The year end post – 2011

Another year draws to an end. This year was like a hangover for me. I was reeling from the effects of my decisions in 2010. And just like a hangover cannot be categorized as either good or bad, this year was a mixed bag for me too. But, instead of talking about the dark cloud, I want to talk about the silver lining. So here are few of the things that I personally liked in 2011.

Best movies of 2011

English
1. Moneyball
2. Crazy,Stupid, Love
3. Drive
4. X-Men: First Class
5. The Ides Of March
6. Super 8
7. 50/50
8. The Help
9. Bridesmaids
10. The Lincoln Lawyer

PS: I have not seen a lot of movies that have been creating a buzz like ‘The Descendants’,'Hugo’,'Melancholia’ and ‘The Tree Of Life’.

Hindi
1. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
2. Shor In The City
3. Rockstar
4. Delhi Belly
5. Ladies vs Ricky Bahl
6. Stanley Ka Dabba
[It pains me that there isn't a SRK movie on this list!!]

Best songs of 2011

English
1. Katy Perry’s album – Teenage Dream
2. We Found Love – Rihanna
3. Man Down – Rihanna
4. Adele’s album – 21 [by far the best album of the year]
5. Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5 ft Christina Aguilera
6. Give Me Everything – Pitbull [best party song]
7. Judas/Edge of Glory/Born this way – Lady Gaga
8. Britney Spears album – Femme Fatale [special mention to the song How I Roll]

PS: Agreed I listen to mostly pop,r&b…it looks like the girls are rocking the music charts more than ever before.

Hindi
1. Soundtrack of Rockstar
2. Ooh La La from The Dirt Picture [I cannot sing this song with a straight face ]
3. Chammak Challo from Ra.One
4. I hate you from Delhi Belly
5. Senorita from ZNMD

Yay moments of 2011

1. India winning the cricket world cup [Nothing comes even close to matching the euphoria and frenzy generated by this moment]
2. The Indian civil society’s movement against corruption [for engaging the masses,especially the youth for an important cause...unfortunately most of us,including me are 'drawing room ke veer']
3. New directors and writers making a mark in hindi cinema by making different movies, movies that are not merely ego vehicles for superstars.
4. The opposition party showing some spine in the Parliament. I think we had some great debates and discussions this year in the parliament.
5. Ryan Gosling [one of the best actors of this generation, and he's very easy on the eye ]

There were truckloads of wtf events this year too but in light of me trying my level best to be optimistic, will leave that for now. I am sure most of you will wake up tomorrow with a hangover – that should set the tone for the new year . Wishing everyone a very happy 2012.

The perks of being jobless

I recently quit my job for a plethora of reasons. And, I moved back home to stay with the parents. Its been approximately eight years since I last officially lived with mum and dad. So, I was pretty kicked about the move. That is probably the biggest positive I could take out of the situation. Although, the more I think about it, the more I realize that it has been quite an adjustment also. My mum is not totally aware of a lot of aspects of my personality, such as my desire to shop whenever I am either happy or sad or bored, my obsession with Ryan Gosling/Chuck Bass and almost anyone with a cute British accent, or that my morning so called prayer lasts about three seconds. But mum’s food, hands down beats to pulp, any of the compromises I may have to make to avoid a well intentioned but undesired lecture from her.

I am happy to move away from the monotony of the software job though. Goodbye, outlook! I never quite understood how my father could work in the same company for more than 25 years – that’s more than my age. Didn’t he get bored? My father responds with a faint smile or a chuckle whenever I ask him this question. He thinks I am a perfect representation of the ‘current generation’ which has very little patience, is way too cynical and does not walk the talk. Well, I cannot argue with him because he is quite right in a lot of his assessments. I can speak for myself. I have the attention span of an infant. There were days when I loved going to work and then there were days when I absolutely did not understand why for the love of God I was writing code. I think I know what I want to do with my life. It’s just that I am constantly subjected to or made aware of the circumstances or rather restrictions under which I am allowed to dream. Thus, taking a break seemed like a good idea.

