Goodbye emails

Long time since I’ve written something here. Well, sometimes you don’t find things worth writing about, and sometimes there it is, and just don’t get to do it.

Last week yet another of my very good friends at Aftek resigned. Her name is Kanika. Couple of years back Paayal, Ashwini, Dipti, Kanika and me had a rocking time together. From eating tiffin on the terrace together to nature walks in the middle of the city, to one day trips! We did it all. Kanika used to get mangoes and superb upma so many times and we would be fighting to get a good share of it!

Then Ashwini got married and moved to the US, Dipti left, Paayal got happily married last year and now Kanika joined another company. All of us have newer things happening in our lives.

I am left wondering how many new friends we keep making and how many old ones we leave behind. When we join a new company we hardly know anyone there, but end up talking to some people and get to know their nature, like it or get used to it. At the same time even people begin to know you, some like you and some leave you alone. But point is, we make new friends and start looking forward to spending more time with them. How many times do we have to let them go - just on a note that we may them again sometime? May? All the goodbye emails...

And what I wonder most is how easily we come to work the next day and even if see that their cubicle is empty, we just go on ahead with our work as usual. Don’t we miss them? Well we do actually but I guess that’s how life is. In today’s corporate run, it is necessary to move on.

I still do miss Paayal. The kind of shopping we did on FC road, pastries and patties we ate in Pastry Corner, roaming around on Karve road and gossiping and cribbing about lot of people everywhere :) We shared driving my bike to the office and going back.

Ashwini is yet another innocent person whom I will always miss. She was simple hearted and a good natured person who always wanted the best for her friends.

My mom-dad’s generation worked for a single company all their lives and made life-long friendships - friendships that lasted through good and bad times! I wish we could have enjoyed that.

But hey, my old friends from school, Kanchan, Nivedita and Seema, are surprisingly closer to me than most of the new ones. Wonder why? Maybe like Kanchan said, ‘cause we had spent most of our day with them together and that we were innocent. I think maybe it is ‘cause we weren’t desperate to their friend and were so because we liked them and not to form strategic friendships!

I think I am going to be in touch with most of the people I’ve liked over time. Gearing up!

Enjoying the first heavy rain shower

Yesterday I stayed back home. My hubby, Yogesh wasn't feeling well, so at first I thought I'd go to the office at 10.30 am or so. We both were chatting about some timepass topics and the 10.30am went to 12.30pm, within no time!

When I looked out of the window, I saw HUGE dark clouds gather in the sky. It looked scary but I was amazed. For a city that has had to wait for about a month for a mere shower of rains, these clouds appeared JUMBO. And then just like you'd turn on your tap, it began to rain. It wasn't just a shower, it was a total downpour. Within 2 minutes, the small lane between houses in the chawl in front of our building, were flooded. These lanes come by my apartment building and from my window I could see small rivers flow fiercely towards us. The water passed from front of it to go to the right where it joined more such rivulets ahead.

I sat on the sofa by the window to see the lane flood a knee deep. Water from the asbestos tiles on the roofs fell into tin enclosures made at the end of the rooftops, to avoid the dripping all over the front yard. The tin enclosure slightly tilted towards one end of the roof has a small pipe or a hole for water to flow out and down. Yesterday water flowed out from it with so much force that for a second I thought we must collect it in all the buckets that we have. Rain water harvesting was what I began thinking of. Just then I saw some women rush in the rains to put buckets, plastic tubs below such pipes. They were doing it just for fun I guess.

Women called unto each other in the neighboring houses to just stand in the rain, in foot deep waters. Small kids, some crying when their parents held them in the rain, some dancing and scampering, holding umbrellas not necessarily on top of their heads, some little ones with all clothes left at home to enjoy the shower full time, filled the small lane within no time. Gradually all parents and old women came out. A guy even got a foot ball to play water games with these kids.

We both were watching this from our window. I decided that a better view would be from our covered terrace. I went up to see that our neighbor on the top floor was already drenched in the rain. I thought that I too shouldn't lose this chance to make my day. I step into the heavy shower, with Yogesh warning me that I'd get sick.

