The Other Side of Life

So I assume Blogathon ends today. I started 5 days late, but that's no reason for me to continue for 5 extra days. Let's be reasonable! I actually really enjoyed the Blogathon. Till before this, blogging for me was always a product of sudden inspiration.  But when the inspiration happens, everything becomes a story: Suddenly, there's a post in every hour of my life and my head starts bursting with ideas to write.  This used to happen once in 3 months. The Blogathon taught me that I am just a lazy lazy bum and that if I really did put my head to it, the inspirations can come more often. Maybe once a week? Or maybe twice? Who knows. The Blogathon has also made me visit most of my favorite blogs more often. Its amazing how this little blog world has so much character of its own. I love reading about different lives, their perspectives. Some of them are so similar to mine. And some so dissimilar! All in all, a fun month. Like I said, the idea is ...

After a tiring Mumbai trip, I walked into the house late this evening. Sherlock was traveling. So I knew I had the house to myself. I wanted to read. Watch a random movie. Play the piano. And sleep early. But they had other plans. That's right. I walked right into a protest march in the house. As soon as I opened the door, I heard a flurry of activity. The TV switching on. The sofa rearranging its cushions. The remotes climbing on to the table to make themselves visible. The utensils from the kitchen had arranged themselves on the ground. The guitar was sitting on the bean bag. The piano had started playing some loud music. I walked into the room, in a trance and started removing my shoes when the TV cleared its throat and spoke, "Look here. You may be a human and the owner and all that. But treat this as an intervention. We are done with you." Before I could speak, he continued.  "Just because you pay my bill doesn't mean you can do what yo...

(This post was a Tangy Tuesday Pick! You can see the whole list here -  http://blog.blogadda.com/2016/02/02/tangy-tuesday-picks-february-2-2016-weekly-blogs-indian-bloggers-blogadda ) This, as per me, is how interviews with me should be like: Interviewer (Ir): Hi. Welcome here. Great to meet you. Me: Hi. Please take me in.. Ir : So, tell me about yourself. Me :  I am a nice person. Most times.  Bangalore traffic gets the worst out of me. I curse while driving.  I was a geek in school and am not great at sports. Some may say that makes me lack the sports spirit. I can't say they are wrong. I can be competitive as hell. Sometimes, that means I compete even for silly things like who ate first. If I win, I do a rain dance to a song that goes, "I won, I won, I won.", while pumping my fist in the air. Also, I am a sore loser. Sometimes, when I lose to Sherlock in Poker or Jenga or even 10 Questions, I cry and threaten not to make dinner. I work ve...

It has been a good day, so far.  I just crossed my own record of maximum versions to a file, with version 41 for a business case that I just saved and mailed. It feels good.  Version 41 in 6 months is around 7 versions per month. That is around 2 versions per week. So that's two times a week when someone changed their mind and asked me to make 1 very small change in the sheet, hence changing all the 16 linked sheets and hence, the word doc and hence, the presentation.  It's ok. Worse things have happened. By the way, Version 20 is always similar to Version 1. It's a full circle. Always. This version thing in, my opinion, is a disease. I am pretty sure even the guy on top suffers from this. As in the guy on the very top, God. I don't think he could have made this entire complex world without at least a few million versions. Darwin, of course, lovingly gave my theory the name "Evolution". I am sure some MBA kid up there would have gone ...

Many years ago, I did a post to absolve myself of all the judging I do. I listed out things for others to judge me about. Blogathon is as good a time as any to bring that back. Because let's face it. I still judge people a lot. For English, for partying, for language, for jobs, for random stuff that's unconnected to me. And I still feel guilty about that. I have grown as a person in 5 years and that means, I have more things now that people can judge me about than 5 years ago. So, here. Here's what you can judge me on: 1. I Love reality shows like Bigg Boss and America's Top Model. They are so silly and mindless that I am almost ashamed to watch them. But, I watch them. And I don't just watch them, I follow them seriously. I follow them on Twitter and participate in polls too. Polls like "Do you think what Mandana did last night was wrong?" and "Rishabh Sinha is the cutest. Do you agree?". Yes. I do all that. It's so sad, that ...

A mid week holiday is coming to an end. I have a headache. There's office tomorrow. And a short trip to Mumbai. All in this week. Sigh. So, we had to resort to the tag. Since I don't know where this originated, I am going to attribute it to the two blogs where I read it - Paatiamma's and DI's. 1. What are you wearing? Capris and a Minions t-shirt 2. How tall are you? Around 5 Ft, 6 Inches. 3. How much do you weigh? I think around 54 kgs. 4. Any tattoos? No. Just today I was thinking of getting one of those tattoo stickers which you get free with Boomer. 5. Any piercings? Only ears. 6. Favourite show? Current favorites are Modern Family and How to Get Away with Murder 7. Something you miss? Home. Delhi. 8. Favourite song? Too many. Current favorite is Pashmina from Fitoor. 9. Zodiac sign? Capricorn 10. Quality you look for in a partner? Intelligent, intellectual, sensitive. 11. Favourite actor? Not a movies person at ...

There are some benefits to being a Government Officer's daughter, growing up in Delhi. For instance, the fact that for us 26th January is never just another holiday to wake up late. Its the one day when we are in the middle of the action. Oh, the excitement of Republic Day! Waking up early to catch the Prime Minister's tribute at Rajghat. Watching the beautiful black cavalcade move gracefully on my beloved Rajpath through the foggy, cold wintry haze.  The commentator's invariable comment on the weather. "Aaj mausam ne bhi Bharat ko salaam kiya hai. Dekhiye kaise baadalo ke peeche se suraj dikh rahe hai." And the camera pans across the impatient audience. One swift glance of sweaters and woolens of all colors. The camera's standard zoom in, on the kids section and the commentator's - "Dekhiye bacchon ka utsah. Isi drishya ke liye yeh Gantantra Diwas humare liye itna mahatvapoorna hai." Then the sound of hooves as the President arri...

