Lady Writer

2009-05-08T11:41:00.006+05:30

The last time I took a seven month break, I went and got married. Well, now it's been a two year break!! And no, I haven't re-married...we've just had a baby :-)

Behold, Declan Noah!
He has (unfortunately) inherited my horrible temper and impatience. And the stubbornness is from his Dad.

Of course, this photo was taken when he was a week old. Obviously, I didn't have any spare time to blog...or do much else at the time. Now he is nearing 3 months and I felt this urge to get back to blogging.
So here I am, with Declan wriggling next to me. Haven't even spent 5 minutes on this and he's wet and angry. And so, I must leave you for now.
I am, after all, his loyal slave ;-)

Postcards are back!

2007-01-03T14:12:00.000+05:30

Check them out on zimoz.com !!!

Fond memories

2006-11-19T20:38:00.000+05:30

Tomorrow I will wake up to a new job. And so tonight, I am especially nostalgic about my old company- the many friends I made there, the many crazy things we did, the many good times we had.

Looking back, I had a very decent run- rather, an excellent one, in those two and a half odd years. First and most important, I met my husband there :-)

L to R: Sripriya(teammate) and Aldrin(husband and teammate)

I was privileged to have worked under the two coolest project managers...

L to R: Kartik (Second PM), Manisha(First and Last PM), Amol (teammate),
1/4 Nihar(teammate)

...and honored to have the very best people in my team.

L to R: Jisha, Vidhi, Harshada, Rohit, Me with gift, Ganpati, Shalaka, Gaurang, Amol (all teammates)

We made sure that all our work was great fun and learnt a lot in the process. I miss them all very much, and hope they enjoyed the ride as much as I did!
Some pics from our last party-

[1: Rohit, Arpit(mentee), Vidhi, Jisha] [2: Gaurang, Lokesh, Ganpati, Harshada, Rohit, Arpit, Vidhi, 1/2 Jisha]
[3: Match from previous pics ;-)]

Back at last!

2006-06-14T16:58:00.000+05:30

Here I am after ages!!! And married to the most wonderful man !

And yes, everyone does look at me critically and wonder why I haven't put on some weight. Not that I need to, but just as a general observation.

They probably follow the logic that happiness=fat.
The more content you are, the more weight you put on.
So does that mean that everyone is stick thin before they get married, pining away for a soul mate?
If they're fat before they get married, will they get fatter after marriage?
If they get thinner after marriage is it because they're not happy?

Strange indeed, but by whatever logic or lack of it, I'm married, not so fat [just a bit chubby ;-)] and never been happier... so there!!!

Counting Crows

2005-11-17T12:40:00.000+05:30

I detest crows. They've been the bane of my life, and my unfortunate association with them goes back a long way.
Our school was located bang on the beach. Which was wonderful. To balance that, we had scores of casuarina trees in our compound. And on those trees lived hundreds of crows. Greedy, malicious crows. Crows that would swoop down on you and pick your sandwich right from your fingers. More crows that would hop around you waiting for a scrap to eat. Even more crows eyeing you everywhere you looked.

Then there was this street which was white. We called it crow-s*** street. I don't think anybody walked down it without being favored with crow droppings. Especially when wearing white.

And these days, the railway station has become their new favorite haunt. During the morning rush, there are these fisherfolk walking out the station with baskets of fish on their heads. Bad enough we have to keep an eye out for people spitting on you, and also look ahead for wretches who walk on the right instead of the left, you've also got to avoid the fisherfolk for fear of fish water dripping onto your freshly laundered clothes and having your colleagues wrinkle their noses in disgust. Especially the vegetarian ones.
To top it all are those blasted crows. They pick fish from the baskets and then perch on the beams above to feast. If you don't look up ahead and mark those creatures, and hence make every effort to avoid them, chances are you'll have fishy body parts dropped on you.
As if we didn't have enough to worry about!

Finally, there's this crow which, quite literally, does not know when to keep it's mouth shut. It insists on waking me up rudely at some odd hour in the morning, or cawing desperately all afternoon on the weekends. I'd like to get hold of an air gun and shoot it, but PETA might chase me. I took a picture of it though:

Wretched creature!!!

Not quite cricket

2005-09-26T14:05:00.000+05:30

And once again, our cricket team is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Once again, our traditional Indian attitude rears its ugly head.

Greg Chappell was called in to whip our team into shape (presumably because our own guys here didn't have the guts to call a spade a spade). And now that he's doing it, our spoilt, pampered team is up in arms. And I'm quite sure that certain higher-ups are watching in glee as Chappell does their dirty work. Of course, he's the fall guy at the end. He's expendable. Even our bookies are growing richer at his expense.

This controversy once again demonstrates the one part of Indian attitude that needs to change. Complacency is a way of life. Just look at our government organizations and even some private ones. They reek of poor management and general sloth.

Apparently, several senior Indian cricketers(anonymous of course) told the Times of India that "the way Chappell has gone about seeking to change the order virtually overnight smacks of lack of taste. “This is no way to deal with players who have served the game with distinction,’’ said one of them. “Look at Sourav. He has an enviable record both as captain and batsman. You can’t suddenly turn around and tell him he is physically and mentally unfit. There’s a certain way of going about such things.’’"

These few sentences tell it all. What exactly do you mean by "lack of taste"? And "there's a certain way of going about such things"? Well one thing is for sure, they way we go about them is a joke. Whether it's cricket or the corporate world. Because we never do anything in the first place and just sit and hope it will go away. Because when we decide to do something, we are going about it 'tastefully'. Which means, the people that need to be pulled up never are. And we just sit and grumble at the sad state of affairs.
In my not-so-humble opinion, if you're a consistent non-performer (I agree all should be given a chance to redeem themselves, but there's a limit), you should be told directly, and if you don't improve, you should be sacked. This is where the West scores over us. Accountability and responsibility. We don't have it in us.

Our molly-coddled players also complain that the fitness regime is "too strict". Even the girls team can do better than that. Poor, harrassed Harbhajan Singh is "yet to come out of his mental trauma" and alleges that Chappell is creating fear and insecurity among the players. High time, I say. You should be insecure if you're below par. You can't rest on your laurels for something you did in the past and expect that to carry you through!!!

It will be interesting to see how this develops. My guess would be the BCCI will fire over Chappells shoulder, clean up the cricket team (as best they can without our players sulking like children), and then appease the public and sack Chappell. Even if this happens, I would congratulate Chappell on a job well done.

It's been a while...

2005-09-25T17:19:00.000+05:30

I'm back- after ages! Well, it's high time (at least according to those who read my blog). I'd like to say that it's writers block that's been preventing me from writing anything half-decent these days, but my friends call it laziness. And they have been continuously reminding me to write- so much so that while walking around the office I keep feeling they'll jump out from behind a pillar and say "you haven't written"!
I guess I'd better make an attempt to write so that I get back into that groove.