Wow, and the cold water took me by surprise!
‘Pani kitna thanda hai!’ I cried out.
'Bhagwan geyser On karna bhul gaya hai', Amit my neighbor said.
His wife Archana joined us. Yogesh was pulled in by Amit. We called Arti Tai who stays near us. She came with her umbrella and we had to trick her to get rid of it. And then the fun began. Our terrace was filled with half a foot of water, more than enough for us to splash it on each other. Me and Archana tried jumping in it so it splashed even more. It was fun.

'Just gimme a tablet tomorrow if I get sick', I shouted out to Yogesh where he was standing under a roof.
'Sure and I will give you a good kick too, for getting drenched in the rains, when I was warning you!’, Yogesh said :)
Nevertheless I continued playing until I was tired and shivering.

Although I do enjoy the rains every year in more or less the same manner, it was my first shower after getting married, after coming here to a new place, new surroundings, intermingling with new people...

We came home, changed into dry clothes, and had a cup of nice hot tea and steaming Maggie while looking out of the window.

Rain not only cleanses the air, the streets but also stressed minds and bodies. It brings all kinds of people together to celebrate and it opens up our souls to one another.

Where are the rains?!

For about a month now, we in Pune have been waiting for the monsoons to start! With eyes looking up to the skies, we expect to see huge dark clouds. And they do come almost every alternate day, but there's no rain. The clouds disperse just as quickly as they come. It's like they are mocking us in their own way.

Pune's major sources of water are the dams - Temghar Khadakwasala, Panshet and Varasgaon. And as of today 1st of July 2009, only 2.23% water remains in these dams. Even with extensive cuts, water will last only until 20th of July when the monsoon is expected to hit the city! Situation is grave. Puneties need to understand and do their little in conserving water individually. Pune Municipal Corporation needs to create more lakes for conserving water and find alternate source of water for the ever growing city. It needs to urge citizens to do rain water harvesting and provide all necessary help. Social awareness is a must!

Coming back to my own selfish self, I still need to buy a raincoat. I see shops display rainwear (umbrellas, jackets, and beautiful raincoats) and wonder when people will start buying it. I also am planning to make some great rainy season trips this monsoon as soon as there's greenery everywhere, but I have to wait until then.

Do we still believe that there's good in the world!!!!

I drive a cool TVS Scooty Pep+ to my office every day. Suddenly I noticed that the headlights of the bike weren't working at all. I wondered when I could take it for servicing. So I am still using it without headlights.

Usually I leave my office at 7.30pm or so... and it gets pretty dark outside. I still had to take the risk of riding the bike home (it’s just 10 minutes away if I take the national highway). And just within 2 minutes of my slow and careful drive on NH4, I noticed that 2 guys were following me on a bike.

Well it started like this. I overtook them from my left and I think that triggered it. Girls know that most guys have this fear that if a girl overtakes their vehicle, they wouldn’t be able to show their face to the world :)

Well so these guys began driving exactly parallel to me, slowing down when I did and accelerating when I sped up. I didn't know what to do... the pillion rider was staring at me and talking to the driver. It was scary and weird. It's not that it was the first time this happened, but then I had options to drive the way I want. This time it was not so since I had 0 lights and was forced to drive slow. I was hoping that the busy signal ahead (8 mins away) comes up ASAP, and that I take the small service road to my house.

Suddenly a thought crossed my mind. 'Are these guys following me just to make sure that I was safe… driving close by so that I can drive with the light from their bike!?' Crazy thought for a cynical person like me, eh?

The signal approached and I took the service road to my house. These guys were already on the flyover and were still looking at me when I disappeared in the lane... I don't know why.

I don’t know if they meant well. Why is it so hard to believe that people have good intentions? I'm still wondering… whether they were trying to help me OR it was just another incident of harassment. I truly want to believe the former for once...

Mere paas maa hai.

P: Hey wats that written on your whiteboard? 'Pistol jail mein aa chuka hai'
K: yea we are writing dialogues from famous films on this board. but thing is ... we should first use that verbally in a relevent conversation and then write it here.
J: toh quote of the week hoil.
P: hmm... so what does this dialogue mean?
K: nothing really.
P: Ok thik aahe. nako sangus.
K doesn't know what to say.

Next day >>
K: I have to buy grocery for this month! That too cash this time!
J: ab to baniye ne bhi udhar dena band kar diya hai. Voh kehta hai, 'pehleka udhar chukta karo, aur baad mein saman le jao'.
K: wow this one deserves it!