The first week of joblessness was quite cool. Slept when I felt like it. Saw television. A lot of it. Spoke to mum in great detail about the most mundane things. Then it all got a little monotonous again. Add to it the woes facebook causes. Updates about foreign trips, promotions at work and of course impending marriages when you are sitting in your pajamas, watching Tom and Jerry can definitely dent your confidence. Luckily, even that phase did not last long. I have made peace with myself for not working. I am getting time to do things that I probably would not have done otherwise. One of them being reading. It is one of those good habits that I strangely abandoned. Am glad that my sister is a voracious reader and keeps bringing novels home. I am rediscovering the joys of reading. Another activity I have taken up is going to the gym. Working out to stay fit has always seemed like a Herculean task to me. I wish I had faster metabolism or some magic mantra to keep from putting on weight. Unfortunately, I don’t. Hence, the gym. It is not as bad as I though it would be. I am able to match my cardio quota. But, man getting abs is so tough. I asked the trainer to teach me a few basic exercises and I struggled quite badly. I don’t need no abs . I have realized how important it is to have an active life though. Working in a software job results in a sedentary lifestyle. I lived one for two years. Its good to get some time away from the computer. I have also started to cook a little. Hopefully, I can hone my skills in the coming weeks.

When one has so much time on their hands, one tends to get a little philosophical at times. I have my moments too but more than anything else I am happy that I am spending time with family. Is there anything better than fighting with your sibling over the remote control???

Pet Peeves

I am not the complaining type. Ok, maybe a little. I attribute this to two things. One, I (like to) give my unsolicited opinion on everything under the cloudy polluted skies. Two, I really genuinely am passionate about some things. These two qualities coupled together make for quite a complaining five foot five human. For the record, I am 5’5 and not 5’4 1/2 or 5’4 3/4. So, when I see no footpaths and blatant disregard for traffic rules, I complain. A lot. Because, that’s the only thing I can do. And no, I do not want people to tell me to ‘stop complaining and do something’ or ‘go on a hunger strike’. My food is sacred to me. I will never ditch it for anything. Here are few of the things that really tick me off

1. People throwing garbage near the garbage can. You know the people who make the effort to go till the can but will throw the garbage just near it, not in it.

2. People driving in the opposite direction to traffic and then getting mad at you for not giving them space. Dude, from where will you get space. I don’t have a freaking inch to walk on the road and you want space.

3. Crying/noisy kids at the movies. They are kids, so there isn’t much you can do about them or their crying. Parents who bring kids to movies should be responsible for their behavior and should not sit back and watch the movie while their offspring is pulling your hair or kicking at the back of your seat. Also, an apologetic smile when you look at them is not enough.

4. The misuse of the words beside and besides. I find their exchange funny sometimes but I cannot stop myself from correcting the person committing the folly.

5. People with fake accents. Gosh, I hate them. Both the accents and the people. It’s high time people realize that just going to another country for a fortnight doesn’t and cannot automatically twist their tongue to make incomprehensible noises that they think is a new cool accent.

6. Sites asking you to update your password at regular intervals. I know I should not really be complaining about this, but I have a big issue with remembering passwords. There are only a couple of passwords that I can remember. My brain space is occupied by more important information like the showtimes of TV shows etc etc. So, I have to invariably reset my password every time.

7. Over-enthusiastic people in meetings/conferences who ask questions which do not really make much sense. I know every office has their share of such characters, but there is nothing more annoying than watching people ask questions just for the sake of it.

8. Sudden rains. Especially when you are wearing one of your favorite shirts or high heels. Happens to me all the time. I carry an umbrella around but on Indian roads, walking while it is raining with an umbrella in your hand…

9. Guys singing an old Kumar Sanu-Nadeem Shravan song while you walk past them. I just don’t get it. Be more creative with your perviness!

10. Last but not the least, bad commentary. I love watching sports on television. What ruins the experience sometimes is the terrible commentators who do not have anything interesting or significant to say.

Quite an exhaustive list eh. Well, I believe your pet peeves really define you . I take mine quite seriously.

PS: I was supposed to write a book review but for that I have to finish reading a book first. I did start reading one and am half way through it but unless there is a whole day of no electricity, I don’t think I can finish it.

