Politics

I feel sad whenever I hear of politics at one's work place.

Who doesn't but I still feel awful...

I was brought up learning to exist peacefully with Indians (and obviously others). Not live with Keralites, Tamilians, Gujuratis or Sindhis.

I feel awful when people discriminate on the basis of state and mother tongue (to say in the least). I mean, hey, its a free world and you should do what you want to, but you can't get your things done at the expense of someone else.

I often hear of people who are left out at a tele-conference because the rest of the people present converse in their common native language. This leaves the unlucky one unable to understand what's going on. The others could be discussing important topics which really affects the non-speaker like his reports, performance or issues.

I often wonder what gives such thoughtless people the right to act with such unprofessional behavior? Are they trying to launch a common language speakers club? If so, form it outside! Don't bring it into one's professional life.

That's just one painful way I've heard on how a person toys with another one's job.

Some people are so proud of their heritage and tradition. It's as if they have taken the trouble to bring it up themselves. Don't they understand that the only differences between another person and themselves are their births? Why can't people just think outside themselves for once and try to see the big picture? I feel that such people are very small and that their pride and arrogance are a waste of time, effort and emotion!

It's not as if I don't know discrimination. I've seen a few Arabs discriminating against Indians and other 'colored' people. I love visiting my home town, but I hate the airport that I have to get through to go home... or to be more specific, the passport control. I understand very little arabic, but once i distinctly remember one of the people at the counters calling us animals!!

But back to the topic... I feel very apprehensive these days. You just cannot be too careful these days.

:(

Feminism

Some of my friends, after reading my blog entries, commented that it seems as though I hate men and that I am a big feminist.

One question... Is it THAT evident??? Haha.

Well, to clear the air, I'm not much of a feminist. But I do want to see both sexes be treated equally. I hate the fact that women can't do this and that but men can. Just because God made me a woman doesn't make me any weaker than a man. Yes, genetically we are built differently but should those physical differences mean different rights? Even women should have the same freedom of saying 'yes' and 'no' rather than being forced to doing it or not... Anyway, that's another topic altogether...

I was brought up in a female dominated environment. Grew up with my elder sisters as my role models. Unconsciously I like female singers more than male artistes. I love sketching women (hopeless at drawing men). Have more girls as my friends than guys.

I've had bitter experiences with a few guys... But it has happened with a few nasty women as well. I do tend to be wary. But that doesn't mean that I don't cultivate healthy relationships. I love spending time with my male best friends and I have crushes on guys all the time. :)

It just happens that I've been influenced by some strong women and maybe my writing protrays it. :)

Skin-deep

Show me one guy who's not superficial, and I will give you the whole world... (BTW, would a miniature globe do?)

But seriously, 80% of the guys I know (the rest 20% of the male population consist of those who are either too young or too old) are so concerned about the upper layer, the appearance factor...

I was frankly shocked and a little unhappy when two girls on seperate occasions told me that their significant others had asked them to lose weight or to not wear certain clothes... because it would make the guys look bad.

SAY WHAT?

I mean, first of all, the guys in question themselves would have to do a major make over and lets add a dash of cosmetic surgery before they can even think of looking good, forget great so it's definitely not worth touching on about who they're out with. :(

I do get it that women are superficial too.. and they play a lot based on their own appearances. But I also believe in the saying 'do unto others what you would have others to do unto you'. So these girls, being nice and pretty in their own right, really don't deserve those guys.

What about those who are not so lucky to be blessed with good looks? Do they lose out on friends? Are they even given a chance?

Just a little unhappy about that... And I know that there are men and women out there to whom looks don't matter at all... But it's hard to find them. And it's hard to find meaningful friends who look beyond what's skin deep. Period.

Smile

Have you ever met anyone with a gorgeous smile? Well, of course you have!

I know someone who doesn't smile much and initially i thought him to be a big grouch. 'It wouldn't kill him to smile', were my exact thoughts after being introduced to him. So the first time he actually smiled in my presence, i was pretty stunned.

It's not a charming grin or a John Abraham half-smile or a smirk... In fact, it's almost childlike... But trust me, whenever he flashes those pearl whites, it makes u go 'awwww..'

I have to admit, I try to elicit smiles from him everyday... but its a challenge. But when i do, it makes me feel great.

:)

Old

This was something I wrote a long time ago.. While I was in Cochin.

Hey,

You guys got to know what happened today! As we all know, the Penta Girls' electricity bill had not been paid till today.

Roopster let us know that the electricity had been cut off today morning. So we knew that today was our last chance to pay the bill, else we'd have to eat AALLLLL the chicken and beef and all that would get spoilt since the fridge wouldnt function... and Roopster would get cranky since she couldnt watch her beloved TV... and Chalu Queen would get all upset since she couldn't talk her normal hours with her fiance... and that would upset the rest of us... and we'd sleep and wake up the next morning, feeling cranky and hot... and end up eating Roopster for breakfast since her griping would just be too much to bear.

