I'ma start blogging again!

It's going to be legend... wait for it...























well, I can't promise anything.

But ...dary. Yes. Fingers crossed!

The Goose is the Bestest Type of Animal

Terrible heading for a blogpost, that.

What kind of friend calls you an animal in her birthday wish, and means it as a compliment, I ask you? Why, MM, of course.

Tomorrow is Bestest's Birthday. This post is a special way for me to say, a very Happy Birthday Goose, and that I love you loads.
May your 23rd year be spectacular!

I would say a whole lot more, but I have a somewhat handicapped right hand, which makes typing horrifically difficult. Typing just this much has taken me what seems like the lifespan of a tortoise. Still. Still I type you this birthday post, so you know that's how much you mean to me :P

I leave you with this picture of Egyptian Geese that I took for you in Singapore but never showed you. This is my birthday gift to you. Isn't it splendid. Is it not of the utmost value. Am I not just the very best thing that could happen to anyone. (Rhetorical questions do not require question marks)

Very many showers of hugs and kisses on your birthday, all from me! And I will talk to you tomorrow hopefully.

Lots of love, your goose. :)

Feelin' So Fly Like a G6

What kind of a song is that?
Goddamn catchy-ass song, I'll tell you that.
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I have been feelin' so fly like a G6 lately. An Aunty-less PG has both advantages and disadvantages. But mostly advantages. Akanksha darling's always having her own trippy little party, and sometimes I join her. The fridge is stocked with bottles that aunty would not approve of. The TV is ours, and RID of all the Hindi soaps. Basically, it's heaven, but without home-cooked food. (I should learn to cook, you say? Well, perhaps. But we're not allowed to use the gas for heavy duty stuff. Except for Maggi. That's my excuse.)
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Thankfully there is an umbrella man who takes care of my dietary concerns. Who is this umbrella man, you ask? Does he have a PhD? Is he a certified nutritionist?

The answer to all these questions is 'No, not in the slightest.' Except the first one, the answer to which is: he is the man who brings food and serves it under an umbrella on the roadside to the hungry masses.

It's not as bad as you think. In fact, it is quite awesome. I get a home cooked meal of 3 sabjis, roti, dal and chawal with papad and pickle and all for 35 bucks. And Umbrella man's wife is fond of me so I get an extra papad sometimes. What more could a girl ask for?

Others in my office who would generally turn up a nose at such a thing, have warmed to the umbrella man too. He is now very popular amongst us. All. thanks. to. me. Yes, I'll have that extra papad please.
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What else has been happening? Office party at Hawaiian Shack. That was good fun. We all danced the night away and I stayed over at Shuchi's. Oh, and Divz Sooch and I went to Al's after work. Divz and I wanted some colour in our hair, and there's this great hair salon in Bandra called, 'Curl Up and Dye'. Hahaha, isn't that cool? And Raymond, the guy there is a genius. I cracked enough Everybody Loves Raymond jokes to ensure I got the best of his talent, and I left with three colours in my hair (no, I do not look crazy.)
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This is also a goddamn catchy-ass song.


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So HeMan, Sooch and I were supposed to go see the circus (yes, you heard me right), this Tuesday evening, and I was really excited and all that, but someone did not quite follow up, and we couldn't. *disappointment*.

Anyway, we met for lunch at phoenix instead. (I love phoenix mills. It is my happy place.) We didnt have enough time to go to the tarot card readers, because of work. Divz, when you're back we'll do that, and get a reading for HeMan as well. :D silly things make me happy.
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Work been quite crazy. Neck deep. But now I'm going on leave!
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Yes, I must tell you. I leave for Dubai today, (yay!) and shall be back in Bangalore in Jan. Tammy is getting married (!!!!!!) I will be there then, and then there are other plans which I will tell you about later. (because y'all are all dying to know)

And that is the end of this horribly written post.
So byebye for now.
Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! :)
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He-Man has left the Building

It's all very sad. But what can you do. He's blazing off to the UK, to bigger, brighter dreams.

I will miss the after lunch walks for his lunch-break cigarette, and his benign "Heh?"s in response to nail polish discussions (and mostly anything else we said). But most importantly, I will miss his lunch, which I polished off everyday for two months without his permission (Take pity on this poor home-food starved MM). Sigh.
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He did send us this beautiful e-mail before leaving:

Dear friends,

I have finally conceded to the treat idea.

It would be my pleasure, nay, HONOUR to treat you all, Sweet Shuchi, Darling Divya and Marvellous Madhu, to a wonderful dinner at The Tasting Room/ Spaghetti Kitchen/ any other place that would blow a hole in my wallet.

Date: 13. 12. 2010

Venue: Your choice

Time: 7pm onwards

I take this opportunity to extend a hearty invitation to you all. Truly, I have realised your worth now, only as I am leaving. The buckets of tears I have cried upon this realisation are stored in my bathroom at home, to remind me of what I am leaving behind.