Well, the last month and a half haven't been particularly anything to write about ;-)
It's been pouring non-stop and it is most disgusting. Throw in a couple of crazy rickshaw drivers who nearly managed to kill us a couple of times, hectic times at work, and falling sick just as soon as I recover from a previous illness... you get the picture... and it hasn't been pretty.

It hasn't rained today, so I figure my luck is improving. Was too tired to do anything though- just been lying in bed. The only highlight of the day was that my brother brought me a chocolate tart- which was more than delicious. A nice shortcrust base topped with tons of gooey chocolate... heavenly. I'm still drooling just at the thought of it. I just can't resist chocolate. Especially dark chocolate. Sends me into raptures!!!

And now, it's early evening and I'm wondering how to spend the next six hours. I suppose I'll have to clean up the place a bit- that's the worst part about staying alone. You've got to clean, and clean and clean again. And talking of clean, I must get my leather handbag in shape again- I just have to hunt for that leather cream. I had to put my beloved soft leather bag away when these horrible rains started- and was forced to carry a tacky "leatherite" bag. Now that it's sunny once again, I can resume with my usual handbag. And perhaps buy a new one too :-)

I don't really feel like cooking, or going out either...
Will rent out a movie and order dinner and a slice of chocolate cake (I've had such a horrible time the last month, I deserve chocolate cake!!!)...perhaps sip on some Tia Maria if it's a nice romantic movie (I'm a sucker for romance :-D)

And then it will be Monday, and I shall be back at work...hopefully with something interesting to write about :-)

The Art of Laziness

2005-07-10T14:15:00.000+05:30

It's Sunday again. And I am in a much better state than last weekend. I am rather ashamed of that piece I wrote- in fact, I meant to delete it the next day, but forgot, and then found (to my horror) that the few people that I know for sure read my blog, had already read the sorry piece. Too late now. And, btw, if there are more people reading this blog, do drop me an e-mail or leave some comments... just so that I know it's being read ;-)

Laziness is an art. The last week was a hard one. I planned to be lazy today, but it just did not happen. My first mistake was having too much on my mind. Your mind needs to empty. Totally blank. Feel like you're in a daze. If you are able to think straight or even think about something for more than five minutes, then you are not in the ideal state to be lazy. So, yeah, mistake #1. Mistake #2 was having some half plans to do something on Sunday. Yesterday, I was thinking that I'd fish out some books I'd packed away recently, and then download a couple of articles. BIG mistake. The result is that I woke up at 10 AM. Way too early. And that's because my mind knew it had something planned today. I just couldn't go back to sleep.
Mistake #3: Instead of lying in bed and generally dragging my feet around the house, I actually said, oh well, now that I'm up, let me clean the place up a bit. And that ruined it. I did some *work*- now I just can't go back to being 'lazy'. Which is why, instead of sleeping at 2 in the afternoon, I'm sitting here and writing this.
If I'd been my usual lazy self, I'd have woken up at about noon, eaten, and gone back to sleep at about 1. And woken up again at 6 or 7pm. And gone back to sleep at 9pm. Haven't done that for quite a while now. Need to clear my mind a bit...

So, I'll hang around here for a while, then perhaps take a walk down the road in the evening and see what the shops have to offer. The little devil which used to reside quite happily in me is getting restless. He'd encourage me to go on shopping marathons and return with tons of stuff... and no bank balance. And I was most happy to oblige. Now there's a little frog which puts some sense into my head, and I haven't splurged (too much ;-)) in a while. So I'll just play it safe and not carry any cash with me this evening :-D

I've been so busy that I didn't even get a chance to chat with PeaBee on Friday. But I did get her message and need to fix a script for her... will do that right away... no more laziness :-)

All alone...

2005-06-26T17:23:00.000+05:30

I'm alone,
Yeah, I don't know if I can face the night,
I'm in tears, and the crying that I do is for you
Angel- Aerosmith

Although staying alone has many, many benefits, there is one downside. One VERY big downside. And that is loneliness.
There are days when you just wake up feeling that way, or you open your door and know that theres nobody waiting for you- it can get so unbearable.

Days like these cannot be described to somebody who has not experienced it . You try to keep yourself busy doing meaningless household chores, but you just can't focus. Your mind is wandering in a million different directions- and the worst thing you can do, but can't help yourself from doing- is thinking back to days when you were with with your family or loved ones. And here you are, all alone, with nobody to talk to and nothing to do with yourself, except feel pathetic.

You can't do a damn thing about it except feel more and more depressed and think of people and places and desperately wish you were there. And of course, sit in a corner and sob for something you know you can't have. The day and night feels so much longer- you can't wait to get through them and yet you know that there are so many hours left where you're left alone with your destructive thoughts. And it just gets worse and worse...

Don't know what I'm gonna do,
About this feeling inside,
Yes it's true, loneliness took me for a ride...
Angel -Aerosmith

Not just tea...

2005-05-27T16:41:00.000+05:30

Today, I organized a Chrome contest for our team. Nothing complicated. You just have to identify the picture

We got some interesting responses. Coffee spilt on the floor(Sripriya), tea spilt on the floor(Sandeep, Rajani, Manisha), 3 degrees if you look at it clockwise(Aldrin), and a mad laughing fox(Esai). Further enhanced to "a fox with a wild beard and mustache and stained with tea and flavored with coffee...and the sun rays behind its head" :-D
Even a supporting picture was sent in:

Finally had to have a tie breaker because more than one person answered correctly that it was tea. The question was "How did the tea get there?"
Nobody answered correctly...

The tea got there because Aldrin dropped two tea bags on the floor.

Esai ended up getting the prize for creative thinking :-)

Chromie Awards Feb 2005

2005-05-25T16:34:00.000+05:30

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting – the one and only, a Rave original, The Chromie Awardssss !!!
What are the Chromies you ask?
Well, the story goes like this “Once upon a time, there lived in a far off kingdom a gorgeous princess called Angelina Jolie...”
Just kidding, the story is much simpler - in a fit of boredom the offshore Chrome team (henceforth know as the Chromie Organizers- Rocking & Nonstop Yakking or CORNY) decided to conduct a small poll on a few hot topics within the group.

It started off sedately but soon snowballed into a violent riot when they failed to agree on the nominees. It was finally bought under control by Teacher who made effective use of the stick. By the time the dust settled (and the nasty stick whacks turned blue), CORNY had come up with a list of 19 categories .

This was then passed through a stringent review and acceptance process by a panel of esteemed judges. CORNY, being most fair and just, also decided to throw open the entire selection process to the public who responded enthusiastically. A total of 6,57,534 nominations were received which were carefully sifted through and thrown in the dustbin because CORNY gives a damn about public opinion anyways !

And so, votes were counted and re-counted, and the Chromie Certificates were printed in a secret location so that they couldn't be tampered with - each certificate has a special watermark not reproducible in 189,388,299 light years.

Finally, the great day dawned. The Chrome Team came in a bit late because they spent an hour extra getting dressed- they wanted to look their best for the paparazzi. All the Chrome members, and the honorary member, Ram (who had no clue about anything), assembled that evening for the ceremony, their acceptance speeches well rehearsed.

