to the plush 180 degree velvet haven of our individual recliners where uniformed ushers brought me my bucket of popcorn, cappuccino and ceasers salad. The only way to fly! Siiigh! The movie itself was fun..(…although I think I’d have thought the kanada movie well deserving as well from within the flounces of my regalia..)…no it really was! Apart from the fact that Nicholas Cage was looking a tad bit run down and I’m not that crazy about Eva Mendes, I thought the movie was right up there with Van Helsing and Pirates…(ok…not exactly there maybe a notch or two below…but still good wholesome lets-get-on-our-tightest-leather-pants-and-kick-some-zombie-butt type of fare). Extremely fitting for a Sunday evening…

More when it happens!

The Peppercorn Journals...

2007-02-18T23:29:00.000-08:00

Nish is finally decided to blog about her forthcoming issue..(hehhee..yea yea...we all have issues!!!) and so...without further ado...i proudly present *inject drum roll here*....

"The Peppercorn Journals"

...Tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Have fun folks!

Diet-shmiet!

2007-02-18T22:27:00.000-08:00

So after fervently sticking to my diet for an entire week..(I’m giving atkins a shot… and considering proteins constitute almost 8 of my top 10 favorite foods list…easy-peasy!) I totally messed it up this weekend by going to the Grasshopper lunch! And what a lunch it was! Absolutely fabulous! The whole weekend was fabulous really…

Saturday was spent browsing books at Blossom…an activity I should reserve for when I have mucho more moolahs than I can currently boast! I seriously want to buy everything… a condition only previously glimpsed when shopping with the fabulouso Indi Aunty & Noms in London (“..have to buy! HAVE to BUY!!!!!”). Did restrict indulgence however, to a modest 4 books…(High Fidelity – Nick Hornby (..excellent read so far!), Through the Open Window – Collected Poems, The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro & White Teeth – Zadie Smith..(..highly recommended by the Nish-Pish)) and a bunch of Mad Magazines. Also, in view of that very restraint, I was very sweetly “gifted” three more books by the highly esteemed boyfriend…( Elizabeth Costello & Slow Man – JM Coetzee & K-pax - Gene brewer) Yippeee! Have also made solemn vow to self that I shall not partake of any more furious book buying until I have managed to read at all of the above and a few dozen more recent purchases…so there!

Saturday evening was spent at the Bangalore Club Valentines Day Ball. And the Transformation of the Club was indeed noteworthy! It went from chill out to far out! There were at least about (..collective average estimate..) 2000 people there of all ages, ranks and weight classes! We staggered home at about 2ish…quite an achievement for a Bangalore Saturday night..(..which usually wind up at 12..:P)

And the Grasshopper lunch! Aaaah…the good life! The seven course meal was heralded by an amuse-bouche, creamy olive tapenade on crisp wheat crackers followed by the most awesome warm honeyed figs with feta cheese. The prawns came next..(we got two helping of which...hehehe..) in a tart mustard sauce garnished with burnt sesame seeds and pickled ginger. There was a staple iceberg lettuce and spinach salad next which was then followed by two main courses, a fish steak in a caramelized orange sauce & veal chops grilled to perfection topped with sautéed zucchini and carrots! All this accompanied by a nice oven0fresh olive and sundried tomato loaf with olive oil and balsamic! We got there post a 40 minute drive at about 12.45 and staggered out at roughly 4.30. An afternoon well spent! Dinner was Chinese takeout followed by a nice strawberries & whipped cream from Cornerhouse…(…I figured if I was going to cheat on my diet, I might as well do it with gusto!!!)

Also, drawing inspiration from the book I’m currently reading, is my all time top five list of Sunday Brunches in no particular order.

* Grasshopper. (…for reasons listed above!)
* Taipan. (Death by Dimsum)
* Indigo. (Some of the most fabulous times!)
* Leela. (..the prawns tempura, soft-shelled crab sushi and the Mongolian spread is enough to turn a girls head even without the added un-limited alcohol bonus!)
* China White (it’s shut shop now…but those wasabi prawns were absolutely to die for!)

So that was the weekend. Am back on my diet & back at work bright and early this morning with a nice grin on my face and a few extra millimeters on my hips that I hope to work off by the next weekend. The big boss gets in Tuesday so work promises to get into high gear soon. More when it happens..

Happy Valentines Day Peoples!!!

2007-02-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

Love...actually!

2007-02-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

Been on a movie watching spree this week…I guess it all started with “Blood Diamond”...(..which was excellent by the way! That Leo sure has grown up!) …then saw a Meryl Streep/Robert De Niro feature called “Falling in Love”…followed by a superb tale of tall tales and myth by Tim Burton, “Big Fish” (…definitely going on my top 100 movies so far list..) and finally, “The Holiday” a Nancy Meyers flick about women and love and falling in love and broken hearts and other stuff such... (eeeeyyeew! I’m generally all for romance…so it pains me to admit that I was thoroughly disappointed! This is the same woman who wrote and directed “What Women Want” & more recently, “Something’s Gotta Give”! Needless to say, I expected sooo much more! A girl can only take this much mush!) Got me three more movies to watch over the remainder of this weekend, ”The Big Lebowski”, “ Diner” & “Dogma”. So it promises to be interesting! J

But I need to deliberate ...for posterity. I need to type out silly nothings on the subject of great loves…(..THE most popular and gratifying theme for most movies…and a topic made especially sweet by the onset of St. Valentine’s Day..(..who I’m sure must be spinning in his grave for all the ludicrous cards I had the abject horror of browsing at the mall yesterday) ). Must it be so tiring? Must it be…as Kate Winslet in the afore mentioned Holiday, chose to repeatedly and interminably launch into monologues about …. so exhausting? And what if this great love, once found and culminated, chose to fade away..(..it has been known to happen you know, to more people than will admit it..)? What then? Do we start afresh and look for the next big thing? Do we walk out on the people we once swore undying faith to and move on to greener pastures? And if that happens once, what are the chances that it will not reoccur? When is it time to hang up your gloves and bow out gracefully?

One part of me, the eternal optimist, says never! It’s never too late! As it shouldn’t ever be! Love is a connection...a simpatico. It is a meeting of minds, bodies, smells, desires …a crossing of paths, fates, ambitions… an amalgamation of destinies! Ahhh…that many splendoured thing that is often the crux of most women’s lives and sometimes the (..if some poor woman is lucky) “flavour du jour” of a mans. If you choose, at this point, to debate the validity if the previous statement, let me warn you…it would not be wise. This is not to say men do not love as much as women do, or to even undermine the extent of their affections…it is merely an observation of the general trend…one to which I will adhere. We’re just wired differently…or as my very wise and generally all-knowing boyfriend will attest... boy will be boys and women will be suckers! As a sex, we women are wired to look for different qualities in men than they are in us. Simple.

The Big Fish was absolutely brilliant! I’ve always loved Tim Burton. Since the time I saw “Beetlegeuse” and learnt the lyrics of the “Banana Boat Song” by replaying that bit so often it was a but a blur on my dads vhs (..no google then people…we sure are getting on in years aren’t we!), he’s been one of my favourite directors. And this movie would not have been the same without that touch of the whimsical that only he can bring to a production. It is the story of a mans life as told to his son. What I loved about the movie was the narrator’s ability to transform ordinary sentiment into grand passion…an ability I can but aspire to attain. The cast was riveting…Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Danny DeVito, Steve Buscemi…sigh! While the central theme of the movie was a father/son relationship, the circumstantial afflictions were handled with compassion and due respect. The movie was about individual perceptions and accepting the people we love for who they are..(..it’s Tim Burton people and he does not preach…the moral’s there…only if you choose to see it!) …and I think that is something we all could use a liberal dose of!

Getting back from that reverie to the general rantings… I was once told (..by one very dear co-couch philosopher..) that a lot of relationships these days fail because of a lack of trying. While that maybe a very objective view…and one that can be backed up by many a flagrant example…I believe there’s more to it than just that. A relationship is a very individual and often reticent bond between two people, the boundaries of which can only be really set by the parties in question. It’s a game really…and as with most games it has its rules and regulations, almost all of which may be over-ruled or dismissed if both the players unanimously decide that they should be. But as with most games, it has to constantly stimulate the players. One must advance stages, increase difficulty levels and gather new skills, failing which can lead to a very dissatisfied ensemble indeed! With me so far? But wait…there’s more..

Take for example, the Meryl Streep/ Robert DeNiro movie, “Falling in Love”. Yes it is a romance…yes, it is a beautiful sentiment…yes, we love the cast!!! Yet I don’t understand…they meet in a train…they’ve got their own lives, families, children. And yet they choose to give up all of that to be with each other. Were they Indian? Cos that would explain the scenario…you know…arranged marriages…didn’t really choose who they married to begin with and then found the love of their lives! But they weren’t. They were people who’d made their choices, found their own partners (…partners who were not cheating on them, were understanding of their feeling and most of all partners who did not see this coming!) and didn’t stand by them. Very strong allegations…I know, but someone has to ask the questions! Do we, as committed loving spouses, need to worry about each and every individual social interaction our partners have, turning into something more? As Chandler says to Joey in an episode of Friends from one of the early seasons, (…don’t I just looove to quote lines from that effervescent sit-com…hehehhee) “I'd like to believe that when the right woman comes along, you will have the courage and the guts to say "No thanks, I'm married."”

Which brings me to my final query…what is the correct thing to do? I know of successful relationships that are based on mutual understanding and a working empathy that have gone on to celebrate their 50 anniversaries…hey we all do! Is love… that mystical, magical sentiment… just plain over-rated?

..like hell it is!

2007-01-15T22:49:00.000-08:00

One of my new years resolutions was also to start posting on here again with some regularity, but so far I haven't seemed to manage that....will get to it over this weekend for sure...in the meanwhile here's a little something to keep you guys amused…

Adios amigos!

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry midterm. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

We need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religion state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze.

The student received the only "A" given.

...

2006-12-26T20:19:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since i've written and that's been only because of really hectic schedules..(mostly mine) and NOT a lack of stuff to report! Was in Delhi last week visiting Varsh (..she's had a bad back incident..) and Ashok's here visiting this week so i can't really say that i see that schedule letting up any time soon... This here post is going to be brief as well but i want to wish all you guys a verry Merry Christmas..(albeit belated) and a Rocking New year to follow..(in advance to make up for the belated Christmas!)! Here's something funny that Kunal sent me that made my day! Enjai!

The following are actual letters that Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby) admitted she was at a total loss to answer:

Dear Abby,
A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a middle- aged gym teacher, and the other is a social worker in her mid twenties. These two women go everywhere together, and I've never seen a man go into their apartment or come out. Do you think they could be Lebanese?

Dear Abby,
What can I do about all the sex, nudity, language and violence on my VCR?

Dear Abby,
I have a man I never could trust. He cheats so much I'm not even sure this baby I'm carrying is even his.

Dear Abby,
I am a twenty-three-year-old liberated woman who has been on the pill for two years. It's getting expensive, and I think my boyfriend should share half the cost, but I don't know him well enough to discuss money with him.

Dear Abby,
I suspected that my husband had been fooling around, and when I confronted him with the evidence he denied everything and said it would never happen again. Should I believe him?

Dear Abby,
I joined the Navy to see the world? I've seen it. Now, how do I get out?

Dear Abby,
My forty-year-old son has been paying a psychiatrist $50 an hour every week for two- and-a-half years. He must be crazy.

Dear Abby,
Do you think it would be all right if I gave my doctor a little gift? I tried for years to get pregnant and couldn't, and he did it.

Dear Abby,
My mother is mean and short-tempered. Do you think she is going through her mental pause?

Dear Abby,
You told some woman whose 40-something husband had lost all interest in sex to send him to a doctor. Well, my 40-something husband lost all interest in sex years ago and he IS a doctor. What now? (....hmmmmmm...worrying!)

That's all for now folks! Buh-bye!

..ho-humm..

2006-10-26T02:27:00.000-07:00

duh!

2006-10-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

Haven't had a moment to spare people...in the mean time, i thought this one was hilarious!! enjai!

A guy goes to the supermarket and notices a beautiful blonde wave at him and say hello.
He's rather taken aback, because he can't place where he knows
her from.
So he says, "Do you know me?" and she replies, "I think you're the father of one of my kids."
His mind races back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful to his wife and says, "My God, are you the stripper from my bachelor party that I laid on the pool table with all my buddies watching, while your partner whipped my butt with wet celery and then stuck a carrot up my butt???"
She looks into his eyes and calmly says,

"No, I'm your son's maths teacher."

We're all going to Delhi! We're all going to Delhi!!!

2006-10-18T04:08:00.000-07:00

Yup...after an absolutely rocking birthday celebration, I'm now off to Delhi for Diwali! So excited about seeing all my Dilliwalla's again! Yay! I'll be back Monday and hopefully will not get a chance to see a computer screen until then! Happy Diwali pholks and have a great year ahead!!!!

Buh-bye!

