Tuesday, December 20, 2005

WHAT ARE DREAMS?

While reading this blog, I was wondering what do our dreams generally signify. as far as I understand , dreams reflect of what we think in our sub conscious, but does'nt it happen that sometimes you never think of it like in days and days but then too see it in your dream. Like I very often see snakes in my dreams (just yesterday a small snake bit me in my dreams), mom says that seeing snakes signifies that you will get money :)...well but mom the snake bit me....and its been a while that I saw the animal channel and thought of snakes, then why did I dream of it?

Some dreams are really good, like in college days I would dream that I went to college in helicopter (those days I would be tired travelling by bus and trains :)), so I can understand that its just my state of mind there.
but some dreams are real scary, so far i've seen these scary dreams only twice...and I literally screamt which scared my room mates too


Sometimes I see a dream and then forget about it, and then in my real life the same incident happens (its just like a replay) and I question myself; hey has'nt this happened before? Is that a dream too or is it intuition....but intuition cant be in such picturesque details, can it ? or was it a dream?

WHAT ARE DREAMS?

Thursday, December 01, 2005

the saga of the never ending sweeping of the broom

Clean your shelf..your clothes fall off when we open the cupboard would be a comment I would face most of the time in my childhood and I would never be able to find my books in that small section alloted to me in the cupboard , finally on one weekend Dad would sit on my head and make me clean the shelf and I would think man its so much to clean, least did I think that its gonna be worse once I grow up

These days cleaning is not restricted to my shelf...(oh no..now i have a cupboard), a room, my car, office drawers and other such materialistic things, I also need to clean and organize my laptop, desktop at work, my personal computer at home, the lab machines, my mobile phone, my emails (in different accounts) apart from office email...Uuuf its too much to doUntill now I have never had the feeling that all my things are clean and organised..something or the other is left unclean or not organized..Will I ever achieve that ?

I have a friend who manages to do it well, she washes her home slippers and keeps it to dry with her utensils and so does the supdi (I am not sure what it is called in english dust pan ??) on her kitchen platform. Also she roams in her house without slippers to verify that there is no dust in the house and even wiped her home walls...yeah right walls

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Hppy Birthday Big B

Amitabh Bachhan, the name itself carries so much weight in it (sorry trie to literally translate hindi, naam mein kitna vajan hai). couple of days back was Big B's birthday, 64th birthday and he still is the most popular, respected, admired actor in India. I wonder what makes him so popular and wanted even now. He is seen in TV commercials (almost every 2nd ad is his), movies, functions...everywhere there is Amitabh or his voice. I wonder where does he get the energy from (saathh saal ke budhe ya saath saal ke jawan?...)

When bachhan sahab was starting his career, it seems the all India radio had rejected him for his voice thinking that it was not nice, glad that happened, else mr bachhan's talent wud be limited to radio only.

Mr Bachan has a great personality. He does his job so well, that people dont even realize that he is doing his job. Its great to see the way he interacts with his fans and the contestants in KBC. he makes them so comfortable, and is so down to earth. He is so generous and would never say anything offesnsive. People ask him to dance, sing, recite a poetry and even propose to him. Wherever possible he fulfills their wishes and manages to be so witty, fresh and energetic even now. Am sure people watch KBC to see him and his interaction with fans and star celebreties (ofcourse some watch it to boost their ego that they are aware of the answers to the (simple) questions asked, and the contestants could not give the answers :))

He is a real legend. Fans wished him in so many different ways on his b'day some even made his pictures using thread and what not.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

what do you want to be in life??

This was a common question asked in childhood, by teachers, parents, writing essays especially What would you do if you were the prime minister (i wonder why we had to write that essay every year) friends, parents friends, guest visiting home etc, especially when the final exams results were out.

I think very few ppl know what they wanna be and others are influenced by their surroundings and wanna be that.

Till my 12th grade I wanted to become a Doctor. Me and my best friend shared the same dream (though now she's a doctor:)) I was always influenced by my family Doctor, since he saved my life when I was a child, and my best friends Dad was a Doctor too.After the results I realized that, I am not made for becoming a Doctor thatz some genius's job. Then I thought I'll be a pilot, later I wanted to join the army (thatz why I joined NCC too), by then I was a graduate and just wanted to be a house wife(yeah that was what I wanted to do :)), but then computers came in to my life and I wanted to be a programmer for animation and ended up in QA.