Right Round..Right Round

It took me a lot longer than it ideally should have but that does not take anything away from the achievement. I finally managed to make round chapatis and before you ask, yes, they were edible. Although I cook quite often when compared to a lot of people who stay on their own, I never quite mastered the art of making round chapatis and the sight of food which is shaped inappropriately kills my appetite. So, even while I proudly spoke about my adventures in the kitchen, I steered away clear from any mention of rotis. On my last visit to Mumbai though, my mom was not in town. So me and my father were left with an entire kitchen. Of course he expected me to put on the apron and serve out a delecious meal. I have no one to blame though. It was me who foolishly kept telling him that I am a fab cook and would love to cook for him someday. I, of course, also very foolishly, never expected that that someday would ever come. That too with my mom not around to help me – or you know better still, cook the entire meal on my behalf! But cometh the moment, cometh Namrata – the chef!

I entered the kitchen around 7.30 pm and by 9.30 I was done. Just two hours to cook a simple curry and make four rotis . God knows how many times I kneaded back my roti into the dough. Every time I took out a piece of the dough to make small balls of it, and proceeded to flatten it out, I realized I had to redo it again. Gosh, that last sentence was wrong in so many ways. No innuendos intended please. But I know you get the drill. Finally when I managed to make a decent roti, I shouted in delight hoping I could patent it or something. My dad was startled. I quickly altered my reaction to one of extreme coolness . After a struggle, I managed to make round rotis and my dad was very appreciative of the effort. Its without question, the tastiest meal I have ever had.

So, on item gets struck off my wishlist!

Write back on track

Its been a while since I last posted. I have been writing a lot though, the old fashioned way. Pen and paper. Its funny because sometimes when I make a spelling mistake or a grammatical error, my hand automatically goes to the top right corner searching for a backspace button. Although writing and not typing has its own inconveniences, I feel like I write better when I am doing the former. I wonder how I had the patience to write essays during school exams because if now someone were to ask me to write 400 words at a stretch, I would find it excrutiatingly difficult. I sometimes envy my sister in this regard because she is not so dependent on technology – specifically computers. She is a brilliant writer. She still writes on her notepad and makes drafts and reads hard copies unlike me. I on the other hand, have become so alien to the idea of reading a book that I do not mind watching re-runs of tv shows to pass time. Note to myself, start reading again.

Its also been a while sine I last posted something about sports. My interest in tennis has detiriorated ever since Roger Federer has started shanking forehands as if his life depended on it. Plus, he’s just losing way too often for my liking. I would not have had a problem with his loss in form had there been some other interesting rivalries. Nadal has been inconsistent, Murray is just dispensable and the rest of the competition seems to wither when it comes to big matches. Djokovic has been the best this year. Great consistency and the ease with which he is defeating the top ranked players makes me believe he could be a contendor for the no.1 ranking. Still, nothing can match the excitement a Nadal-Federer match would create. Its understandable that Roger is not the player he once was. I guess most tennis lovers just refuse to accept this easily. Its difficult to find tennis players who play with the kind of poise and elegance that Roger does. Its almost impossible to find someone who has the mental acumen to go with such talent. I still think he can win a couple of grand slams provided luck favours him, but he needs to revise his strategy.

As for cricket, there has been way too much of it. Winning the world cup was incredible. But, having the IPL just a week after it was stupid. To people who say that ‘India can never have an overdose of cricket’, I would like to show the empty stands and the dropping TRP’s as proof. I mean, people just do not seem kicked about it. There is no sense of passion for supporting home teams any more. I guess Mumbai enjoys it because of Sachin but other than that, people are happy seeing what happened to their team in the morning newspapers. Having Sidhu as an analyst was the final nail in the coffin. I wonder how the people around him maintain their sanity. People seem to be tuning in to watch matches not to see cricket but to see which bollywood star is in the stands, pretending to be engrossed by the proceedings and with who by his/her side. And to think some predicted IPL would be as successful as the football leagues in England and Europe. It may be premature to dismiss IPL but I do not think it can survive if they keep presenting it the way they are now. Football leagues work because they are played every week and not packed into 40 days of non stop play. They work because its based on home town passion and support. They work because they are about football and not everything else. That aside, time for some predictions. I hope and want Kolkata to win this edition. This has got nothing to do with SRK and his bollywood entourage. They are playing well, and given the tumultous time they have had in the past editions, a win this time would be the sort of ending that SRK would hope for.