And the awards went to-

1. Chrome Fashion Icon Award- Binti (need we say why?)

2. Worst Quote of the Year- Esai (all those on Esai's mailing list... do you agree?)

3. Best Chrome Application- Chrome Central (our first development project)

4. Rapid Clicker Award- Binti (you've just GOT to see her clicking- her poor mouse is ill-treated)

5. Poor Joke Teller Award- Sripriya (drop by her cubicle for samples- don't say we didn't warn you)

At this point, Abhay, who was staring at the proceedings through the glass, came in and said this was the first time he'd seen a project team actually HAPPY and LAUGHING with Ram around ;-)

6. Most Nagging Member Award (no explanations required- Ram knew he was the winner before his name was even announced)

7. Most Deprived Chrome Member Award- Luanne (the list of deprivations is too long...)

8. Chrome Uncle Award- Aldrin (this was a close contest- we believe all the males in the Chrome team are uncles)

9. Quietest Chrome Member- Shivshankar (he speaks up a bit more now :))

10. Noisiest Chrome Member- Ganpati (either singing or arguing or yakking in general-- all this while spinning in his chair)

11. Best Chrome Singer Award- Binti (she has a superb voice, and treated us to a sample during the awards ceremony)

12. Best Chrome Dancer Award- Ganpati (haven't seen him yet? Apparently he has to be pushed off the dance floor at the end of every Rave party)

13. Most Seemingly Deceptively Innocent Member- Aldrin (unanimous vote, this one)

14. Strictest Chrome Member Award- Manisha (even scarier with her stick)

15. Best Chrome Entertainer Award- Ganpati (Esai missed this by a single vote)

16. Chromes Best Kept Secret- Blue Shirted Programmer (shhhhh... can't tell)

17. Best Event Manager Award- Luanne (for organizing trivial things like the Chromies, the trip, and various other silly events)

18. Silent Spectator Award- Nandgopal (didn't participate too much in the silly events but enjoyed them nonetheless)

19. Chrome Lifetime Achievement Award- Rajani (the original Chrome member)

And those, Ladies and Gentlemen, were the Chromies. Manisha surprised us all by distributing chocolates after the ceremony (haven't you noticed that the Chrome team is forever eating chocolates, or ice cream or pizza with extra cheese? All are on a diet now...)

- Luanne Coutinho & Aldrin Misquitta (CORNY members)

Coming back to life

2005-05-25T14:41:00.000+05:30

While you were hanging youself on someone elses words,
Dying to believe in what you heard,
I was staring straight into the shining sun...
-Coming back to life( Pink Floyd)

Well, I'm back. After a very long spell of 'bloggers block' :-)
Couldn't write anything decent in the last couple of months, and no blog is better than bad blog...

Nothing really significant has happened in the months gone by- so you haven't missed anything :-)

Except for the fact that our team won the Best Team Award.

Co-authored two articles for our company newsletter. One is about our team trip to Mahabaleshwar- which you've already read here- and the other is a report on the "Chromie" Awards- which I shall publish here.

On the home front, nothing much either- half my family came to stay for about a week... so was pretty occupied. Both me and my residence :-)

Will continue with horrible landlady stories when I'm in a bad mood...

Otherwise, expect to see my usual posts with my usual regularity :-D

Home #1

2005-04-04T17:36:00.000+05:30

My first home away from home was a room about 15 x 10 feet. I was known as a "Paying Guest". That term has always baffled me. You can't stay for free, and you aren't treated as a guest either. An old spinster owned the flat, and I had one room. The other room was given out to a girl who worked with All India Radio. I hardly saw her- and that was good.

I remember moving my suitcase up the day we arrived from Goa- my Mom traveled with me- and hauling three boxes up two flights of stairs- those contained my beloved computer, monitor and assorted accessories and books.

When they were all dumped in the center of the room- there was no more room in the room! I looked around in dismay- how was I supposed to fit in there?
And my Mom left that very day because she needed to get back home to my siblings, whose exams were on.
I remember putting her in the bus, trying hard to look cheerful, and then returning to my new "home".
And I cried all night. The feeling was like no other I'd experienced before. Utter despair and loneliness.

The next day was Sunday. It was such a task to unpack my computer. Maneuvering boxes in that small space. Getting them out of the way. Assembling it and praying that it would work and hadn't been damaged in transit.
Then unpacking the rest of my stuff. And re-packing because there was no place to put all of it.
Finally, my room looked almost tidy.

My landlady was a different story altogether. She was a cranky and moody old woman. And extremely miserly. She was forever complaining about something or the other. I'd come home late from work, and she'd accost me in the living room, and talk for hours. And I'd be standing there with my bag, and making sympathetic noises because there was no polite way to escape.
She was rather well off. But she wanted "extra income", so she gave out both her rooms and stayed in the living room! Slept on the sofa. Ate on the sofa. Watched TV on the sofa. That sofa was her life. She didn't want to live more comfortably in a room in her own flat, because "one can always do with a little more money". Well, she sure wasn't doing anything with the "little" money that she was earning...

Jaded

2005-04-04T17:14:00.000+05:30

It has been a disgusting day.

The air conditioning here isn't working, and we're sweating it out. To make matters worse, one of my teammates attempted to open the Venetian blinds so that she could then open the window, and the whole thing came down-- the blinds, that is- not the window. So now, there's sunlight streaming in and it's becoming increasingly uncomfortable to work.

And then IT Support yanked my machine off the network because it was hogging the bandwidth. I haven't been able to do a thing all day.

The only bright spots in the day were two rounds of ice cream to cool us down...

Apparently, people have been waiting with bated breath to hear about my stay in Bombay. First installment in 20 minutes...

Living on a Prayer

2005-03-07T14:55:00.000+05:30

Tomorrow marks the completion of two years in Bombay.
TWO WHOLE YEARS!!!
I can't believe- feels like I left my home in Goa just yesterday!

I dedicate the next couple of posts to my stay in Bombay... watch this space...

So Far Away

2005-03-07T14:20:00.000+05:30

So far away from me
So far I just can’t see
So far away from me...
-So Far Away (Dire Straits)

Yes, I was at the Mark Knopfler concert in Bombay on Saturday. And, yes, he was just too far away! Got a glimpse of him on stage for about 30 seconds :(

He played for about two hours and his guitar work was as cool and effortless as always.
As expected, his Dire Straits tracks were most appreciated. I must say, Dire Straits beats a solo Mark Knopfler any day! I haven't heard any of his solo albums, but based on what he played here on Saturday, I don't think I'll be exactly dying to buy those albums. The tracks were more country/folk/blues influenced... not my style.
Dire Straits is Dire Straits is Dire Straits...and it still rocks!!!

A tea by any other name...