However, super heroines Monkey-ma & I came to the rescue!

Monkey-ma went to KSEB, Kakkanad at 11pm. But there was a LOOONNGG queue, and she decided to call it quits and return back in the afternoon. You can pay the bill from 2pm to 3pm. So she went to Palarivattom to meet her friend for lunch.

I'm quite the avid reader and love cultivating my classical sense of literary interests (that's the drip of exaggeration that you hear). Because of the fact that I'm so gifted (from birth, daaah-ling), I went to the library at Kakkanad, and finished around 2:15. I called up Monkey-ma and we agreed to meet near KSEB around 2:30.

We went to KSEB and were really happy to see that there was a short queue. Finally we reached the front of the line. The lady took one look at our bill and told us that we'd have to pay it at KSEB, Palarivattom (I guess Padivattom comes under Palarivattom) and that yes, it closes at 3pm too.

Monkey-ma and I both exchanged frightened glances.. Only one thing was going through our minds... 'Do we REALLY wanna eat Roopster meat tomorrow morning *gasp*???'There was no time to lose. It was already 2:40pm. We needed to take action quick.

With an exchange of couple of calls, we found out that Roopster was at Panampilly Nagar. Obviously, she wouldnt be able to even try paying the bill at Palarivattom without the bill (Remember that the bill was with Monkey-ma & I).

With heavy hearts knowing that we wouldn't be able to make it in time and curiousity about how Roopster Meat tastes like ('Hmmm??'), we buckled into our seats. Monkey-ma drove like a mad woman into the deep and rotten realms of the Palarivattom traffic jungle.. (ok, fine, that was sheer exaggeration. We DIDN'T wear our seat belts and Monkey-ma drove normally.. like a mad woman, but still.:D OK FINE, SHE DROVE WELL and thankfully by some act of God, there wasn't much traffic). I scrambled outta the car seat when we stopped opposite Renaissance, and started asking passerbys about KSEB. Thankfully one old, wise, knowledgeable saint (ok, fine a young shopkeeper) gave us the directions.

We reached the gate at exactly 3pm.

While Monkey-ma took the time to park her car, I half ran (and tottered) on my new, green Paprika (very fine, daaahh-ling) sandles to the building. After asking a few more directions (why does EVERYTHING have to be written in malayalam? I'm panic-stricken here, OMG), I finally reached the cashier.. where thankfully, there were exactly 2 men in the line. I looked at my watch. It was 5 past 3, but the gentleman behind the counter (what a nice man) made no sign of impatience. He took my bill and after a few quizzical moments, we paid our money. We had to complain that our current supply got cut off at a section reeeeaaalllly far away (ok, FINE, it was on our way back to the car), but we did it coz we're Super Girls.

Finally Monkey-ma and I trudged our way to office... wearily... happily (who on EARTH would want to have Roopster Meat?) ... knowing that next time, well.. there just wouldn't be a next time, would there?

I've decided. They should call us Beautiful Fast-running Girl 1 (Me) & Beautiful Car-Driving Girl 2 (Monkey-ma).. Partners in Payment (whatever).

What do you think they should call the comic strip...?

:D

Weekend

The first weekend of December was unexpectedly a lot of fun.

After throwing a surprise birthday party for my friend, I thought the weekend fun ended on Friday evening. However the next day, my flat mate let me know that she had unexpectedly won a prize but in order to collect it, she would have to produce her 'husband' along with herself (Don't bother asking why).

I called up my friend Matt, asking for his help which he readily offered. So my flat mate gave in our names to the organizer of the prize distribution.

"It seems there would be some sort of presentation. I hope you don't mind going for it?" my flat mate asked me.

"Nah," I replied, thinking of a short ceremony where I could flit in, grab the prize and run out.

Matt later called me saying that he couldn't make it, and another friend San would come instead. San and I met at Forum around 7. I was confident that the whole affair wouldn't take longer than 15 minutes or so. Boy was I wrong.

"What would your names be?" the receptionist asked me.

"Umm, Matt & I," thinking of the names that we had given for registration that afternoon.

"Right, I'll let them know that Mr & Mrs Matt have arrived," the receptionist replied back.

"Uh-oh", I thought, having a bad feeling about all of this.

Another man ushered us into a big room where small tables and chairs were lined up. Many tables were already occupied, but we managed to get seats. The man told us that our 'agent' would be along soon.

San looked at me. "What am I supposed to be doing again?" he asked."Umm, let's just pretend that we're married ok?" I whispered back. "Thanks for being such a good sport by the way."