As for football, I was disinterested during the first half of this season because Liverpool were terrible. They were just not playing well. Then the transfer happened. It was the most interested I had been in EPL in quite some time. I was following the live updates on BBC and all that was required was popcorn and soda to turn it into a movie watching experience. I was very disappointed with Torres’s decision to join Chelsea. It’s not that he wanted out but the timing and the place he chose. Liverpool were down and out and needed their best players to stick. Gerrard has been injured though the season and Carragher also has had some injury problems. In retrospect, I am okay with his decision. I am not saying this because he has sucked ever since he joined Chelsea or because we used the money we got from selling him to buy two very good players. Okay, I am saying it because of these exact reasons . I have not followed European football much but whatever little that I have has made me certain that from next season I will start following the La Liga also. The football is great and so are the footballers!

I hope my next post is a book review. Especially since now I have a kindle to read books

I like my freedom

Its not surprising that fundamental freedoms such as freedom of speech, cultural and educational rights etc are taken for granted in our country. That is because most of us have spent our entire lives in a democratic nation and rights such as the ones mentioned above are inherently part of the nation’s psyche. We do not realize how important they are because we have never lived without them. I for one have always believed that democracy is the most ‘humanitarian’ form of governance. It may not be the most efficient(as in India’s case to some extent) or the most stable(as in Pakistan’s case) type of governance but it endows the people with rights and privileges that if used wisely can propel a nation on the path of growth.

That is precisely why comparisons between India and China cannot happen simply in terms of numbers and statistics. Policies that work in China may never even be approved in India because we have the freedom to dissent and to voice our opinions, both as individuals and/or as groups. If we were to implement an economic policy in India, it would mean no opposition from the political class, the business class, the public and private sectors and of course sometimes the common man. Compare this with China. Communism is pretty much a one way traffic. I am no expert on Communism but I believe that China’s communism is based on unidirectional authority. Fortunately, it has worked for them. I prefer India’s democracy though. Yes, it means we deal with corruption and inefficiency at various levels but, it does not have to be that way. I have the freedom to do something about it. The fact that I do not do much about it is another question all together. The point I am making is we are a very lucky people to be part of a democratic setup.

The reason why I write this is because I just happened to watch an hour long news cast on the Egyptian protests. The visuals from there were powerful. I also followed the Tunisian protests and the underlying causes for these two massive protests are more or less the same. Aside from core issues such as unemployment, inflation etc, the triggering cause for these unrests seems to be the inability of the people to question policies because these are totalitarian governments. They follow a heavy handed approach toward dissenters and in Egypt’s case, the nation has been under Emergency Law for almost three decades. I would not even like to imagine how stifling such restrictions could be. I think its really brave what the people of Egypt and Tunisia are doing. They are relentlessly demanding for a change and have taken to the streets in huge numbers to make their displeasure with their respective current leaders evident. I find the responses of other nations to these protests very interesting. These are hugely, if not entirely, political responses and are meticulously planned and thought over. So, a majority of them express their solidarity with the people of Egypt but refrain from making comments on the existing setup. After all its an internal issue. Except for perhaps the USA which has great relations with Egypt, considers it an ally and perhaps will be affected by the changes in Egyptian politics given its significant role in the Israel – Palestine conflict and its seemingly stable status as one of the more developed ecomies in Middle East. Only time will tell how events unfold in Egypt but I for one am more intrigued by how people will bring about their desired changes.

India on the other hand awards its citizens too much freedom, if you like. Apart from freedom of speech and freedom of religion and so on so forth, its citizens have themselves introduced freedom to spit anywhere, freedom to relieve oneself anywhere, freedom to misuse public money for personal interest etc etc. I honestly think if we were to live under an autoritarian regime for a week, it would do our country a whole lot of good. But then again, this is just what I think. The conclusion though is that, no one is bigger than the country. It does not matter if you are the minister’s relative or the minister himself. If people of the country turn against you, you are dead meat. I think if we carry protests like the one in Egypt against all the alleged corrupt politicians, we could achieve something. I like that we have that freedom. Or atleast the freedom to think and write about it!