2005-02-11T13:52:00.000+05:30

I had a cup of Earl Grey tea this morning. I am usually a green tea drinker and have only recently started appreciating Earl Grey. Was always fascinated by the name...and finally picked up some tea bags to try out.
Named after the second Earl, Charles Grey, way back in the 1830's.
It has a peculiar flavor... but it grows on you. I am now quite fond of it.
The flavor is due to something known as "bergamot".
Did some research and found out that Bergamot is a plant indigenous to North America..which puzzled me no end. How did the Earl stumble upon it?
Googled some more...and it turns out, I was wrong. The bergamot that flavors Earl Grey tea is the Bergamot Orange. So, it's plain, black tea infused with Bergamot Orange. I found out that it is also used to mask the flavor of poor quality black tea!

Pity though...I always hoped the tea would be grey... I don't suppose Orange Pekoe is orange either...

Love Bites

2005-02-09T13:12:00.000+05:30

LaunchCast has a Valentines station called 'Love Bites', and it's really worth listening to. I had no idea so many of these songs existed. And they're all rather amusing. Though, for listeners bitten by love, it might not seem so funny...

I've heard songs like Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You (Led Zeppelin), She Hates Me (Puddle of Mudd), Tainted Love (Soft Cell), It's All Over Now (Rolling Stones), I Hate Myself For Loving You(Joan Jett), Don't Go Away Mad (just go away) (Motley Crue)...

I particularly liked Song For The Dumped (Ben Folds Five)- the lyrics go like this:
I want my money back
(and don’t forget to give
Me back my black t-shirt)

Wish I hadn’t bought you dinner
Right before you dumped me
On your front porch
Give me my money back

Wonder if he got his money and shirt back... he should :)

I'm now going to try out LaunchCasts "Breaking up is hard to do"... though I doubt it will be as entertaining...

Goodbye, Cruel World

2005-02-08T13:40:00.000+05:30

Goodbye, cruel world,
I’m leaving you today.
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

Goodbye all you people,
There’s nothing you can say,
To make me change my mind.
Goodbye.
--Pink Floyd

Okay. I confess. I'm a plant murderer. Yet another plant died a sorry death yesterday. I don't even know why I bothered getting that money plant in the first place. I knew that it would die on me.

No matter what I do, plants just don't survive with me. I was usually accused of not watering them frequently enough. Well, even my cactus died. And after a post-mortem conducted by my botanist/zoologist brother, it died because it had too much water! Can you beat that? You can't win any way...
No more plants for me. Ever.

I've just started reading a "New York Times Bestseller"- which doesn't say anything for the quality of the book. Plus, it's written by someone I haven't heard of before. I didn't have much time yesterday to search for a book at the library- so I resolved to walk in, go straight to the P-R shelves (why P-R? I don't know...just a random selection), and pick the first book I saw. And this was it. Read a chapter so far. Not bad.

And, I am now a Yahoo Launch "Fanatic"- I've rated 1500 albums/artists/tracks to date. 3500 more and I'll be a Launch "Addict" :-D

Everybody Hurts

2005-02-04T17:49:00.000+05:30

We often don't realize that life is so hard for some people.

There's an elderly lady who sits outside on a stone seat, just behind my building. I pass that way most evenings, and some mornings, and she wishes me and has a small chat. She knew my grandmother, who stayed in the same area, so we have a bit to talk about.
Two nights ago, I passed that way at about 9pm, and there was a chilly breeze. And she was sitting there, all alone, with inadequate protection. I stopped to ask her why she was sitting out in the cold. The answer I got was something I'd never expected.

Apparently, she stays with her brother and his family. And is not wanted at all, but they can't throw her out because "neighbours would talk". She's got a small room- more like a jail cell- on the top floor (and she can't hardly climb stairs). No windows. She's been told that she can only be present in the house for meals, and to sleep.
So she gets out of that house at 8:30am and stays out till 1pm. Leaves again at 4pm, and stays out till 9pm. Come rain, sun, or even snow I'd imagine.

And she can't do a thing about it.
I wish I could, but I don't think there's a thing I could do either.

It makes you feel truly grateful for all that life has given you. There are people much worse off than you and me. And still I grumble and complain...

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you’re sure you’ve had enough of this life, well hang on
Don’t let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes
Everybody Hurts- REM

(Chrome@Rave)@Mahabaleshwar

2005-02-03T09:47:00.000+05:30

Last weekend, the Chrome Team at Rave travelled to Mahabaleshwar. And we had an absolutely wonderful time. Even though the bus journey was as long as our stay there. Even though the bus was colder than the hill station itself. Though a few surreptitious sips of rum kept us warm :-)

It was an eight hour journey, which actually became 11 hours due to a flat tyre. We reached our hotel at 8:30 am, checked in and planned our itinerary for the day. We did notice a strange phenomenon- the boys actually took longer than the girls to get ready. Much longer.

Decided to go boating, so had a very long walk to the lake. And it took longer than it should have because Esai kept stopping to photograph various flowers and plants. Aldrin kept stopping to photograph road signs. Ganpati kept stopping to have us photograph him :-)
After our boat ride, we headed back to the hotel for lunch, and then on a tour of Mahabaleshwar. Finally landed up at Sunset Point, one hour too early. Apparently, so had half the population of Mahabaleshwar. We actually had to grab a spot on the wall and stay put till the sun set.

Went shopping for strawberries, strawberry jam, strawberry ice cream, strawberry crush... I don't have to tell you that strawberries are the main attraction at Mahabaleshwar.
And speaking of strawberry crush, try mixing it with vodka. It makes for a delightful drink, though it does tend to be rather sweet. We sipped on that for half the night and played cards, and all in all, had a smashing time.

The excitement hasn't died down... we're still looking at photos...for about the hundredth time, I think :-D

It's been a while...

2005-01-25T16:08:00.000+05:30

I'm back- after ages! Well, it's high time (at least according to those who read my blog). I'd like to say that it's writers block that's been preventing me from writing anything half-decent these days, but my friends call it laziness. And they have been continuously reminding me to write- so much so that while walking around the office I keep feeling they'll jump out from behind a pillar and say "you haven't written"!
I guess I'd better make an attempt to write so that I get back into that groove.

Well, the last month and a half haven't been particularly anything to write about ;-)
It's been pouring non-stop and it is most disgusting. Throw in a couple of crazy rickshaw drivers who nearly managed to kill us a couple of times, hectic times at work, and falling sick just as soon as I recover from a previous illness... you get the picture... and it hasn't been pretty.

It hasn't rained today, so I figure my luck is improving. Was too tired to do anything though- just been lying in bed. The only highlight of the day was that my brother brought me a chocolate tart- which was more than delicious. A nice shortcrust base topped with tons of gooey chocolate... heavenly. I'm still drooling just at the thought of it. I just can't resist chocolate. Especially dark chocolate. Sends me into raptures!!!

