5 women I would date!

Picked up this tag from an interesting blog. The tag is about 5 women you would date if you were a guy. Pardon my choice of images . So here’s my list

1. Julia Roberts – She is intelligent,charming,really funny and of course, the original pretty woman.

2. Rachel Mcadams – A huge fan of hers and think that she is superemely talented,beautiful and dignified.

3. Kareena Kapoor – Unlike a majority of people, I think she is extremely beautiful and has a very international look. Love her sense of fashion,outspoken nature and honesty. Did I mention she wears the most awesome shoes .

4. Jennifer Aniston – She is someone who looks like the friendly next door neighbour – the one who is an extremely talented individual and dated one of the hottest guys on the planet! Her interviews are very entertaining and funky and she comes across as a very warm person. Also, has the most lovely hair!

5. Natalie Portman – Ok, now most guys would have her on their list. She is intelligent,articulate and one of those rare breed of young actresses who is mature enough to take their career and life seriously and not indulge the paparazzi.

Would like to tag Karan,Himank,Abhishek,Bhargava,Prateek,Rohit etc to write about 5 guys they would like to date. As for the girls pick up this tag!!

Deranged marriages

As she walked into the room with a tray in her hand, she could feel the tension all around. She tried hard to look composed and calm, although confliciting thoughts ran in her mind. “Namastey”, she said in the most polite way and put the tray down on the centre-table. Her mum looked at her with a nod of approval. After all she had practiced this ritual for more than a week. For her, this whole process seemed like a scene straight out of a movie made in eastman color. Yet, she did not have the courage to go against her parent’s wishes. As she sat down in the most girlish way possible with a fake shy-face, the parents started laughing and eating. “Damn, I cannot even eat”, she muttered to herself. Her mind kept wandering to the things she wanted to do. She had always wanted to learn dancing,teach kids and travel around.Her dreams were jolted back to reality when she was asked to leave the place to let the ‘elders do the talking’. After two weeks she got married to a guy whose name she barely knew. She never danced, she had kids of her own to take care of and the only travel she did was for family gatherings.

This is the fate of many women in India. ‘Yet, the success rate of these marriages is astonishing’ – argue some people. Well, depends on how you define a successful marriage. If having children,going to movies on weekends and having dinner together is all that is required then our country is an example nation. Unfortunately for many women even this is not a reality. They are trapped in marriages where all they are required to do is cook,clean and cater… cater to the whims and fancies of the man. I am not trying to bash up men here. It must be tough even for guys to stay married, only because the society expects them to earn and bring money back home. There is so much more to life than just all this. Till the last generation, compromises and constraints made marriages more of a necessity. The women needed financial support and the guys needed domestic help. It was a symbiotic relation. Does the concept work in today’s world??

Most women work today. Yet, she is “still” expected to keep her home spic and span, cook and take care of dishes. When will she have the time to pursuit her other interests. Where does it leave room for adventure and tension-free times. Going out for a holiday to some exotic destination once every 3 months is not a substitute for spending quality time every day. Marriages can work even in a situation like this provided the couple genuinely loves each other and wants to stay together. But, with arranged marriages love has become manufactured and the couple sticks together for the sake of society or children or family but not for their sake. Its important to realize how obselete the idea of arranged marriages has become in modern day society. Trouble is, our generation has moved ahead but our parents are stuck between the ideals they grew up with and the ideals that are growing in their kids. Its quite a challenge for them to understand why we are so averse to the concept of arranged marriages. They argue “whats the guarantee that love marriages will work”. Well, marriages do not come with a guarantee. For that matter any relationship cannot be guaranteed. But, if things go wrong its only the couple who will be at fault. It will be their responsibility to see to the future of their relation. If you know a person before getting married, you will respect each other’s ambitions and give each other the freedom to follow them. If some problem arises then you will sort it out or not get married. There are so many options. Everything is so logical about the arguments in favor of love marriages that it almost seems implausible to the elder generation. I can understand the anguish of parents whose children run away or secretly get married. That is the most cruel thing a child can do to his parents. They surely deserve better treatment. I do not understand though the problem parents have when you introduce the guy/girl in your life and are honest about your relation. If the guy/girl is good, what is the problem? Just because you did not get his/her photograph through some ‘trusted source’ you are against the marriage. I find that lame and the solution is that both parents and their children have to learn to respect each other’s emotions and be honest. I do not see why love marriages won’t work in an environment like this. After all nothing is more important than love.