PS: If possible try and read articles on the New York Times website on these protests. One such article:
Date With a Revolution

The year end post

2010 was the year that went by real fast. Atleast for me. I cannot really explain why, but it was a year that had too much unecessary stuff going on and very little of it was memorable. It was a year marked by scams, corruptions, unpredictable weather, fasts and scams. Wait, that line just described what happens in India almost every year. But, cynicism aside, we did host a pretty good Commonwealth games and our sportsmen have made the country proud across events. On a personal note, this year had more lows for me than highs but, the silver lining is that it can only get better. 2011 is so going to be my year . But, I digress.

Let’s do a roundup of the more important things that happened this year. Here are my lists.

Best movies of 2010
Inception
Toy Story 3
The Social Network
The Kids Are All Right
Blue Valentine
(Have not seen Black Swan and Rabbit Hole yet!)

Band Baaja Baarat
Peepli Live
LSD
Udaan
Dabbang
Phas Gaye Re Obama
Ishqiya
Rajneeti

Feel Good Movie(s) Of The Year – Band Baaja Baarat and Going The Distance

Best songs of 2010
Runaway – Kanye West
Not Afraid – Eminem
Only Girl – Rihanna
Just The Way You Are – Bruno Mars
Airplanes – B.O.B ft Hayley Williams
Firework – Katy Perry
Telephone – Lady Gaga ft Beyonce
Tik Tok – Kesha
Love The Way You Lie – Eminem ft Rihanna

Soundtrack of Aisha
Soundtrack of Anjaana Anjaani
Soundtrack of Karthik callin Karthik
Aivayi Aivayi from Band Baaja Baarat
Dil Toh Bacha Hai Ji from Ishqiya

WTF events
1. The commonwealth games mess
2. Watching Rakhi Sawant dole out justice on national television
3. Jagan Reddy being himself (he is officially my least favourite person)
4. Watching A Raja shrug off nonchalantly at the mention of the 2G scam.
5. Lalit Modi-Tharoor controversy
6. Liverpool owners saga
7. Watching Dolly Bindra on television (it should be introduced as a means of torture in prisons around the world)

Yayy!! moments
1. Saina Nehwal’s continued brilliant performances
2. India winnings its first track gold at CWG
3. Sachin’s brilliant 200 and all his million other achievements
4. England kicking Aussie butt in Ashes (seriously, its therapeutic)
5. The CWG opening ceremony
6. Dolly Bindra kicked off Big Boss (a momentary yayy because she was brought back again )

Things I do not want to see in 2011

1. A blingy Shilpa, a jumpy Priety and Lalit Modi in any mood or suit in the IPL.

2. Corrupt politicians – I know I am being unreasonable, but if I hear the phrase multicrore scam again, my little faith in democracy will also cease to exist.

3. Headlines Today channel. Its of as much use as a bag of dog poop. Now that I think again, its not even worth that much.

4. Scorching heat followed by incessant rains followed by unexcpected chills. I am one of the few who does not get excited by unseasonal showers. I like my weather to be disciplined .

Things I would like to see in 2011

1. Better traffic sense in Hyderabad.
2. Better movies in Telugu
3. India winning the World Cup
4. More matches between Federer and Nadal
5. A more proactive AP chief minister

Here’s wishing everyone a very happy New Year. Shake a leg, drink a keg and well, do not do anything stupid .

Turning 23

I grew an year older recently. Three and a twenty cheers to that. Birthdays – or rather my birthday, is probably the most anticipated day on my calendar, for me. That excitement has not waned and I hope it does not. After all, birthday is the one day when you can get away with anything – almost anything by saying, “its my birthday today”.

The one thing I always look forward on my birthday is what presents I am going to get. I drop subtle hints over phone conversations or emails ,and in my own intelligent way thread in gift ideas into non relevant chats. Its not like I do not appreciate surprises but, I like to get gifts that I am going to use. I am a little bit like Rachel in that sense. Also, in my defence I do a brilliant job of acting like I am surprised when I gently open the wrapping paper (more like tearing it apart)!!