I also request you to each pick up one item from any of the stores in Palladium (preferably the more expensive ones like Zara etc), as a personal gift from me, simply for being the amazing people that you are.

Spending time with you has brought me much happiness.

Hugs and fond tears,
Himanshu

After a heart-string tugger of an e-mail like that, well, you gotta forgive him for leaving. He's gotten a bit cheesy in places, (Marvellous Madhu? Buckets of tears? seriously?), but the gist, on the whole, was very satisfactory.

(Disclaimer: The fact that we have access to He-Man's web-mail should not raise the slightest of suspicions regarding the authenticity of this e-mail. We are not like that.)
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So Spaghetti Kitchen it was, where we bid him a fond farewell, with, well, not tears, as would have been more appropriate, but with uncontrollable laughter about the White Fang incident, (really not appropriate) and about the humble beginnings of Himanshu Marketing Pvt Ltd.

He-Man really did blow a hole in his wallet, this post is mainly to thank him for that. All that sangria and other expensive stuff was worth it! Wasn't it, Himanshu, wasn't it? Doesn't this post make it all worthwhile?
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Yum Yus imitations, McD, the Umbrella man, lassi, chai. Watching Eat Pray Love and weird Switch movies. :D Manchester United Cafe, Comedy Club, Movenpick. Getting lost in the parking at Phoenix.

He Man, we well miss you and your lovely red car!
And I already know what your reaction to this post will be: "Kuch Bhi." :P :)
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Mango Nails

are the result of that shopping spree.

That, and these:


Three girls after a long day's work + an empty mall after closing time= lots of entertainment for the cctv cameras.

I can't figure out whether my nails are utterly hideous or refreshingly funky.
I'm living on the edge here.
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Adi came to visit us at work yesterday. He missed us so intensely, that he just had to come and see us, before he died from the pain of it all. Oh, and also he had to collect some documents from HR :P Confused about my nail polish, I decided to get Adi's perspective.
The verdict: "You joined Shiv Sena or what?"

After that delicate response, of COURSE, I will mention here that Adi is afraid of butterflies. I have linked this to his FB profile, in order to further embarrass him.
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I feel more like Nickelodeon than Shiv Sena. Which is good thing when you are having to write banking letters. My job has only recently started being this hideous. It is just a phase. (I keep telling myself)
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I will continue to be girly in this post by telling you about the perfume I bought yesterday.

Nina by Nina Ricci. The bottle looks like an apple. The bottle is half the buy. Really. I am fascinated with perfume bottles.

While buying perfume, one needs to be quite shameless, in order to strike a good deal, asking shop attendants "What can you give me with this?" (freebies, of course)
When they show you something- anything- whatever it is, wrinkle your nose, and say:"Is that all?"
Whereupon they will fall all over themselves to give you more bags and vials and free perfume and such. That's just how it's done. *shrugs shoulders nonchalantly*

Sooch, Divz and I were talking about how perfumes transport you back to the time you used to wear them. A whiff of something familiar, and you're suddenly in a different world altogether. A world that your life used to be.

Before Nina, there was

Weekend by Burberry (which ironically, was my starting-to-work perfume) and
Incanto Shine by Salvatore Ferragamo (which I used for quite a while and reminds me of a host of wonderful things.)

I only hope that Nina Ricci won't remind me of all the banking letters.

Mita just caught me at the printer and said "Wow, what is that heavenly smell?" Yay. Makes it all worthwhile.
Smelling good with Nickelodeon nails. I'm sorted.
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This song is stuck in my head after a long time. I've been playing it on loop and listening to it while I sleep. I've been having the most fantastic dreams because of it, and I find it very difficult to wake myself out of them.


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These are artists from the Sketchbook Project. Having a look their work really helped me get started.

With my topic, 'Help': The Monster Book
I LOVE this stuff! His illustrations are so detailed and disturbing. In a good way.

Make Mine a Double. I love the idea, it's simple and effective. Love it.

The view from up here. You have to check this out. I love the concept. And the execution!

You'd be home by now. Ah, whimsy! I love.

Science Project Gone Wrong. Bev's lovely work... First blog that I saw :)

There are lots more, that you can check out on the Art House Co op Site.

Such inspiration. I'd better get a move on with mine.
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A Happy Birthday Jay! Post

As is customary, and quite a tradition now on this blog, we must wish Jay a Happy Birthday Day here.

Happy Birthday Day, Jay!

I'd love to write more, but the day isn't looking too spectacular. There's a four o' clock deadline, followed by a meeting at the Head branch of TheBankILove in Bandra Kurla Complex (they're one of our loveliest clients).

So other than the fact that my boss gave me an idli for breakfast, and that Pushpa the maid called me "Heroine", my day pretty much sucks. Oh, not to forget the shopping spree that Divya Sooch and I are off to today evening. Yayyy. (Okay, so it's not that bad.)

