Firangi Nadu

Motivation currently on a break to the Himalyas.. More when its back.. Had to pen something while on Friangi soil *wink*

When trains learn to fly

I am not sure why I chose that title .. But that’s what flashed through my mind when I saw the reports of the blasts in Mumbai .. Its like an experiment gone horribly wrong , as if someone wanted to make the train fly and it succeed for a few moments before it was time to meet its destiny … remember the story of the man who tied wings to his arms and jumped off a cliff.. He got enlightened half the way down but by then the only place he could carry the enlightenment was to the next world.

I am wandering away from what I started. But then unlike the story this was no experiment .. It’s a child of a very sick mind… yes .. probably in the plural…Who other than loony would think of making a statement by blowing up a few hundred people… But then .. may be someone is just trying to sell his wares… Dus ka teen dus ka teen … ek se sau mare… dus ka teen ..

No I do not want to sound flippant when thousands are in mourning... but have there ever been a time when peace reigned … then it used to be wars .. now that we cant have a war just because the neighbor’s castle looks pretty… we have 9/11 , 7/7 , 7/11 ...

You may want to call it whatever you want … I would still call this act to be war too..
Modern guerilla tactics probably, but still a war being stuffed down the throat of a country unwilling to wage a war.… but the results..
whether its in the age of bows and arrows or in the age of timer bombs its all the same … peace, sent on a forced vacation…

Now is a war .. inevitable… good bad .. evil .. divine… war and peace … do all this come in pairs ??

Of shattered dreams and broken... GLASS???

'Its the puja that I did last week at the Bhagwadi Shetram' Amma tells me . Now how did all this start? With me telling amma during one of our daily girl girl to converstaions, that these days I am feeling better. Well .. nothing wrong with the pinkness of my health... just having a bad time otehr wise. Now from my association with my fav 'girlfriend' that goes back more than a couple of decades, I have learnt not to disagree with her fundas.. Its futile.. She would let me win the argument without being convinced even a little. Still that doenst stop me trying

.. 'Alla amma , its the name change on my ID card . Even your astro 'nuts' would agree with me on that. Finally I have a full namenot just two miserly letters following my name. 'Now the reason for this too is not very complex. Its just that like most south indian from the southern most tip of India, my certificates always had initials instead of a last name printed on them. with their obsessionfor a last name in the north , I can tell you I have had a harassed childhoodexplaining to the northies why I do not have / use a last name . and considering that I spenta considerable number of years there .. you can understand ...

And a couple of days back that childhood stigma had finally got erased. My ID card which recently had a rebirth, had my name printed along with my father's name instead of the ... yes initials.. And I have always held it has a nice ring to it.. It rhymes.. Oh well... But the tough part was explaining to Amma how good it feels..And I would definitely not give the guy sitting up there any credit for that ...

Ok now back to my story...
That was yesterday. .. Amma finally says goodnite asking me to sleep facing northsince east or west was out of question in the dinginess of my abode..This I dutifully follow...I do make some concessions to the harassed guy upstairs... A few hours after that some does go wrong terribly.. Well the guy up there is up to his usual pranks.. I am not going to this anyways ...I still manage to sleep with a smile.. I still had a complete name now... and it felt good...

Come morning... wakie wakie... and the rush to the office bus.. I promptly go to sleep .. and dream abt the way everyone would call me.. Hmm and what was that horrible noisemy rash bus driver's sins have finally caught up with him... the headlites of the other cehicleand the glass of my bus lay kissing the ground... hmm its that Guy again...

Monday morning blues...

I guess the caption and the pic says it all.. *Sigh* 5 days for the week end.
Credits to Pravs for the pic .. :)

Oh deer..

Jack and Jill went up the hill to get a bird for dinner
Thats when Jack got a man and Jill shot a deer.
Now, Home went Jack n Jill trot to Jail
To count the days of the year!

Hail Humanity!

Now the memory of the incident about to be narrated has kind of done the will o’ the wisp act but , let me assure you the incident is true.

Last month , I finally managed to books tickets to.. home sweet home. It was supposed to be a packed weekend. Home to another beautiful city a nearby (as in 5 hrs ok lets call this place City 2. hehe ) , night to be spent at the city no.2 , and then back home the next day and then back to Bangalore.