Now I want to open a coffee shop...This evening was seeing a travel show on TV, and I think that would be an ideal job to do, visit new places, describe them, meet new people, their culture, enjoy the cuisine, get new clothes, shopping, talk to people and apart from that get a salary too....see I still don't know what I want to be in life.

I think in general people can be categorized as
1. people in life know what they want to be in life and achieve it.
2. for some people life just takes them to heights, its their luck and destiny
3. People take life the way it comes
4 yet others they decide something but then they take lot of turns as time changes

I think am of type 3 n 4 how about you??

Nevertheless, I would say whatever type you are of just enjoy each moment of your life.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Wedding recently attended!!

Finally Finally Finally, our friend is happily and "officially married" in India.

Out of 3 weddings(the same couple married thrice with each other) we got the oppurtunity to attend this one on a busy office working day.Most of the other friends cud not make it except for me and my smirky friend who grabbed the oppurtunity.

So the plan was that I pick my friend from his office and then we go and attend the wedding. after a wait of 30 min my friend arrived and with no complaints of making me wait, I asked him for directions, which he said he is not aware of. So we call up other friends who might be in office mornin 9:30 10:00 and can access mail (recently most ppl have joined co's where either they dont have access to personal email or attending induction trng, and others who can..are not early birds to be in office tht hour). So out of the entire 10-12 ppl we finally called our south Indian friend in B;lore and asked for the address, He did give us the address but unable to understand his pronunciation we finally asked him to spell it out..u see he says bail instead of bhel..but Thanks to him tht we cud reach the hall in time)

Finally we reached the marriage hall, where there is loud carnatic style music on, Our friend there sitting with her hubby perfoming the rituals. She looked nice and different(well am used to see her in shirts n trousers only and hence different but in a nice way :)), and the way she was dressed reminded me of bharatnatyam dancers, with lots of jewellery,flowers highlighted eyes etc. We dint understand anything wht the minister(pandit) was saying as it was all tamil. I was trying to tell my friend how our (gujju)weddings are different...and the dresses ...blah blah...which .being a boy...he obviously was not interested in...and i was so much wishing tht one of the other gals came along to the wedding instead of this one.


After some moments of me taking some pictures of the groom getting confused whether he had to put the kumkum on forehead or on in the brides hair and my friend viewing from the windows or the windows...the wedding was getting over. So my friend comes over and tells me (in a very this is the plan tone)Okay, now when they are on stage and we meet them, if she says have food n go , we gotta say yes, dont say no and all..we dont have time...blah blah...got it...I said yes. I then started wondering....did tht mean we not going to have lunch there? ( my day started 7:00 in the morning with a conf call tht morning and i was hungry..morover it was tamil wedding ...and i love south indian food) I asked him does tht mean we not going to have lunch here, he said no and said ARE WE ??...looking at his expression I said no no...we arent.
The rituals were still going on, but my brain n heart was in the food and with the terrible feeling of me not able to taste the food. finally i told him, I'l lgo down and come....as i had some time left between the moments the rituals are over and the couple is on stage i sneaked to the dining place, there were only waitiers and chefs there with tables and chairs ready for people to sit. i started seeing into the food layed. A fellow understood tht i wanted to taste the food,,and he got me a plate of pisam and served me tamarind rice, sambhar, kolam and i dunno wht not..but all tasty food. I ate in tht small dish felt like a cookery show anchor, tasting the food and syaing how good it is and left from there satisfied and happy.


We met the couple, chit chatted a little, then the groom and my friend reminded tht we are in the wedding and others waiting to meet, we greeted the couple and left.

Friday, July 22, 2005

My car turned 2 :)

Its been 2 years now that I am a proud owner of the Santro Xing.

History
Past 4 years I was planning to buy a car...whether to buy the commonly recommended maruti or Santro or something else. I went through various comparison sheets, sites and what not to see which one is actually best and suitable to me and most important comfy for my mum. These sites are good man..They have nice comparison sheets talking about the weight of the car too..And I thought only gals cared for their weights.