I can officially cook!!

Necessity is the mother of invention. So true. I have never fancied cooking. Kitchen is the last place one would expect to find me in. There are just way too many non-human things in a kitchen.Yet, the strong desire to have ‘home made’ food overpowered my lack of experience and laziness. Just setting up the kitchen was a Herculean task. I never knew there were so many types of spoons . Me and my roommates were pretty psyched about cooking and secretly all of us wanted to show off our culinary skills. It took us about a week to get the gas cylinder,the stove (a 3 -burner ,although one of the burners doesn’t work ) and another week to get the right regulator! Once that was done we were all set to start. Sounds smooth so far – trust me it wasn’t. Every day(night actually) we would realize new additions like a peeler on monday, a knife on tuesday, a chopping board on wednesday and so on so forth. It got frustrating at times but our firm resolve saw us through that tough forthnight .

With everything at our disposal finally, all that was left to do was cook. All of us came with limited knowledge and the age old adage ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ was granted 100% accuracy status! For the first few days it was only potatoes and tomatoes because they are the easiest to cook. Salt is such an underestimated quantity. Its a talent to put appropriate amount of salt in a dish. After about two weeks I kind of understood how things work around in a kitchen, what I should cook and what I most definetely should not. The entire exercise was incredible fun though especially with all my roommates also being there every step of the way literally.

So things I can cook and yes, they are edible –rice,maggi,tea,anything with potatoes,onions,tomatoes,capsicum,gourd(all varieties ),brinjal,ladies finger etc etc. I know its an impressive list. The point is if you know how to cook one vegetable, the rest follow suit. One day me and my roommates ended up with two pieces each of potatoes,tomatoes and onions. With no idea what to do with such quantity we decided to try our hand at making pulao and by God’s grace we churned out a dish which was not exactly pulao but was nevertheless tasty. Its an in-house speciality now .

I feel empowered for some weird reason. Cooking is liberating and my respect for Mum,her mum and her mum …..has increased multiple fold. I proudly tell my mum about my achievements in the kitchen and cannot wait to go home and indulge in some showing off. After all its something I learnt by burning my fingers (literally again ).

PS: Today I am going to cook cabbage and although I am not a huge fan of this vegetable, I hope it turns out well.

12 things no one knows about me

Well, after this post people will know. This exercise is neither pointless nor easy. I don’t want to sound like a wannabe beauty paegant contestant but the biggest challenge in life is discovering yourself! It was pretty tough to narrow down things I had never admitted to,on a public platform. I know ,a majority of you must be going ‘cut the crap and let out your secrets’ . So here is the list

1. I have always secretly wanted to be a superhero who kicks evil butt. That should explain my obsession with powerpuff girls.

2. I have an obsession with ear buds. Sounds pretty weird..doesn’t it. I can see a devilish smile on few faces (note-Tarun ).

3. During some conversations I consciously underestimate myself so that some one will actually say “no, you are really good at …..”. Its good to get compliments. Why do I try so hard.. well, thats because some people are too stingy with compliments .

4. Having said what I said in the above point, I have to confess that I don’t know how to receive a compliment. I have no clue how to react when someone says nice things about you in a flattering manner. I could always say ‘Thank You’ but then that is so predictable and boring.

5. I am obsessed about my weight. People really close to me know this fact but for the benefit of others I would like to include it nevertheless. At one point I checked my weight thrice a day and went on a crazy crash diet too. Never ever will I do that again. Its important to be healthy and fit.

6. I am fiercely protective about people I love – to the point of ignoring their faults. Typical scorpion trait and I have been warned many times to be less vocal about my feelings but that is just who I am. Will go to any extent for my family and closest pals.

