Office Bus-Ride

Most people I know complain of travelling to the work place. It’s too long. The roads are bad (no, positively horrible). The drivers are rash.

 

Neglected...

... That is how this blog must be feeling.

I do realize that the blog count has fallen miserably. Is it work? No, not really. 

Somehow all my enthusiasm to write a post dies a rather quick death. Some thought or the other usually hits me on my way back from office, in the bus (provided I am NOT sleeping, that is). And then I get associated ideas. I’ve almost got a structure and know what I want to convey. At this point I’m literally talking to myself, where I can all but *hear* myself (internal monologue it’s called apparently). I *will* pen this down, I tell myself.

Attention!

Is it so difficult to –

• Pay (some) attention? (Especially the first time around)
• Read the fine print? (i.e. Be aware of the details) 

Although it may sound silly or trivial, I find most people, especially the “social networking” generation (before you point it out to me – yes, I know I’m part of it, TYVM, but I’m mentally older!), lacking in these basic qualities.

I’m not sure if it’s –

• the reduced attention spans – you know, after-effects of increased ‘multi-tasking capabilities’ (after all, chatting with 10 people while having your meal, watching TV and occasionally texting/tweeting with the frequent SNS checking/ WWW browsing must count for something, right?)

OR 

• the change in attitude – “we’re like this only”, lack of respect for other people’s time or efforts, “couldn’t care less”, etc. etc. etc.

Or both. Or something else? …

These two (seemingly) small qualities will go a long way in making sure that you’re aware (i.e. have the right kind of information), and help you in taking the right action/decision. (Not to mention, save you from highly embarrassing situations and prevent irritations/frustrations – to yourself or others!)

Attribution!

To those who are not aware of it (yet), there IS something known as ‘attribution’.

Just Like That

Passive Aggression

Why I dislike going home!

Dis-tress-ing!

That time of the year is soon approaching…when I am tempted to do it.

There’s something about the heat that makes me want to. But for some reason I end up putting it off. Only for a while, though…eventually I do end up doing it! But this time, I’m hoping it’ll be different (and I’ll persist).

Yours Virtually…

Can you really know what farming is like by merely playing FarmVille on FB?

Or what it really feels like to be in involved in the ‘underworld’ – risking your lives, committing crimes day and night - by playing Mafia Wars?

Or building and managing a city playing CityVille?

To run a cafe with a little of Cafe World, perhaps?

An emphatic NO, is it not?

Then WHY, for the love of God, do we have THIS now?!! (More on that.)

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

So wrote William Henry Davies in his very famous poem Leisure.

It isn't about standing and staring any more, is it?

It's all about sitting and staring...

At our laptop or desktop screens (at home and at work), at our cellphones/BBs, at the TVs... isn't it?

New Look!

(There is nothing exemplary that this post has to convey. )

If you're someone who has been visiting my blog regularly (I know there are very few!), you'd probably have noticed the change in appearance. No, this has nothing to do with the New Year. 

I decided that the 'look' of my blog had to change. Let's be honest, formerly my blog appeared drab, dull, boring and dead! Somehow I always thought that it had to look 'sober'. Enough with the sobriety. Time to bring in some colour (and cheer)!

As I began checking out the Template Designer, I realized one thing - I was spoilt for choices. Seriously... the more choices you have, the more indecisive you become. (Lesson from this season of The Bachelor, anyone?) After deliberating and 'trying on' a few templates, I finally decided that it had to be the sea - something that always draws me to it. And I felt as happily giddy as I was when I began this blog - modifying the details, down to the colours of the links. 

Then I realized that the font settings had not been uniformly applied over all my posts. It just won't do! And so I began the tedious process of modifying all my posts again. If you think that I've lost my mind to bother, I disagree. Sure, it's the 'over-particular' part of me. But in the process, I rediscovered all my earlier posts. Some I'm glad I wrote. Snapshots of life since I began blogging - in some form. Made my night, you see! 

So that's it. My blog is new (and improved, I hope!). 


P.S. Help/Advice required:

1. I've always had trouble with paragraph breaks in Blogger. WHY is there more gap between some paras?
2. Does anyone know how I can put a 'Read more...' link for long-ish posts (I do ramble more often than keep it short!).

TIA!

I Hate You!

This ‘hate story’ started a few weeks back. I have had no issues so far (or atleast it was manageable). But what can you do if deliberate effort is made to irritate you and you begin to lose your patience? What if the persistance begins to get on your nerves?? I tried my best to ignore. But, I simply give up! I hate you… ants!

Yes, ANTS… those tiny creatures you barely notice… until it begins to make your lives miserable, that is. My apologies to the crew of The Ant Bully (2006; animation movie directed by John A. Davis) because I don’t think that’s gonna change my view on them or make me like them. It began a few days after we began buying food at our place (in Mangalore). The ants began to 'make their presence felt'. Ants are attracted to anything sweet. Everybody knows that. So the sugar was kept safely in an air-tight container. Ha! Out of reach from their prying antennae! And so was anything sweet (obvious, isn’t it?). Then it occurred to me that ants are attracted to oil or oily stuff as well. So we ensured that the coconut oil would be stored in a sturdy bottle. Done! I believed that it would be the end to this ant tale. But, boy was I wrong!