Day 1 : Everything went as expected till I reached City 2 (except for squabbles with bro , mom and dad…oh well ok I admit those were the only 3 people I talked to that weekend grrr)..
Ofcourse goes without saying, Pitashri was with me .

Day 2 : Wake up early , have an early breakfast , and check out of the hotel, and finally an auto ride to destination. Go to hmm lets say Destination . After a couple of hrs go to the station and catch the train back home. In an hr take a bus to Bangalore.
Yeah that was the plan…

What did happen was…

Everything accoding to plan till I reach Destination. I get down from the rick .. look for a place to put my mobile… and yes.. my handbag has vanished. Now its not just a handbag. It has everything money … cards … Pics… the usual lutulusku..
Well apart from that my identity.. hmm .. Voters Id … Driving license and heaven knows what made me carry my PAN card too.

Now what do I do ?? go back to the hotel .. restaurant .. everyplace I could think of .. Well my identity was no where to be found…

So the culprit?... the rick.. Now how in heaven’s name am I supposed to find a rick in a city where every autostand has atleast a dozen waiting to grab people. Even if I find him..fat chance of getting the bag back. Anyways .. the stand where I got my auto from had some nice people.. who suggested we go to the police and report.

Well that found a reluctant me and Pitashri in the Correction factory narrating our story half a dozen times to various people ranging from the drumstick like lady constable (tryiong to look tough with a mean looking rifle) to the inspector.. besides other people there. Now the chief guy asked me a lo of questions about the cards.. card number .. etc and in the middle of all this also slipped in an innocent looking question of how much I earn . I am not sure if that would have helped the case of a missing handbag.
Anyway .. That was that …

Now what the time was just 11 and we had about 3 hrs to go for our train out of the city which ate my Identity.

Now Pitashri asked me to get over it and start thinking of not letting the Identity thief steal my money as well. Thus began a series of STD calls. The first few were to knock a few friends off their beds on a Sunday morning( yeah it was only 11) begging them to give the customer care number. Then the next series to my benevolent aunty (bless her.. she had a tough time locating them in MessLand namely my cupboard) in Bangalore to read out my card numbers from old bank statements. A few more calls and it was all done. All my money was safe though my identity was still stolen.

By the time all this was over .. it was time for my train back home. We reach early and get int oteh train and a call from matashri.. Someone has found my bag ! they have left their number . Pitashri and me get out of the train in record time.

Take another rick.. ( I hate em now) … and reach Lily Fernandez’ door step. And the lady tells us the rick man is a neighbour of hers .When he found it he did not know what to do with it. He gave I to her and asked her to find a way to give it back to me.Now the lady rummaged thru my lil home and found some visiting cards.. and telephone numbers .. tried calling .. all numbers were changed. It was the bus ticket that came to my rescue. She called up the travels and thus got through to my matashri and welll…. .u guessed it .. my identity was handed over to me .. untouched… no.. undamaged.. unchanged… J

Hehe .. gosh… long lost and found story …

Thank you Ma’am Fernandez!

Now… another series of calls await me … to get all my cards renewed… hmm… Life.. !

I am going onsite to .. Pune!

31st Jan,

Bad news... I have been transferred to Pune...
Bad news, because it takes me away from home.
May not be all that bad , its like another home coming for me.
Spent 7 years of my childhood here. 7 wonderful years, had so many friends
, I am excited. Used to live in Janawadi, those days it was a place away from the city
on the foothills of a tiny mountain. So that took care of holiday activities ..
Mountain climbing was a passion with us girls .. ofcourse small rocks became
bi boulders requiring absolute grit and guts .. Dont know if I would still find my friends there.
May be I can find Priya. my best pal.

10th Feb,

Priya , still lives in the same place . I talked to her after 15 yrs. 15 yrs! I didnt really think I would find her.
and she hasnt changed at all. She still remembers the way I used to cry every time someone called me 'moti'.. Well .. I used to be a cry baby..(still am .. hehe)
She says' agu tu mhala viserle nahi??' . Didnt u forget me yet ?
'Nahi ga' . No dear..
That was all I could remember of Marathi.
I am meeting her on 17th.