7. I walk on my heels in front of the mirror wishing I was taller. I always wanted to be atleast 5′6 but nature had other plans. Unfortunately, heels make me uncomfortable so I am resigned to my fate of being an underachiever (atleast in terms of height).

8. I like getting into fights. I know I belong to the land where Gandhi lived, but I like guys who can throw a punch and knock someone down. I am not propogating violence but one harmless punch wont cause a war right??

9. I am very low maintenance. Many people , especially my college mates have told me that I give an impression of someone who has lot of attitude etc. I do not know what exactly they mean by ‘attitude’ but I honestly have never considered myself above anyone or anything. I am a very insecure person (oops should have reserved that for the next point ) so to think I am proud or haughty is so not true. I love eating roadside pani-puri than going to a coffee house.

10. I had the longest of crushes on my ‘khaas friend’ before he became my ‘khaas friend’. He is not only my best friend but also the most well-behaved,creative and caring people I know. I did not know much about his existence till the 6th sem but am glad I broadened my horizons.

11. I use Johnson baby soap and hair oil even today!

12. Although I love chocolates, I have not had a chocolate bar in more than 4 months. Well you gotta do what you gotta do.

I tag Karan,Himank,Bhargava,Anupama,Deepti,Prateek,Rohit,Gopala and anyone else who would want to write on this topic.

The day we stood still

There is a lot more to Assam than just the ‘4 am sun’. Most people have pre-conceived notions about the north-eastern part of our country that stems from ignorance but a trip to this region will change most opinions. During our stay in Assam, one thing I always looked forward to were the bi-annual travel trips our family went on. We covered tons of places there and each place was more beautiful than the other! What makes these places even more appealing is the fact that they have not been touched by commercialization yet. Unlike Shimla where you find a CCD or Ooty where you have brand outlets, places like Namdapha transported us back into an era where kerosene lamps were the source of light. Out of all those memorable trips, the one that has stayed etched in my mind is the one to Changu Lake, near Gangtok.

That day all of us were dressed in the most expensive of sweaters and shawls because it was the last leg of our trip that year and we had heard so much about the beauty of the place we were about to visit that the excitement was visible in the way we dressed! Why I remember this particular detail is because ….well, you will find that out a li’l later. We boarded our van and set out on the journey. I do not remember details like the altitude at which the lake is set, it was pretty high in case you are curious or the dimensions of the lake. What I do remember is how beeping awesome the place was. I have never seen a more beautiful lake. Surrounded by hills on all sides and half frozen, I am shocked how Yash Raj films has not shot a song here with a chiffon saree draped actress . We clicked photographs from all possible angles but such beauty can never be captured on film , had hot momos and tried to stay warm in our rented furry coats. Our driver prompted us to get in since it was getting dark and there was a light drizzle as well. We obliged him and got into the jeep and tried to take in as much as we could of the place as the vehicle sped away.

After about 15 minutes of journey, the jeep came to a sudden halt. We looked out of the window and saw an entire chain of vehicles that had stopped at various levels of the hilly road. For a few minutes the driver spoke in his local language with another driver and came back with a worried expression on his face. In broken hindi, he told us there had been an unexpected landlside which in turn had rendered the road untravellable. I do not remember what conversations happened after that but after a while we were directed to go downhill on foot. Unfortunately, there was a shortcut available as well. Being the kind of people we are (and I am not stereotyping), we decided to take the road less travelled by . The rains had made the ground slippery and there was no support to tread the slope. I remember one gentleman had a baby to hold on to and he started rolling down the hill because that was the safest way to reach ground without getting hurt. We followed suit and after much difficulty reached plain ground. There were tens of people like us there who looked in disbelief at the landslide which was bringing down boulders and tress with ease and had created a pool of quicksand. The local people came to our rescue and provided us with clean towels and makeshift umbrellas. We thanked them for their hospitality and asked them about possible ways out from the place. One elderly gentleman studied the landlside for a while and said that it would be difficult for women and children to cross the quicksand pool and suggested we head back to the army camps. A heated discussion followed with ma wanting to go to the camp while dad was in favor of getting out asap since his leave was ending and he knew we would be stuck there for 4-5 days. We stood there helpless for about 45 mins as tons and tons of mud,trees,rocks and god knows what fell from great heights into the makeshift pool. A few co-tourists decided to take a risk and cross the pool. The locals and army people were extremely kind and helped the people who were crossing over. Finally we mustered enough courage and dad convinced ma to cross the pool. My sister was very young and very scared to cross the ‘thing’ as she called it then. An army guy came up to us and lifting her,crossed the pool. I did not want to step into that eww thing either and that army gentleman (god bless him) carried me in his arms and crossed the pool. With me and my sister on the safer side, I heaved a sigh of relief only to realize that ma and pa were still on the other side. I started crying and yelling at the same time asking them to cross as fast as possible but ma was petrified and it took them a good 20 mins to cross the pool. I hugged my parents and held them tight and it was only then that we realized how lucky we were to escape unhurt. A dilapidated truck was standing there waiting to carry the people down the hill into the town of Gangtok. As we boarded the truck, to lighten our mood pa started joking about how ma could not wear her shoes once again and how her expensive shawl looked like a rag. Till date, dad teases her .