Yet another day K walks into the office....
K: hey J i have mentioned you in my blog after you told me what that bird was called
J: 'yeh toh apka badappan hai, varna mujh jaise nacheez ko kaun poochta hai'
K: 'hum voh cheez hai jo udne vale parinde ke par gin le'

J and K in D's cabin. (D is the boss)
K wanted to show some PDF file on D's PC, but it was taking huge time to open.
K to D: it's taking so much time to open the PDF
D: (smiles) i'm not a developer so my PC is slow. Developers get faster PCs.
Later outside the cabin K mentions to J what D said.
J: Khud Gabbar ki pistol mein paani!!!
We got another dialogue of the week :)

and the dialogue bazee on the board went on...

After a few days... J erases all dialogues... 'doesn't look professional he says'

but the verbal dialogue bazee still continues...

Bird watching (in a good way hehe )

I always love watching birds, on trees, on windows, on electricity poles, on the wires …everywhere. They are chubby, chirpy, and so very active! I love to see them crane their necks to see some object or move their eyes from side to side. It is very lively. Such small creatures and so much enthusiasm for things!
Anyway, lately I have shifted to a seat near a huge window. The window is wall to wall and ceiling to floor and I have a beautiful view from the stained glass.

Now here's the thing. I have a regular feathered visitor on this window sill on the fifth floor. The bird comes everyday in the afternoon and rests on my window. With twigs in its beak, it surely is building a nest somewhere near this building. Of course it doesn’t know that it is sitting soooo close to a human being! Sometimes it stares at my window straight at me. It can see its own reflection; it stares for a few seconds at the image and flies away.

The other day, it was raining heavily and this little fellow sat near that window for shelter. I showed it to my colleague Jayant who told me that it is a 'Titvi (Marathi)', which is a Redwattled Lapwing. The bird has reddish brown wings with black feathers on the neck and head, and a white belly. I know that there are birds that are far more cute, but this one is great to look at. Now that it comes here every day, I think I've formed some sorta bond with it.

Waiting for it to come by even today :D

My life is based on a true story

Someone once told me that 'You only understand the meaning of what you do when you look at the past. You can only join the dots looking back'. Now when I imagine my earlier education, the days at my mom’s house, grueling engineering results, MBA campus and all... it sounds like there was a story being made. It is still going on.

During my school days I felt like I could achieve anything, become anything. I passed out with flying colors and got selected into engineering. Even though I wanted to do be a medical professional, and getting admission in one of the good colleges, I chose engineering.
I came to know what great brains truly mean :) It just means being smart. Yes. I don't think all engineers are super intelligent. It is just that they are smart. I always thought I am doing something that I shouldn't be doing. ... Engineering??!!! What in the world was I thinking???

When I managed to pass that, fate decided to change sails and after some research I ended up doing MBA (it was also because admissions to other streams were already closed by that time).
I thought I was always the odd person out in the MBA group. Too technical, not wanting to lose the sharpness I got in Engineering. Today when I look back to those days, I feel I want to live them again. If given a choice, I would do everything that I avoided doing during those days - late night parties ;) socializing, bunking lectures, group studies, canteen time pass, etc etc etc. Yet, they were the best days I can remember.

I hardly remember why I chose to stay in Pune. I declined offers from my campus and another offer from Infy to join my present company. When I look back at those earlier job years now, I know I worked hard, achieved great, learnt a lot.

Well, I was beginning to get set in a routine, but the big director - life - doesn't want the story to look boring... it introduced Yogesh to me... and we got married. Even today, everyday, there is a story being written and it feels like I am playing the lead role in it. I am sure there is a great climax to this and looking back at today, I will be happy to see that every phase was so beautiful, so fulfilling.

I don't feel like working today

Don't know why... and hey I don't blame my work at all. I work for Aftek, a great company with a superb environment that makes me wanna come to office everyday.

But somehow, once in a blue moon, I don't want to just get out of my house at all. Today was such a day. Today all of a sudden I am feeling very home sick (even though I was there just 6 hours back). Even now at work, I am thinking of the comfort of my home.

Why have humans complicated their lives so much? Why do we force ourselves to go some place out of home for a better part of the day? Why do we have to earn for our loved ones, but get to spend so little time with them.