And now, it's early evening and I'm wondering how to spend the next six hours. I suppose I'll have to clean up the place a bit- that's the worst part about staying alone. You've got to clean, and clean and clean again.
I don't really feel like cooking, or going out either...
Will rent out a movie and order dinner and a slice of chocolate cake (I've had such a horrible time the last month, I deserve chocolate cake!!!)...perhaps sip on some Tia Maria if it's a nice romantic movie (I'm a sucker for romance :-D)

And then it will be Monday, and I shall be back at work...hopefully with something interesting to write about :-)

All washed out

2005-01-18T15:27:00.000+05:30

I had visitors this Sunday. Unexpected and, I might add, uninvited. And enough to drive you quite crazy. Yes, my brothers are in town. Thankfully, not all of them. Just two. But still, they are more than a handful.
They invited themselves over for breakfast, and then lunch. And also decided to make the best of it and take a shower too.
My day, as you might guess, was as far from a peaceful Sunday as possible.

First you panic because they don't give you any previous warning that they might descend upon your neat and clean home and wreak havoc. Then, you panic some more because you only stock enough food for one person (and that would be me). Then you panic even more as you've got to cook a huge amount because boys have such large appetites.

And then the washing up... that is the unkindest part of all. Have you ever noticed how things pile up in the kitchen sink? There's always something getting used and then dumped in the sink... and the process repeats itself till you've run out of things to use. And then you've just got to wash them all. And it goes on and on. I must have washed stuff at least ten times. And after they left, there was a pile of dirty dishes as a final insult. And food on the chairs. How do boys manage to get food on the chairs? And unidentified substances on the floor?

It took the rest of the afternoon to clean up and return to my peaceful life...

Life is too short

2004-12-29T10:06:00.000+05:30

At last! My life is returning to some kind of normalcy.
It's been a hectic month- all started off with our clients who came to visit for a little over a week, an ISO audit that we barely managed to escape, frantic Christmas shopping, a long trip to Bangalore for a wedding, a long trip back to Bombay, and another trip back home to Goa two days after I'd got back to Bombay. Whew! Talk about a busy life.

There's so much I have to blog about but haven't had the time. I seem to have lost touch with reality this December- it's just been a whirlwind of doing things, thinking about things that need to be done, making lists of things to be done... and forgetting most of them in the bargain :)

Christmas has come and gone... our entire family was together in Goa after about two years, so we had a great time. Of course, it was a short trip- just two days. Anyhow, my Mom was thrilled. And she fed us every moment of the day, ostensibly to 'fatten us up'. She thinks we starve in Bombay. In a way, yes. Nobody cooks like Mom :)

We decorated two Christmas trees at Rave. On the 23rd afternoon. Still, a late tree is better than no tree. Take a look: http://www8.brinkster.com/aldrin/rom/

Now I'm back in Bombay and things have quietened down. I think I'll spend the last three days of this year getting my life in order. I have tons to do- life is too short...

Have you ever seen the morning
When the sun comes up the shore
And the silence makes
A beautiful sound
Have you ever sat there waiting
For the time to stand still
For all the world to stop
From turning around

Life Is Too Short- The Scorpions

Our Best Friends Wedding

2004-12-16T11:22:00.000+05:30

Tomorrow, Pea Pod (www.peabee.blogspot.com/) and I travel to Bangalore for our friends wedding.
It's a 22 hour journey by train- we leave Bombay at 8 am. And we haven't even packed yet.
Though I've already loaded my MP3 player with suitable songs :)

Hers is a fairytale story- and I shall tell you some other time, after I get permission from the fair maiden herself ;)
Now, if all of us had fairytale endings...

It promises to be a very exciting experience. Will be back in Bombay on Tuesday...
Expect a report sometime then...

Thank you for the music

2004-12-07T13:22:00.000+05:30

I finally bought myself a Christmas gift. A Casio CTK-551 keyboard. 100 rythms, 100 instrument tones, touch response keys...

I'm really excited about this- I can finally go back to playing music.
I formally learnt piano years and years ago, and actually answered the Trinity College exam till Grade 3. Then I gave it up due to school work.
But still kept in touch on our Yamaha organ at home, in Goa.
When I moved to Bombay, my limited skills rusted in peace...and now, I finally have a chance to re-learn.

I am still very, very rusty, and so far, I can play a rather sorry version of Last Christmas... but I'm getting there.
When I go home for Christmas, I'll be sure to bring my music books back.

Right now, the folks in my building are treated to bad versions of Wham's Last Christmas, Whitney Houston's Saving All My Love for You, The Eagles Girl from Yesterday and the first movement of Fur Elise.

As I said, I'm getting there...

What women want

2004-12-02T23:42:00.000+05:30

Recently, there was another acid-throwing incident in Bombay. They are becoming fairly common nowadays- a guy usually gets his friend to throw acid on his (ex) girlfriend and disfigure her because she doesn't want to marry him. What a cowardly and sick act!

And they call themselves men? Maybe... but they are not Real Men.
Real Men do not resort to cowardly deeds. They take it bravely, get drunk for a day or more, and then get on with their lives. They do not resort to steps like these, or any of the other idiotic ones like threatening to commit suicide, poison themselves, and other such pathetic plans.

What do we, as women, want? We want Real Men. We want:

- Men who not cowards, but are not ashamed to admit that they're scared sometimes
- Men who are not afraid to cry
- Men who are not afraid to admit defeat
- Men who do not emotionally blackmail/abuse women they claim to 'love'
- Men who are not obsessive about the woman they are in love with
- Men who are not insecure and give a woman her space
- Men who do not behave like children
- Men with responsibility
- Men with manners
- Men who genuinely look after you when you're with them
- Men who do not call you a million times a day and want to know your every action
- Men who hold the door open for you
- Men who do not sulk
- Men who have got into at least one fight in their lifetime
- Men who stand up for you in public, even if you're wrong
- Men who do not try to change you into something you cannot be

Is that too much to ask for?
I know a few Real Men.
Where are all the others?

Deck the halls...

2004-12-01T10:08:00.000+05:30

The first of December is here. Finally!
Personally, this is my favorite month of the year. It gets you into that holiday mood and Christmassy feeling. Where everything is bright and warm and happy. And you are constantly in good spirits. At least I am...

I woke my building up today with Christmas carols. Well, I hope I did. Heaven knows the music was loud enough. And I am trying to spread Christmas cheer, so blaring carols was not a Bad Thing.
Have you heard Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is you? That's not exactly a carol, but it's one hell of a song. A Christmas song, if you will.
I suspect that the residents of my building will soon know the lyrics.
Or they might ask me to vacate. Nah, it's Christmas- they can't do that.
Or, they might try to find out who I want for Christmas and gift him to me ;)

In any case, I am in a very Good Mood. And expect to remain that way for most part of December. So make the best of it and ask for favors now :)

24 days to Christmas...

Da Vinci Code and others

2004-11-30T13:57:00.000+05:30

Just finished reading The Da Vinci Code. It was a reasonably good story, but not much more. I experienced a bit of deja vu while reading the part about the Temple Church off Fleet Street. I distinctly remember reading something exactly like that before. I can't seem to put my finger on it... was it Jack Higgins? Or Ludlum?
All in all, the book doesn't live up th the hype generated. I wouldn't want to read it again.

