The Other Side of Life

Hello Children of the World! We are back - with a new look! I got inspired by so many people who are doing the same. So I tweaked around the HTML and managed to do this little something for my dear blog. To be fair, the previous look was about as bland as it could get. Not that this is any brighter, but it looks better. Me likes. Period! On to the Post now..:) Work. Isn't it the most contentious thing on Earth? Like Kashmir. Like Peace. Like Nuclear Weapons. Except that no one wants work! It's a game of "Pass-The-Parcel" and the poor person caught unawares ends up working like a donkey. It's sad. Really! Now, my experience is pretty limited, but what I have learnt (from experience and friends' stories) is pretty amusing, even to me. I'll explain this through a couple of conversations: CONVERSATION 1 between Highly-Paid Superior Successful Manager (Henceforth referred to as 'Meano') and Young Newly-Joined Nervous Desperate-To-Prove Employee ...

When you watch too many American shows on TV, you tend to form an image of working women in your head - Smartly dressed, running late in the morning, talking on the phone to clients, picking up Coffee at Starbucks, catching an early Train. It's been 3 months since I started my professional life, and I am proud to say, I came verrrry (think nanometers) close to this image two days ago! Except that, instead running late in the morning, I was running late in the evening, trying to make it in time to the office to "Log Out" and hide my absence for the day. Instead of coffee (Which I despise despite being a South Indian!), it was 3 McDonalds Burgers and 1 McPuff and 1 French Fries (Commmmmon! It was lunch time and I was DAMN Hungry!). Instead of talking on the phone to clients, I was talking to my team-mates (Is the Boss back? Please say no!!).Instead of an early train, I was SQUASHED like a mosquito in the Delhi metro! That's right, people - SQUASHED! (PS: Did you notic...

So, my first day in office in 2010 started on an adventurous note. Missed the office bus on a chilly day in Delhi, waded through fog and a subway with no lights, shared the rest of the journey with an irritating office boy, tried the much hyped Noida Metro..You get the picture, right? Not exactly the normal, calm day that I enjoy - which got me thinking about how the daily "nuances" of life have changed in a decade. To be very frank, I don't remember much of the 90's. I didn't have an email Id or a blog back then, to read through old mails and smile at my innocence. I did not have a cell phone, and the landline phone was placed on top of the refrigerator where my hand could never reach. I had never played snakes, and my idea of playing was limited to, or rather not limited to outdoor games! I ran and ran till my legs couldn’t carry me anymore, played stupid games hiding in bushes and plants, jumping across fences, hitting each other with the ball. Oh the times wh...

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 5 ; the fifth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton . 05.12.2009 Dear Diary, I am tired today. Very tired. It was a long day, you see. It was the ungodly hour of 05:00 am, when we were roughly woken from our sleep by the Master’s activity. As he got ready, I sat waiting patiently with bated breath. Is my lucky day finally here? First the Hair, then the face cream, the Cologne, then the tie, followed by the blazer, the watch and finally, it was the wallet. He opened the wallet, took a look inside and muttered under his breath, “Hell! I have to stop going to the club when I am drunk! The money JUST disappears!” Quietly, he reached inside the almirah and reached out for the stacks arranged neatly in the locker. When the Master’s hand touched my bundle, I felt a thrill of excitement run through my body. Oh Diary, ho...

I am superstitious in a funny way. When I was in college, I believed that my exam would go well if I went via the Outer Ring Road, although I would most definitely get stuck in a gigantic traffic jam, and be shadowed by the whole question of whether I would even make it to the exam on time. I believed the classes would be suspended for the day, if I got into one particular Blueline bus at 7:53 in the morning, although, I would have to put up with the whole torture of irritating conductors, passing wile comments all the way. I believed I would get a good result if I saw the smile of that little girl at the red light in the morning, sitting on the back of her Dad's scooter, with her 3 siblings, all precariously balanced on the same seat. I considered myself lucky on the days when the set of rag picker boys came up to my auto and tried selling me cheap, pirated editions of The White Tiger and Inheritance of Loss. They were very smart to figure out I read books, but were not smart enou...