Anyways, finally I decided on Santro Zip drive ..Since I dint have much money then...Requested my bro to buy it...for which he said NO with comments like 'We don't need a car we each have individual vehicles..and Pune is such a place where car driving is not easy', so like an obedient sister kept quiet (as if I had any choice) with all my spirits down like a deflated balloon. Though now am happy coz had he bought the car then..We wud have to live with the flat back zip drive....So good that I waited. And 2 years back I just went to the showroom..gave the cheque and said I want to buy this car (sounds like a richie rich gal eh;)

(I gave the cheque immediately coz that time ppl confused me...buy a indica..not a santro..or buy an Alto..which had just come in market...and I wanted to buy Santro....So before I get influenced by any of the comments I gave the cheque) and there I got the new Sunshine car bright silver in color.

Emotions
Before buying the car, I'd thought that will use my kinetic regularly and drive the car just for long drives or with mum. But I just cud'nt get my hands off the wheel..ever since I bought the santro I never drove my kinetic ( my 10 years companion)..Its so comfortable...listen to music and the cool AC and drive and drive and drive. I dont think I'll ever go back to a two wheeler now despite of driving in Pune roads (read as filled with traffic and UN disciplined driving)

Casualties so far,to the car No lives yet :)
Front bumper - changed once , due to change again -- courtesy my s-I-l
front windshield - changed once - courtesy diwali Diyas from our balcony diving on the car parked down
rear left door - dented and scratched once - courtesy - some rash driver in inox who fled away while I was enjoying my movie
left door due again - this time courtesy Me ...was hurrying in the office parkin lot.
right rear door - dented and scratched once - courtesy my s-I-l

My next car
Hyundai accent or skoda ;) or Scorpio or Honda CRV or....who cares..I love my Xing right now :)

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Pune goes International

ya ya...The Pune airport will have International flights in and out of PUNE that is coool..so this means no more travelling to Mumbai to travel abroad , seriously speaking..whenever i have to go to Mumbai to board a flight I would always think of how villagers must be feeling when they have to come to town for mebbe better hospital treatment or to catch some train etc.. I would have the same feeling.

but hey..no more of that (atleast for flights to visit my brother) as International flights for destinations to nearby countries like Dubai, Muscat, Singapore, Bangkok etc will be in Pune too. No more of booking KK travel bus..travel with them to pick up people and then travel to mumbai for 4 hours.......just 45 min drive and you ready to board the flight. How cool is that :)

Am just waiting for Dec 12 2005 ..thatz when Pune is planning to go international...Aviation Minister Patel wants to give his leader Mr. Sharad Pawar(of course for us too) the gift: Take-off of first international flight from Lohegaon (pune airport)
check this out
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=136268

I had my vacation planned for 2 weeks (was suppose to visit my bro last fri) but got cancelled for some reason...but I got the oppurtunity again...Now... ever since my MOM has come to know about this ..she says..I'll fly from Pune only.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Helmets Yes/No -- Should be YES definitely....

Recently a law is passed by the govt to make wearing helmets compulsory for 2 wheeler drivers and pillions.

I believe this is done for the safely of people and i personally liked the law..coz there are many accidents (especially in this rainy season...yeah it is pouring cats and dogs in Pune this year)..anyways back to my topic. the rule was supposed to be implemnted by july 1. i.e. some 5 days back..though the state govt asked for more time..but the SC denied..this was firm decision.

But people are not understanding their safety measures at all. Not all are abiding the rules..instead they are protesting..there are various morchas by various groups (including people from the insurance sector...wonder if this impacts their co) at various places saying that they dont want to wear helmets reason being

1. Helmets are only necessary for roads where there is high speed say on highways and expressways (duh... you cant drive 2 wheelers on expressway)
2. Pune does not require helmet where the speed is not much(lemme qualify much...i.e. 20 km/hr) ..city (and by city they mean say Laxmi Road)

Aren't these lame excuses ...I mean...come on we drive faster than that ...its only WITHIN laxmi road that you dont go above 20....but we drive above 40km/hr on the roads leading to Laxmi Road..and there are roads other than Laxmi Road too.
I hope people understand this..wonder whatz wrong with the grey cells of ppl.
Dont' people realize that its their own life at stake.??