13th Feb,

Finally I am in Pune. A deep breath. I have dreamt of coming here. I want to meet so many people.and oh yes Deccan Hearld. Havent held this in my hands in such a long time.
aw and the first thing I see is 'Girl jumps to death from an old MHB building' . MHB Thats where I used to live too. But then a big colony
Dont remember the buildings though
First day in office was fun.Its far from where I am put up but still the excitement is too much.
Anis did say the enivironment in Pune office is different. So much josh!

15th Feb,

No company to go anywhere today . Office as usual . Work is too much .
Just enough time to drag myself back home and sleep. Waiting for Friday
I will go up to Priya's place for dinner. Can't forget her house. Spent so many days
during hols playing cards, generally chattign reading. Its third floor house number 219.

18th Feb,

Deccan Herald:
Girl jumps to death in Janawadi.
Its the third such incident in 2 months. Police say the incident took
place in a MHB ( Maharashtra Housing Board ) Colony Building.
The top floor was gutted in a fire in '97 when the entire family was burnt to death..
The girl was from.....

*** All characters in this story are fictional and the places too . Any resemblance is pure coincidence and all that blah! and ofcourse all views are mine and purely mine .. doesnt have anything to do with the place I work ... Hmph the disclaimer is quite a mouthful!

I ask thee..

Dont know what has strayed...
or why ... or if at all it has ...
But I ask thee... where did I go wrong...
Dont know if its the end of a dream ,
the the birth of reality....
or the preview to a nightmare
Maybe, it's mist that will clear away soon..
Yet, I ask thee where did I go wrong...

The Dino tale..

Was reading Lost World and bro dear has been grumpy that I left Jurassic Park at home and hence didnt read that first. Goes without saying both the books are his. After watching both the movies I have been arguing the order doenst matter. As usual , I lost tht argument.The great MC fan has been trying to convert me. Ofcourse didnt need much coaxing . Where would he find a more willing sis. Infact, I havent heard of anyone not liking MC's creations..


Wasnt planning to write about MC but about the cute biggies that he created . The big lizards.'Big' probably doesnt justify their size though. Huge .. Humungous.. Was wondering though what it would have been like to have them around.

The tiny one that Levine coaxes to hop on to his palm in Lost World, I would have had one of those as pets.Wonder what I could use to pamper em, dino biscuits ?? May be the police dogs would have dinosquads for company.I am assuming here that they have a gud sense of smell and can be ferocious on demand. We would have had dino sanctuaries and zoos.


Menu card in Mangadevi restaurent .. Chicken biriyani, Mutton chops, Fish fry, Dino liver keema... Ofcourse how can we miss out teh dino egg burger low fat high in proteins , ideal diet for those on diet!Dino leather wallets, Dino eyes buttons. Dino hair good for curing piles says latest research.hmm..Flash News!- Dino attack in kasturimattam village . Sarpanch munched for lunch. Curfew in the Delhi, Biggie attack predicted, schools and offices closed for a weekarmy on alert.. Dino turns juggler in Russian Circus. Save Dinos says Ms Mannip.Stop the inhuman killing for dino bile,.New and improved Silky shampoos - Now with extract from dino toe nail.


Hmm..I guess dino clan must have done a lot of 'punya' in their previous lives to escape coexisting with us :) But I think we would have had a few more holidays in school!

Ask not what your country can do for you....

This blog took a lot of time . Not that I have taken too much time to write.
Just that I never got started or if I did didnt feel like continuing.
Anyways today I cry 'Eureka'...

One of the blogs I visit frequently has got me thinking..
The ways I can make a difference ... Difference for the country.. for everyone around in general
A few things...
1) Being a bookworm, I know what a person is missing...if he doesn’t not know to read. Its probably not possible to teach many..
considering the nature of work I do . But I will make sure I make, at least one kid lieterate.. why a kid .. one person.. anyone..
2) Never accept a bribe .. I am not sure I can work on the never bribe thing.. Cowardly probably .. but I am no gladiator.
3) Smile at an unhappy person in the morning. ( i call em grouch potatoes !).
4) Be involved in some charity work as often as possible, at least once a year
5) Pay taxes proportional to what I earn. I owe something for the road that I walk on, for the water I drink and the electricity
that finds its way to my home.
6) Save water. A not so short stint in Chennai has given me that lesson for life.

