Blog time :)

Addiction

2011-09-12T03:03:00.000-07:00

There are many times in life we make a mistake knowing all its consequences and choose to regret it in leisure. It shows how weak a human we are. We kill our own conscious to give-in to a temptation. Can addiction fall into the same category?
Every man is born with a great amount of will power. But we choose to believe that we are slave to our habits. Human mind is far more powerful than we know. It is not that we cannot get over an addiction, we don't realise that we do not want to get out of it.
Some like the attitude of being a rebel. Some like to be identified by their addictions. Some just want to fit into a group. Deep inside is a reason why you want to be addicted. Search your soul for answers and then choose to give-up or continue whatever you are doing, without blaming nicotine, alcohol, weed, caffeine or sex as addictive.
Cheers!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T02:34:00.000-08:00

Today is the first working day of this new year!
I had stayed back at my uncle's place last night. Got up quite early. Thought I shall go back to my place, freshen up and start this new year with a fresh note.
I left his home as soon as possible, so that i do not disturb the others still sleeping.
I had no money in hand. There was a Canara Bank ATM nearby. Tried to withdraw from it. Got a slip "transaction denied". So I thought of trying my luck with the HDFC ATM a few steps away.
After I entered this ATM i realised that I had left my card back in the earlier ATM!!
Now I had no cash and no card!
I walked from 4bunglows to Andheri station.. Thankfully I had train coupons. Used it to travel till Borivali. Then walked from Borivali station to SFIT!!!
Whatta morning walk! And the best way to begin this year!!
I just hope my year is not filled with any more such goof ups!!
Wish you a goof-up free new year!
Regards,
Goofie.

Another reason to love this city

2010-10-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

Just another day! I m travelling from home to college by bus. There is a huge traffic jam at a 4-road crossing, with no traffic signals or police.
The bus is stagnant for almost 10 minutes. I tried to look out through the window. Could see nothing more than a sea of vehicles meeting each other in all directions. I thought we were going to be stuck there for the next one hour.
Then suddenly there is movement. I wondered how it could be resolved so quickly.
As the bus moved closer to the junction, I see 4-5 shopkeepers helping the traffic to dissolve!!
I could not imagine another city with such a spirit of unity!
I have fallen in love with this city once again!

Art Of Learning!

2010-09-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

Have u ever wondered how do u learn new skills?
I had never given much thought to it until the day I could not learn something new!
I had always been a fast learner.. be it riding a bicycle, or a motor bike or writing a program.. I always somehow knew it beforehand, or that is what I used to feel whenever I got to do something new and I could learn it real quick. So I never really paid attention to the art of learning.. I just assumed it as a way of life, until came Friday!
I had been to Essel World on Friday. It has a ice skating rink.. I had never tried ice-skating.. Infact I had never even tried skating on wheels.. I thought why not give it a try.. It shouldnt be difficult.
Confidently wore the shoes, and walked into the ice rink, just to meet my biggest fall! To get back on my feet was a challenge. The instructors in there gave me a hand, and some tips on how to move around without loosing my balance. I tried for more than an hour. I was cold and badly bruised by then. I decided to GIVE UP! I could not understand how I could not learn something which others could do!
Then I realised that I have grown old. The first fall had created a kind of fear within me, the fear of falling, the fear of getting hurt. This held me back from trying. To learn a new skill, you must try until you succeed.
While I was younger, I did not care for the wounds or the pain followed. I did not care for the scars it could leave. All that mattered was to do it. But now... Do I sound like I m 80 already!! @#$^&*@#$

Goof up #n

2010-09-03T03:38:00.000-07:00

I bought a bed yesterday, that wont fit into my room :(

Lady on my bed.

2010-03-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

It was 4 in the morning. Nature's call forced me to wake up from my slumber. My eye lids were heavy and sleep forced me to keep them closed. Yet the call was urgent and had to get up.

Slowly I opened my eyes and in the dark, I could see an image of an elderly woman seated at the end of my bed. She looked worn out and did not move. I thought it was the kind of images darkness forces you to see as you open your eyes. So I closed my eyes again, waited for a few seconds and then tried to look again. She seemed to be there just the way she had been. She hadn't moved by an inch!