2006-10-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

There are just some songs that you hear a few times and can't seem to get out of your head...these here are two of them. They were released so many years ago but I still haven't managed to get my hands on the mp3s.(have an acoustic version of "desperately wanting" but really really want the original!!)...but the videos seem to be available. If any of you happen to be able to get your hands on either...I’d really appreciate a mail..:)

Duncan Sheik - Wishful Thinking

Better Than Ezra - Desperately Waiting

Jars Of Clay - Flood

Bollocks!!!

2006-10-12T03:59:00.000-07:00

Ok…so as promised, Ramesh did take me out last night… to this place I happily called “Bollocks and Bush” (…and later found out was actually christened “Bull and Bush”...yea, like THAT’s so much better!! Duh!). It turned out to be a rather pleasant evening with the DJ playing dvd’s of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and the Eagles..(really not so crazy about Floyd and Led Zep (Thanks to Nirav! But that’s an entirely different story for another time) but hey, it turns out that consuming copious quantities of alcohol is a great way to tune out the sound!). Of course Ramesh and I decided that we wanted to request a few song, being their numero uno customers and all..(he was drinking their finest..(ahem..ahem) scotch after all) and it also turned out that the aforementioned DJ had none of em! Now I ask you.. which self respecting DJ (..we’re talking about the kind that still play good ol’ rock and not the Britney Spears toting wusses!!) doesn’t have a good dose of the Police, Pearl Jam and STP?!? Go figure! Well anyways, after we had our fill..(..the last order here is 10.30 people…and at 11 they actually come and take your glasses away.. so beware!) we sauntered on back home where Ramesh helped me unpack two more cartons in preparation of the coming of her-fabulousness Nish-pish..who gets into town tonight for my birthday. And, I seriously think I might be getting old cos..
a) When we walked into the Bollocks place I actually asked the management to turn the music down (it was just too loud! was totally giving me a headache!!!)and
b) I was completely ready to pass out at about 3ish and didn’t even want to finish my bottle of beer…(I did finish it…I mentioned this merely cos even the thought of wasting it was alarming enough…blasphemy!!!!)

Anyways, got up fresh as a daisy this morning and now that my “imaginary” friend Gappan’s back from his month long tour of the US, decided to go to the KGA for lunch. Totally lapped up the fresh lime juice and bacon wrapped prawns. Awesome!! Am all set to pick up Nish at 9.30 so until stuff happens, that’s all for now folks!

Garble…

2006-10-11T05:32:00.000-07:00

…just random esoteric thoughts floating in my head today… had a really weird dream about getting mango juice for breakfast (..this is weird because anyone who knows me, knows I don’t do fruit!!) and blood sucking toy babies..(yea…decipher that!!!) Ramesh gets into town today and has promised me a pre-pre birthday eve, night about town so am kinda looking forward to that. Was wondering about anonymous blogs yesterday and came up with a few good reasons as to why I should make mine one too..

a) I could write things like “..i got it on with a stranger in a public restroom yesterday..” and it would not in any major way, affect my private life..
b) I wouldn’t have to write up a list of reasons as to why I need to make my blog anonymous in order to write “..i got it on with a stranger in a public restroom yesterday..” on my blog!
c) I could diss all my friends and not have them throw moldy fruit at me the next time I met em..(..not that I would want to…I so luuurrrrve you all sooo verrrryyy much..*sugar-coated*)
d) I could smirk away privately at all situations that happen to me, safe in the knowledge that today’s arcane event are just tomorrows scandalous blog articles..(oh yea…who’s to know the cute guy that was chatting me up was just a pimply, buck-toothed fart?!?)

…that’s all I came up with.. back to the boring life.

...

2006-10-10T05:53:00.000-07:00

Aaaahh... the good ol days! This is a pic taken on my birthday two years ago...dinner with the girls at the Tea House of the August Moon in Delhi! Clockwise starting the top left thats Pooja, Ritz, Neels, moi and Varsh..I miss you all soooooooo much! Hopefully should be able to do a reunion soon. Muuuuuuuuaaaaaahh!

To be...(..like there's any other option!)

2006-10-09T04:55:00.000-07:00

Oh crap…just when things were beginning to look up…bam!! its Monday morning all over again! I had a fun weekend though… (and I say this even though most of Sunday morning was spent in the pangs of an excruciating hangover…) and so we’re back to celebrating “Nostalgia Week” right here on Surreal Surges… or at least I am! Yesterday I cut myself.. with my Swiss knife.. I gave myself a nice deep “owie” on my right index finger just below the nail.. being the big brave girl that I am, I immediately stuck my finger an my mouth and called mum.. this is somewhat how the conversation went..

Me: …mooooommmmyyyyyyyyyyyy!!
Mum: ..my baaaabbbbyy!
Me: it huuuuuuuurrrrrts!
Mum: my baaaaaaaaby!..(my mum, being MY mum, is equally ‘in’ on the drama)
Me: Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!
Mum (now the doc): So which phalange is it? Have you cut the anterior or the posterior? Have you put some ice on it? Apply pressure to the abrasion..
Me: Huh?

So after about another ten minutes of this and another half an hour of goss..(..we have a varied bunch in the family…there’s floundering cousins, and drunk uncles and simpering mothers..(mine being the only one who’s justified, of course!) to talk about) I got to thinking about the times in my life when I’ve had to make choices and decisions and when I thought I was being my bravest. Not your garden variety “oh fuck it..what have I got to lose” instant bravado, but the less common and more judicious “consider all the options and make the right choice” kind. Here they are, in chronological order…

Art School: This one was tough, it was! Coming from a family full of doctors and engineers..(my mum has five other siblings, four of whom are doctors, and my dad’s a doc as well and his brother’s a phd…go figure!) it was generally frowned upon to want to be anything but one of the above. I remember my dad actually asking me once if what I really wanted to do with my life was paint signboards! But all in all, once I made up my mind and got into art school..(.. of course getting picked seventh on the merit list out of two thousand applicants really helped.. Nirav my best friend through college, being sixth..) everyone generally resigned themselves to having an “illiterate” in the family and peace prevailed!

Getting my crew cut: Yes! Call me silly but I actually had to literally psyche myself into getting one! I knew I wanted it, had completely and utterly made up my mind about it, but once I was in that chair it was soooooo hard! I made the poor woman go through at least eight different styles before I finally had her chop it all off! Mum was actually ok with my hair cos I’d been telling her for the longest time that I wanted to shave my head, so she figured this was the lesser of the two evils!

Leaving home: With all due respect, I would have to say this decision was definitely more an instant bravado type thingy than the judicious kind. But in retrospect, I’m actually glad I did it. When I look at most of my friends leading protected lives and not having to make a single decision for themselves, I pride myself on having had the experiences that I’ve had. I’ve spent nights at railway stations, taken up jobs painting murals at night so I’d have a place to sleep, lived at seedy motels, hung out at coffee shops sipping one cold cup of coffee..(all I could afford..)..oh the agony and the ecstasies! But the toughest part of the ordeal was not being able to pick up the phone and dial mum..(that was possibly the longest time we didn’t talk to each other.. close to a month). So many “owies” I couldn’t report! And of course, readers will be pleased to know that I’m totally making up for lost time now! 

Leaving Bombay: I don’t know what’s harder.. running away from a situation or running towards one. Then again, isn’t running away from a bad marriage also running towards a better life? Anyways, that is what I did! I put on my clogs, packed the duffle and ran! There are times, of course, like with all else in life, that you sometimes wonder, (..with an objectiveness now, that only time has afforded me..) what if? What if I had stayed? What if he had changed? What if we’d had children..(..hey, wait a minute…we WERE children!) ..countless what ifs! I think on some level I waited for the longest time for my ex husband to come get me, to cross that line and put himself out…show me some sign that he cared and wanted us to try again…but that never came. And even though I know that I would never have gone back, that’s something I will have to live with…the numerous what ifs! And I also know that the experience has made me the person I now am and love..(Yes I do love myself! I mean, I have a whole blog dedicated to me and THAT comes as a surprise??!!??)

Moving to Bangalore: Months of contemplation! Agonizing and considering and reconsidering and re-agonizing over the considered reconsiderations! Leaving behind my friends, my familiar places, the dim sum brunches, the furious card playing at Diwali, the second-hand books at Saket, the lovely Delhi winters( with the barbeques and bonfires! Not sad about skipping the summers though…those are HARSH!), Varsha, Tarun, Neela, Desoto, Carbon… And the whole moving thingy! I mean, everyone I know looks at a single girl who lives by herself and say.. ”lucky bum.. look at her, all foot-loose and fancy free” but there’s so much work that goes into doing just that! I mean…and gawd! ..there’s the maid, the watchmen, the plumbers, the electrician, the carpenter, the finding-of-a-parlour-near-the-new-place, the home delivery guys, the gas cylinder, the laundry, the list is endless! It’s hard people! I’m not complaining.. I love it! I love the whole having my hands full but I also demand credit! And if no one pats my back..(I’ll just call mum again later for validation .. hehehhee)..I’m going to do it myself! But I’m finally here and it’s been a great ride so far!

Oh there’s been a few other times …like the time I only ran out of the dentist’s office twice before they dragged me back in kicking and screaming for my tooth extraction.. and the time I..(Yes me!! I’ve been in the operation theatre for caesarean sections and brain surgery!) almost fainted when they cut open Varsha’s cyst but recovered and went in there and let her crush my hand to itty bitty pieces… and of course the classic “pretty much ran away from any man who happened to even vaguely show a remote interest in me” but finally have a boyfriend (aren’t I just soooo brave!!!)

And even though I know there will be harder decisions to make in the future, like what my investments should be and even the really tough “should I or shouldn’t I have another one of those delicious French apple cakes this evening” …something tells me I’ll get by…

Birthday’s coming! Birthday’s coming!

2006-10-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Contrary to what I would have most people believe, I actually enjoy my birthdays...no, really...I do! I love the whole drama…the planning of the party, the picking of the outfit, the opening of the presents..(my personal favorite!) and the usual heavy bouts of “examining my life” I go through every single year! The whole nine yards! This year, of course, Siddu got me off to a quick jump start when he sent me this picture of us. Taken way back in 1995! Gawd, nothing..(NOTHING!) brings on that sudden and over-whelming flash of nostalgia like a picture taken over a decade ago with the “love-of-one’s-then-innocent (..or so it seems now… at least at the threshold of a whole new era... I’m going to hit the big three-oh, oh sooo soon!)-young-life”! Here it is…possibly the cutest picture of us ever taken, niether of us being very photogenic..:P

It’s so startling to go down memory lane. I mean, for a girl who walked away from the city she’d spent her whole lifetime in with nary more than a duffle bag..(what was in it? Ahhh..four t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, some underwear and a toothbrush!) I sure have managed to collect an amazing amount of belongings..(do I hear baggage people?). I have very good reason, however, to believe that this is absolutely normal and even to be expected… but as they say, an unexamined life is hardly worth living, so we must proceed to do just that..(Statutory warning: The following may be contrived as extremely boring to most and only readers with an unusual capacity for useless information or very keen interest in the completely inane on-goings of my boring life should attempt to proceed! There! You have been warned!)

Ok, so the story begins on a dreary evening in Bombay when, at 7.30 in the evening I was dragged kicking and screaming, out of a poor frazzled Sunita’s womb..ok, ok…just kidding! Even I don’t have the patience to go that far back!! Lets just do the high-lights of the past few years…hmmm…ok…nope, don't have the patience for that either…ok so just today for now sounds good. Lets see..woke up at 8.30…was really exhausted from staying up organizing my bookshelf in alphabetical order and then size order..(cos the big books go behind and the smaller books go in front… it’s probably a Libran thing!) got the office… got a cup of coffee…spoke to Supri… then to Varsha. Finally got down to work about 10.30. Post-lunch (..that I skipped in the vain hope that I might manage to get into those pants I’m planning wear next Friday), ordered some furniture that had been pending cos of all the bloody holidays we’ve been having this past week..(..meant to sound like complaining in case my boss reads this…:D) Then got back and proceeded to work till about 25 mins ago (..not including the hour I took off for dinner…rare steak at the Leela Coffee Shop. I love that it’s two minutes from work!) and am now typing this here article. All ready to crash just about this minute and so will continue on the great nostalgia extravaganza week on Surreal Surges tomorrow!

Nighty-night people!

Monday morning blu... oops..it's Tuesday!

2006-10-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

So my stuff finally got in Saturday night/ Sunday morning! I am still veering on that threshold between tremendous relief and absolute anxiety (..but I’m fairly certain the relief’s almost all gone now). How am I going to get the whole thing done before the gals get here?!? Right now that seems a veritable dream. I’ve managed to get a few things up..it’s probably not as bad as it seems…it’s just that it seems so absolutely petrifying to me right now! The washing machine’s up, and so’s the refrigerator and the microwave. I had the electricians in all of Monday getting all my various lights and power points up. So that’s something. Now its just the stuff I have to attend to…personally…by myself… there’s cartons of clothes, books, kitchenware..(this I’m going to con my maid into doing…ain’t I just the devil..:P), paraphernalia, all the photograph frames and other knick-knacks I’ve managed to somehow accumulate…siiiigh…it goes on for a bit.