This birthday was a little different though. I sort of feel like I have really grown up this year. Yes, I am still stubborn and unreasonable but I have become less impulsive and less judgemental. So, this birthday was subdued and minus any frills or fancy decorations or even a party hat. Yet, it was probably one of the best birthdays ever. I shopped, saw a nice movie, had a wonderful dinner and felt very very happy. Touchwood!

The day after your birthday is the worst. You realize you are no longer the special one, the left over cake does not seem appetizing and the stupid calendar mockingly looks at you to remind you about how long you have to wait for your next birthday. I usually look back at an year and do some ‘reflection’, on this day. Unlike many, I feel new year’s eve is the most overhyped day of the year. Hence, resolutions are usually preponed to the day after birthday. The advancement does not usually have any effect since, resolutions are like evening dresses. You have to have them but rarely use them. Pardon my metaphor usage skills. I am still sad over the fact that my damn birthday came and went by so fast!

Comin back to the point – if there was any, I was thinking about my resolutions and stared blankly at the page for a good two minutes. People achieve quite a lot by the time they are 23. Okay, let me rephrase that. SOME people achieve quite a lot by the time they are 23. These people are usually tennis or football players, your classmate in school who you thought was a geek but is now super successful and/or Jonas brothers. I was thinking of my accomplishments and of course I fell short. Even by my standards. I suffer from the ‘lack of killer ambition’ syndrome. I set goals and work hard but not hard enough. I fall that one inch short or one step behind and trust me, it is the most worstest feeling in the world. My exaggerated superlative should hopefully convey the emotion. So I have decided that I am not going to let this happen again. I will not come agonizingly close to my goal and see it slip away. I will just take it easy. Because, there are so many more important things than goals. So my first resolution is

“Either go the whole distance or do not start the journey at all.”

I have also realized that I have not taken up any new activity. I remember a time when I would have dance classes, craft classes and tuitions apart from school work all in the same day. I have become lazier than Inzamam-Ul-Haq. So my second resolution is

“Learn something(s) new.”

Last but not the least, I have decided to not cut my hair till next summer. I know this sounds very lame but I have a bad addiction. God knows how many times I have gone under the scissors and chopped off my hair in all possible forms. The result – my hair has become unmanagable. I always have a bad hair day. I am a recovering addict actually. I have not cut my hair for six months now. So, hoping to carry on with the same determination. My third resoltion

“Do not cut my hair”

Aah, just typing that caused heartache. So, turning 23 was pretty good all in all. I have three very reasonable resolutions and a whole new year to try and break them .

My best friends

I look back at my memories in Rajahmundry with a lot of fondness and I remember being distictly happy in a way that I have never been since then. A lot of it has to do with my two best friends Deepika and Trisha. I remember the first day of school in St Anns. Deepika and Trisha were the class monitors and when I was dropped off at the class, I was both apprehensive and excited. It was a new begining and one that I hoped would be better than my previous one. My school life in Assam can be summed up in one word – lonely. I somehow never managed to strike a genuine friendship there and my happiest memory was when I had an operation and was away from school for a good two months. So, I was keen to not let that happen.

Surprisingly, we bonded pretty fast. A lot of it had to do with dance. All the three of us loved dancing and we just simply had to participate in every school event. It helped that all of us were good at academics as well. So, we were the teacher’s pets – atleast till 8th standard – and although I do not like this tag, ‘the popular kids’. Lot of people did not like the attention we got but we never cared. We were too busy having fun. Now when I look back I can understand why we would have pissed a lot of people off. Rajahmundry is not a big town nor is it a ‘modern’ town in the conventional sense. Having said that I owe a lot of me to this place and particularly to my school. And I would like to believe I am quite modern. In both the conventional and unconventional sense .