But Jay, Im sure you're having a much better day. As you should. I could gush about our friendship for pages and pages but what's the point, no? I have gushed earlier.
The dossier, hearing ourselves speak, deer stories & cult torture, and the laughter.
You know I lowe you! XOXO. Gossip Girl.

I found these while hunting for birthday profile pic. :P

Guess who's back

Tell a friend.
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So let me start by regaling you with the tale of the 300 year-old cabbie. Because that's what this blog's all about, isn't it?

I had the gross misfortune of journeying in his cab this morning. He refused to take me at first. I should have just walked on, but lately I have taken to questioning any cabbie-refusals with a "Kyun? Phir kyun poocha?" (by which I mean, Why? Then why did you ask me where I wanted to go?) My Hindi is still horrific, if anyone would like to tell me how I can make this dialogue more effective (read correct), please do.

And then I shout at them in the middle of the road.

This usually works.
As you can imagine.
If it does not, I take his number down, and tattle to the Traffic Police on their website.

I've become such a ray of sunshine since you saw me last, haven't I?

So this man. Daft as a coot. Dafter, if possible.
The driver of the Knight bus in the third HP movie. Same glasses, hair, driving skills. Just the mumbai cabbie version. Our conversation:

"Mahalakshmi se right lena hai na?"
"Nahi bhaiyya, straight jana hai"
"Ha ha. Right jana hai. Pata hai"
"Nahi!! STRAIGHT STRAIGHT. SEEDA."
"Ha ha beta. Malum hai. Mahalakshmi se na, right leke, seeda worli jayenge."
:|

Oh, and his reaction times. Alarmingly slow. This pedestrian has happily jaunted across the road and is already walking on the other side towards Mc Donald's. FIFTEEN seconds later, our driver wakes up and brakes furiously, yelling a volley of curses at the long-gone gentleman and the wide-eyed child who's been observing the incident. The bus behind us brakes just in time. Nobody dies, life goes on.

When we parted ways he said:
"Mere paas dus rupai ka change nahin hai" (while waving a 10 rupee note in the air)

Scary thing is though, he knew all the traffic cops we passed. Good thing I didn't complain on the website.
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He was actually taking me to this place where I volunteer every Tuesday morning before work. It's a Slum School run by this NGO called Muktangan. Got there in one piece, thankfully. 9 to 9.45, I take the Library hour for a group of seven year-olds. It's not changing the world, but it's something.
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Recent events for documenting purposes:
XIC reunion, classmates and the Girls. Fun fun. More soon.
The AA night for which I was almost kicked out of my PG, which was most definitely worth it.
Coping, not panicking.
Divya Sooch Himanshu outings have become a regular, that I love.
Blore break-
The break up.
And I think that takes care of Oct- Nov. Now I just have Jan-Sept to document. :/
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Okay. what I really wanted to blog about, was this project I'm taking part in.

It's called "The Sketchbook Project" and it's run by the Art House co op.

Basically, they send you a sketchbook with a topic and a bar-code, you fill it up and send it back to them, and they exhibit it in galleries and museums in 5 different cities across the US.

It's like a concert tour, but with sketchbooks.

Every time your book is viewed, you receive an e-mail or a text message alerting you what city it was viewed in and the first name of the person browsing through it.

After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public to view.

28787 artists from 94 countries around the world are participating. The tour starts February, 2011

My topic is Help!
I've tweaked it around, to be:

Help!
In everyday situations.

So I'll be putting the stuff that I do up, and linking to other sketchbook progresses that I'm loving.

Oh, by the way, I sketch nowadays. I love it. It's such a new creative outlet. I love having colour, and art, around me. That was the thing I loved best about Amsterdam. (The office sent me, but more about that later.)

And I can't tell you how much I am living through this project.
This is the stuff I want to do with my life.

It's 8.40 am

And I'm in at work.