The weekend, other than the dreary unpacking bit that I’ve already covered has been for the most part very relaxing.. went to TGI Friday and managed to get slugged before heading off to Athena on Friday night…which was open till…*gasp* …1 am… (..shocking how late people stay out these days!!!) .

Saturday was spent mostly waiting for the delivery truck to get in…and also working out..:D. I finally managed to drag said ass(..read mine!) on that walk I kept promising myself, after which, I even got in a surprising amount of crunches, presses and pushups. Of course, how much this monumental struggle affects the ass-in-question(..still mine!) is inversely proportional to the copious quantities of “French Apple Cake” I’ve been shoveling down my face. In a furious fit of self back-patting I managed to ‘reward’ all that exercise by discovering the “Corner Shop”, Bangalore’s own little corner ice-cream parlour, not a hop, skip and jump away from where I live! Oh joy…my world’s been soo much brighter since I happenenced upon this discovery! I would actually put up pictures of the perpetual crimes I’ve been committing ever since, but we’re still at that “can’t-keep-our-hands-off-each-other” phase, so... that will have to wait until such time that I find the patience to take a picture before wolfing down on the goodies.

Sunday actually saw me up at 7.30 am..(I didn’t know they still made those!!) getting my boxes unloaded and then off to the Leela for their sushi brunch..(I love these little schemes where-by I reward myself for all the tremendously useful stuff I do..(?!?) with food and alcohol…heh heh heh).. The soft-shelled crab and the eel are now part of the regular buffet…a development I want to take full credit for.. and the Mongolian stir-fry completely out of this world! Now that was a good afternoon, if I do say so myself!

Also amidst all that mayhem, I managed to see a few movies I’d been planning to. Finally watched Trainspotting, Memento and the Machinist. Quite an agenda you say…and I have to agree. All of the above being “sit-up-in-your-chair-and-stare-at-the-depths-of-human-depravity” sort of flicks. But still. Worth that watch. Re-saw bits of the final season of Sex and the City afterwards, just to get that gravely twang off my tongue.

So all in all its been a chaotic yet productive weekend… with stress on the productive and well…also on the chaotic… more when it happens!

Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrgggh!

2006-10-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Ok so I’m at the office, just sitting here as I have for the past two hours wondering what I’m going to do with myself this coming weekend. I haven’t the foggiest, really! So I’ve made a few calls, planted a few suggestions and now all I can do is merely wait for the dark forces to do my bidding! This week’s been quite trying really…got home on Monday and despite my best attempts to try to make unwilling legs go jog (I must admit I was hugely unsuccessful.. my legs seems to have more of a mind of their own than my mind) finally wound up jumping up and down my empty..(albeit newly painted!) house to music on my mp3 player…(Does 30 minutes of free-style ass-wiggling sub for 5 rounds of the park? Its certainly more fun!) My stuff (all 61 cartons of it…61 CARTONS people!!) is supposed to get in either this evening or by tomorrow and I am decidedly NOT looking forward to the whole unpacking-the-whole-house-on-my-ownsome-lonesome process…but I guess somebody’s gotta do it and it might as well be me!

Well anyways, as with all new places I’m still getting a feel of Bangalore. What I really want to do tonight is probably go to some nice new place..(..that pretty much covers 95% of the city considering all places here will be new to me!) and get me a nice draught and chill by the bar watching the world go by or maybe just the Bangalore bits of the world!. Just chill. Not too much to ask if I do say so myself!

The other thing though is that I’ve discovered me a new game.. F.E.A.R.! The meanest, leanest PC game that makes you shit in your pants every time you turn a proverbial corner! Man this game kicks ass! And on my super-duper souped up little Core 2 Duo with its awesome 26 fucking inch monitor this baby is violent to the point of actually feeling phantom spurts of blood on your face when you slaughter an enemy soldier! Really! I can’t sleep at night from wanting to play some more and yet am so spooked out while playing it I have to use one earphone so I don’t do a little dance to the phenomenal sound effects! Awesome!

One thing’s for sure is that I’m definitely going for the sushi brunch at the Leela Palace this Sunday. A gurl needs some “shee-shee foo-foo” in her life after all! So there!

Re-emergence!

2006-09-20T04:03:00.000-07:00

You never know how much crap you have until you have to move. Seriously. I must have thrown out and recycled half my apartment. Drawers of clothes, gone. Stacks of magazines, gone. Piles of wires and cables, set aside to be given away or just trashed. Furniture pieces, sold or given away. It’s an incredibly liberating process, but it also pains me to see some of these things disappear. I’m such a packrat when it comes to these things; I love keeping old memorabilia, storing favorite issues of magazines, etc. I guess I’m just a nostalgia junkie really…

The hard part is just trying to juggle several moving procedures at once. Sure there’s the whole cleaning out and packing part (most of which was covered last week), but there’s also the address change coordination, the change of utilities, the returning of the apartment keys, the haggling over rent rates with the new landlord, the arrangement of a moving truck (..I’ve just never been so grateful to have a Varsha-best friend in my life!), etc etc. It’s just an “ohmyfriggingod how am i going to get all this done” situation in my head. And the expense! If I'd known that moving would cost so damn friggin much I might have just stayed put! Seriously! Broke and disoriented ain't a pretty combo! Not to mention that work has just gotten insanely crazy recently. This last week has been one of the busiest weeks I’ve ever experienced in the workplace. And this coming week looks to be twice as busy. So combine moving craziness with workplace insanity and you can see why I’m super-stressed out right now. I must’ve had like two mini nervous breakdowns that Varsha has had to nurse me through just this past week. I swear I don’t know how she puts up with me.

The only consolation I have is that it’ll all finally be done this coming Sunday. That’s right, by this time two weeks from now (..takes a week to truck stuff between Delhi and Bangalore), I’ll have a new home. With a pool & nice neighbors. And my washing machine finally set up. It’s all for the best.

Also on a happier note I did manage a short tryst with the boyfriend and mum lands up this coming weekend to spend some quality timne with me. So the weekend looks like it'll be fun...

That’s if I manage to survive this week.

Bindaas in Bangalore

2006-08-17T03:52:00.000-07:00

Well I’m finally off. I fly out of Delhi tomorrow evening. After weeks.. no…months of debate the choices have been made and the tickets finally booked. Of course work being the way it is has left me with no time to update this here blog so I must blatantly plagiarize blog material from the ever-effervescent “Priya”. Presented here is this e-mail she sent about her recent run-in with an undesired element of urban America. Have fun reading…I know I did!

Poochie and her "very very dark" adventure...as forwarded to me!

Hi - how are you doing. I had a very exciting run in the other day - with a mugger. Didn’t want to talk on the office phone about it as I have been going on and on about it and am sure everyone is fed up of it.. so here goes.

I was walking back home after seeing a play at around 11 at night. The metro station was 15 mins from the house and I was alone, as Rama had gone out for dinner and I decided to check out a play. But I was on the phone to Rama when suddenly I hear this voice saying Give me your Cell Phone. And felt something in my back. So - and Rama is hearing all this on her side of the conversation - I said… What? Are u mad? So he said I have a gun, give me yr phone. Now it didn’t feel like a gun at all (be proud of me. I know a gun when I see one! ) so he said I am telling u its a gun and I apparently (Rama told me this later, I don’t recall) told him that why are you lying to me. Its not a gun and I am not giving you the phone (it was not my phone actually. I had borrowed my friend's US mobile and so...)

He - was a youngish guy, 18-19 years, black - kept insisting I cut my conversation so I told Rama on the phone that look… this guy says he has a gun so why don’t u call the police and tell them this.. and then I walked faster and pretended I was talking to a guy and said Steve come out of the house. I am turning into our lane and this guy is stalking me.. call the cops and come out. And I turned into the first lane I saw and ran. After which I lost him and called Rama again and told her that it ok he is gone but then I was lost and didn’t know where our house is (We were staying in this empty apartment that belongs to Rama's ex boss from Delhi and its actually empty with just our beds in the basement so she didn’t know who to call)

Then luckily, I saw a car coming so I flagged it down and it was a youngish guy - called Scot in his late thirties and I told him pl help me there is this guy chasing me.. He immediately said get into my car. And he called the cops and we drove around and saw the guy again. So we chased him in the car and he ran into this yard where this woman was walking her dog if you please with a wine glass in her hand. And he mumbled something to her too about a CD player and scared her so she jumped into our car too but we lost him after that. Then the cops came - 4 squad cars, within minutes. And this woman was more hysterical than me so they kept looking at me at this picture of stoic and calm. And then they made me go back to where the incident had occurred - I totally confused them with directions - but they were totally patient and treating me like some special victim, like are you ok? Can u talk... etc.

Then the district detective drove me home and said he wanted to take my statement so I called him into the house and he saw this empty house and was wondering what we were doing there -- he wanted a table to write on and there was no table so we took him to the kitchen counter! Then he said I am sorry this happened in our country so I said no - its better here than in India. There the cops would have blamed the victim, like why are u walking so late, why are u dressed like this etc (For the record I was decently attired) then he told me that in a way its good u didn’t give him the phone as he wanted to cut yr connection with the outside world before he did anything - or asked for money and other stuff.. The streets were all deserted.

And this is funny - he told us that it’s good to run, as they never chase as apparently they wear baggy shorts, which fall to their knees when they run so they cannot run. I thought he was joking but I told this other black woman this and she said that’s right.
So, that’s a tip!

Then he wanted my contact numbers so I said after next week I am in Delhi and said - the area code is 91 so u dial, 91-112643.. And he groaned as the police code is also 911 in the US and he said u have no idea how many Indians call the cop station thinking they are dialing some family in India.

And I wanted to tell him the guy is Black but forgot the politically correct word (negro/nigger/black), got confused and they are so careful out there, so I told him, the mugger was dark. So he said ok. Dark. Then I said no very dark.. He said ok very dark then I said, as in very-very dark??? So he laughed and said, as in black?!

So that's my story.

Singing in the rain...

2006-07-12T03:37:00.000-07:00

The monsoon has finally hit this city! Such a relief from the heat and humidity of the past week, really. It’s the most gorgeous day outside and as a bonus..(self-awarded, of course!) Ranjan and I decided we’d go have chai and pakodas at the market for lunch. So here I am post, two cuttings of chai and three plates of mixed piping hot bhaji’s, in my office again all ready for a little snooze.. (imaginary, of course!) . Reminded me of college when we used to sit under this massive peepal tree at the workshop and order garam samosa-paos and cutting chai’s to an endless stream of shared ciggis. Aaaaahh the good old days! We even had this white statue that used to be black in the rains from being covered with snails trying to escape the puddles! A chai now is 6 bucks a cutting, a far cry from the buck I used to pay in college..(gawd... I sound like my grandfather, who claimed that while he was growing up, he could fill both his trouser pockets with 10 paisa worth of peanuts!). But all in all, it was lovely to get out and walk around under the cloud cover and light showers. Viva le monsoon!

..another one bites the dust..

2006-07-07T01:47:00.000-07:00

What is it about men? Why are so many of them so wildly infuriating? Aaaaaaaaarrrrgh! Went to the gymkhana club last night.. was good… just the girls standing at our vantage point at the bar sipping our drinks and eating our sandwiches ..when we were approached by this guy and his best friend..(apparently they always hunt in packs..:P) ..this is snatches of the conversation that transpired..

Hunter : so why would you say so many women are single these days…
Varsha : we’re just getting more career oriented…
Hunter : ..and you Priya?
Pooch: Lack of men!
Hunter : ..and what about you Rush..(..another thing he insisted on was calling me rush cos another one of his friends, also a Rashmi, goes by the nick.. we Rushes tend to confirm apparently!)
Mee : Men...in general...especially the ones that ask stupid questions..
Hunter : ..why do you think so many people call you “rush”?
Mee : ..siiigh..i rest my case..

I mean…why do people call me rush? Hello!! ..he then went on to insist that he knew exactly what I wanted in a man, to elaborate on the philosophy of marriage, ask me out for coffee repeatedly..(..as if!!!!) and express MY views on the whole Delhi/Bombay which city is better in what aspect thingmibob to his friends with almost no encouragement from me whatsoever… all in the period of time that it took me to finish my glass of beer and run off to find someone...well...anyone else!

Luckily however, another one of my friends..(shall remain unnamed, of course) walked in sporting these huuuge hiccies that usually.(if not always) herald the arrival of a new man in her life! So the rest of the evening was spent with her cheerfully extolling the virtues of “grass-root” animal sex and romance at 40..(..vaguely familiar…I wonder why!) More power to you darling...go forth and copulate!(if that ain’t a commandment it sure as hell should be!)

Other than that everything seems to be well in place. Back at the office this morning taking a break from my coffee breaks to type this article so need to finish that mug before it gets too cold..

Back in business..