The usual fear created by the power of my imagination creeped in. I closed my eyes again wondering how powerful my hallucinations have become. They had now started to take definite shapes and linger for much longer than just glimpses!

I lay with my eyes closed. Some thoughts were trying to analyse the image, while some trying to shoo the image away. Who could it be? Or is it just the way curtain falls in the darkness? Or do ghosts really exist? But the nature's call interrupted me reminding of my presence and my need to take a visit to you know where. So I looked again, and she was right there!

I got freaked and screamed out my room-mate's name. She turned the lights on, only to find NO ONE at the end of my bed!

Guess I scared the poor lady away ;)

Come home for DOSA!

2010-02-20T00:38:00.001-08:00

Goofing up has become a part of being me. Today’s story is just another one of my deeds, in fact I would call it 'being myself'.

Being a south-Indian I am expected to be good at making dosas. Once in a while they do turn out perfectly circular, crisp and in one piece! Last evening was one such times where everything seemed right. I assumed to have perfected the art. I had enough batter left and chutney to go with it.

So I decided to make dosas for all my friends and flaunt my skills. I invited everyone who was in the staffroom home for dosa and tea. Six of my friends trusted me and came home as well! My room mate and her boyfriend were also at home. This means I had to serve for nine plates.

I confidently took the batter and added some water. When the tava was hot I tried to spread the batter with the spoon, just like a professional. Unfortunately it did not need any 'spreading'. It was already 'flowing'. The “some” water that I had mixed was actually a LOT of water. So, you can now imagine the state of my dosas!

Everyone got to try their expertise with the art, but the batter did not seem to give in. We threw some of the dosas, while we landed up eating some sticky ones. Everyone complimented the chutney, that I had bought from a near by shop, instead of commenting on the dosas. Wasn't that really sweet of them!

Whether we had good butter dosas as planned or not, we sure had a good tea and a good time together.

Being a teacher!

2010-01-12T01:57:00.000-08:00

Doesn’t that sound fun! We get more holidays than the days we work. Work for 3 months and rest for 3 months. No tough interviews or competitive exams to be cleared to get the job. No deadlines to meet. No manager’s ass to be licked. No tensions of the recessions. Your job as secured as Fevicol. And tell in public that you are a teacher; respect clouds you from all angles! It’s like a girl getting married to man and doesn’t have any in-laws! You get the money, the respect, work-experience certificate without doing any work! Please don’t tell me we teach. Every student knows he has to join classes if he/she has to score.

So why is it so tough to be a teacher? Why doesn’t everyone what to be one? I never dreamt of being a teacher after primary school. I never knew the efforts my teachers put in. I never gave a thought to the lifestyle he/she is leading. All I knew was, along with the walls and boards of my school, my teachers also stayed there forever. I could go up to them whenever I want in my life and for sure know where to find them, right in my school and in the same staff room. I have never gone looking for any of them though.

While I studied, if I were to find my teacher out on a date, I would have told the whole school/ college the very next day, be it with her husband! Imagine if she just wore a tees and jeans! Imagine her husband had a tattoo by his arm or a ring in his ear! Imagine she fed him with her spoon! Oh! My God! I don’t believe this! Is she really this fun outside college? Or does she order him to do his homework on time and these were the marks she gave him? I thought of her as a Goddess who only comes to college and teaches me! Doesn’t she know her students may also come to the same restaurant? Didn’t these teachers live in a different planet? Would she see movies? Would she go dancing as well? Do you think she drinks? Do you think she could be like one of us? No way! If she could be like one of us, then by now she would have been Kiran Mazumder and not my teacher! Thoughts used to race my mind while I was a student.

Today, I sit on the other side of the table. Yes, I am a teacher in an engineering college. I doubt how long I am going to stay in this job. Why is this being so hard on me? Life is sure less strenuous than being in a company, I have been there as well. I have a permanent shift here 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. I have a fixed job description. I know my holidays well in advance. I can surely plan my life ahead for the next 30years! Life has no surprises in store for me. For me, being a girl, this is the best career option. You have a lot of free time for your family. Incase your husband gets a transfer, finding a similar job in the new city will be as easy as peeling a banana. But I feel do we really need that much free time? I feel I am growing lazy by the day and my brains seems to be collecting rust. Something keeps telling me that this job is not for me! Why?