That could be some of the things I know I can do for sure.
That also makes me think of a lot of things I can do but resist doing it.
For a variety of reasons ranging from plain escapism to reluctance to
forgo whats convenient. I guess that could be taken up some other time.
Cowardice at play again.. I do not want to ruffle any touchy feathers.
Pet ka sawaal hain!

RDB fever

Yes.. I am sick.. with all the reviews going gaga over the movie ..
I cant wait to watch the movie ... weekend looks galaxies away ...
and chances of playing hookey looks dismal.. *sigh*...
Mommy! ...
Wonder why though.. I have never been an Amir fan ..
I mean he is no Nana Patekar for heaven's sake .. nor a
Salman Khan...
*rang de basanti re* ....
Maxcc today is 16 many times over...

On a suicide mission..

Oh ! not me. I am not suicidal , far from it.
But arent we all in one way or the other ,..
Race cars .. Bungee jumping.. Para gliding..
Exploration of the poles...
Venturing to thr mouth of monster volcanoes...
Climbing.. unclimbable mountains...
Are these death wishes or what ..
Even something as silly as say ,Sehwag's calculated wild swings is an invite for self destruction...
So is the search for glory... thrills... the wish to wander beyond comfort zones...
are all these other forms of the cliched moth driven to the fire syndrome..
ofcourse the intensity of this inherent urge varies...
Hit or miss... if its a hit ... I am the King .. else I fall in the quest..
Fall and fall... somewhere so low... I never can rise again...
Why am I not courting death when I want to drive to EC ?..
Morbid thoughts... true...
*Kangana re * ...

Santa Santa Go Away!

Santa Santa go away...
One of my new year resolution .. to be a lil stingy on those chocs .. or my favourite line to be a little less like santa ..

And the target .. well.. X kilos to vanish in 2 months... ( u r not supposed to ask wat the X is :D )Daunting task but very achievable ..said the lil voice in my head when I made a bet with my brother... the lil trickster .. I realise now ..

The date... tail-end of Feb...who is gobbling all those days between Dec and Feb .. Is he ready to be bribed..

I am not doing too bad at the bet ... I skip meals and then end up snacking a couple of times extra .. so instead of a couple of parathas.. now my digestive system has to deal with everything that looks tempting in the sin house namely canteen..

Trips to Foodworld aah well .. ... lil chocs .. and big ones chase me across the narrow alleys of the shopping mall... chips monsters are ready to pounce into my cart and hibernate there... And well I have no choice but to be taken hostage ... So many of my Sodexhos get very comfy in the cashiers drawers.,thanks to these terrorists...

EArly every morning there is a tough regimen of training and workouts...the tough job of convincign myself that i can sleep a lil extra ... workouts .. in and out of my blanket... I tell the lil voice .. I wud start the long wakls ... tomorrow... promise on everything i hold dear.. today i have a lil pain on the lil toe nail..

well .. how the story is ending is .. i am becoming a better santa than ever .. :) ... I am ur santa for ever,... lil bro .. u can start the celebratory jig ..

Maxcc=0... *right here right now hain khushi ka samaan*:) ..
hmm another one of those ... no sense blogs . .:)

Just like it ...

I wanted to pen what I like.. or why I like wat I like.. :)

No not about people.. I said what I like not whom I like... oh that reminds me . I love dogs... apart from the loyalty part .. there something... They some how look so gullible.. helpless.. the lost lamb look... Most of em I mean.. I am sure .. if you are staring at a doberman baring its fangs .. the roles would be reversed... Its not something thats seen on a cats face .. It never looks .. dependent... even if its a tiny little kitty ... hmm...not sure if anything else has the same look... never had any other pets..

Blue... the color...
Mark Twain...
Sherlock holmes... not the author... the character...and
I have run out of steam... Dont know why I started it ... Not sure why I want to end it ... B ut still wont delete it ... its a reflection of my thought process... or ... na .. I would let it be...
hmm.. na dont want to end the day on a low note... Region down ... I miss Maxxcc ...
*Ovvoru pukalame*... yes playing it right now .. and I like it too .. :)

... Tiny earths hanging on a silver stem...