Such a diligent child, you say, wiping away a tear. But no. It's only because my flight (Indigo -On Time, Every time) landed at 7.37am on the DOT and I had to come in straight to the office.
Morning flights are a bitch. I was dazed the entire journey. Ah sleep you are an elusive friend.
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So I'm just back from Bangalore, where I went to sign some papers over the weekend, but it turned out to be a longer trip because of the Monday BJP bandh and stuff. Four days. Not enough, not enough for anything.
But it was so nice, being picked up from the office by surprise and being dropped to the airport like that. Best thing ever. :)
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The neices and nephews have grown I must say. Otherwise home remains home, as it was, as it always will be. Bangalore has lovely weather right now and I did manage to do the whole koramangala, shopping, have lunch at Friends Cafe, feel angry at grumpy waiters and disappointed that the food is never as good as it was last time thing. But I didn't get to meet FnA, Jay (Get better soon deer!), Other MM and so many people. :(
Four days is two short. Six would have been perfect. (hahaha, I joke.)
But oh well. I will stop griping and be thankful that at least had that, and that it was a nice sudden out of the blue thing.
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I did get to say bye to Lagoose and Sne though, before they become their LA versions and turn into them forever, and that I'm really happy about. We talked and laughed and recorded Doggy No, and shopped for dresses(!!) [ Sidenote: Btw Oasis mall is really awesome. I bought some really funky shoes there] and went to Raghoos after forever. Raghoos is a really South Indian place even though they serve the best Italian food in Bangalore. We know this because of the neat Rangoli patterns outside, and the fact that the waiters with teeth gritted, very politely request you to move to a back table if you are a bunch of four people making a slight ruckus. I told the geese about my idea, and it was an awesome two days. And although we never really ever say bye, it was a lovely way to. I will miss you guys :( except I wont have to because you're right there. Right? :)
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And now I'm back in beautiful Mumbai. (she says, during the rainy season.)

About the whole work scene in a nutshell: My work timings are 9.30 to 6, I'm a copywriter, I love the workplace, the people here are awesome :D, the dabbawala is quite a character- something you look for in every job, we have amazing clients (P&G, Hindware, LG, Levis) and I have the best boss ever, so things are looking pretty good right now on that front.
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I sit here waiting for my lazy partner in crime, Zwikie, to make an appearance. She has the keys to my drawer, since I left on Friday in a rush. I forgot my battery charger here, so she locked it up and kept the keys to prevent any chance of robbery. Also in the drawer is Rebecca! My stuffed ladybug. Zwikie is jealous of Rebecca. Rebecca is the sunshine of the office.
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I'm also reading all the mail I've missed from yesterday. A lot of it is the chain mail the four of us who first joined this company have. Two have left and parted ways, but our Woes of First Joining Work mail continues. It is SO much fun.
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After that, I will read Shantaram. I'm loving it. It's been ages since I was properly lost in a book. I bought it at Crossword with the voucher we won at the Nasik training programme at Taj that my office took us to in May.
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I have a cold, but only in ONE nostril. Does this happen often? I think God is trying to be kind to me.
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And that is the end of this extremely boring post. I had funner things to say, I don't remember what they were. Possibly because I'm half asleep. But don't worry I'll say them soon. For now just take this post for the sake of a post. :)

It is SHAMEFUL

It's absolutely shameful. It is even shameless, in fact.

That my last post was in January, and is about a lizard. (Scroll down to see said post. No, wait. Don't.)

So I plan to make amends. By writing a synopsis post for every month I have not documented, so that my sloppiness goes undetected by future generations, and my six month hiatus will never be known of by anyone ever (unless they read this post)

AND, also by regularly posting in June.

Because I have all the time in the world, now that I am a copy writer with a full time job. (Yes, I've been hired! I'm a creative person! Isn't that awesome!)

For now I must ask you to excuse me, as I'm at work, and need to go and be creative for a living. More later. :)

What do you do when there's a lizard in your bathtub?

I've got:
Run,
Scream,
and
Run screaming.

Any other ideas?

I tried throwing it a rope. (Literally. The plug with a chain attached the top of the bath, so that it could climb it and escape.)
It refused to pay any attention.

I tried throwing it a towel. (So that it could hop on, and I'd carry the towel out of the tub to safety.)
It gave me a distasteful expression and scampered off to the other end of the bathtub.

I tried nudging it with a long pole. (Because I was tired and had run out of options.)
It struggled to climb out from all four sides but just kept sliding down each side again.

I just left it there, finally. But how'd it get there in the first place? (Ok, it fell in.)
But how do we get it out? How I ask you? I know I shouldn't be caring enough to make it my first post of 2010, but I need to know!

Plus it's tiring to talk about the bigger things. Which I will, later.
Much later.

In the city of Mumbai, for which I am leaving tonight. Bye bye Bangalore.

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAGOOSE! You mean the world to me! In fact you mean enough that I dedicate this, my lizard post to you.
It doesn't get deeper than this folks, friendship! Doesn't, nosireebob. Now I must take leave of you to blow my nose. Excuse me. So long and goodnight and then something about fish.

Torn

You know that feeling when you're torn between two places?

No. It's a good feeling. I think.

Mumbai's really truly completely become home now. I owe that to a lot of people, to my awesome pg and the city just for being what it is. It's not been a complete a bed of roses, and it's taken me some time, but I've totally settled down. And I feel bad leaving it. And I feel glad that I'm coming back.

My heart aches for Bangalore too. (Remember what I said about being torn). Mama, daddy, everyone back home, goose, Jay, Other MM and a bunch of others. Im so glad I'm going to see you soon. And that I'm going to be wearing socks again.