Said noone. But, if you go by the rules of Twitter, this definitely rings true.  I don't actively post on Twitter, but I read a lot there. And given that I don't generate interesting content, it is understandable that the follower quality, can best be described, on an optimistic day, as "Meh". But, if the handles of my followers are anything to go by, I definitely lead a very interesting life.  For instance: @WeddingPlz follows me. Like, "1 Photo Please". It is very hard to imagine what type of a person is asked to get married the same way that she is asked to get clicked for a photo. But hey, that's me. It doesn't matter, I guess, that I had a wedding last year. Every once in a while, you can request me. Always with a "Please". Then there's @Ritu . Fairly simple. Nothing weird. Except her About Me that states quite clearly, "Share Market and insider news.  97% accurate advise. Add whatsapp +918758243262....

Cross your heart and answer these questions: CASE 1: You are free. Not doing anything in particular. A random friend, who you have exactly two class photos with, in one of which you look like Ishaan Awasthi, comes up to you and says, “Hey, I am at the Mumbai Airport.” Kill me if I am wrong about this, but wouldn’t your answer be, “Umm, ok. So?” CASE 2: You are waiting for your cab, in a hurry to get somewhere. But you have time to kill simply because your cab is late. An acquaintance comes up to you and says, “Dude, I am feeling determined.” Would you not give him a quizzical look and say, “And that’s helpful to me because…?” CASE 3: Your acquaintance, a classmate from school, whom you haven’t met since that farewell day when you all wore over-sized blouses and saris and pretended to be adult-like, suddenly runs into you in, say a supermarket. And dishes out her wedding album and honeymoon album and starts showing you random pictures. This is me, this is my husban...

Duration of Exam: 30 minutes Please write your Roll Number clearly. Subject: Real Life Math Skills Question 1: "Ms. X lives in Bangalore. Her office is 15 km away from home. She leaves the house at 08:00 am, in a good mood, at 60 kmph. Within 1 km of her house, she runs into an Auto Rickshaw going in the opposite direction, without a care in the world. Refer diagram for details: The auto-rick continues driving at 30 kmph and passes by, while Ms X slows down to 5 kmph, with lots of honking behind her. She has now added atleast 800m more to the already 1.5 km long traffic jam on the road. Calculate: 1. The approximate time by which Ms. X must delay her meeting at 9:30 am. 2. The numeric equivalent of the stress the Auto guys caused Ms. X. 3. The number of times Ms. X must curse before she feels better. Question 2: Ms. X is an MBA. She makes Powerpoint presentations for her living. The number of versions of a presentation she makes befo...

One of those days today. Nothing much to say. But honoring the Blogathon! Cheers! Preeks Image Courtesy: Calvin & Hobbes

Dealing with banks must be recorded in history as one of the more scarier things one has to do in adult life.  Every experience with banks for me is a cycle: Every time.  Today was one of those Bi Annual Bank Days of my life. The case was quite simple. My name is A.B. Preeks.  This is the story of when I did not have a bank account and I had just joined my first job. Banks were after my life to open an account. When I finally opened my first bank account, the pretty lady forcing her bank services on me said, what does A.B stand for? I said, Awesome Beautiful. She said, write that on the form. I tried telling her that I go by A.B. No one even knows the full form. But, no, she wouldn't listen. And for someone like me, who always wanted to keep her money as cash hidden under the bed, the bank was a scary dark monster I didn't know much about. So, there. In capital, bold letters and blue ink I wrote on the form: AWESOME BEAUTIFUL PREEKS...

(This post was a Tangy Tuesday Pick! Yay! Check it our here -  http://blog.blogadda.com/2016/01/19/tangy-tuesday-picks-blogadda-indian-bloggers-blog-posts ) It's ok to feel bad when something good happens to someone. It's ok sometimes to want to shoot with a gun. It's ok to be irritated when someone scratches fingernails on Teflon. It's ok to miss a post or two in your first Blogathon. It's ok to not want leave Goa and come home. It's ok to suffer a severe case of Monday blues syndrome. Its ok if your motivation level is not that of Aragon. It's ok when bad connectivity makes you miss Blogathon. It's ok to eat good food everyday, like Cheese Patty. It's ok even if the food is unhealthy and fatty. It's ok even if you resolved this year to run a Marathon. It's ok even if while eating, you forgot the Blogathon. It's ok to never ever want to go to work. It's ok to sit at home when office has a vintage Wifi network...

The solutions to most problems in life is having some sand in your feet. Over and out.

On an average, I take two flights every 10 days. Atleast. Then there are weeks when I take 4. And if I add in some personal travel on the weekend, then more. And in all these flights, I have noticed something very peculiar about myself - how I behave when I am taking a flight for official work versus when I am travelling as a tourist. I am two absolutely different travellers, locked in my body. For instance, lets take baggage. When I travel for work, I pack just enough for me to survive the trip. Its almost a crime to pack anything extra. If someone makes a dinner plan on such a trip, I go directly from office because I haven't got an extra pair of clothes. But when I am a tourist, it is always this case: And after calculations that almost require an Excel macro, I come to a decision and check in. Then comes seat selection. I don't know why I do this. But this always happens: Always. Always. I am always on a window seat in personal travel and alway...