The agent came to our table. Let's call him TA (The Agent... Man, can I get more original than this? :D ). TA launches into a saga where the prizes we were supposed to collect on behalf of my flatmat were really sponsored by a chain of country clubs and vacations. He talked about the huge promotional offer that the club was having that weekend and he launched into its details.

"Where was your honeymoon, Mr Matt?" TA asked San. I semi-choked.

"We didn't have one," San glibly replied back.

Thinking of us as the typical Indian couple, TA kept asking San about all the money aspects of a vacation and financial matters in general. I was asked "What are your interests apart from the kitchen?" He was obviously expecting something feminine like flower arrangement and interior decoration. I answered back with "Trekking and some adventure sports."

TA was unfazed and launched into another set of features that this offer had... And I was seriously half-sleeping when I realised that we had been sitting for at least an hour.

San was too busy talking about his abilities to sleep for days at a stretch (answer to "What do you like to do on a holiday, Mr Matt?) and explaining why he hated riding a bike despite the fact that he had a helmet with him at that moment. He was having fun bluffing, I'll grant you that. :)

"So how long have you been married?" TA asked.

"We're not yet married. We're just engaged," says San.

TA apologizes, "Gosh I'm sorry! And I asked about your honeymoon and everything!!"

Towards the end of the presentation, the agent asked "So what do you think of this offer?"

"It's great", we both chimed back.

"So you can sign up!"

"Ummm..." Think, think, think!!

I turned towards San and ask him as sweetly as a wife-to-be should ask, "Matt, can we afford this?"

"I don't know", he replies back, putting on a glum face.

TA thankfully gives us some time alone to think. "What on earth are we going to do?" I
whisper furiously, trying to hold back my laughter. "Think of something! We need to get out of here!!" San says back.

The agent comes back after 10 minutes and asks "So, what is your final decision?"

"Listen," I start, "We came here to get our friends' prizes... We didn't realise that there would be such a great offer going on. But the thing is, we need all the money we have right now. Our finances are poor. We're planning the wedding for next year.. You understand, right?"

"But this day and age, we have EMIs and credit cards.."

"Which I don't have", I reply sadly. And it's *yes* the sad truth.

"And I don't believe in," San says. Which is again, the sad truth (San used his credit card a bit too freely back in college :) ).

"Oh," the agent says. "Well then, if your decision is sure..."

"Which it is," I reply back quickly.

"Then we'll hand over your gifts now." TA says, and we all stand up to *FINALLY* get those darn gifts.

We fill up forms which contain our present addresses. The agent scrutinzes them and asks, "You don't live together?"

"We're not yet married you know!" I huff back indignantly, drawing the picture of a very prim and proper couple.

"Right," TA says.

San and I finally make our way out of the room. "It was great fun," San says..

"Yeah I know! Lying through our teeth!!" I say back.

"We should have been more creative and invented more stories.." We both laughed and we parted ways, me promising him a dinner treat for all his trouble.

:)

Story

One of my best and oldest friends, Ranj, called me up the other day.

She's in Calcutta now, and it's her first time in the city. One day, she was encouraged to try out her newly-found independence, and what better way is there to test it than to go and check out the Calcutta sights by herself. She bought herself a ticket for a city tour, and got into one of the tour buses.

The tour bus was full and she found herself sitting next to a lady. But being tired from the day before, she fell asleep before the bus could even exit from the parking lot. She woke up after some time and she found the bus heading towards a village area.

'Must be going to a temple on the city outskirts,' she thought to herself.

The lady next to her, having found some company, started talking to Ranj about herself and so on...

Time passed by and Ranj asked her, 'So where exactly are we going?' The lady was puzzled. She asked her, 'Don't you know where this bus is headed to?' 'Umm, yeah it's a city tour. So I was thinking a temple or some other landmark?' Ranj let her know quite mildly.

'City tour?? We're heading for the Sundarbans* !! We'll reach there tomorrow!' the lady exclaimed.

'OMG, I got into the wrong bus!!' Ranj said and she quickly made her way to the front of the bus where the conductor stood.

Once having explained the situation, driver hit the brakes. Then the conductor and the driver launched into a huge argument about whose fault it was that Ranj got into the wrong bus.

Finally, the conductor turned towards Ranj and remarked 'It's your fault!!'

'Well DUH... Isn't it obvious?', Ranj thought while she tried to stifle her laughter.

Eventually the bus driver let her out, giving her directions on how to get back to the city ('I had to take a run-down government bus! There was no other means of transport', she let me know on the phone).

What we, for the life of us, couldn't figure out is how Ranj, having her ticket worth all of Rs 200, could get into a bus for passengers who spent Rs 2000 each... accident or not. That's India, or rather Calcutta, for you.

But it was one funny story, and I laughed for a long time even after we hung up the phone. :)

* For Dawn. The Sundarbans is a thick forest on the deltas of West Bengal. It's mostly known for its lush beauty and its tigers. :)