Meanwhile, my Chocomania project is due in like two hours. Let not the frivolous name fool you. We have to come up with a marketing strategy for cod liver oil chocolates and the concepts are so far above my head I can't even see them. I'm so screwed I can't tell you.
Hence this post.
There have also been other distractions and escapisms such as
blowing my nose (I have a terrible cold),
re packing my suitcase (I'm an awesome packer! Did I ever mention that?),
blow drying my hair (unecessarily),
downloading as many Porcupine Tree numbers as I can before the concert today evening, (:|)and
chipping off the two layers of pink and blue nail polish on my left hand.

But we must face reality sooner or later, right?
And aunty's just made lunch. So in my case that would be later.

Did I mention I'm screwed?
Pray for me,
MM.

Where do I start?

No, really.

Poor blog, Ive totally ignored you. No post for September, and I only realise mid October.

So much since then.
And I don't know where to begin.

*makes lazy non-committal hand gesture*
Tomorrow! or sometime.

You know when you're really really happy

This is then.

Pump It plays
I sing with it.

A Long, Scruffy Post About The Now

Off the top of my head:
I traveled by bus the other day. On the way back from college. *dances* And was thrilled to part with just a five rupee coin, instead of the usual forty bucks. And was very proud of self because Ive never been able to travel by bus in Bangalore.
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I should perhaps stop here to tell you that Im now in Mumbai, studying at St Xaviers (yes, that place where they shot Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na! *does excited dance* Forgive me. It's the only Hindi movie Ive been able to watch twice, apart from Lagaan) and Im doing a PG diploma in advertising and marketing, and Ive been here a month and many adventures have happened that I havent written about.
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Now that that is out of the way, we can get back to the bus. It was awesome. Ok maybe not awesome. Maybe there were lots of people coughing and sneezing. In your face if they could. And maybe there was one man in a surgical mask which made me get to thinking that i should possibly be worried and wearing one too. And maybe there was a man in a netaji cap who should probably have used some deodorant if he didnt want people around him to keep fainting. Maybe. But still. It was awesome.
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Better at least than traveling in a cab whose driver is the stupidest man on the planet. I swear, I am NOT joking, I should have taken a picture, it'd have gotten me millions. Westside to Bachelors, should have been 13 bucks, you dont want to HEAR the exorbitant amount he charged me because he was too dumb to know the route.

Because of recent swine flu scare I have been severely instructed by the 'rents not to use any mode of public transport, and to use the cabs everyday and to wear a mask and not to breathe too much if possible.
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But most cabbies are quite nice actually. Really nice in fact. Better than our local autodrivers most definitely. Always ready to help, making friendly conversation, not laughing at your broken hindi, sharing tips on how to prevent swine flu. In fact, people in general are more friendly there than here Ive noticed. When I landed at the airport this time I forgot I was at Bangalore and "No thank you plus smile"-ed at a dude who asked me whether wanted a taxi. Whereupon he sniggered at me and muttered something offensive in Kannada. After which I realised that this is not Mumbai MM, the appropriate response would be loud tsking and a rolling of the eyes before glaring at said man.

Havent you noticed that in Bangalore, being friendly doesnt work well with most of the people you have to deal with? I had to rewire my entire system after we moved back from London when I was eight. We do have our good qualities, but being civil and genuinely friendly to strangers is not one of them.
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Also, Ive been able to pick up Hindi much quicker than it took me to learn Kannada because people arent constantly correcting, judging and critiquing what Im saying and then laughing at me. Here they just take my broken Hindi and keep talking to me, I swear Ive gotten so much better at it. Soon I will be able to hurl abuses at the occassional foolish cabbie in fluent Hindi.
I tried talking to my mum in Kannada over the phone the other day and all that came out was broken Hindi. Funny how things change, in the beginning, I'd talk to the cabbies in Kannada not realising until they turned around and stared at me questioningly.

I like Mumbai. :)
I love Bangalore too though. This week break thanks to Swine Flu Scare has been too short.
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Back to the PG tonight. I stay in Tardeo. On the 29th floor, three sides sea facing, in a flat where the rooms are all painted bright and wonderful colours. My roommate is a sweetheart. I have it gooood. This I have realised this more deeply after a month in Mumbai. Accommodation is really expensive here. But we found a gem. PG aunty is Nepali, who married an Iyer, so she cooks us nepali achaars and otherwise south Indian type food for a very nominal rate. Her kids are all grown up and away, so their beautiful penthouse is ours for a year. :) I have the blue room. Just in case you wanted to know. There is also a pink room, a yellow room and the hall is orange and green. And although this sounds tacky, it is really not. :)

Lookit that. Im missing the place. Seems like I have two homes, for the now. :)