Every year students pass out with the same degree as mine. They get placed in the MNCs and start with a package that is twice as mine! Each time a company comes for campus recruitment my stomach churns. I should be recruited before any of my students. I have an edge over them, I taught them! But NO. You should be happy with the number of students who get placed. And that is my success! How could I be happy stuck to such a boring job? My students know the world outside, but I don’t! Now you will ask me to keep myself updated with the world outside. I don’t feel the need for that to teach a subject that no one wants to know. I have never worked more than my JD (job description).

OK. Teachers also get promotions and hikes. So even we move up the ladder! A Lecturer can become Senior Lecturer, a Professor, Head of the Department or even the Principal. But what is the primary job description? Conduct lectures. Prepare question papers. Correct answer sheets. Arrange for campus interviews. What else? About the hikes, it is Rs.275/- annually. In industry standards this will be called depreciation!

Moreover, you have to maintain an ideal lifestyle. You have to be worried about everything you wear from your clothes, sandals, bangles to even the hair bands. In a company apart from your team members your manager may know you. If you are exceptionally good or bad at your work, some more of your higher ups will know you. Here there are about 70-75 people, not to forget their age group, stare at you all through your one hour in class. They do not learn by what they hear. They learn by what they see. You might wonder at times, am I a teacher or a receptionist who has to be so worried about her looks. In a company, as long as you can meet the deadlines no one cares whether you wore Rs.1200 sandals or just the bathroom rubbers.

At times you feel you are working with an NGO, comparatively the pay is a little higher here. We have to work for a noble cause like imparting knowledge, or touching someone’s life. We have to set an example in both character and lifestyle. How can one be ideal all the time? Can’t we be ourselves in the place we spend half our life at?

This lifestyle can be best suited for those who like to be noticed and take pride when others imitate them. For those who wish to work in an NGO but also wish to be paid a bit higher. For those who are planned and don’t like surprises. It’s not for people who want growth or simply for those who like ‘change’. I would equate predictable to boring. Now don’t ask me what I am doing in a job that I hate so much!

As Munna Bhai says, everything in life happens once for the first time. Some welcome the change, while others don’t. And as we can all see, I haven’t seem to have liked this change of lifestyle. Still trying to adapt to it. I want to do justice to this job before I completely give up on it. Wish me luck :)

My First Omelette!!!

2009-08-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well let me start with a bit of background as to why create a post for something as small as making an omelette.

I come from a vegetarian family, which instilled ‘non-violence to animals’ from a very young age, deep within me. Moreover, as a kid, I was too weak. Doctors had advised my mother to give me at least an egg every day. My mother had forced me to do so for more than two years! She used to make me eat a whole egg raw, half boiled, boiled, omelette or any way, but made sure I ate an egg every single day! This kind of made me avert eggs totally. My father and sister have eggs occasionally, but I could never even think of it.

I have been having mouth ulcers for the past 20 days. I went to the doctor as I seemed to be getting a new ulcer everyday! The moment my Doc heard me out, he asked me if I was going through some sudden mental stress. I was not sure of it. Then he asked me if I was a vegetarian, obviously yes. Then he asked my milk consumption. It is negligible (I don’t like milk). He said I was deficient of Vitamin B12 and that was the cause of my misery. The only sources of Vitamin B12 was meat, eggs and milk, none of which I have. But that still dint give me a reason to start having non-veg.

Saturday evening, I was all alone in my flat. I was hungry. I went looking for noodles to realize it was over. Then digged my fridge for bread, only to see it fungi filled. Disappointed and hungry, I went back to reading my novel (“Irresistible Forces” by Danielle Steel). After some time I realised that I found eggs in the fridge. Then I thought why not give it a try.