2006-07-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

I’m sad this morning...in a reverie. It’s like I‘ve had what feels like the opposite of a great dream…only just about… not quite a nightmare. By definition, since it is a subconscious sadness, one that has not been brought about by any actual circumstances, shouldn’t there be a pill for it? Maybe a mood elevator? Are those things available without a prescription? But in the absence of even the mere hint of laying my hands on anything that has even a slight resemblance to one of those I did the next best thing. I tried to remember just what it was I was dreaming about, so I could break it down. Nada. Zilch. I drew an absolute blank. All I remember is that I went to sleep happy and when I woke up...bam! ..there it was, like a bubble in my chest. So in my ongoing attempts to burst this stupid bubble I figured I’d write about the past few weeks, all the good times per say...

The past few weeks have been packed with activity... catching up with old friends, making new ones, London, Spain, working at max capacity (..it’s been a frenzied ten days since I got back!) and of course massive bouts of introspection. One of my favorites was the meeting of long lost buddies. Over the past few months its been such fun receiving and sending e-mails from and to my school friends who I haven’t met since ..well... school! Duh! I met up with Aparna and Dilnaz at Indigo last month and of course caught up with the ever-elusive Anu in London. Also, I found out that Farida and Rudraksha are in Mumbai so hopefully should be able to catch up with them on my next visit. So much has changed and yet so much feels so familiar…

My holiday in Europe was also absolutely rocking! It was mostly food (..dim sum, sushi, frankfurters, pate, steaks, waffles.. oh I could go on..), alcohol (..mostly beer and wine), shopping (mostly window.. limited budgets suck!!) and barring a few run-ins with the law (..which, by the way, were also fun.. heehee) just the chill out I was looking forward to. The pictures are pretty self-explanatory really. I did, however, spend waaaay too much time and money in HMV. Brought back a grand total of 30 DVD’s and 24 CD’s!! Shameful! I ish a bad gurl.. I ish, I ish! Did manage to catch the theatre production of Footloose though as part of my cultural exploration of London..(..damn those yogurt breaks!! Brilliant! An absolute must-see!) and do one of those bus tours of Barcelona which included a tour of the Football Club. The hotel in Barcelona was something else. We stayed at the Barcelo Golf Resort, a four star property about a 25 minute drive from the heart of the city. 5 days of absolute luxury (..in one word.. ”bath tub” ..or is that two?) Did manage to extend my trip by 3 days and also saw lots of in-flight movies..(I just can’t seem to sleep on flights). Next time I’m going to make it a six week saga...ok my optimism’s certainly back!

Well other than that, work’s been frenzied since I got back...which is a good thing really cos it gives me less time to miss my ex-boss! The most effervescent Shalz quit last month so now its just me, all alone in an all too big cabin to silence..(..she was the official cabin DJ..) I miss her!

On a brighter note it’s the beginning of the weekend and there’s a whole lot of birthdays coming up this coming week.. tonight is Poochie’s big birthday bash. She turns 28 this year..(..although she doesn’t look a day older than 25! Do I get more cake?) Also it’s best-friend-in-good-standing Varsha’s big day on the 4th and Tarun’s on the 6th. Have to still figure out birthday gifts so the cash crunch promises to persevere for a while..( where’s that salary when you need it???)

Also managed to make a list of all My Movies over the weekend.. will my list of lists never end!!

Also here’s some stuff I’ve done after I got back..
……dinner at Shal’s on Tuesday.
……met up with Sam and Ritz on Saturday night.
……landed up at Pooch’s office..(..they’re just slave drivers down at India Today) at 12 on Wednesday to bring in her birthday.
……met up with Ramesh & Tarun.
……revisited the Gymkhana Club on Thursday and then Ricks, where we managed to put the first bump in Varsha’s CRV. Am on self-imposed guilt trip about that. Hmmmm... maybe that’s part of the downer..
……saw about 7 of the aforementioned DVD’s.
……rescheduled my next trip to Mumbai to the 14th of this month so really looking forward to that.

And I don’t know how it worked but I’m just feeling so much better after writing this article! Completely therapeutic this blog thing, really! I guess this means I need to get back to work.. siiiiiiiiiighh!

More when it happens people..:D

Dial up blues!

2006-06-09T05:03:00.000-07:00

Been trying to get this post on for quite a bit and this connection reaaaalllllly suxx but here's attempt number 5...hopefully will stay connected long enough to upload a few pics this time!

K...thats all i have time for now...but will upload the rest tonight. Hope you guys are all missing me...cos i'm waaay too busy having fun to miss you! NAAAAH...just kiddin!

...hoo meee?

2006-05-04T03:04:00.000-07:00

You Are Most Like Miranda!

While you've had your fair share of romance, men don't come first
Guys are a distant third to your friends and career.
And this independence *is* attractive to some men, in measured doses.
Remember that if you imagine the best outcome, it might just happen.

Romantic prediction: Someone from your past is waiting to reconnect...

But you'll have to think of him differently, if you want things to work.

Which Sex and the City Vixen Are You?

2006-04-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

Discovered this online cartoon strip generator today (..thanks to Sid!) and this is what i came up with! Try it ...it's tons of fun!

...and a classic!

2006-04-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

And of course this one's a classic "rush-nish"!!! Will have to now scrounge through msn archives and come up with more gems just like it!!! Muuuuuuahhh Nishu-pishu!!! Ah loves ya babe!!!!!

...and another one!

2006-04-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

So shals and me had this whole discussion about how I’m still a fat gurl in my head..( can you ever be too rich or too skinny??!!??) and the way I figure it ..its better to dress two sizes bigger than two sizes smaller!

I agree!

toon-o-rama!

2006-04-20T03:33:00.000-07:00

So I’ve decided to start a new feature on the blog…the 60 second cartoon strip. The first of which is uploaded here for the general public. This of course is in the wake of my recently resurged urge to quit!

Enjai Pholks!

eeee-haw!

2006-03-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

Also managed to better my own time on the Expert Level of Minesweeper today! Thought i'd save a screen shot! Wardhan & Doc... read em and weep...!

...and why is this important you might ask? hmmmm...will let you guys know when i figure it out!

Toodeloo!

Happy "Blog-day" to Me!!

2006-03-14T03:56:00.000-08:00

It's a beautiful day! Been raining all am…cloudy…drive-out-of-town-weather! Also, today marks the first anniversary of the start of my blog (and my hundred and ninety-fifth blog entry). It's been a fun year. Fabulous Nish-Pish, of course deserves all the credit for introducing me to the “Wide World of Blogging”…so thanks baby! It's been a blast. Hope I can keep this up!

Have fun peoples!

Kia!

2006-03-13T04:56:00.000-08:00

Was also e-mailed the cutest picture of my god-daughter today! Isn't she a doll!!!!!

4get it my fren!

2006-03-13T03:19:00.000-08:00

I just don’t get it…I really don’t. Got a message from an strange number a few weeks ago. When I sms’ed back asking who it was this is the message I got…

"Wel u don no me ths ws just a humbl propsal of frndshp frm my side. (...right or left??!!??) aur raha sawal mein kaun hun ..b my frn n u ll no tht"

What the fuck??!!?? Anyways, when I didn’t respond I was flooded with a barrage of equally infuriating sms’s wanting to be “frens”! Finally, since he didn't pick up the phone when i called off my number, I had Shalini call the man..(turns out hes a student at some local school/college…the things these kids are up to these day!) and threaten to call the cops on him. Needless to say the poor boy stopped messaging!

But my rant for the day is why can’t we spell out words anymore? How hard can it be people? That’s what the T9 is there for! And there’s even a site that translates the Queen’s English into “sms friendly” garble! Haalp! It’s not like we Indians didn’t manage to mangle the language ourselves anyways without interactive tools to help the process! Aaaarrrrrgggh!

The good thing though is I’ve started exercising again. Been two days of 40 mins of cardio and a week of crunches, butt presses and other incongruities. Have the mother of all body aches today.. almost enough to keep me in bed! But as they say, “No pain. No gain”…or as in this case…loss, so shall keep at it, hopefully, for a bit!

More when it happens!

Another Memememee!

2006-03-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Monday Meme 36 : 2006-01-23 : List Three 2

1. List 3 things you see when you look to your left:
Shalini, newspapers & pin-ups of abhishek, rampal and john abraham!

2. List 3 things you see when you look to your right:
My handbag, my phone and my weekly planner.

3. List the last 3 places you ate out at:
The Delhi Gymkhana, Nothing Authentic & The Macchan.

4. List the last 3 things you bought:
wow...lemme see.. errrr.. shoes, handbags and time!!!

5. List the last 3 songs you listened to:
If You Like Pina Coladas - Rupert Holmes, Say na say na - Bluffmaster, Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom.

I was the 577th person to take this week's Monday Meme!

Fox-pox

2006-02-15T04:58:00.000-08:00

Conversation at the club

Guy I met at the Gymkhana Club : ..and my ex-wife flew with BA. She left me ten years ago..
Me : Awwww.. that’s sad
Guy : I was seeing this other woman for a while after that.
Me : That’s nice…
Guy : ..yea. She flew with Lufthansa..
Me : Aaahh…so you switched carriers!
Guy : …errr..huh?
Me : …mumble mumble…I think I see someone I know…buh-bye now…!

But it WAS phunny, what say?

Another Movie Review..Rang De Basanti

2006-02-11T02:03:00.000-08:00

Ok..finally got a chance to go see Rang De Basanti and I can honestly say it was brilliant! One of the best made Hindi movies yet. The acting was superb, the cuts were clean, the dialogues authentic and disarming and sooooo much eye-candy! And the direction was liberating! It’s nice to see a movie that has such a larger-than-life feel and yet touches you with its simplicity. Ok…enough of me sounding like a textbook! Aamir, as usual, has done a brilliant job…but since we’ve come to expect that of him anyways I guess its par for course! The newcomers though (..at least I haven’t seen them before..) have completely stolen the show. Siddharth and Kunal have both done exceptionally well as mutinous anti-establishmentarians. The plots quite interesting and there’s really never a dull moment. It draws parallels between the revolutionary youth of pre-independence India and their contemporary counterparts and does it with élan!

The first half was hilarious and completely had me in splits. The second half of course, gets heavier and while I wouldn’t call it a patriotic flick (..not in the traditional sense of the word… this is NOT the story of a man who builds a hydro-electricity plant single handedly out of thin air!!!) it does inspire some jingoistic introspection. The climax could have been a tad more subtle…but in a way, I guess it had to be thunderous. It’s a story of the energy and spirit of youth and its channeling… and it had to be based in Delhi, known more for its fervour and political high ground than the more temperate south. Another brilliant addition to the already rocking star cast was Atul Kulkarni as Laxman and frankly I kinda thought even Sharman Joshi didn’t do too badly..(..guilty as charged !! ;))

The women had pivotal roles but were side tracked towards the end of the movie… probably the one aspect I would like to see changed. Soha delivered quite a performance as did Alice Patten (her English accented hindi was too cute!).

But all in all it was awesome to see Hindi cinema come of age. Good to see a movie where the plot and story is more important that it’s one “superstar” element and most of all nice to see the kissing scenes smoothly incorporated into the flow as opposed to those superficial lip-locks of the Neal’n’Nikki fame! Seventeen thumbs up!!!

Partied out!

2006-01-28T03:46:00.000-08:00

This weeks been hectic with me working through public holidays and possibly even this sunday...but can't say i'm complaining about the extra moolahs so i guess.. its all good?!?

Had a blast at Varun's (my fabulouso baby visiting us from dubai for his b'day!) birthday party last night which, in the fine tradition of all his parties, turned into a drunken orgy of sorts with people eventually piled all on top of each other! Always the mark of a great party, i say! Missed ritz like a bitch as usual.

Here are some of the pics we took last night...more when it happens!

..Mambo Jumbo!

2006-01-13T00:18:00.000-08:00

So the last few working days have largely been spent learning hip-gyrations ala Rakhi Sawant to disreputably iniquitous Hindi gaanas! God help me…I’m completely hipped out! Finally, after hours of grueling practice, have managed to drag my ravaged self to my desk for a quickie round of “I-did-not-just-spend-my-entire-morning-doing-THAT!” self-remorse! This sucks people! Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhh!

Ok now that that’s done I can move on to other more pleasing past-times that I’ve indulged in over the past what…weeks it’s been? My trip to Bombay was completely and utterly splendid! Met up with Nish-pish & husband in good standing, Vikram, Sunila, Dilnaz, Ramesh, Suman, Ritzi, Kunal, the entire KoppiKarKlan (Heehee..rude reference totally intended dude!!!!) and a whole assortment of mamas, mamis, pacchis, bappas and other kin!

It was all good! Had a really sweet lunch with mommy dearest at Royal China ( VickedVarsha even got her to do a bottom’s up with her Bloody Mary! …aren’t we getting kooky in our old age!), copious quantities of crab at Mahesh, amorous amounts of alcohol at The Salt Water Grill, Vie, Enigma, the Piano Bar, Bombay Gymkhana, Temptations, Olive and finally at Raheja Classique, Riti and Kunal’s new apartment! Love you guys! Was soo awesome meeting Kunal in his element for a change as opposed to his prim Delhi self!