Anyway, while she may be really Brahmin with some of her rules, dont touch the used plate to the table, dont touch food in the pots once you've started eating etc, she's really decent about curfews and the like. Osh and I walked in at 4am the day we'd gone to Pune (that was loads of fun, the Hard Rock Cafe there is to die for, and try their mashed potato with gravy. Drool. Also there's this shop called Babe there. If I die and go to heaven, I hope I will wake up to find myself in Babe. Very afforable fantastic fashion. Needless to say, we went a little crazy. Im also in love with Pune. Everything is so much nicer and cheaper there. Of course there's the swine flu and all as well. Balances out.) And I walked in at 2am the day our class went to Zenzy's, only to find her watching Hindi soaps with her mum and her sister who've come down from Nepal to visit. Is she ever one for Hindi soaps.
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Incidentally, we saw Abhay Deol at Zenzy's. He was with two guys in this room at the back where Something Relevant was about to start playing, and the room was empty, ad me sai and shashank walk in and see them there. And we nod at each other and continue to stand there for the longest time the three of us whispering about whether we should actually be there or not, until people started to fill in. I'll have to admit, I didnt know he was an actor, havent seen him before, I only knew because they told me. I need to really watch some Hindi movies.
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I have glimpsed quite a few celebs here in Mumbai actually. :D The other day as Shanks and I are walking out of college, we turn around to see Rahul Bose walking behind us. :D
Our college has a lotta celebrities visiting it. Abdul Kalam came. And Hilary Clinton and Aamir Khan. Heavy security. The day we had Vivienne D Souza's class. She requires an entire blogpost for herself.
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College is nice. I miss my little gang or whatever you might call it. Sweethearts, although they would be greatly disturbed if they knew I was calling them that. Shanks from bangalore of course, Keegan, really musically talented and all, Savio, funny guy, easy to talk to "brand of our class", Arjun also plays the guitar and all that, fun to talk to, Mandar co- Paparazzi and entertainment provider. :D I actually miss it all! Ok, now Im ready to go back. Then there's Yashad whose funniness I miss greatly. And Shreyas and Dorita and Apoorva Sneha and Neha, my comp partner Harsh, who's lots of fun, and lots of other wonderful people that Im just getting to know.
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And Malhar has been postponed to next week. Im excited about that, will probably blog about it when it happens. :) Oh and the Xaviers building, is beautiful!! I just love it! So Harry Potter esque. :) I only saw it because of Malhar. The XIC building isnt as splendiferous. Plus we have to climb to the third floor everyday. Blah. That bit sucks.
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So Week One was running around trying to find accommodation with mum and dad. Mr Vikram is a character I will not easily forget. Perhaps I will blog about him later.
Week Two was hospital with Malaria/dengue/mild viral hepatitis, the docs cant make up their minds.
Week Three was college, horse carriage rides with osh sai and shanks, visiting marine drive and gateway at midnight, eating at roadside restaurants and getting caught in HEAVY rains that only Shanks umbrella could withstand :D
Week four was Josy Paul and Vivienne D'Souza and some worthwhile teachers and Malhar and practice and all that. Oh and Mr Samir Chadha who I found out, worked on the Orbit cow ads!! :D He was one of our guest lecturers.
Week Five swine flu holidays and back in B'lore for a week and it's not nearly enough time for anything. :( Blah. Not nearly enough time.

I have just realised now that we have a LOAD of assignments due pretty soon, and I'd better buck up and finish them or I am going to be in a lot of soup.
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I have the feeling too many drawers open.
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More Old-New Posts

...that I started, didnt finish, but now have, and have published under the date I first started writing them.

Hampi
North East

A Note and a Quote

*shudders at the rhymingness of it all*

Note: I have an old post which I will publish under the date it was written. If you are jobless please go read it.

Quote: Mum: "I know when MM's home when I see a pair of peeled off jeans on the floor."
This is now apparently my trademark. I feel like Zorro.

Also, is Google Reader supposed to annoy the hell out of you?

Just so there is a post for July

I have forgotten how to blog.

Stop this Train

John Mayer. Nice, very nice. Rather apt, and stuck in my head.
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More of a diary type post, this one.
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There are so many things going on, I havent even had the time to speak to Bestest properly. And that feels so wrong. Like she said, "It feels like my life isn't being recorded properly if I haven't told you what's been happening." And I feel the same way. There is such a backlog goose. I don't even know where to begin. But I will. :)
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I dont know if Ive said this before, but Im so afraid of forgetting.
So I thought I'd do a little recording here first and get everything up to date so those grandkids of mine know what's been happening. (Which grandkids?)
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Ok so first. I am really happy.
Like yay. Isn't that wonderful. Because like end of April I was all Wow. So what is happening with my life and all. No more college. No more routine. No idea what to do next. And it was all a bit confusing for a while.
But now, now I love my life. Things could not be better.