I cut a whole onion and a tomato for one omelette. I chopped a chilly into it and added lots of salt as well. I dint want to know the taste of egg. Broke an egg and added it into it. Breaking eggs is not new to me. I use it to wash my hair with it. Dashed the mix for a while. I have seen my boyfriend making omelettes, so I knew I was going the right way. Then poured a lot of oil on the tava and heated it. Poured the mix into the tava, it spread by itself into a perfect circle! That was easy. I don’t know whether an omelette is cooked both sides. But I did :-)

Now it was eating time. The first bite took me a lot of courage and self pushing. It dint taste all that bad. I could feel more of onion and tomato than the egg. Then, when I took the second bite, I puked! My boyfriend always asked me to start eating eggs. He says that is the fastest and tastiest food we can have when we live alone. So I decided to give it a another try. Drank a lot of water. This time I tried it with some pickle. It was OK. Still not something that I could relish. I decided not to give up and continued eating till it was over. Much to my surprise, I finished it, and I dint puke!!

I have eaten a whole omelette now! I plan to try another one sometime soon. Hope I succeed :-)

Kristal Ka Side Effects

2008-08-01T01:35:00.000-07:00

I bought a Bajaj Kristal recently (June 20, 2008). I m a bit short.. so decided to settle down with a Kristal or Scooty. I am not able to reach down when i use Activa.I have been riding for the past 12 years.. My first vehicle was TVS champ (in 1996).. then had a Kinetic Honda DX(in 1999).. then an Activa (in 2005). Now Kristal. Yes, this one gives me a very good mileage.. almost 55-60Kms/Ltr.. But I not happy with the vehicle. There are a lot of discomforts, not one.

Let me start with the performance of this vehicle. It has the worst pick up I can say. For a 95cc vehicle, it does not give enough. It takes almost 12-15 seconds to accelerate from 0-40Kms/hr. This is really worse than our good old Scooty (70cc). I remember my DX zooming to 50Kms/hr in a fraction of a second, yes ofcourse it is a 2-stroke engine.

Second best thing is that after riding for sometime, say 20 minutes, the vehicle starts pulling. When I release the throttle the engines switches off. I have to wait for minimum 2-3 minutes before I can restart the vehicle and continue my journey. It is very difficult to do this when we are amidst traffic. Not to comment on Bangalore traffic. The cars just wait for a chance to honk away.

Next is the design or the make. It does not give a good sitting posture. I suffer from pains on my shoulder and upper back on riding it for half an hour or so. This is because of the poor design the vehicle has. I used to not face this with Activa or my DX.

To top this all is the service station. This is the most pathetic service I have ever received. I had filled my tank for almost Rs.100/- (approx 1.85 Ltr, I can cover more than 110Kms with this). I had rode for just 8-10 Kms. This means I can ride for another 100Kms atleast. Let us assume they had used around 250ml of petrol for cleaning the engine (which I am sure they have not done), I should still be able to ride another 70-75Kms. I get the vehicle back from service, and hardly 15-20Kms later, I am standing in the road without petrol!!!!! Should I call this pilferege or day-light robbery?? Well, you can ask me why I gave my vehicle with petrol. I used my Activa for almost 3 years before this. This has never happened there. Even if I were to have Rs.50/- of petrol in the tank, I would get it back the very same way. That is the kind of reputation Honda service centers have built.

Now to talk about the serving part, I was not there standing next to them when they did it. But out of my 12 years of riding experience, I can surely say if my vehicle has been serviced or not. I am very dissapointed to say that there is nothing done to the vehicle during the 1st service!!! I have got the vehicle back with nothing more than a water wash. There was a call from Bajaj for feedback. I told them clearly what has happened. Its been almost a month since i heard from them. So they dont mind having a unhappy customer.

About the engine oil, my engine has been ceasing very often. I doubt if they have changed the engine oil during the service (though I was charged Rs.200/-, yes Two Hundred Rupees for the oil)

Overall.. I regret for not buying a Scooty or Pleausure. Now I realize why I find so few of the Kristals while there are sooooooo many Scootys all around Bangalore. So anybody in the look out for a new vehicle..... please strike Kristal out of your list. Thanks for your time.