P.s: Off the topic...y/d Bhupati (read Handsome, dashing, charming Bhupati) won the Wimbledon again after 3 years..and the swiss guy did a hatrick...kewl game

Thursday, June 30, 2005

WALK OF LIFE

while driving to work this morning...i saw many pandals and a lot of hustle of policemen.. for a moment i thought ...is ganes h festival approaching..or is there a minister ralley ....then i realized that all this was for the Warkaris going to Pandharpur.

With shelter, meals, medicine & music Pune plays perfect host
PUNE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, LOCAL GANESH MANDALS AND PEOPLE LIKE US CHIP IN TO HELP 3 LAKH WARKARIS

FAITH and an unbroken 700-year-old tradition make lakhs of Warkaris from all over the State accompany the palkhis of Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar from Dehu and Alandi to Pandharpur. As followers of the Bhagwat sect, a faith prevalent in Maharashtra, the pilgrims walk the 230 km distance, like both the poet-sants did, in a fortnight to be present at the Vitthal-Rukmini temple on Ashadhi Ekadashi. On Thursday, Pune will play host to the Warkaris who halt here for two days.

Arches, fairy lights and posters of the traffic police department are up, various Halls are getting ready ,where Warkaris will have their meals. People from all walks join to aid the Warkaris. From Pune up to Wakhri , Meddical vans, with Doctors equipped to deal with medical eventualities. Various sheds are set up to protect them from rains. Arrangements for tea, lunch and dinner are done at various places. Free medical camps, massage for senior citizens, repairing of chappals and umbrellas have been organised.
Keeping in step with the Warkaris will be the rhythms they carry with them — Tukaram’s abhangs, aartis and bhakti geets.

Cleaning of public roads is on. Children have a short vacation as some schools host a living place for the warkaris.

I really admire these warkaris who walk every year in such heavy rains for the faiththey have. Am sure others admire too..infact they do more than admiring they actually help the warkaris achieve their goal :)

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

Yeah...it's true, Mars is going to be a second moon of earth for a day.

The Red Planet (MARS) is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history.

The next time Mars may come this close is in Year 2287. (none of us will be there then...except for our souls..if any ;) )

Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.
The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. By August 27, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot.
At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. by the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history.

So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

some funny interviews...

some incidents while conducting interview...either people these days are very casual while giving interviews...or mebbe these are exceptions...but they are funny for sure

Late Interview:
A candidate was sitting at the office reception and had to wait for some time...after few minutes he was escorted to the interview room
Interviewer : introduces himself and asks so whats your experience so far?
candidate : good
a long pause ....
Interviewer : what is your experience so far
Candidate : good..infact very good..the A/c is nice and cool...the security offered me coffee with biscuits and he gave me vistors card ..so far it has been very nice. Thankyou.

Telephonic Interview
Interviewer : introduces himself
Candidate : hi how you doing, hows the weather there?
Interviewer : its good ..again introduces himself and asks ..shall we start with interview
Candidate: ohh....Can you call after some time...am stuck in a traffic jam..and on my way home
Interviewer : fair enough will call you later
after 1 hour..thankfully this time the candidate was ready for interview
Interviewer : so..i understand your project in your first comapnay (3 page description) but what about your current projects (written in 2 lines)
Candidate : ohh...i dint update my resume....
Interviewer: ohhh ok..so how come you changed your job in 6 months
Candidate : 6 months...no nine months
Interviewer: but you've written dec to jun...i believe that is 6 months
Candidate : OHH is it !!!