But, this is not about me but about the wonderful memories I shared with my best friends. The suddenness of writing on this stems from the fact that just yesteday I booked tickets to go to Rajahmundry for Deepika’s marriage. Just typing that feels weird because I cannot digest the fact that we have grown up. I can still recollect in HD quality the lunch breaks where we could call dibbs on whose box we would eat first ,the countless number of times we sneaked out of class for a dance practice, the innumerable competitions in which we participated and the regularity with which we stormed Trisha’s home to watch a movie over weekend. Just thinking about all these things brings a huge smile on my face and strangely a little bit of sadness as well because, I know we will never be able to relive those moments as much as we would like to. We are all realists and the reality is that we have such different lives now that just staying in touch seems like a task. Having said that, whenever we do talk or chat, there is this comfort level and genuine affection which I think is owing to the fact that we were ‘school- friends’. They were a part of my growing up years and that cements this friendship as the best I have ever had.

There is a lot I can write about both of them and the influence they have had in my life but that’s reserved for some other time. Now, that Deepi is getting married and will in all probability move to the US, I am feeling sort of jealous that both she and Trisha will meet up and have fun and I will be here in Hyderabad . I remember thinking that even when we grew up we would all be living in the same city and meeting each other on a regular basis just like it happens on the show FRIENDS. Talk about being naive! I am mature enough now (!!) to understand that life is not an NBC studio and that there are certain factors beyond one’s control. Inspite of this I am certain that given the way the three of us were designed by Mr. God, irrespective of our age or the place where we stay or the relations we are in, we will always be the loud, funny, smart, always-getting-into-trouble-but-getting-out-of-it girls we were, when in school. Cheers to that.

Not a happy journey

I said a little prayer and turned off the light. Sleep eluded me and every now and then I reminded myself about the important thing I had to do the next day. I checked my phone twice to make sure that I had set the alarm right. I still could not sleep. So, I did something that I ensure will help insomniacs – both frequent and rare- in their efforts to doze off:

1. delete all the unwanted messages from your inbox – this helps even more if you are a vodafone and/or hdfc customer.

2. ponder why Twilight movies are such big hits

3. try to figure out who the mother actually is in HIMYM

4. listen to Kalmadi’s speech (if you have not recorded it..shame on your patriotism )

The ‘samba rumble’ tone on my phone woke me up. I cursed the creators of the tune and sat on the bed for a good 10 minutes. The alarm rang again. I would have thrown my phone had I not taken pity on its state. I splashed cold water on my face to make sure my eyes were wide open and my mind fresh for the task at hand. I opened my laptop, checked the internet connection and waited with anticipation for the moment. I have never been this nervous – not even when Lucas had to choose between Brooke and Peyton. It was 8.00 am.

The next twenty minutes have to be the most irritated i have ever been in my entire 22 years on this planet. I came close- real close, to throwing my own laptop. And I love my laptop. So imagine the extremities of the situation that pushed me to that level.

Yes, folks. I am talking about the one and only %$# .It has to be the most pathetic website designed ever. Period. It has a mind of its own and does as it wishes. I hate it. If there is anyone out there who wants to form a team that will shoulder the responsibilty of avenging an entire nation that has suffered at the hands of this site and believes in justice, please contact me. I am very good with throwing eggs,chappals etc.

At the same time I would also like to recommend anyone who has had success with tatkal bookings on irctc for the highest civilian honor in India. You are my hero. It is you, in whose honor, temples should be built and roads should be (re)named. Saracsm aside, it baffles me that a website can be this bad. It is understandable that in a country as populous and as dependant on railways as ours, the site is guaranteed to experience issues. But, that should be a rarity and not the cornerstone of the site. I am ultra confident that with so many intelligent and tech savvy youngsters in our colleges and companies, a better looking and better working website can be made.

Why make such a hue and cry about a website when we have so many more seemingly important issues? Well, its a little bit like the commonwealth games. Minus the 8 billion $$. Why host the CWG at such an expense when that money can be diverted towards more ‘real’ needs. So, I wil leave my justification at that. Unfortunately, Ms. Mamta Bannerjee is so busy alloctaing funds for newer trains to West Bengal and …well, West Bengal that there is no time left for her to think about giving the Indian railways wesbite a much needed facelift.

I hope someone has. For the sake of my sanity and that of my fellow Indians!