Sometimes I think of the old rushi-munis (hermits) who stayed in the Himalayas, ate fruits, and had no materialistic ambitions. They were so content with whatever they had. Why can't all humans be like that? I know I can't. Maybe it is 'cause we are not brought up that way.

In prehistoric days they didn't have to pay mobile bills, petrol bills :). All men did was to hunt for food and women just cooked; they also made sure that the species didn't go extinct. But mankind has made so many discoveries and inventions that a single person cannot do everything in a single lifetime. Hence we ended up trading and hence 'working somewhere'. Why did we have to do this to ourselves!!! We should have happily stayed in the himalayas or hunted for food forever! Why create wheels? Why invent electricity? Why form software companies :D ???

Ok... getting back to work now.

Healthy food - try creating a diet chart

Our discussion began when me and my hubby Yogesh were driving to my mom's place. He was telling me that we should eat 1 cup of Matki (a sprouted lentil) everyday in the morning, and that too uncooked (yucks).

Frankly speaking I am overwhelmed with the dosages of health tips from the Internet already. All these health gurus or doctors keep telling us to ... Eat 1 serving of spinach per week... OR Eat Omega 3 rich Salmon and Tuna every week!... Go eat blackberries.. Eat multi colored (dark) foods for more antioxidants, Eat almonds, Eat dates, Eat this and Eat that. If any of these doctors combine all these health advices over all the sites, and try to create a food chart for a week, I'm sure they wouldnt be able to cram even 10% of these into a single week. Moreover there are other overwhelming lists like.. what not to eat, how too cook and how not to cook to best preserve the nutrients, how many days to store the food before it is useless!!!!

I must give due credit to Yogesh though, for pursuading me to eat salads. Now I can atleast say that I've started incorporating something healthy in my diet. I'm sure he will have more tips!

A simple person like me would want to eat healthy food, but wouldn't know when and what. And the Internet is doing a great job of creating confusion and guilt conscience in my mind. Cause now although I am aware that I should be eating XYZ, I either do not know when, Or how much.
I think thats why there are nutritionists. But let's not get into this .... it'll require a separate blog for that ;)

For now i'll go with whatever is in my tiffin.

I don't detest cooking... but it is not like breathing!

I love cooking. Right from my tenth grade, I could cook basic meals (and some frilly stuff too once in a blue moon). Initially I took it as a challenge... sort of like a chemistry experiment we used to do in our twelth grade chemistry lab. No, seriously, like any dedicated group, we entered the chemistry lab with the sole objective of entertainment, trying to mix some liquids and powders to create jazzy results (mostly acheiving heavy fumes with the stuff hardening in the test tube and rendering it useless for future experiments!) Sometimes we did get beautiful results like for example, a cyan colored precipitate floating in a reddish liquid of some sort. Whatever. My point is, I took cooking to be like that.

Cooking is nothing but adding interesting stuff to your preparation and presenting it in such a way that the person in front of you can eat it without frowning (and still survive hehehe). I think I am downgrading myself a lot here. In reality my husband, mom, dad and friendz love to eat what I make. I like being surrounded with various masalas and spices, choosing what to add to make this dish lil bit different than what I had cooked earlier. I don't kill my time though with this stuff.. as I have office to go to, but this is damn interesting.

I love the fact that I am an Indian. By virtue of that, I can get tonnes of spices and masalas on my shelf, and I love to taste them too. From one of my friend, I have heard that most cooked food abroad looks whitish, creamish, or greyish ...and very little spicy. People there are generally intolerant towards spices (ofcourse they wouldn't be able to afford them, even if they were - another plus for being in India.)

I did enjoy cooking once in a blue moon. But life has changed ... I got married last month and now have the full fledged responsibility of cooking alteast 2 meals a day without a break! I can manage the time no issues, but it is no longer as enjoyable as it was before since I consider it as a mere task these days to be done with. To get it over witha and reach office within a reasonable time (we have flexi timings). And again to get back home and get it done with to go to sleep in time. I am wondering if life ever gives us a chance to enjoy something so much that we don't start hating it. Why do we start getting bored of things that we love to do... if we do it everyday? Time is a factor, but I think energy and dedication is another...

Will think about that...