And as for John Grisham's Bleachers- extremely pathetic. Why didn't he stick to courtroom drama? His early books were really something...he's been on the downslide ever since.

Another overrated book is The Catcher in the Rye. I didn't even read the whole thing- it was that bad.

Give me Exodus to read again and I'd be happy.

(Sittin' on) the dock of the bay

2004-11-28T19:24:00.000+05:30

The three day weekend is almost over.
And it is extremely strange that I hardly slept. I usually make the best of holidays and sleep right through them. Not to say that I didn't try. I did. Very hard. But I just could not sleep. I tossed and turned most of Friday night- I've no idea what was on my mind, but whatever it was, it succeeded in keeping me awake.
What is even more frightening is that I woke up on Saturday morning earlier than I usually wake up on working days. Now that is scary.

Didn't know what to do with myself so hopped into a bus and enjoyed an hours drive to town. Wandered around a bit, went to check out the keyboards at Furtado's- found a decent Casio that I think I should gift myself this Christmas. Extravagant, but then unfortunately, thats my lifestyle and the reason I'm perpetually broke :)
Wandered around some more, noticed a replay of an Australia vs Sri Lanka match on the TV at Barista, so went in to watch Shane Warne and sip a coffee. Then went back home and had nothing to do. Read a bit more of The Da Vinci Code, which is great so far. And I didn't sleep that well again. Though it was far better than Friday night.

Was restless today as well. Went to Planet M to browse through music and basically kill time. Found that I have loads of albums I want to buy. One day.
I settled for The Best of the Doors, which I'd been looking for. Wanted to shop some more, but then I remembered that I'm saving for my Christmas gift.

Headed home, freshened up, and went for a long walk along the sea. Sat on the wall and watched the sunset. And contemplated my life.
And now I'm home again. And feeling horrible, in general. I miss my family most on the weekends. Will listen to Michael Bolton and feel even more sorry for myself.

But first, my new CD.

Show me the way
To the next whiskey bar
Oh, don’t ask why
Oh, don’t ask why

For if we don’t find
The next whiskey bar
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you I tell you we must die

Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)- The Doors

Rest in peace

2004-11-27T21:59:00.000+05:30

I've read all eleven of Arthur Hailey's books. In fact, Hotel was my first 'non-kid' book. Airport and Wheels followed quickly. I loved his writing and his seemingly ordinary topics.

There's no point in me praising is work...enough has been said...

Everybody wants to rule the world

2004-11-26T14:37:00.000+05:30

I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 recently. I know, I know- it's a bit late in life to be watching it, but the point is, I did watch it finally. And was appalled.
Not that I didn't know before watching it that Bush was brainless and a warmonger like his father.
Or that the invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq was totally wrong.
Or that the government was thriving on a nation of paranoid citizens and constantly fuelled that paranoia with propaganda.
I knew all this. But the movie revealed much more and was shocking, to say the least.
For the life of me, I simply cannot imagine how the people who inhabit the Land of the Free could take this lying down- the very same people who sue over the temperature of coffee in their takeaway cofee cup.
How the very same people who preach human rights could accept their nation invading another for absolutely no reason at all, except for the fact that the Bush family profited out of it.
How a great country that stood for freedom is reduced to nothing more than a bully.

The only question I had after watching the film was, how could America re-elect a complete idiot and war criminal? That is something I cannot answer...or even attempt to guess...

Of ships and shoes and sealing wax...

2004-11-23T10:19:00.000+05:30

I know this post sounds strange, but what the hell. I had a bad day yesterday so I am entitled to write about things which are not likely to interest you one bit.
I admit it- I detest a pair of unpolished leather shoes. I remember polishing my leather shoes every single morning before going to school. It was ritual. I picked up the fine art of shining shoes from my Dad who had this neat kit for shoe polish and brushes and flannel. I hope to inherit it :)
I'd like to think that I set a good example at home- but the sad truth is, none of my siblings had a fondness for polished leather shoes. They'd go to school every day with (gasp!) dull shoes. Or worse, dull shoes with smudges. I did take it upon me to instruct them and tutored them many a time, but to no avail.Before long, I noticed that before a wedding or party, seven (if you include mine, eight) pairs of shoes would be lined up in my room. And I'd shine them all- black, brown, neutral, till you could see your reflection in them.
I still love leather- leather shoes, leather bags...
If I lose my job, I'm not too worried. I know I'd make a decent living shining shoes at the railway station. And I'd be the first woman to do so :)

Thinking back to my school days, besides the fact that my shoes were always polished, I was Head Girl. One of my lesser known responsibilities was Stair Duty. I'd stand at the top of the staircase and watch students filing past after assembly. My job was to ensure that they kept to the right side of the stairs- which, in case you didn't know, is the left. Always the left. If all schools made it a point to check this, there'd be fewer people who insist on coming down the wrong side of the staircase and disrupting the orderly flow of people.

If only people would keep to the left and have shiny shoes, the world would be a much better place...

Whatever will be, will be (Que Sera Sera)

2004-11-22T22:26:00.000+05:30

Today had 'Bad Day' stamped all over it.
It started with me waking up late. Although my alarm went off at 6:30 am, I kept putting it on snooze till I finally forced myself to wake up at 8 AM. Then I had to miss my breakfast, which is nothing exceptional by the way, but still- it's so irritating to miss ones breakfast, don't you think?
I didn't read the newspaper. Rushed out of the house, reached the bus stop and then discovered that my mobile phone was left at home. I thought I'd go to work without it, but then you never know. An Interesting or Important Someone (hopefully with green eyes) might be trying to reach me today. Better not take that chance- so rushed back home, took five minutes to find my keys- which is a daily story with me- dumped my cellphone in my bag and rushed back out. Just managed to get a seat in the 8:57 local.

My day at work was unremarkable. The meetings were unremarkable. Have you ever dealt with that certain kind of humanity that think they can get their point across by being exceedingly overbearing? And if they think they're being ignored, they raise their voices till they're almost shouting at you. Then they wonder why people are put off by their very presence.

On the way home, got stuck in two traffic jams. Argued with the rickshaw driver because he thought I should have change and I thought he should have change. Actually, he is more likely to have change having picked up fares all through the day- how am I supposed to manage to have enough loose change for buses, rickshaws, the breadman, milkman, newpaper chap...

You know how people sometimes have Bad Hair Days? Well, I had a Bad Kitchen Day. Put a saucepan of milk to boil and settled down to read the newspaper. After a while, I thought 'hey, that smells like burning milk'. And then it struck me 'idiot...it is burning milk. And it's burning on your stove!'
I do not have to describe the mess.
Cleaned the stove and then put on some rice to cook. The damn thing stuck to the pot. Considering it's a non-stick pot, I should sue the company. Perhaps if I were in America, I would.
Not wanting to admit defeat, I bravely continued with my kitchen chores. I should have stopped while the going was good. I forgot about my water boiling on the stove- it was reduced to less then half when I found out. Forgot to check the level in my water filter and was puzzled when I saw water on the floor- realized that my filter was overflowing.
That did it. I decided to eat something out of a can. I'm not venturing near that kitchen again.
To top it all, one of the pipes in my bathroom appears clogged. I dare not mess with it or I might trigger a Bad Bathroom Day. Need to call the plumber tomorrow.