Once we reached our hotel, the gatekeeper refused to let us in. Cannot blame him because we did look like beggars with mud on our clothes and shoes and faces like food deprived urchins. Once dad spoke to the receptionist, we were let in and after about 3 hours of cleaning – scrubbing would be a better word, we looked presentable. As the family sat down for dinner that night, for the first time I saw dad getting extremely emotional in front of us as he hugged me and my sis and said some pretty sweet things. That incident made all of us realize the unpredictability of life and how important it is to take risks.
Amidst all this chaos and panic, none of us took out the camera to click photos of the landslide. I have lost count of the number of times I have narrated this incident but it still makes for an exciting story doesnt it??

Once upon a time in Assam

For 3 years ,I stayed at an amazing place called Nazira in Assam. For 3 years ,I carried an umbrella everytime I stepped out of my house. For 3 years ,I wore three layers of clothing during winter and snuggled into a ‘razai‘ closeby to the roomheater. For 3 years, I learnt Assamese from an amazing didi. For 3 years ,going home meant travelling in a train for more than two days. For 3 years, fun games meant picking up snails and trying to make them come out of their shells. Okay, I heard a collective ‘eww’ for the last line . I have never been so close to nature and so away from mundane everyday worries. Maybe it had something to do with my age but I would like to believe that I was blessed to be in such a beautiful place for 3 years.

When dad got transferred to Assam from Mumbai(it was Bombay then ) mum was extremely wary of shifting because it practically felt like moving to some other country. New language,new culture,far from home etc etc. But within one month of shifting to Assam the entire family fell in love with the place. For a pukka south indian family like ours, such a fast adjustment seemed improbable to many friends and family. It was a pleasant surprise to watch sunrise at 4am. I clearly remember how mum would get up and wake all of us up at 4 thinking it was 8 because of how bright the sun was that early time in the morning. This incident has become a staple joke at many dinner tables in our house much to mum’s annoyance .

We shifted into the ONGC colony in Nazira and stayed in this small and cosy house that had a huge garden in the frontyard – a total contrast from the matchbox lifestyle in Mumbai. There were these occasional sightings of snakes and other creatures which became a source of immense pondering and discussion for a few days till a local guy would walk in and effortlessly capture the thing. I have never experienced so much adventure at any other place.

Inspite of being far away from home, we never felt like outsiders there. Partly because many families like ours had been posted there and the colony was filled with cultures from all over India. Every weekend was an excuse to have a party or a get-together or host/attend an event. It was the kind of socializing that did not require one to write an interesting profile or post pictures . To sound cliched it was a different life and a life I would want to experience again. That is precisely why I am planning to write a series of posts on my life@Assam. Its an idea that has been in my mind for quite some time and luckily I have shrugged off my laziness. I hope I can maintain my enthusiasm and write about 3 years of my life to the best of my ability!