On a sad note though had to replace the traditional Indigo brunch with it’s Bandra counterpart at Olive so that kinda put a damper on things but the “Tamarind Bloody Mary’s” did help in the drowning of erstwhile sorrows! And of course faux meetings at non-existent coffee shops must also be added to the list of lows! Finally got back on Sunday after a verrry self-indulgent power-party weekend!

Have been pretty mucho tied up with work since then..(..by which I’m referring once again to the aforementioned gyrating-hip phenomenon, of course!) Did watch a few movies over this week. Varsha’s spending the week at my place in lieu of her house being overhauled so we’re pretty set on going through her exhaustive new collection of DVD’s she’s bought on her recent trip to Bangkok! So far we’ve seen The Wedding Crashers (..funny in bits! Vince Vaughn is really good.) and Mean Girls (..teen chick-flick..not a patch on Clueless)

Also in up-coming events is Reema’s too-wicked-too-be-true “Leather & Lace” Anniversary Bash! I’m actually quite excited about this one seeing as I missed her last do, which I never quite heard the end of! The theme then was “Pimps and Whores”!! Whatever will they come up with next??? Anyways have managed to squeeze said hips into this gorgeous pair of red leather trousers ( Nish-pish you rock baby!!) and shall sashay as and when required! Yay!

Anyhow that’s all for now folks! More when it happens!

ack ack!!

2006-01-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

Aaaaahsoooooo the drinking is done and its finally resolution time! It’s always such a biiiaaatch coming up with resolutions that I can stick with... so when I discovered a resolution generator I thanked all my 17 gods (including the god of the foreboding hangovers!) and promptly resolved to put the url in my Favorites and keep coming back every year. This it what it came up with for me!

In the year 2006 I resolve to:

Wear my underwear outside my pants.

Get your resolution here

Talk about finding good advice in the most unlikeliest of places!! So this year folks, I’m going to pull up my underwear (read as socks!) and try and be more adventurous. Amen!

Happy New Year people!

2005-12-31T05:38:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie post to wish you guys a verrry verry happy new year! It's been ages since i updated but there's just been so much going on i've hardly had any time. Will get to it as soon as i've recovered from tonight so watch this space. tah taaahh!

Par-tehh!

2005-12-23T06:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a pic of the girls!

Radi, Nomita, Meenu Varsha et your's truly!

Cover yer Stump!!!

2005-12-22T05:11:00.000-08:00

Recently I was asked which one of my designs I liked best. The truth is I really don't know. There's just so many to choose from and each of every one of them is personal in its own little way...siiigh! Don't I just sound so soppy! But Harsh..(he's the one who asked the question !!..duh!!) already knew which one he liked. It's a little mascot I designed for an online comdom company..here's the little fella! Whoever thought a condom couldn't be "cutified" can just swallow ..err...shove it! I thought I did a pretty good job...didja notice the little red veins I built into his eye?

Enjai!

My take on the "one eyed monster" Not so scary now is he???

Happy Happy!

2005-12-19T03:07:00.000-08:00

..Damn I'm slipping! Met a really adorable baby this weekend with the cutest little pigtails and dimples! And now I want to have babies!!! (..it’s the MondayMorning BabyBeckonings! Haaaallp!!!) I know my time is running out (...you see, I want to have them while my parents are still young enough to take care of them…) and there’s still no potential Daddy in sight! And even though I’m not quite sure I want to be married I guess it’ll be nice if I could find that one special person I want to annoy for the rest of my life, no?

And of course, speaking of marriage, it was Fabulous Nish-pish’s 5th Wedding Anniversary yesterday! Congratulations baby! Another milestone! Here’s wishing you many many more to come! Love you to pieces…Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaahh!

Euro English

2005-12-16T22:28:00.000-08:00

Awesome mail sent by Fabulous Coohzhin Nish the Pish!

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded thatEnglish spelling had some room for improvement and has accepteda 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English."

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c," Sertainly, this will makethe sivil servants jump with joy.

The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k." This should klear upkonfusion and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when thetroublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f." This will make words likefotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expektedto reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which havealways ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag isdisgrasful and it should go away.By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th"with "z" and "w" with "v."

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining"ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

De-flowered!

2005-12-15T05:02:00.000-08:00

Bought myself two new jackets yesterday, a grey trench and a fawn suede thigh length overcoat. And I went shopping on my lonesome-ownsome! Ain't that something! That's a first really! Can you believe it...I mean I've shopped alone before but always for birthday gifts or household supplies.. this one's a first for clothes!

Yippeeee!

Of Push-ups & Let-downs..

2005-12-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

I’m in a somber mood this morning. It has nothing to do with the day so far (my boss gets back from her week-long interlude on the fair, sandy beaches of Koh Samui this morning and that’s sooooo great! I’ve missed the daylights out of her!!!) or last night..(..which was incidentally, spent watching Neal’n’Nikki, the flick from hell!) ..but more to do with a call I got this morning. It was from my ex mother-in-law (The prefix does apply to the entire family right??) She’d called about some keys she wanted back or some thing equally mundane so to speak but it was rather unsettling. Got me thinking about how relationships change. Here was this woman who once swore I was the daughter she never had and there we were making small talk about the weather and things. I guess that’s how these things work out. Hey if you marry the whole family when you marry the man it’s only fair that you have a “collective” divorce as well right? Not that I’m soppy or anything, but it’s just sad that relationships you spend so much time and effort developing must depend on intermediating factors completely out of your control! Siiiigh! C’est la vie people..

On a chirpier note I’ve borrowed Friends Season 2, which is such a pleasure to re-see! I mean they’re all younger and fresher looking and that’s the Chandler I absolutely adore..(..not Matthew Perry detoxing from his tryst with alcohol/drug abuse!!) Also I’d write a review of Neal’n’Nikki but frankly it’s not even worth a mention..(..although the lead couple has matching his and hers stretch marks and Uday Chopra has gone absolutely ballistic with the foundation and Tanisha needs to hone her acting skills a little past losing weight and attaining new heights in the variable usage of a push-up bra and …shit!! Stop it Rush!!!!) ..and as I was saying earlier, it’s not even worth mentioning. Heeheheehee!

So that’s all for today folks! Papa Bear Tarun’s coming over for din din this evening so more when it happens..

Another Most Excellent Review.

2005-12-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

I know. I know! I haven’t been updating the blog and I’m not going to get into the whole why-I-didn’t (long time readers will empathize with the me not having the time to do crap all in the recent weeks but I won’t get into that!!) but instead shall type loong article in effort to redeem myself. It’s been a hectic ten days. Ramesh came down to Delhi over the weekend of the 3rd and Deso and Carbon had a birthday and then Aadu decided to visit over the last weekend. And I say weekend under duress really, cos frankly my weekend’s just a Sunday.. all of one day…which in my case in mostly spent sprawled in bed recovering from the ravaging effects of celebrating the fact that it’s the weekend, which as you know, in my case is just a day! Ahhh the complexities of life!

On a brighter note work’s going well. Riti’s been in town for over a week now so its been nice catching up with her. Didn’t get to spend much time with Ramesh during his trip this time but I guess we’ll just catch up some other time. Oh and finally decided that I’m going to be spending New Year in Delhi this year. Unless of course we decide to drive down to Mussoorie which seems to be the only plan that looks even halfway close to coming together.

Also been meaning to post the review of this really disastrous movie I happened to catch sometime last week, ‘Ek Khiladi, Ek Haseena” so here it is..

The movie begins with a very stiff faced Fardeen Khan talking to his soon-to-be-assailant. “Shoot me” he says and as anybody in his or her right mind would, the unknown mystery person does! This is where the movie should have ended or at least where I should have changed channels! But alas the flesh was weak and the blog-review-writing urges had their evil way with me!

So post one slutty number which doubles as the titles the movie then backtracks to show the chain of events that led to the shooting. Fardeen and Rohit Roy are friends who make their money pulling con jobs. After one (rather unbelievable) such job and a quick song Rohit Roy ends up murdered cos unbeknownst to the dynamic duo they’ve ended up robbing Sikander, a villainous don played by our very own Gulshan Grover! Anyways Fardeen must now get 4 lakhs to Sikander in 10 days in order to save his arse..(..the three minutes of the song was when our heroes spent all the money they made out of their little heist)

Ok here’s where Kay Kay Menon makes an entry. He is by far the only value addition the movie has to offer. And by that I mean he is the comic relief, by far the best actor and the only character with any soul. He plays Sikander’s right hand man who is to accompany Fardeen and make sure the money gets home to papa!

But sadly even Kay Kay couldn’t possibly have guesstimated the damage one Koena Mitra could do to this bomb! Mommy, isn’t she too young for botox? Then why doesn’t she have any facial expressions?? She plays a shrink ( the only way I could possibly co-relate the two would be shrink – shrunk – her clothes!!!) who meets Fardeen and his merry gang o thieves as they attempt to collect money at a gambling den. After some more song and dance bits and petty crimes later we find Fardeen and our psychiatrist in a lip lock in a rather environmentally friendly hotel room (…really!! Whoever thought green satin sheets were sexy huh?)

Koena throwing Fardeen her best "Come Hither" look!

So after some more tomfoolery Fardeen now has to use his superfine criminal mind to pull off another heist. This time its 25 crores in 25 days. This is where Feroz Khan steps in. He’s the one they have to hit. What follows is a mish mash of really sordid events that overlap, criss-cross and generally get all knotted up and end with Koena shooting Fardeen with blanks and our heroes walking off with the loot. And me sitting there screaming “OhMyGawdDidIReallySitThorughThisGreatBigStinkingPieceOfShitBomb!”

There’s even one scene where father and son find themselves in an elevator with Anupama Verma where Feroz Khan leans into her takes a deep breath and says, get this..”I love the scent of a woman” …and then hurriedly adds..”Channel?” WTF??

But seriously even all the really bad director’s cuts aside, this is a crappy movie. It turns out the whole band of brigands was putting on an act for Kay Kay’s benefit which leads to the question “Then why were they acting even when he wasn’t around?” And the whole movie lacks soul. The lead actor, no matter how dastardly his deeds needs to have an empathetic audience. That what makes him the hero. That’s what made Satya such a fine movie. That’s what Snatch and Lock Stock and The Italian Job did. Judging by what I saw I don’t quite think Feroz Khan will be even skirting that territory anytime soon..

All in all this film tries to be thrilling and unpredictable and ends up failing spectacularly! My question is the same one that Kay Kay ends up asking after he is forced at some junture of the film to listen to a story about a man and a lion…"Tera point kya hai?"

Still Singing...

2005-12-12T02:42:00.000-08:00

More songs that remind me of people…

After that last article I wrote I took it upon myself to make a list of more songs and who they remind me of. Here’s what I came up with.

Varsha One more song like she very kindly pointed out on the last blog entry. Shakira - Wherever, whenever.

Shalini Bombay Rockers - Rock the Party & Neal’n’Nikki.

Neela Enrique Iglesias - Escape & Beautiful South - Perfect Ten.

Ganesh O O Jaane Jaana from “Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya”. Actually this song also reminds me of Abhishek cos of the amount of times we played it on Holi, 1997…was it?

Ajju Pearl Jam - Better Man & that Govinda number “Goriya Chura Na Mera Jiiya”. He had the Govinda double-hair-flick-hip-grind move perfected!

Megha Gulzaar - Mera Kuch Saaman. My introduction to his songs and poetry.

Malika Kylie Minogue - Can’t get you out of my Head & Imagination - Just an Illusion. For all those amazing times at RPM.

Priya Kale Please Forgive me - Bryan Adams…I know its psychotic cos I haven’t met her in like a gazzilion years but I think of her every time I hear this one…and I can’t for the life of me remember why!!!!!

Sandy Dabral We Will Rock You - Queen. His darling kids used to sing along with it and didn’t know the lyrics. “We will we will wakoan!”

And finally….

Ramesh Still N-Sync. Cos he called me in the middle of the night and threatened me with bloody murder after he read the last blog article!!! I think his exact words were..."Take the offending article off or I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and fury!!" or something equally intimidating..(Can't remember now it was late and i was tired!!!) Hehehehehhehe!
But to be fair to him there's also all of those millions of other songs he murders when he’s singing along with them that totally remind me of him!!!! Take Stone Temple Pilots for an instance or Pearl Jam or Metallica or Dire Straits or oh baby…I could go on and on and on!

That’s all for now peoples!

Also I’m tagging all of you guys with the Song Meme. You’ll be quite surprised by what you come up with really!

Hmmmm...

2005-12-10T05:53:00.000-08:00

Your Personality Profile

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant.
Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle.
You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs.

For you, comfort and calm are very important.
You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection.
You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Something to sing about!!!