And Ive noticed that I write a lot when Im not so thrilled with things, you know. It's therapeutic for me to write when Im unhappy about things. I was just telling goose about how in our Chain of Letters, most are about the troubled times. :D We write when we're upset. It makes us feel better definitely. But that means the happy times arent recorded enough.

When we're happy, we dont say it. Are we afraid of jinxing it? Are we too busy enjoying it? I dont know. Whatever it is, it isnt worth it. From now on, I am going to say it when I feel it.

I am happy. :)

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I'm falling in love with The Office again. Steve Carrel is HILARIOUS. Jim and Pam. Jim and Pam. Sigh. I am downloading, at snail's pace, four seasons of The Office, US version. Please, if anyone has them, be a dear, give them to me and spare me the trauma.
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I'm also falling in love with my office.
I love Orchard. I really do. It's just like college but better. There's always music playing, movie-watching and loud laughter during the day. Cool art directors. Awesome Mentor. Lovely Lady from client servicing. And of course, the Cretarded Gang. Oh it's just so much fun! There will be another post on this lovefest. Soon. :)
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TheBaldMan has introduced me to some good music apart from being great company. Fellow YouTuber (tuber, haha!) has introduced me to some darn funny shit on youtube. Hahaha good stuff. :) StupidityShetty (far from stupid she is, but it has such a nice ring to it!) has taught me much about life. And Vindictive Slapper Woman has not taught me anything, but her slaps are awesome! *nurses red knuckles*
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Graduation Day on May 30. The lovely wine coloured saree that Tata insisted I buy as a gift from him. Meeting Oshmunch's family. :) I sat through a horribly boring ceremony that impressed our parents a great deal (We are too used to the splendour of Christ College Auditorium functions). 30 people on stage wearing the grad robes and hats and a lot of solemn speeches and prayer and the like. Good stuff. Good stuff. I managed not to puke on some of the puke inducing elements of our class. (Difficult. They were right in front of me.) I managed not to trip while collecting my graduation certificate. All in all eventful, spent with the people I care about, and a nice way to close the three years. :)
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Back from Manipal with Oshmunch. The bus journey was a mini wonderla. Met Sameeksha our senior there and hung out. It was a leetle dead there because the students are all home. There was one diluted Transit sort of place that we went where I was conned by the Subway man into taking double helpings, and got myself a nice little stomach ache before the interview. And it rained the ENTIRE time. Met some really nice people who came along for the interview though. That was heartening.

We went in for the GD, and it's sad to admit, but after coming out we realised not ONE of us knew what the topic was about. Argh. Except none of us knew that none of the others knew what the topic was about either. This is the mark of a good media person. :|

I used to be extremely bad at this, you know. If I dont know about something, I CANNOT fake it and convince people that I do. And yabber on sounding intelligent. If Im sure about something, I can speak about it. If I dont I usually keep mum. But I asked Annu, and she said she didnt know that I didnt know, so I must be getting better at it. :| Yay.

The interview process took a whole day and I was last in on the stress interview and by then I was so tired that nothing that they said fazed me. Even scary joint director who kept bulleting out questions. Where is Thimpu? Should India sign the NPT? What is it about humans that you hate? After the Tata Nano, what is the next project they're coming out with? Are you religious? Name one quality in your father that you dont like. Name two cities in Nagaland. What are your views on smoking and drinking? pat pat pat pat.
And the lady who was all:
You are last today. Every one must be talking about the questions.
Yes they have been.
So you already know all the questions do you?
Yeah. Kind of.
*shocked look*
Anyway, I was unfazed throughout, due to the zombification brought about by the incessant waiting. Which was good I think, because I've been accepted. And they've said Rank: 2 whatever that means. So awesome.
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Many trips to the BU with Oshmunch. Well, two. But they were fun. BU cows. We noticed a severe change in attitude from the time we were in salwars (visit 1) to the time we were in jeans (visit 2). Anyway, our migration certificates are with us at last! Hurray! And Breakthrough also, happened today. *pats self on back*
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We just realised that all of us are going to be leaving soon. Things wont be the same. No more heading to Sweet Chariot whenever we're starving and grumbling at the fat mustached waiter for taking so long. No more Forum for a movie, "no way are we going to eat that unhealthy McD stuff, oh well what the hell, lets." No more waiting outside the pg in the dark at night, getting eaten by mosquitos because we're two minutes past curfew. I didnt live there, but sometimes it felt like I did. And I will miss Babu Bhaiya's food.

A chapter is closing.
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Ah well, it hasnt all ended yet. Tomorrow lunch with the girls, back to work in the afternoon and then a sleepover at the Other MM's.
Did I mention that I love my life? :) :)
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The Things We Heard in Class, Noted down, Giggled Madly Over, and Almost got Thrown Out because of.