We once bought Maggi (4 x 200g pack) and made two for the evening. So yea, two slabs remained. We left it (in the packet) outside, on the upturned drinking water can, and didn’t give it a second thought. What happened? You got that right – ant attack. We returned from office, only to find a trail of ants running from over the kitchen counter to the top of the water can. The packet was full of ants! Argghh. Made a mental note to self: Sweet, oily… and now, starchy stuff too. Don’t leave anything in this category outside. Fine! I thought that was the end of it. Apparently not. Whatever we bought, the ants would ‘find’ out. To the extent that they’d chew through the unopened packets (of mixture, biscuits and the like) kept in the cabinets and nibble on it (leaving those distinct small heaps of powder). The container with semolina was not closed properly and they did not spare that either! Bananas also figured on their radar (in fact, by this time a second kind of ant had appeared). One day we made chapathi and had one left over. We kept in a vessel, covered it with the lid and left it like that over-night. Checked it in the morning – no problemo… so did nothing about it. That day when we returned, we saw the ants marching their way into it and having a nice meal. Hmmmppphh! Where were they last night? Sleeping??! They can be constantly found in the kitchen dust-bin as well, rummaging the left-overs.

The ants are taking us to new levels of frugality and cleanliness! Now everytime we make something or buy something we’re forced to think – Will the ants get to it? Where can we store it? Should we keep it in the fridge? and so on. And I’m not one to quit… the battle is on!

D.O.S.T.

What is this post about?? Take a wild guess! No?

Need a clue? Ok…The title of this post. Still scratching your head wondering what all this is about?

Ok fine… It’s about F.R.I.E.N.D.S. … in Hindi! Yea, in HINDI. And I do not mean a dubbed version (now, THAT is a potential disaster, like the hilarious Hindi dubbed versions of English flicks).

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is my favourite sitcom! And I’m sure that’s the case for sooo many people out there. I never tire of watching all the re-runs; it still makes me laugh! I cannot claim that I’m a fanatic though, because I haven’t watched all the Seasons (I will some day!). I really don’t know why, when and how I started watching it. But it’s still something I prefer to watch, over all the other sitcoms that appear on Star World or Zee Cafe. There's something about them which makes you wish you had a bunch of friends like them.

Anyway, it so happens that a few of the actors in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. resemble Hindi film stars (atleast according to me)… and I wondered who all could possibly be cast in the Hindi version, in case any such thing were to be actually shot! Now, I think three people of the cast have definite equivalents. And they are:

Ross Geller –

Eng. Version: David Schwimmer

Hindi Version: Akshay Kumar

Yea, I said Akshay Kumar. You may disagree, but David Schwimmer always reminded me of Akshay Kumar. Don’t believe me? Take a look.

Now, it’s not just the looks, but I think Akshay suits the role too. Ross is this nerdy-cum-goofy character which Akshay is good at. (He does goofy a lot… Nerdy? Yea, he can manage).

Rachel Green –

Eng. Version: Jennifer Aniston

Hindi Version: Shilpa Shetty

I think Shilpa Shetty is a good match for Rachel Green – the svelte good-looking fashion enthusiast having an on-and-off affair with Ross (Akshay).

Joey Tribbiani –

Eng. Version: Matt LeBlanc

Hindi Version: Salman Khan

I’m not so sure about Salman being apt for the dumb-adorable-struggling actor Joey. But anyway, thought he resembled Matt. Oh yea, he'll do justice to the ‘womanizer’ bit of Joey, what say? ;-)

The rest of the cast?? Frankly, I’m clueless! I can’t think of actors who can play the parts of Chandler Bing, Monica Geller and Phoebe Buffay nor think of anybody who resembles them.

Lisa Kudrow look like Kim Sharma? (But can she play the quirky masseuse-cum-musician?)

Chandler Bing? Aamir Khan??? (Humour-wise, perhaps?)

Monica Geller? …………??????

Can you think of actors for these roles? Do you disagree with my choice? Or agree? Let me know… leave your comments!

P.S. Not like anyone’s gonna make D.O.S.T. a reality, but while you’re at it you can think of actors for other recurring roles too; like Janice, Gunther, Carol (Ross’ lesbian ex-wife), The Gellers, etc. :-D

To F.R.I.E.N.D.S!

Finally!!!

Finally… I kick-off my blog.

After months of procrastination (read ‘laziness’) the blog that was always in my head sees the light of day! You have no idea how many times I’ve composed this “introductory” post in my head. And, needless to say, it has always been distinctly different each time (with this one being no exception).

I’d been toying around with this idea of having a blog for maybe almost a year now. It’s certainly not the lack of thoughts (or any inability to express them) that prevented me from getting down to it. Well, let’s face it. Almost EVERYONE has a blog now, irrespective of whether one respects the sanctity of the written word or not; or if one has something, or rather anything (!), to convey. I’ve come across many kinds of blogs – ranging from the self-centric to the most technical or topical. It has certainly become a fad to say that you write a blog. And add to it the fact that I’ve a sister who’s immensely gifted and well-known for her blog did make it a tad intimidating. :-P But with the encouragement of a few friends and the fact that I’ve plenty of time on hand, I’ve decided to give it a shot. After my rather unsuccessful attempts at maintaining a personal diary (more on that in some later post, perhaps), I KNOW that I’m NOT cut-out for being regular or persistent. Nevertheless with, what I’d like to consider, my moderate success at microblogging (read taglines on Skype and FB), I thought – “Why not?!”.

So what do I intend to populate the webpages of my blog with, you ask? As the title suggests, it could be random things that I think of; anything interesting (or otherwise) that I come across - books, movies, songs, websites, quotes (again, more on this later). It could include personal experiences too, but then I have no intention of making it a public diary! It’s certainly not to showcase my literary prowess, if anything. Fiction is something I’ve not attempted often and I definitely do not consider my forte.

I have to say, this whole experience of starting a blog has been pretty interesting – inlcuding naming it (sadly, I do not remember the other names I had in mind after I finalized this one) and deciding the ‘look and feel’ of it. (Oh boy! Was that fun!). Suggestions and criticisms are always welcome (I mean it!).

So that’s it for now. Read on to get to know the “Candidly me”!