I think I am running out of titles ...
Since I have got myself a new prop.. my fingers are typing jewellery jewellery jewellery as soon as I opened the notepad to type a blog... Prop.. yes... a woman's prop ... and why not talk about it ...
A tiny pendant can make a top look a lot better.. an earrings could make the difference between a really bland shirt to something .. really elegant without being too loud.. ... etc etc etc... but what I am hooked to right now are the long ones... then stems of silver with a tiny earth hanging at the tip.. or the ones that are really long... plain .. not a hint of color anywhere ... or the ones .. that start out as thin as the famished looking models .. and then end in santa ... ::) more like inverted pots.. of wood.. with tiny beads at the brim... the pot itself with be colorful... hmm.. *sigh*... earrings are beautiful .. :)

*my dil goes M.mmm* ... oh yes. . I am a happy puppy today .. *aati woh aise chalke jaise jannat main rehti hain* ... and that is exactly my state today ..

And its Maxcc = 0 today .. :).. Life is beautiul...

Anonymous Critics on Infinite Mode

Yes its been prompted by anonymous comments for my posts... Ok let me first say it upfront.. I have abolutely nothing against this species..just that its an interesting topic to write about ...

Why would someone want to remain anonymous...

1) A non-stranger with a Mask..
2) A lazy goose who doesnt want to create a blog
3) Might be my next bay buddy.. hmmm .. I can see Max cc 8 flashing on ur screen buddy.. why dont ya just go back to it .. hehe .. ahem ... if u r someone who can see my report card... sowwie sir.. :D
4)Could be dad giving subtle hints... DONT WASTE TIME!!!!
5) Could be a stray visitor... signing the guestbook... ok I was here ... and since there are no trees to scratch my name on... let me write something so that my great grand child can say ... my old guy was a big time traveller..
6) Could be a regular... with loads of time and not an iota of work
7) Could be an alien trying to figure out my infinite mode .. :D

Aah ... me just bored today ...
Maybe I could as well go back to my blue black paradise....

.......*clap clap*

Cant think of a title...
and no its not the New year's eve hangover...
or probably it is...may be old year's hangover..
Anyways since its celebration time, claps looked appropriate.

Was thinking why do we actually have to celebrate a new year.. I mean..
What changes? Nothing other than the maid's salary and a digit in an analogue clock.
Is it a new year or just the old one reborn ? Whats the big deal anyways ?

By the way I was also conducting a "survey" about how my dear ones celebrate the new year.
and nothing new there too.. .. nothing new at all... then why all this thing about "New year " ... hmm.. what did I do ... not that I had a bad one... I had a good one time ..not that I did anything new either ... just that whatever I did looked special.....it was a time to connect .. :)... hmm may be that wat New year is all about... its the time when we put in that little extra into ... connecting .. :)...aah well I am blabbering...or am I ???

yeah I guess I am crawling towards the grouch couch ....
... clap clap....

Parting ways ..

Finally its time to say good bye.. The final moments are always hard .. you may have not really liked the time you have spend together .. probably even wished it would end soon .. but when its time for that final wave , you always have to gulp down a couple of tears..

Looking back at the time we had .. I sure had a lot of fun .. a lot of reasons to celebrate and lot of tears shed ..friends made and enemies won… lessons learnt and experiences undone…

I have loved you.. hated you.. fought with you …and then made up… We knew it wouldn’t last .. always knew we would have to part ..for good … for worse … however .. whatever… it was predestined….

Unlike everyone else who floated away … I am going to remember you… you have given me roses and thorns…. I know when I look back … I will have a smile and smudged mascara …

I have loved it while it lasted … but now its time to move on …
Good bye 2005…

Year-end blues

The year is almost over .. no it just doesnt seem to be getting over.. its like a tail ender being a pain in the neck by sticking around on the last day of the match .. its going to end but .. well .. its crawling..

Moreover the holiday spirit is contagious even if its thousands of miles away... or probably its because you just cant bear the thought of others having vacations while you wait around doing almost nothing .. as I said thigns are crawling...

Oh no .. no new year resolutions ... last year I had decided to be a little less like santa...
I did keep it ..only it was a one step forward two backward kind of stuation...

oh yes.. I do feel guilty about breaking the tradition of making one.. but well .. I think I will let it be this year. ..

Hmm waiting ... for 31st... proabably just for something new even if its only the last 2 digits of they r .. :)

Ink wasted....

Ink wasted becoz it serves no other purpose other than driving away blues or boredom. In this case it is both . I want srikhand..

This was yesterday's post .. I should have deleted it .. somehow didnt want to ..