Accepting Change

Whoever said that ‘change is inevitable’ was unfortunately right. I do not know when I became the person who resists change but I am guessing when things like falling in love, making bffs, waking up in the afternoons only to eat food , hanging out at awesome places with friends etc happens all at once you cannot help but label your life perfect. I am not saying all the aforementioned things happened to me but I am not denying it either . Then, one day I find myself standing outside a corporate office with a folder in my hand, lot of anticipation and nervous excitement in my heart and a smile on my face that defies all the worrying thoughts in my head. Change is good – I keep telling myself but in every stranger I say a Hi to or smile at , I am looking for a Anu and KD who have the most awesome sense of humor or a Sushma who is the most caring,understanding person or a Harshi who can bring a smile on your face anytime or a Spandy who does not have the most awesome sense of humor . Its been a little more than two months since that day and although I have made some really good friends , there are times when I wish I could go back to a time when sitting in the corridor of our wing in the hostel with friends ,and gossiping away to glory was a daily routine. Being an educated or rather modern day person I totally understand how important career is .. wait a minute – I dont actually. I am still trying to find that balance where I can accept change , learn how to move on but being the kind of person than I am it is just taking more time than maybe it takes for others.
As I write this post my new friends are calling me out for a lunch break and cracking jokes and it all seems great. I join them and forget all the philosophical melodramatic stuff I wrote above.I guess I have accepted change after all.

Me revoila

Its been a really long time since I wrote something worth reading (well, chats with friends and smses to your ‘khaas’ friends do not count ). Thanks to my mum ,I am atleast picking up the pen and writing down my expenses in a diary which was given to me solely for that purpose and trust me it is quite an eye opener when you look back at some of the crazy shit on which you spend your “hard-earned” money. Nevertheless, I am glad I remembered my wordpress password (after about 12 failed attempts!). I have been reading a lot of posts courtesy the iiit blogroll and at the risk of sounding arrogant I would like to state that the ug2k5 bloggers were quite a unique bunch . I wish the entire blogging gang would write more often and take some burden off our flagbearer Himank . I wanted to write quite a lot about all that has happened over the past couple of months (because quite a lot has happened ) but I feel rusty , so that topic is reserved for the next post. I did watch a lot of good,bad and awful movies. Kaminey and Magadheera were super entertaining but Kambakht Ishq has redefined film standards and I mean it in the most negative way but I still feel rusty , so even this topic is reserved for later . Also, Liverpool’s disgraceful performances means I cannot or rather do not want to talk about football.

So, I also shamelessly pick this up from Karan’s blog, because I have nothing better to do (seriously I dont).

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
Nothing to be honest .

2. How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
Rs. 565

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
more

4. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Bhargava

5. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
Now that I have a dumb Nokia cell phone from the prehistoric era, I would like to pass this question.

6. What are you wearing right now?
Jeans and shirt.

7. Do you label yourself?
No.

8. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently own?
Not a brand person at all. If I love a pair I just buy them.

9. Bright or Dark Room?
Definetely bright. (Orange is my fav color so no surprises here)

10. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
Karan : Hardworking,intelligent and most likely to succeed.

11. What does your watch look like?
I dont wear a watch.

12. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping.

13. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
Nisha : When are u guys coming for breakfast?

14. What’s a word that you say a lot?
Hey.

15. Who told you he/she loved you last? (please exclude spouse , family, children)

16. Last furry thing you touched?
My teddy bear (the most awesome gift ever)

17. Favorite age you have been so far?
14-15 (tenth grade)

18. What was the last thing you said to someone?
You will rot in hell ( to Tarun – he most definetely will )

19. The last song you listened to?
Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas

20. Where did you live in 1987?
Mumbai.

21. Are you jealous of anyone?
Of course I am.

22. Is anyone jealous of you?
I think so.

23. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
Gold chain, perfume, a sacred thread on my right hand.

24. What’s your favorite town/city?
Hyderabad.

25. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
6 years ago to my parents.

26. Can you change the oil on a car?
Eww. No way.

27. Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
That he is doing pretty ok.

28. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
No.