What else will go wrong tonight...will we see a Good Day emerging...or will the Bad Day continue to plague me...wait and watch...same place, same time...
Close to the tune of Batman (the Batman cartoon that is, the one with the entertaining blurbs)

Dream On

2004-11-21T03:02:00.000+05:30

Last night I dreamt I was a StringBuffer()...

This happens rather often with me. Having programmatic dreams I mean. Not being a StringBuffer, or I should be at the funny farm. I've got most of my brilliant solutions(or so I think) in my dreams.
I remember one of our computer science projects at school (in fact, I have a poem composed about my projects, but that is another story)- way back in '92. I was trying to program an animation of a volcano erupting- in GWBasic (how I loved that language). I don't remember the exact problem I had, but it was something to do with the lava pouring down the sides of the volcano. And I remember working on it all night and not getting anywhere. While I slept, the solution struck me- I woke up, noted it down and went back to sleep. Next morning, I found a couple of lines of code written on a scrap of paper on my desk- I tried it out, and it was the most beautiful volcanic eruption I'd ever witnessed!

If it's not a solution, I end up with nightmares of the problem. Yesterday, we were confronted with the problem of optimizing a program that dealt mainly with strings. Basically, it reads XML-like text from an input file, discards about 70% of the file which we are not interested in, and saves the interesting stuff to another file as a well formed XML document. Well, as usual, it worked fine on our test files of about 50MB. Then, we heard that it was taking 3 hours plus with input files from the production server- and that input file was only 30MB. Needless to say, we were worried. Very worried.
Apparently, each line in this file was 120KB or more. And that's where the problem lay.Took a look at the file, had countless discussions which were spent more on abusing the file itself, and then saw that we were reading character by character, building a substring which contained the full XML tag, and then discarding it if we didn't need it. What I realized is that the damage was done by reading the junk- 70% of the file. So why were we even reading the junk? I re-worked the logic to jump into the file, and pick out the first occurence of non-junk. And then throw out everything above it. So automatically, the string we have to handle is smaller. And then find the end of the tag that interests us, and cut that out and work with it. Repeat the process. So we get successively smaller and smaller strings to work with. Considering the junk tags were very large, it worked.

But I distinctly remember dreaming only of strings last night. Replacing strings, deleting strings, indexOf(), substring(). And that's bad. Considering I slept right till noon. Woke up and had my breakfast. Went back to sleep at 1pm and only awoke at 5pm. That's a long time to dream about Strings. Oh well, better strings than pointers :)

I wish I could program my computer to play this song everytime the doorbell rings on a Saturday or Sunday morning:
Who can it be knocking at my door?
Go 'way, don't come 'round here no more.
Can't you see that it's late at night?
I'm very tired, and I'm not feeling right.
All I wish is to be alone
Stay away, don't you invade my home...

Who can it be now? -Men At Work

We don't need no education

2004-11-20T01:00:00.000+05:30

What exactly is the logic behind pre-school admission interviews? To assess whether the child is worthy of being educated or not? To assess whether he will do well enough in the next ten years to get his school in the newspapers? To assess whether his parents are rich/socially connected enough to ensure a steady stream of funds?

How can we even think of interviewing a child? Think of all the unnecessary stress the kid goes through while ambitious/helpless/frantic parents try to drum some knowledge into his head. And the stress of the interview itself. Heaven knows that the child has ample opportunities later in life to get stressed out. Why must it start at such a young age? Is there any simplicity in childhood anymore? Or are children weighed down by the expectations of parents and society?
The moment the child can gurgle a few words, his life is planned out for him. School, college, career, extra-curricular activies...and now preparation for a pre-school admission interview of all things.
Isn't pre-school supposed to teach the child exactly what he's being interviewed about?
We're killing the very essence of childhood...

I've finished reading The Fountainhead...a truly excellent book. Why didn't I read it earlier? I'll tell you why.
I attempted to read Atlas Shrugged when I was 14. And didn't get past the first chapter. So I avoided Ayn Rand for a while. A very long while I should say. I have still not attempted to read Atlas Shrugged and probably won't.
But The Fountainhead was brilliant.

Tomorrow is an off...I shall sleep all day...

When the music's over

2004-11-16T16:02:00.000+05:30

Music is your only friend
-The Doors

What would I do without my music? I wonder!

I started off with a Sanyo cassette player. Big, bulky, heavy thing...I still have it though I haven't used it in ages. My mom had a very large collection of music- cassettes in those times. I remember recording many of them and listening to the recorded ones over and over again so that the originals wouldn't get ruined. I remember making about three copies of the Beatles Greatest Hits- the last copy is now with my best friend. I finally managed to get those songs transferred out to a CD- the quality isn't that great because the cassette itself was so worn. But there are songs there that I haven't managed to find anywhere- Bells on the Hill, I'll follow the sun, Misery, Mr. Moonlight...
From the cassette player, I graduated to a Sony DiscMan. A hand-me-down from my brother. Used it for years- couldn't play it in the bus or train because it wasn't one of those nifty anti-shock models. Have now handed it down to my sister and I hear it's almost junk now.
I now have a Rio MP3 player- a very nice sports model, with a built in FM tuner.
256 MB expandable to 1 GB, and a battery life of 18 hours. Very neat. I carry it all over the place and it rescues me from many hours of boredom.
Of late I've been receiving many of those Free iPod e-mails...and I am ashamed to admit that I actually tried a couple of them...but you never really reach the point where you win the 'free' iPod :)
But for now, my mp3 player works just fine... wonder what'll come up next?

Still got the blues

2004-11-16T13:37:00.000+05:30

I'm back in depressed mode. My mom left for Goa last night after staying for just four days with me. Dropped her off to the station and then went home and had a good cry. And I've found someone other than Michael Bolton who can give you good company in times like this- Sade. She can be so depressing...

On the up side, bought four CD's at Planet M. My Private Nation, Train is good, Creed's Weathered isn't too bad either, Sade's Lovers Rock kept me company through my misery so it was a good buy. Also Still Loving You, which has a rather deceptive title- it's not a Scorpions album, though the first song is Still Loving You. It's a decent collection of rock ballads by various artists including Billy Idol, Deep Purple, Santana, Poison and the great song Carrie by Europe.

Too depressed to blog right now...maybe later...