2005-12-10T05:28:00.000-08:00

Here’s an interesting meme… it’s songs that remind me of people. I’m more of a smells person really…that is, I tend to remember smells more but songs I guess, run a close second on nostalgia value. So here goes…

Mom Chris Issac Wicked games….its not the lyrics but more the fact that I eventually got her the CD so she’d stop humming the damn song. Also Michael Bolton..(…no mom its not Christopher Bolton!!!) and this song from some inane old hindi flick that went..”Jeevan se na haar jeene wale..” that she used to sing us to sleep with. I still get that warm fuzzy feeling when I think about it!

Varsha One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head and the entire Grease 1 & 2 soundtracks! Also “Twist & Shout” from the Ferris Buller’s Day Off soundtrack! And also the Top Gun soundtrack! We’re playing with the boys now baby!!!!

Nish The Pretty woman soundtrack. Tangled & Fallen & Fame!!! Also Johnny Hates Jazz Shattered Dreams. Also every new “punju pop” number that we do our little “DumbInDelhi” bump and grind to!

Riti Woh Lamhe & Superstar. Cos they were and she certainly is!

Anu Sinead O’corner – you made me the thief of your heart. Phati hui maruti, phata hua system, lassi’s and heartbreak. And of course Annie Lennox & Bjork! Love you woman!!!!!

Siddu It’d have to be the entire Mr big Bump Ahead album. Also the best of police. I think it was the fact that it was playing in the background the first time we made out! Also Winger - Seventeen and of course the Colour Blind album…you rock!!

Tarun Gun’n’Roses - Sweet Child of Mine & Bryan Adams - Summer of 69! Love you Papa Bear!

Nirav Gadzooks! The list is endless! Every bloody song we ever heard together in college!!! But if I had to pick two they would be Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd & Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits!

Dhiren & Rohit Stone Temple Pilots, Oasis, Pearl Jam!

The Scandalous Seven Jim Morrison - Road House Blues & a song by some one hit wonder called “Life is a Highway” We danced our asses off to these one New Year’s eve!

Dad Art Company - Suzanna. Flinched his Walkman one time to listen to this song in school and boy he never let me forget it! Also Frank Sinatra - Strangers in the Night & I’ve Had the Time of my Life from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. And ofcourse his ‘piece de résistance’ “Bindu re Bindu” from Padosan !!!

Milind The Club remix of that song from “Hero” starring Jackie Shroff. Milind used to be my steady dancing partner when I was married seeing how my ex refused to get on the dance floor! And “Return of the Mac”!

Ramesh Any song by N-Sync..cos he just luuuuuuuuuurrrrrves his boy-bands!!!! Hehehehehe!

Sunila John Denver - Country Road & Annie’s Song. And These Boots are made for Walking.

Also here’s the long awaited update on the job thingy. I’m staying…yea well I guess they just got so tired of hearing me threatening to leave that they upped and doubled my pay cheque! So now you guys are going to be hearing me rant and rave about my loooong working hours for some more time to come! Sorry Nishu-pishu but I did try my hardest to quit. They just made me an offer I couldn’t refuse!!

That’s all for now folks but there’s definitely more to come. I saw “Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena” on cable three nights ago and I’m literally itching to get that review up so watch this space for updates soon!

Breakdown..

2005-11-28T23:40:00.000-08:00

So I’ve spent a rather large chunk of this weekend catching up on my poetry reading. Some of my favorites include W. B. Yeats, Frost, Plath, Neruda (when I’m soppy) and Keats. I also recently picked up a book by Ondaatje called “Handwriting”. It’s admittedly a little difficult to get into..(..he’s just so tangential its hard to keep up on so many levels!) but a pleasure nonetheless. Every poem seems to show different aspects of the poet to different people. It’s a matter of perception I guess. Like art..

But to get to the point here’s the poem I liked best out of this week’s picking. Plath is outrageously vague most of the times but when she makes a point…I bloody well listen! Enjoy!

I Am Vertical

But I would rather be horizontal.
I am not a tree with my root in the soil
Sucking up minerals and motherly love
So that each March I may gleam into leaf,
Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed
Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted,
Unknowing I must soon unpetal.
Compared with me, a tree is immortal
And a flower-head not tall, but more startling,
And I want the one's longevity and the other's daring.

Tonight, in the infinitesimallight of the stars,
The trees and the flowers have been strewing their cool odors.
I walk among them, but none of them are noticing.
Sometimes I think that when I am sleeping
I must most perfectly resemble them--
Thoughts gone dim.
It is more natural to me, lying down.
Then the sky and I are in open conversation,
And I shall be useful when I lie down finally:
Then the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.

This is from the “Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath”, a book Pooch and Rama gave me last year. It still remains a source of unending joy! Love you!

Opera Oprah...What's there?

2005-11-25T00:45:00.000-08:00

Ok..so last night was a blast! Was Riti's brand new hubby, Kunal's birthday and boy did we celebrate! Was at this new place in GK2 called Opera (..which Ritz, in true Punju fashion, insisted on calling "Oprah", ...but well, as they say, "What's there?). Nice interiors, very wood and velvet and the food was to die for. A realllly well made shish tauk, batter fried fish with a nice tarty tartar sauce and these little melba toasties piled with mushrooms. There was also a very nice lamb kebab thingy that did the rounds. Must go there again. The DJ played retro and my feet still hurt from all that furious footwork! I've got some really cool pics which i'm going to upload at some point.. Also met up with Serious Sam after ages! Made a plan to catch up over the weekend. Really looking forward to it! Ritz was her usual "RockStar" self in a gorgeous gold corset and a verry well tailored black skirt! You rock sweetie!

Well anyways, it's almost the end of the week and I'm still in a major "dharm sankat" about the whole job scenario. Why must every decision be so painful? Maybe its just me! Oh well...more when it happens!

Happy Happy!

2005-11-23T03:37:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie wishing long lost bestest friend Anu and far away in banglore pal Arun a verry verrrry Happy Happy! May the day and the coming year bring you joy beyond measure and looooong and thunderous orgasms! hehehehhee! Muuuuaaaaaaahhh you guys! Have a blast!

Twiddle de doo dum!

2005-11-22T06:07:00.000-08:00

I’ve gone and taken the day off! Yesssiree I have! It is absolute heaven! I woke up at about 9 and actually forced myself to go back to sleep again! Aaaaah… the good life! I think people just completely underrate lazing around in bed. I came into office at about 3ish have so far played an hours worth of “Big Kahuna Reef”, sent a few cards, bill books and other paraphernalia in for print and (..this was the hardest!) figured out where I’m dining tonight! Now that is, by the toughest standards, a productive day! Also spoke to Nirav last night. Had this silly song in my head that was bothering the shit out of me…thanks baby…so I’ve also managed to download it thanks to Ni’s exhaustive research! So that’s all for now.

Buh bye pholks!

D-Day!

2005-11-21T04:01:00.000-08:00

So it’s the start of yet another hectic week that I’m totally not looking forward to! I want to desperately go back to the lazy days of three months ago when I could take days off to spend time watching the imperceptible yet undoubted aging of my wall paint…Siiiigh! Seems a distant dream…a bittersweet memory even. But seriously, I’m on tender hooks. This hectic schedule just doesn’t fit in with my tender Libran sensibilities. I’m going to wait out this week and then just reassess the situation. I’ve had no time to paint, to write..(this blog may be good for random readings but serious literature it just ain’t!!) ..hell I’ve had no time to scratch my arse! I’m giving myself pedicures…cos the damn parlour is shut by the time I get there! There has to be an end to such hardship! So the countdown begins now. Hopefully by the end of this week I’ll be back to being the carefree whimsical lovable..(optimistic??) nut I was!

But on a brighter note, yesterday was spent basking in the warm sunlight, sipping cold beer, watching gorgeous men on gorgeous animals chase a ball! Went to the finals of the Polo matches yesterday and boy was there some eye candy or what! Ok so it was marred by the occasional spurts of work..(..my company sponsored the event!) but lovely nonetheless! Saturday night saw us revisiting the “Hookah” Bar and strangely enough Djinns! The last time I was there was when I’d first moved to Delhi 4 years ago..(and neels can attest to some mighty strange adventures indeed)…but that’s another story for another blog!!

Well it’s back to the old grind now so I guess this is it. More when it happens…

Me me me me

2005-11-20T22:57:00.000-08:00

Monday Meme 26 : 2005-11-14 : Survivor

1. List 5 people you'd want with you if you were stranded on a deserted island:
Hmmm..lemme see.. colin farrell...that gorgeous man i met yesterday with the massive forearms... Sting.. Nish & Varsha (..on the condition that i don't have to share the men...hehehhe)

2. What 4 cds would you want with you (supposing you had a boom box)?
Since i don't need my Sting Cd's i guess it'd have to be Lennox, Bjork, and two cds of mp3s.

3. What 3 survival items would you want to bring?
My zippo, my swissknife and my pedicure kit.

4. What 2 food/beverage items would you miss the most?
The fondue at Diva and the excellent dimsum brunch at taipan.

5. What is the 1 thing you'd miss the least?
Routine!!!!

I was the 395th person to take this week's Monday Meme!

Dancing shoes!

2005-11-19T03:11:00.000-08:00

Feel the need to let my hair down tonight! Am trying to get the riffraff together! Cheers!

Am I?

2005-11-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

There are some points in life when you need to sit back and re-evaluate your choices. I mean…that may sound like a line from one of those self-help books I’m always making fun of, but it ain’t! It’s just that over the past few weeks, maybe even months! I’ve been thinking about my life and its course and whether I’ve made the right decisions. So here’s how it is...

I’ve been skirting the issue for a while now and I guess I needed to get my act together. I’ve been so besotted with over simplifying my life that I forgot that it’s just no fun that way! I think I’m finally ready for complications…I think I may even be craving some! Secondly (And trust me this is one of the hardest things to admit!) I’m missing a family. A bunch of people, kinks and all that I can fight and squabble and be crazy with and who’ll love me anyways! I’ve been too wild for too long..(in the most puritan sense of the word there is!) and its time for me to get sorted out. Also its been ages since I made a list so I need to get to it!

Here’s my game plan.

1) Sleep 8 hours a day
2) Exercise! (..this bit I’ve figured out!)
3) Party only three night of the week. (I’d make it two but hell! A girl’s got to live a little!)
4) Be open…to possibilities..(before my wise-ass cousin decides to elaborate!)
5) Get organized! Starting this week I’m going to get my house in order and keep it that way!
6) Read all my books. The recent spate of work has had me neglecting my babies and that’s just not done!!
7) Clean out my wardrobe.
8) Start cooking at home. It’s amazing how cooking for one can just zap all your enthusiasm.
9) Buy sexy underwear. It’s just a thong thing..hhheheheh!
10) Paint!!! Again just blame it on work!
11) Write! Need to be published before I hit the big three-ooh!

So that’s that! Hopefully should be able to check stuff off the list starting next week. Until then, buh-bye!

Four Movies and a Shoot ...

2005-11-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

Have been doing the whole movie thingy this last week…saw Closer, Van Helsing, Blade 3, Girl Interrupted (again!) and bits of Mystic River (talk about depressing…Clint Eastwood is just tooooo fartsy for me!) and it’s only Saturday! Loved Van Helsing. That Hugh Jackman sure is one juicy chunk of man meat!!!

Closer was interesting enough albeit a little disjointed. Natalie Portman comes in from America to London, has an accident and meets Jude Law, who then meets Julia Roberts, who then marries Clive Owen..(who she first meets…or didn’t I mention that?) while she’s still fooling around with Law who then leaves Portman..(who he’s now married to) who then goes back to stripping and sleeps with Owen who then gets back with Roberts who leaves Law after which Portman finally goes back to America. Didja get that? Two mixed up couples and a veritable plethora of bad relationships and attitudes. Some scenes though were very well handled. Portman did a fabulous job playing a young stripper. Five stars ...out of ten!

Girl, Interupted is just a classic and merits it's own review in its own little posting so thats a story for another day and Blade 3...what can I say? I just adore the whole "lets-wear-our-tightest-leather-pants-and-go-kick-some-vampire-butt" thingy these guys do!

Oooh, oh …and there’s this other really amusing incident that happened that I must report. Met this Exec from Sahara Tv who’d come in to do a shoot at the Hotel. So here I am with Shalini standing around keeping her company, making small talk when suddenly she decides that “being single girls” as we both were, was the topic du jour.

Miss Congeniality (identity changed for fuck’s sake) : You know what my biggest problem with men is?
Shal : What?
Miss C : I want to know why so many of them are unable to give me an orgasm!
Mee : (running hand through hair that’s run astray from bending to pick my jaw up off the floor) Gasp!
Miss C : No I mean really. I need my “O”! I want my “O”! Seriously. “If I don’t get my ‘O’, you’re out the door”
Shal : So I’m assuming you don’t currently have a boyfriend…
Miss C : Yea well you know I’m not currently on any loyalty program. I was seeing this guy, you know, for two years, but that was a few years ago. So now I’ve got my priority right…Me!
Shal : (sympathetic…she’s the original Drama Queen!) Aww.. What happened?
Miss C : He just dumped me. Said I was too immature.
Shal & Mee : (exchanging “TheLook”) *Gasp* Noooooooooo!