29. What is your current desktop picture?
The sytycd – 5 top 10 gang.

30. Have you been burnt by love?
No.

Home and back

I always look forward to going home but this time around things were different. In a span of around 2 months I have changed a lot. New hairstyle, lost a bit of weight etc and given the fact that my parents aren’t huge fans of experimentation, I knew I was in for some confrontations. Luckily, my bus got delayed and my dad could not pick me up, so I knew I was safe till he returned home in the evening. I got into an auto and reached home praying my mum would look beyond me!

I rang the doorbell and my mum’s first reaction was ”whats this bowl on ur head”. That set the tone for the day. After the initial shock, my mum kinda liked it and was ok with it. The thing about parents and especially mums is that even if you lose like 1mg of weight, they feel like you have become size zero. The food festival began shortly with my mum cooking everything she could and simultaneously giving me lectures every half hour to get my lazy butt in the kitchen and learn some household work. The latter obviously did not happen and I restored back some glory to the couch in front of the tv set that had been neglected since the last time I had been home. I do not really know what I did between 10 am and 6pm but there was definitely lot of eating and sleeping and lecturing . My sis came in the evening and finally I had someone to share all the scoldings with .

We yapped away till midnight till dad had to forcibly ask us to sleep because the next day was Ugadi. Nevertheless, we woke up early much to my parents’ delight and had a great time the whole day. Met a lot of friends, had lot of good food and saw a few really good and not-so-good movies on the telly. Saturday was full of surprises. After a long gap my dad sat me down and asked me about my future goals. I have actually phrased and rephrased this answer many times in my head but when it came to telling my dad I just mumbled something and ended up sounding like a total moron. Pa and mum got a little carried away and started talking about how I needed to become more responsible and that I had probably 3-4 years left before the D-day etc. They have been attending way too may marriages of late and I know that has had some influence. I excused myself as politely as I could and went out with my sister for a walk and realized that just till the last semester I was such a different person and things have changed real fast. Suddenly everyone looks at me like a grown up who will work and earn etc etc. I refuse to become responsible and mature because being irresponsible is so much more fun and easy! Somewhere though I know that change is inevitable and as a first step I entered the kitchen and volunteered to help my mum. She was super happy but my sister was not because now she has become the new me and its one tough spot to be in !!

As I got into the bus last night, I promised that I would stop acting like a brat and act more responsibly when it comes to my family and relations in general. As I entered the campus in the morning, I could not remember any of those promises !!!

Marley and meeee :D

I am neither a dog person nor a cat person. For that matter I am not that much of an animal lover. Zoo or a movie – I pick a movie. Animal Planet or a boring soap opera – hmm, I would still pick the latter. Not that I hate animals or anything but the affection should come naturally and it does not in my case. Having said that I have to confess that my face is covered with a grin whenever I look at pictures of cute pups (courtesy the forwarded mails on yahoo!). Strangely enough both my mum and dad had pet dogs when they were young but constant transfers and staying in apartments never really gave them an opportunity to get me and my sister a pet. We never really showed any interest in getting one either because there is the feeding, the cleaning etc etc which I never really wanted to do. In a nutshell – I like animals from a distance.

Of late though I have wanted to get a pet. I do not know why but Animal Planet does not bore me as much as it used to and I am not scared of animals that much (well lizards are reptiles ). Coming back to the plot, I asked my parents a few times this past one year about getting a dog and as much as they would love the company (both me and my sister are away in hostels), they do not have the energy or the time for that. I left the topic there but today I saw this wonderful movie called Marley and Me and I feel like I should get a pet dog. The movie captures the growth of a couple and their dog through several years and how unconditional the love of a dog is. I still like people but I guess sometimes you need to be around living things that do not judge you all the time, do not care what you look like or dress like, do not care if you are rich or poor and just care for you as long as you give your love to them. Wow, I guess I just broke my personal record for the cheesiest line ever.

So, the point of the post is.. well, there is no point to it except that I wish people start taking in pets and start caring for animal shelters and stop hunting and stop wearing fur. I for one know that I am going to buy a lab and give him/her the coolest name!