Don’t get me wrong. I love our teachers. Awesome young happening bunch. But sometimes they say things that make for great giggling over. :)

In Abnormal Psychology Class:

1. This leads to self mutilation by own-self

2. We ave to DIAGNASE the indi-u-jial.

3. There are many Personality Disordered People.

4. It is EYELY suspicious

5. Nature and Naature (Nature and nurture)

6. The environament starts to mowlds them.

7. Don’t be voverprotectiwe.

8. Yeny koshuns? (Any questions?)

9. Whizz-man! (Weisman)

10. In the Mix-id type of skisofreenia…

11. How can we define pd as? Where does it stand from?

In Industrial Psychology Class:

1. Does they the five of them have understood?

2. And the third peoples are…

3. They don’t want to, they just want to want to handle stress. (I swear)

4. A soothing background musics.

5. Stress do have effects.

6. If I doesn’t consult you, you will find it difficult.

7. That’s the end up with problems.

In Advertising Class:

1. Now we will have a small Iktivity

2. Jernal avhereness (general awareness)

3. Which arsepect you did not understand?

4. The vale-you and stettegy must be anal-ised.

5. The colour is blew. Your topic is glew. (blue. glue.)

6. The edjetive (objective?? adjective??)

7. siss (since)

8. He don’t know how to make lassi. So the machine become lassi maker.

9. Sandya would you get up off out of your place? (to sadhana)

10. ek-chu-lee (actually)

11. choozen (chosen)

12. mount-ayn

13. empisis

14. What are you been doing?

15. Pliss circle one, four and ahleven.

And lastly, in that horrible horrible Sanskrit class that I was STUCK in for two years where the Gormless Lady MUTILATED the English language and massacred some Sanskrit as well:

1. Instead of saying “Tulsi is a plant.”, she goes:

Tulsi is the one, that is going to be the one, that is going to be a plant.

(all said veeeeery slowly. I died a little every time I attended that class.)

2. If I will be letting you to present you var project, then you will be never be understanding thee yimportance of disceepleene. Therefore I will be going to be giving you all zero marks wonly.

(This incident raised many a bp level. Was I ever glad after second year.)

Sigh. I'mna miss these days though.

I'm in love and I'm happy

Killer title no?

Before you get all excited and ready for some juicy gossip, let me just introduce you to him.

This is Bolt.

Isnt he just darling?
What ok. Dont roll your eyes. I can be gimmicky on my own blog, if I want to.
But draw your attention to his eyes, his large nose, his perfect tail. Isnt he just the cutest thing you ever saw? Isnt he just? Isnt he?

Look, this is Bolt's puppy eyes look.

This is Bolt staring incredulously at a rodent.

This is Bolt being angry.

This is Bolt being compassionate.

This is Bolt in action.

This is Bolt in action at night.

This is Bolt swinging from a banner with a skeletal cat and a hamster.

This is Bolt being studly.

This is Bolt being confused and lost.

Ah Bolt.

How I love you, and your perfect tail.

Bestest lent me the movie a while ago and he is now the Dog of my Life. Unfortunately, as a result, I have been forced to remove Ceazu, (Bestest's Boxer) from top position on my list. (Yes, I have a list. What's it to you?) Which goose, you cant really blame me for seeing as you were the one who introduced me to Bolt in the first place, right? So there will be no plate throwing and name calling, right? And no yelling and screaming insults and abuses while running me over with a truck, right? Right.

So that's who Im in love with.
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And why am I happy?

Well today was THE most BORING day I've ever lived through. I swear.

And if that's not enough to make a girl happy, I dont know what is.

Patience I say, there's more.
In the morning I was so sleepy I was afraid I was going to crash headfirst into the monitor if I didnt do something about it quickly. And then I'd have to pay a fine and stuff, not to mention sew up my severed head. So the other intern and I walked down to the nearby coffee day and bought a frappe, because they wake me up (and well, Im addicted. Shhh).
It didnt help.
I spent the entire afternoon doing NOTHING. And I intensely hate this doing nothing business. I was feeling all restless and angsty and uncomfortable and adventurous and wanting to do something crazy, like bungee jumping or running through the roads screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling". And I spent the whole afternoon not being able to, and generally just feeling terribly trapped and miserable the entire time.

Now if all that's not enough to make a girl happy, I dont know what is.

No WAIT. There's more.
In the evening, I got some good news:

I've passed my sixth semester with Distinction! YAY!

*waits for applause to stop while some others mutter 'well, that was long winded', and to them I say "well its my blog and I can rant here if I want to ok!" before tearing up and running away*

Ordinarily I wouldnt bother so much about such news, but today it just made me euphoric.
Yes, there is still some Iyengari blood flowing through these veins.

And to all of you who eagerly came here expecting E News type drama and romance and were bored out of their senses by this long, rambling, rant of a post... HA HA ( in the words of Nelson). And also, do me a favour please, and go and jump in a well. Thank you.

In my next post I declare there will be no gimmicks.
Scout's Honour.