We were rescued, many many sordid minutes later, by the spot boy telling her the sets were ready. After which we promptly went back to our office and spent the better part of 15 minutes giggling about it. It just takes all kinds I guess!

Also must proudly report that “stalker boy” has stopped msging. After weeks and weeks of unrequited Good Mornings, Good Evenings and Sweet Dreams he’s finally gone and given up. Men these days I tell you! No staying power! ( I’m sure Miss C will agree with me on that one..hehehehe!)

So that’s all that’s been happening this week. More when it happens. Moochas smoochas!

All those free lunches!

2005-11-08T05:54:00.000-08:00

So yesterday my boss and I decided to go check out the HotPot at Ego Thai, a fabulouso Thai food joint at Friends Colony Market. We had the Noodle Soup and followed it up with some awesome Pad Thai, grilled fish in a pepper and garlic sauce and a nice spicy red curry. Dessert was Banana fritters and coconut ice-cream…so that pretty much undid my frenzied morning workout!

On the way out though we passed what appeared to be a little mandir…with a bottle of Pepsi in lieu of an offering. What’s more is the bottle of Pepsi even had a straw in it!! Here’s a picture of the “Thai Mata” and her bottle of Pepsi! (I think she gets Mirinda on the weekends…you know, a little variety! Hehehehe)

That’s all for now folks! Toodelooo!

Doing the "Do"

2005-11-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

I did it!! I finally did! Got myself out of bed at 7 this morning and hit the gym! My palms are pretttty red from high-fiving myself I can tell you! 20 mins on the treadmill, 20 on the exercycle, 15 mins of crunches, butt-presses and other sundry and 10 mins in the sauna….aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! Now if only I can keep it up there’ll be cause for celebration. The weekend was blissfully uneventful and after all that frenzied activity during the holiday season, I finally got a chance to catch up on weeks of interrupted sleep. So now it’s back to work with a vengeance. More when it happens…

Dumb in Delhi...

2005-11-04T05:37:00.000-08:00

Didn’t end up going to the club last night…just needed to be in warm bed cuddled up with good book. So instead I was up last night reading what so far (..I’m on page 98) promises to be an excellent book, “On Beauty” by Zadie Smith. The book is fraught with wisdom and nuances that seem to be written by someone a lot more advanced in years than the 30 year old author. She’s articulate, exuberant and slapstick subtle…(complete paradox, I know!) It was my birrday gift from the most fabulous Nish-pish..(thanks baby..I pwomise to bwings it backs for yous to wead!)

Anyways, I figured I’d re-acquaint myself with the Gym today after my Diwali sabbatical and so, with uncharacteristic bravado set my alarm for 7..(..yea..talk about not knowing yourself!!..middle of the night! Duh!) and packed a gym bag which, after my customary hour of hitting the snooze button this morning, came back with me untouched from work. Will definitely do the “do” tomorrow…

Also managed to find two more pics of the Nish-pish on my phone..(proof that she was indeed in Delhi!!) I mean she lugged her new Canon all the way from Bombay and had it in her bag the whole time and all we have for evidence is these three little images on my phone!! Talk about “Dumb in Delhi” revisited! There’s one of mah lil domestic goddess buying (ech!) fruit and one of us one the card table..(courtesy Tarun). She’s off gallivanting with the fam on the the beaches of Alibagh even as I type this blog.

More when it happens…

...whew!

2005-11-03T04:46:00.000-08:00

So Diwali's all done. Nish has come and gone. There seems to be nothing to look forward to right this minute....why do the good times go by so quickly??!!? On a happy note though i'm winning this season...call it beginners luck if you will. My washing machine hasn't been delivered yet so I’m stuck trying to coordinate between work and getting the delivery guys and the plumber to stick to their end of the bargain. Siiiigh! Also was given a World Space receiver by Krix the Intrepid pilot ..(that nish so sweetly lugged all the way from b'bay for me....hand-baggage no less mind you!) so will have that up by the weekend too hopefully.

Planning to go to the Delhi Gym this evening. After two months of cards its going to be a welcome change! Buh-bye now!

....going out of my mind bored now!!!

2005-11-02T04:04:00.000-08:00

Ok so the last test I did for me and now I'm posting Varsha's test results....I'm so restless it's unbelievable!! As someone rightly said... (and I quote) "SHIT, FUCK, BUGGER, BUM, BALLS!!!!!!"

Jung Personality Type Test Result - ESTJ

Extroverted (E) 59.46%
Introverted (I) 40.54%
Sensing (S) 69.23%
Intuitive (N) 30.77%
Thinking (T) 57.14%
Feeling (F) 42.86%
Judging (J) 86.21%
Perceiving (P) 13.79%

ESTJ - "Administrator". Much in touch with the external environment. Very responsible. Pillar of strength. 8.7% of total population

Character Traits

organized, group oriented, focused, leader, emotionally stable, attention seeking, planner, realistic, fearless, responsible, finisher, decisive, norm following, punctual, hard working, self confident, follows the rules, clean, outgoing, social, content, does not like being alone, normal, regular, does not like weird or strange people / things - intolerant of differences, strict, disciplined, aggressive, assertive, content, happy, proper, formal

Favored Careers:

executive, ceo, supervisor, business consultant, manager, strategist, financial planner, business person, office manager, public relations manager, international business specialist, business analyst, management consultant, operations manager, loan officer, lawyer, marketing, sports management, government employee, investment banker

Disfavored Careers:

poet, artist, songwriter, musician, novelist, art therapist, theatre teacher, art curator, film editor, video game designer, photo journalist, travel writer, actor, record store owner, camera operator, art historian, music teacher

...now i'm just plain bored!!!

2005-11-02T03:34:00.000-08:00

Jung Personality Type Test Result - ENTP

Extroverted (E) 59.52%
Introverted (I) 40.48%
Intuitive (N) 61.54%
Sensing (S) 38.46%
Thinking (T) 51.22%
Feeling (F) 48.78%
Perceiving (P) 68.75%
Judging (J) 31.25%

"Inventor". Enthusiastic interest in everything and always sensitive to possibilities. Non-conformist and innovative. 3.2% of the total population.

Character Traits

risk taker, easy going, outgoing, social, open, rule breaker, thrill seeker, life of the party, comfortable in unfamiliar situations, appreciates strangeness, disorganized, adventurous, talented at presentation, aggressive, attention seeking, experience junky, insensitive, adaptable, not easily offended, messy, carefree, dangerous, fearless, careless, emotionally stable, spontaneous, improviser, always joking, player, wild and crazy, dominant, acts without thinking, not into organized religion, pro-weed legalization

Fovored Careers:

dictator (buuuauauauauauahahahhaaa), computer consultant, international spy, tv producer, philosopher, comedian, music performer, it consultant, figher pilot, politician, diplomat, entertainer, game designer, bar owner, freelance writer, creative director, strategist, news anchor, professional skateboarder, airline pilot, comic book artist, college professor, private detective, mechanical engineer, lecturer, ambassador, astronomer, research scientist, judge, web developer, scholar, fbi agent, cia agent, electrical engineer, assassin

Disfavored Careers:

personal assistant, wedding planner, travel agent, secretary, interior decorator, clerical employee, government employee, social worker, pre school teacher, copy editor, child care worker, hospitality worker, occupational therapist, home maker

...still waiting...

2005-11-02T03:20:00.000-08:00

Enneagram Test Results

Type 1	Perfectionism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Type 2	Helpfulness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Type 3	Image Focus	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Type 4	Hypersensitivity	\|\|\|\|\|\|	22%
Type 5	Detachment	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	38%
Type 6	Anxiety	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Type 7	Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	66%
Type 8	Aggressiveness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Type 9	Calmness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	78%

Your main type is 9
Your variant is sexual

Main Type	Overall Self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

Well...colour me pink!!!!

2005-11-02T02:06:00.000-08:00

So I took a colour test while waiting for a certain someone to come online and here are the results. More about Nish's most recent Delhi Adventure later...:D

Rashmee's Existing Situation
Imaginative and sensitive; seeking an outlet for these qualities--especially in the company of someone equally sensitive. Interest and enthusiasm are readily aroused by the unusual or the adventurous. (...this bit's actually kinda true ...)

Rashmee's Stress Sources
Has the need to ally herself with others whose standards are as high as her own, and to stand out from the rank and file. This subjects her to considerable stress, but she sticks to her attitudes despite lack of appreciation. Finds the situation uncomfortable and would like to break away from it, but refuses to compromise with her opinions. Unable to resolve the situation because she continually postpones making the necessary decision as she doubts her ability to withstand the opposition which would result. Needs the esteem of others, compliance with her wishes, and respect for her opinions before she can feel at ease and secure. (..I guess some part of me just wants to be luuuurrrrvvved...:P)

Rashmee's Restrained Characteristics
Has high emotional demands and is willing to involve herself in a close relationship with great depth of feeling. Feels that she is burdened with more than her fair share of problems. However, she sticks to her goals and tries to overcome her difficulties by being flexible and accommodating. She is able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity. (hehehahhahahahahaha...satisfaction guaranteed baby!)

Rashmee's Desired Objective
Strives for a life rich in activity and experience with exaggerated intensity, and for a close bond offering sexual and emotional fulfillment. (Hell! So who isn't??!!??)

Rashmee's Actual Problem
The fear that she might be prevented from achieving the things she wants leads her to play her part with an urgent and hectic intensity. She reacts with an intense and zealous activity designed to achieve her aims at all costs.. (hmmmmmmmmmm......)

Rashmee's Actual Problem #2
Takes a delight in action and wants to be respected and esteemed for her personal accomplishments. (So far I've still to achieve the whole "being a morning person" thingy..:P)

They can tell all this from the order in which you pick colours. Close? Well you tell me!!

Click here to take the test.

…sleepy…

2005-10-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

well its almost time to shut shop and go home. Tired as hell from the next to nothing bit of sleep I got…dreamt I was being chased by hoards and hoards of dragonflies. Got another trail. Last night was eights. Changed the look of the site …was getting a little tired of the tan. Am not so sure about this one though. Is it working? Finally decided on the washing machine. Going to get an IFB front-loading, fully automatic. Hopefully should be installed by Saturday. That’s all for now…Too de loooooo!

SuperTramp!!!

2005-10-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

Ok so now I’m the SuperTramp of cards..(got me five trails so far this season!…two while just playing open hands with vee and nomita.. so no royalty there..:P). I’m pretty much addicted to the game…I can’t explain it…am I a gambler at heart?? (…somehow I didn’t think so but well…never say never right?) The down side is I’m so busy working & playing that I’ve been neglecting my housework…there’s clothes to be washed, furniture to be dusted, a washing machine and inverter to be bought and installed and her fabulousness arrives in four days…which gives me all of 96 hours to get all above stuff done! Halp! Hopefully I’ll just get her hammered and keep her that way so she won’t notice no dust balls!!!

The good thing though..(hehehhe.. I’m the eternal optimist , I am!) is that I haven’t lost that much…so I guess all’s well that ends well. Thankfully Diwali’s round the corner so there’s just one more week of mayhem and things should settle down to being normal..(whatever that is!)

Cheerio!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

2005-10-24T05:29:00.000-07:00

Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!! Nish ish coming!!!

She lands at 4pm on Saturday...Five days to go baby! Muuuuuuuuuaaaaaaahhh!

Another Mememememmeee

2005-10-21T01:30:00.000-07:00

Recent History 5's

1. What were you doing 5 minutes ago?
Chatting with Nishu and talking to my Purchase Manager trying to arrange an advance for my printer.

2. What were you doing 5 hours ago?
Sleeping. Dreaming about being in a Bjork concert with Sting...(..or was it a Sting concert with Bjork...hmmmm)

3. What were you doing 5 days ago?
I was hungover with a major case of the post-birthday blues.

4. What were you doing 5 months ago?
Partying my ass off in Bombay.

5. What were you doing 5 years ago?
Wow! Lemme see...I think I was trying to make my rather sordid marriage work...

I was the 377th person to take this week's

2005-10-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

Back to working late again. Just felt the need to crib. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Happy Burrrday to me....

2005-10-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaaahhh! The post birthday blues. The dishes are done and the nice napkins put away and I’m going to eat leftovers for the next few meals. Siiiigh! I’m older, wiser (supposedly) and poorer..(man that party cost a bomb!) but so utterly loaded with presents its all worth it! So far I’ve been graciously gifted a microwave, a dvd player, a bluetooth handsfree for my phone, a new cordless telephone, a bottle of Scotch, six t-shirts, one denim shirt, four perfumes, a handbag, a pair of shoes, a wallet, an assortment of jewellery and the most gorgeous halter from Prabhukins (hehehe..picked it up in time for me birthday I did!)! It’s almost too good to be true. Add to that the washing machine I’m getting me and you have an entire bushel of stuff!