Behavioural Patterns

2004-11-11T13:48:00.000+05:30

Isn't it strange how a persons behavior/habits change depending on their environment?
I mean, back home, my room was rather untidy... or so my parents thought. They were always pointing out things like clothes strewn over chairs, shoes lying around wherever I'd kicked them off, dressing table was a mess...
And like all good parents, whenever it was time for a lecture on some totally different topic, somehow, my room would be brought into the picture. No matter what the topic, my room would feature at the end. And no matter how much I tried...okay, I didn't try much... it still remained a mess.
Now that I stay alone, I have suddenly turned into a neatness freak. My shoes are perfectly lined up, according to color and frequency of wear, my clothes are perfectly folded and arranged according to a wearability criteria, my kitchen is in order...
I cannot bear to walk into my apartment and see things in a mess. When my brothers come to stay, I turn extra freaky. Telling them to keep their things in order, wash up what's in the sink... Gosh, I sound like my parents!
And what is the reason for this dramatic change in behavior? I don't know... a shrink would probably tell me that I am subconsciously trying to live up to my parents expectations. Not that it applies to everyone. My brother actually got worse when he was staying alone :)

Still, parents are parents and they have that effect on you. I must have cleaned my place thrice the night before my mom came to stay. And I actually cleaned it about seven times before my Dad came- he is more likely to spot irregularities. Oh well, at least it gets thoroughly spring cleaned about once in two months :)

Why does Yahoo LaunchCast have this station called Adult Alternative? Do you get Childrens Alternative? And isn't it incentive for non-adults to listen to it precisely because it is 'adult' alternative? But any way you look at it, it's a great station. I recommend it.

I just finished reading Four Blind Mice by James Patterson. I do NOT recommend it.

Four glorious days ahead...Diwali vacation. And I'm not alone...my mom is here... so I won't be getting depressed and then listening to Michael Bolton. The logic behind that, is the saying "Misery loves company"... you should try it when you're depressed. And while you listen to him, contemplate your sorry life... a glass of wine or something stronger also helps :)

How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways...

2004-11-10T15:43:00.000+05:30

It's 3:45 pm...if I were back home, I would've been in dreamland. But I'm not. And I can't afford to be in dreamland or I'd lose my job. So I'm feeling rather grumpy because I am of no real use at the moment... whether I am of use at other moments is something I don't know and am not particularly anxious to find out either.

I shall blog away my time and tell you a couple of things I hate. I hate many things, but these will do for now.

1. People spitting in public.
How gross can you get? Half the population here spits with gay abandon wherever they are. With absolutely no concern for the rest of the people sharing the road with them. I mean, do they just walk on and think that nobody could possibly be walking behind them? Or when they're in rickshaws/cars, do they think that at the time they decide to spit nobody could be possibly passing by? Or is it that they just don't care?
What about those who spit out the window when they're in a bus?
And I noticed a new phenomenon today. Basically, what you've got to do is walk along and then spit in front of you. You're not supposed to notice that there's someone actually walking towards you and that your paths will cross very soon. It's the case of always being one step ahead...the spit, that is. If there's someone walking ahead of you, you've got to make sure that you spit so that you're nearly there...near enough for the person to notice than someone is spitting behind him/her, but not exactly on target, just in case you end up in trouble.
As a pedestrian, you need to constantly look at the guy in front of you, the guy approaching you, the guy walking behind you, the guy in a car besides you, the guy looking out the window in a bus passing by...

How do we put an end to this behavior? Fining people? It would definitely help, but that doesn't address the root problem. Education will. Right from schools. No, right from homes. What good is it if you teach a child about spitting in public when he goes home and finds his family doing just that?

2. Girls using foul language
Call me old fashioned, but I really think that girls sound awful when they abuse and use foul language. Especially the kind that have every sentence peppered with four letter words. I mean, it's okay for a guy to do that...though there are many circumstances where it's NOT appropriate and it's a pity that most don't know the difference.

3. Norah Jones
Do I hate Norah Jones or do I hate Norah Jones?

Money, Money, Money

2004-11-10T10:25:00.000+05:30

Sigh! It's that horrible time of the month when bills start pouring in...and all you do is write cheques, make multiple trips to the ATM and watch your hard(?) earned money slip away.

Considering that I am usually broke by the 22'nd or 23'rd of each month, I just have a few days of happiness. The 1st to the 5th, when my salary is credited to my empty account. Then, I get progressively more and more depressed as I approach the 10th. All bills are usually in and paid off by the 15th...by the time I recover from that ordeal, it leaves me with about 3 more days of bliss till I realize that I am broke.

It is therefore appropriate that my theme song for the day be Abba's Money Money Money...

I work all night, I work all day
To pay the bills I have to pay
Ain’t it sad
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me
That’s too bad
In my dreams I have a plan, If I got me a wealthy man
I wouldn’t have to work at all, I’d fool around and have a ball...

Note the line of utmost importance: Line 6. And the words of importance: dreams and If

What a life!

Namespaces

2004-11-09T09:30:00.000+05:30

Hello hello hello,
Is there anybody out there?
Just post if you can read me
Is there any one at all?

Come on, now
I hear you're feeling down
Well I can ease your pain
Get you on your feet again

-Due apologies to Floyd

What's the point in blogging if there's nobody to read your posts? Please do leave some indicator that you exist and that I have an audience..albeit a very small one.

Now, to answer questions about the Lady. This title was bestowed upon me by my friends at Pigtail Pundits
Pigtail Pundits has this loft/attic which serves as a storehouse for old tables/chairs/anything else that doesn't fit in the main work area.
Once upon a time, one of my ex-colleagues was struggling to get a table out from the attic. And being the shortest in the company, he couldn't reach half way. So he turns to me and says "Can you help? You are heighted". Which does not mean I'm tall by any standards, but it's all relative.
Hearing the "heighted", there were snickers all round, and the word evolved to "knighted". And since I very well cannot be Sir Luanne, I was christened Lady Luanne. Hence the Lady. And as for the title, it has Lady in it, and Lady Writer is a very cool Dire Straits song. Duh.

And talking about names, I have just opened my Inbox here at work. My e-mail signature these days is,

Luanne Coutinho
Rave Technologies
When I was about twelve, I used to think I must be a genius, but nobody's noticed. If there is such a thing as a genius...I am one, and if there isn't, I don't care.
-John Lennon

I e-mailed the author of some Struts article yesterday as I wanted more info. So he replies today saying "Dear John,"

What more can I say? :)

System.out.println("Hello World");

2004-11-08T21:05:00.000+05:30

Well...here I am! Having resisted blogging for more than a year citing various reasons like "who'd want to blog anyway?" (ok...not a particularly good reason, I admit)- I am finally here.

I actually drew inspiration from a friend of my best friend who blogs here. And I said "Hey, I can do that too!"

As I type, I realize that it is a way to have my say, without my friends asking me to shut up.

I do have a premonition that in all probability, it is going to end up as a place where I can vent my wrath on unsuspecting people... just joking... though if you think you're deserving of all my wrath... do check here regularly and see if you're featured :)

Explanations on the Lady Writer later... still have to describe myself... still have to config this account.
But for now, the title of this entry should enlighten you as to what I do for a living.

Here's to blogging!
Cheers! (hic)