Face-2-Face interview

Interviewer: your resume looks impressive
Candidate : thanks....i was lucky to get a chance to work on these things
Interviewer : so do you know winrunner
Candidate : sorry mam...i attended 1 class in my previous company but no hands on experience
Interviewer : ohhh ok...how about unix, are you comfortable answering questions on them
Candidate : (with extreme confidence)..yeah sure
Interviewer : what utitlity is used to compare files
Candidate..uhhhh...mmmm
Interviewer : ok...how can you know wht folder you are currently in
Candidate: uhhhhh...mmm
Interviewer : can you give me 5 commands you know of unix
Candidate: after thinking a lot .....telnet

Heights of Application
a matrimonial ad read...wanted a suitable groom for s/w professional..currently working in mnc..........if intereseted please write to.....
the inbox of the ad placer : Mam...here is my resume...can you please forward it in your company...i am currently looking for a job..all the best in your groom hunt.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

F R I E N D S

We all have friends around us and I always imagine as to how each friend of mine got added in my life...rather how friends get added in our lives. Initially they are strangers and slowly and gradually amongst so many people only a few sometimes only one person become our friend and stay with us kinda forever. Many times when i think of my friends i always try to remember..when did we first chat or how we met etc etc.

Being in Pune so far in my life i.e born and brought up here i have the privelege of staying in touch with friends from old time. I still have friends from school , college, NCC, aptech and Selectica. But i must say that the number of friends i made in Selectica is equivalent to the total number of friends i made before Selectica.

There in Selectica we colleagues turned friends were together i.e one geographical location for sometime and then they wud go for work on site return home then again go. So there was always a thought that after this project or that assignment we would meet, and so on but for some friends when they left for work thinking that they would return but never returned …We didn’t know that it was our last time we were meeting now they are now working in UK, US , australia..not that we are not in touch now...Thanks to the Internet world.

anyways the point i was trying to make is that whenever we friends parted we never knew that it was the last time we were meeting..but recently a friend relocated back to 'his part of India' and we all knew that we might not meet him again. It was kinda weird feeling to think that he would no longer be around during our lunch and dinner session, to argue, for the drive to bombay in my car though he always said that his 'ALTO' is the best but always had his hands on the wheel of my santro

Parting with friends is not a happy feeling but hey...'INTERNET HAINA'

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Oblation to Laxmikant Berde & Mr. Amrish Puri

Last month was a major loss to Bollywood with the demise of two great actors Comedian Laxmikant Berde and Villian / character artist our favorite Amrish Puri aka Mogambo. Am sure all kids (including me)think of Lakshya as a joker and scared of Mr. Amrish Puri ..not be around with. They were the best at what they did and so much involved in their roles that it was easy for one to think that their reel life is their real life.

Laxmikant Berde fondly called Lakshya was a super star in Marathi films, he was a great comdeian and his films were wonderful to watch. Ashihi banvabanvi, zapatlela, Thar Tharat to name a few. The movies would be filled with gigs and we would get tired guffawing and cheeks would start paining. He was so funny on screen, being a comedian came so naturally to him. He was a hero in marathi films and a comedian in hindi films. I was shocked when i heard the news on radio, it was sad to know of his demise..he was just 50.

Mr Amrish Puri, Wow, he was such a versatile actor , who can forget his role in Mr India as Mogambo and the famous dialogue 'Mogambo khush hua' and that roaring laughter. I remember i was in my 6th grade when this movie released and his eyes and appearance scared me big time. His voice added to his personality and the way he delivered the dialogs, his urdu pronounciation was awesome. His character in DDLJ proved his talent in being a versaltile actor and not just a villian. He even enacted in Indiana jones as Mola Ram.Its only after his demise that i learnt he started his career at 40. I admire his spirits, many people start thinking of settling at that age and he was plunging into something new.

Hats off to them!!!.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

New Coffee m/c...

One of my days in this New Year started like this at work
Entered office...
My nose got a whiff of the lovely aroma all around..
Walked towards my desk amidst the aroma cloud
Read the email, "freshly brewed coffee machine is now installed in cafe"
mmmmm sounds kewl, I'll go and try the new machine, lemme check all emails first
Another cuppa coffee passed by, the aroma got intense,
Found myself too distrait to work...lemme go and check the machine first
Whoaaa, the new machine serves, espresso, ristretto, cappuccino, ginger tea, cardamom tea , 3 varieties of soups in addition to the old machine that serves regular, as well as low sugar tea, coffee, hot chocolate.Got the strong steam brewed espresso...was awesome.
The office had a fragrance similar to barista and MOCHA.
I love this machine; don’t blame me if I ask for black coffee the next time I visit your place, this machine is getting me addicted :)