But I guess its time for some birthday retrospection. I seem to be fast approaching the big three-ooh and there’s just so many things I haven’t crossed off my must-do list! There’s that bungee-jumping thingy and the book I have to write and that baby I was planning on having sometime and the list just goes on and on.

Well ok anyways I’m going to start with the good things. This year I’ve gone and surprised myself by getting a job. Yes Moi! And yes…I said job in the same sentence. It doesn’t pay me as much as the free-lance thingy yet (…that I still get to do on the side…heh heh heh) but now I have a boss to crib about and it ain’t me! And I like the idea of an expense account (yup…I get one of those as well…ha!) So that’s a good thing I guess at least until I get bored again.

The other good stuff I’m just going to list..(in no particular order)

1) Faced the ex and his new girlfriend and survived
2) Finally figured out the exact shampoo-conditioner-product combo that works for me..(this one was a toughie! Phew!)
3) Started my DVD collection. (I’m already up to about 30)
4) Learnt HTML. Yes Milind…it IS easy!!!
5) Pretty much maintained a size 8 all year long..(give a few take a few….pounds that is!)
6) Got addicted to poker. This one was a surprise entry. It’s awesome! Texas Holdem Rocks!!!
7) Got up to chapter eight on my book.
8) Got back in touch with my schoolmates.
9) Got myself a stalker. Yup I’m up to celeb status now people! Lol
10) Upgraded my torrid affair with Gym from an on-again-off-again thingy to a proper relationship. I mean I’m still allowed to swim and walk occasionally but my heart’s really committed to my exercycle.
11) And while we’re discussing commitments, started this here blog!
12) Became a god-mother! It’s like being mommy but without the pesky labour-pains and midnight feeds and stretch marks and sore nipples and…(remind me again…why do I want to have a baby??)

The bad news is that I’m still single. I mean its not like I want to be married or anything but off late I can’t seem to remember what a really good cuddle or a nice relaxing body massage feels like(…and I’ll take the “happy ending”, thank you!!). So here’s the deal….my three birthday resolutions are as follows!

1) Get Laid!
2) Write my book
3) And get laid!!! (..so if my handwriting’s a little off people you’ll know what I was doing! hehehhehe)

Anyways, that’s all for now. Will post birthday pictures once they get in along with other gory party details…(like the naked man on my cake) Buh-bye now!

2005-10-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

The things i do for birthday gifts i tell you! I've known Arun for about ten years now.. or a little more maybe. The first time we met we sneaked into a matinee show of Dantes Peak and shared buttered popcorn and this is the first time i've mentioned him on the blog... also he shares his birthday with my other bestest friend in the world Anu the double bitch who hasn't called me on my birthday! Well...hate her and love you ren'n'stimpy! Muuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaahhh!

ReN says:
/me shall wait this year and see, if not shall seriously consider severing all ties. especially since he hasnt been mentioned in the blog even in passing
ReN says:
/me ponders
rushes says:
lol
rushes says:
ok ok
rushes says:
holding
ReN says:
all of the above is to be taken lightly. except the gift part

Chips and Pic!

2005-10-07T04:54:00.000-07:00

So the chips are down and the photographs are up. The days are just packed what with all this furious card playing taking up so much time! So far i've managed a trail of Queens and losses of about 7k ...and thats just the beginning. There are also like a trillion birthdays this month (including mine...thats a hint people!!!) so it promises to be bloody fucking expensive!(..so if you want to write me that birthday cheque this might be a good time to get out that pen..:P) AM going to sit down and blog about the happenings post-bombay this weekend so watch this space!..

This is the link to the pictures and i'm outta here..

Awesome!!!

2005-10-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

So i'd decided i wouldn't post anymore pics on this here blog but i just can't resist this one! Finally caught up with mah boys in bombay this last weekend and oh mah gawd! It was absolutely the most rocking-est ever! Makes me sooooooooo proud to see them all growed up with them "wimmen" in tow! *sniffle*

This one here is just the four of us sans better halves...more pics to come...but those go to the picture blog! Love you guys too much for words!!!

Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

Pictures...

2005-09-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

I've decided to create a seperate blog for all the images i've shot off my phone.

Picture Perfect

Need to put up captions for all the pics but can't seem to find the bloody time. Will do it tomorrow for sure...while trying to look like i'm working reeaaaaaallllly hard! (Hardly!)

2005-09-24T00:30:00.000-07:00

Another lovely day wasted with me locked in a windowless office. Siiiigh!

Mid-week Banter..

2005-09-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Varsha to me : Hey Neela's back. Lets go do something fun tonight..
Me to Varsha : Yea! Sounds good.. What you want to do? (shoulder movement very like the vultures in the original “Jungle Book”)
Varsha to me : I dunno. What you wanna do? (ditto!)
Me to Varsha : I know!!! Lets go get pedicures!!

(silence)

Me to Varsha : (sheepishly)..do you think I’m getting old?

...interesting...

2005-09-16T02:16:00.000-07:00

Got this mail from neela. quite intersting to know the figures..(if they are correct that is!)

Just Have to compare.....

inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina... 18
inches of rain in mumbai (July 27th).... 37.1

population of new orleans... 484,674
population of mumbai.... 12,622,500

deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina...100
deaths in mumbai within 48hours of rain.. 37.

number of people to be evacuated in new orleans... entire city..wohh
number of people evacuated in mumbai...10,000

Cases of shooting and violence in new orleans...Countless
Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONE

Time taken for US army to reach new orleans... 48hours
Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai...12hours

status 48hours later...new orleans is still waiting for relief, army and
electricty
status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is business is as usual

USA...world's most developed nation
India...JUST A DEVELOPING NATION..

oopss...did i get the last fact wrong??? Or am I just proud to be an INDIAN?

The Need For Speed...

2005-09-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

In spite of all my efforts to the contrary I seem to have managed to fall into the whole 9 to 5 rut! Drag ass out of bed...get to office...spend 9 hours working said ass off...drag ass back home ...crash ...rinse and repeat! The only day I get to myself now is one meager Sunday a week...its quite shitty since I’ve sooo gotten used to working at my own pace over the last few years. Siiigh!

Anyways...who said jobs were supposed to be fun, right? Just going to put my nose (..read ass!) to the grindstone and keep at it. Have two big events planned today so the day promises to be fun(..read harrowing!).

Wish me luck!

Just a thought...

2005-09-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

Reading a random ass book by Chetan Bhagat called "Five Point Someone". Apparently its going to be made into a movie. It has no style, no plot and makes absolutely no sense. Makes me wonder... are we really living in an age where medeocrity is the order of the day? Isn't the race run to be won anymore..or are we just going to start handing out ribbons for tenth place now?

Happy B'day Ritz!!!

2005-09-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

So excited about meeting my baby Ritz tomorrow. Muuuuaaaahhh meri jaan! Hope the coming year bring lots of joy and GoodTimes!

:D

Present Tense...

2005-09-07T00:43:00.000-07:00

I’m headed to good ol’ b’bay on Friday. That gives me eggzactly two days to shop for presents for everyone. Which, under normal circumstances would be great if only I had some vague clue as to what to get them. So far my list of people includes Dad, Nish, Ritz, Suni, Lynn, Ajju, Supri and of course my mother! Aaaaaarrrrgggh! Most people who know me will understand my consternation. I’m at best, an impulse shopper. I simply don’t get women who can leave the house with a wad of cash and not a single notion and come back with bags & bags of goodies. Maybe it’s a developed trait. Maybe if I practice reaaalllly hard I might at some later date be an eloquent shopper..(for lack of adjectives!!)

But on a more serious note, so far I’ve decided to get Lynn & Suni some silver jewellery (..I know a place that stocks some really nice bracelets), Nish &v Supri some clothes..( I love Virgos ..Butterfly baby!!), maybe some crystal for Mom and Ritz. Ajju & Dad though I’m still clueless on…any suggestions people?

And oh yea…here’s wishing everybody a very, very happy “Ganesh Chaturthi”. Hope “Ganpati Bappa” blesses you all with happiness and prosperity for years and years to come!

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Weary...

2005-09-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

I'm stuck at my desk twiddling my thumbs waiting for my printer to deliver invites that have to go out to 250 people by 9 am. Plus I seem to have developed a really bad throat infection...and am totally dead on my feet cause of this stupid deal I made with myself to never use the elevator at work..(I end up doing about 300 stairs in the course of the day!) ..will the agony never end?

My Big Fat Greek Dinner

2005-09-03T04:12:00.000-07:00

Tried out this new Greek food joint last night called "It's Greek To Me" and I can't seem to stop raving about it! It was absolutely amazing! The décor was your basic earth tones with bright blue windows and table cloth and the service could have used a little sprucing up, sure but the food…oh my gawd ..the food was totally worth it!!

We started with a nice mushroom, almond and spinach salad in a vinaigrette dressing and some hummus and pita followed by a nice egg and lemon soup. Deeps decided to go with a prawn Saganaki..(she ordered another one after she finished it…that’s how much she loved it!) Monu went with a nice baked chicken stuffed with feta cheese and spinach and while Varsh played safe with her chicken Souvlaki, I had a nice mince meat Moussaka followed by a penne in pesto sauce (...they were out of steak!!) Six main courses between the four of us. Rocking!

For dessert we ordered their home-made fig ice cream which we all shared. And totally affordable. That entire meal with one round of alcoholic beverages cost us about a thousand bucks a head. Another thing to rave about!

And while I’m on this whole Greek mode here’s the result of a quiz I took today. Try it... it’s fun!

Poseidon.

Take the quiz here...

Toodeloo folks!

Gym-dandy!

2005-09-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of my new job..(oh I’ve started working the ol’ 9 to 5 again…though this one’s more of a 10ish to about 7ish sort o thingy...) is that I get to use the office gym…fabulous mirrored facility with some 25 treadmills, exercise cycles and other lurid machines of torture. But they also have a Jacuzzi and a steam and sauna rig that I’m kinda looking forward to testing. So I’ve resumed my so-called efforts to lose weight by attempting to start cashing in on this particular perk. And what a start it was! Got to the gym at about 9.25 on Tuesday morning ..stood around for about 10 minutes debating on which machine to get started on….suddenly remembered that I had a meeting at 10 and ran to the showers. Then, at about 11ish, went down to the cafeteria and treated myself to a cheese and cucumber sandwich (..see mom! I’m eating my veggies!!) as a little self back patting for actually making it to the gym! Baby steps I always say! I’ve been decidedly better since... thank god! The last two days I’ve managed to get in an hour’s workout (40 mins of cardio and another 20 mins of crunching, grunting and other anonymous anomalies) ..pretty decent for a lazy sack of potatoes like me! Hopefully the results will start to show before I make it back to good ol’ B’bay again!

Which brings me to my forth-coming visit to B’bay! I’m going to be in town for the weekend starting on the 9th. It’s Suni’s b’day on the 9th followed by my Dad’s on the 11th. Wish I could have gone a day earlier for Ritz’s b’day as well on the 8th but I guess work does not permit such extravagances. siiiiigh!! But at least I’ll get to meet her over the weekend! And then maybe the weekend after that Ganesh and Chitz will maybe want to take a break from all the family and come to Delhi.. (Please guys ..try to make it here! I’m not going to be able to take time off again so soon but would really reaaalllllllly love to see you again and for the first time respectively!)

Also I finally finished my gigantic Sistine Chapel jigsaw. And without losing a single piece..(never happened before!) I’m so thrilled with it I’m actually getting it framed! It’s gorgeous!

Well that’s all for now folks! More updates when stuff happens…

Feeling Hot Hot Hot

2005-08-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

1. Do you like hot weather? Does it get hot where you live? What is the best way to spend a hot, summer day?
It's scorching! The temperatures rise well into the 50's. The best summer afternoon's are spent at indoor pools with chilled beers or/and pina coladas.

2. Do you like spicy food? If so, what is your favorite dish? What is the spiciest food you've ever eaten?
I do. Not in-yer-face, tickle-me-magenta spicy but a moderate tongue scorcher is the order of the day. I don't quite remember the spiciest I've ever eaten but the food I do enjoy is a nice omelet-pav liberally laced with green chilies!

3. What do you find "hot" in a man/woman? What is the first thing you notice about someone who is hot? Do you ever think of yourself as hot?
A nice smile and a cute butt...in that order. Hot? Who me? Naaaaaah!

4. List 3 hot trends that you secretly (or not so secretly) enjoy:
Gyming, Salsa & the whole low-rider jeans trend.

5. Are you hot-headed or quick to anger? How do you react when you are angry or frustrated? What do you do to cool down?
I wouldn't call me hot-headed..(..ok.. amendment ...I’m not hot-headed anymore!) But when I do lose my temper I turn a bright red and tend to bite down hard on my lower lip..(..I get that from mom!) Taking deep breaths generally helps me calm down.

The Sting & I

2005-08-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken after Sting's recent performance in Delhi. I'm never washing those clothes ever ever again!!!

PS Heeheheeheeheee...I luuuuuuuuurrrrrve Photoshop!!!!!!