Tag Archive for 'friends'

Among other things

Published on July 7, 2010 in Good things, Lee and Life as it happens. 19 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Another July, another humid summer. A new baby and an almost forgotten dog. 2010 has been a hectic year. And as a friend on Facebook reminded us, half the year is already over (insert as many exclamation marks as applicable here). I have been home since February and finally joined work this monday. The transition was painful . It still is since this is only my second day back to a dusty desk and a rickety chair, which was okay when I left, I know for sure.

It is so humid. It is so hot. On a plus side, I liked being back in the classroom after one whole semester. I even started teaching the very first day of college (roll eyes as applicable here again). As we all know the rules of teaching, no one takes the first class after a long vacation. At least thats how they did it back in my alma mater, Calicut. I thought it was AICTE approved a general rule or something.

The baby is now 5 months old today. She smiles and laughs and coos and aahs and cries at will and makes me want to quit my job and be a stay at home mom. Little Lee’s started to roll over these days although she lacks the necessary hand to leg coordination for crawling… so she just sprawls on her tummy and goes *waahh* for help. Once I even caught her dozing off to sleep on her own. Such independent streak already! The mommy in me, suddenly finding herself being redundant, couldnt help but wake her up and put her to sleep myself again.

Sigh. I could have gotten used to being on maternity leave for life.

Continue reading ‘Among other things’

My life in numbers

Published on September 11, 2009 in I me & myself. 15 Comments Tags: , , , .

Okay, lets start with a tag from Indian Pundit which I have procrastinated long enough. Numbers that reveal secrets about me. Hmmm… difficult, very difficult. I have re-written this time and time again because I’m not so, erm, good at revealing secrets and that too, about myself.

ONE: I am a one-handbag woman. Unlike other fashionable ladies, I will carry my purse with me to the grave, if it hasnt been torn, mutilated or made fun of by certain people around me.

TWO: I would like to have two children.

THREE: Or make that three.

FOUR: I can speak four languages; I’m a bit rusty at the fourth one but still, I cant help but show off. Its always been that way.

FIVE: I have five really good friends. I get along with these girls like a house on fire.

I owe my college degree to one, share memorable school experiences with the second (reunited by Orkut, thank you so much), can almost out-drink the third (though she also beats me in scrabble and crossword), am younger by a year to the fourth so there’s always someone older than me whose birthday sort-of eases me in to the next higher digit; and finally the fifth with whom I share my lunch these days and we have the most marvellous time talking about each and everything under the sun. And also, its never gossip when we ‘talk’, btw.

SIX: Its been six years that I’ve been working in the same place. I cant imagine doing anything else. Not counting winning that lottery and then anyone can shove this job up anywhere, frankly speaking.

SEVEN: Its my lucky number. No, its not, you just want to get this number over with because you cant think of anything else to write. Oh, shut up! *You* shut up! No, you! No, you! Oh, real mature! Oh, what’s the point?

EIGHT: Eight of my finger nails are nice and long. One of my old friend once remarked that if there was a title she could invent, she would call me “Miss Hand” (imagine!). But my thumb nails are short and flat and not at all nice to look at. There, I said it. One of my deepest secrets, finally revealed.

NINE: 09 has been a good year. I’d hate to see it pass. Or maybe not. Lets wait and see, shall we?

Okay, I now tag everyone who thinks this tag was easy enough to do. And that, my friend – is you.

It aint no picnic

Published on February 7, 2009 in In the drink and memoirs. 19 Comments Tags: , , .

I’ve lost all enthusiasm about going for picnics. Today was the annual office picnic and although I have been attending these since I’ve joined, I gave this year a miss. Many people asked me why. I just didnt feel like going this year.

The funny thing is I always give this theory when people act pricey about attending social events especially when they’re expected to be present. The theory goes something like this:

There are some people (in this world) who will always say that they wont be going and the rest have to beg, plead, cajole and whine for them to finally consent. That is only if the following sentences are uttered – Come on, it will be no fun without you. Please come, it wont be the same. And so on and so forth.

Theory not applicable here, of course.

The definition of a picnic isnt a fun event for me anymore. I dont know what kind of picnics you guys go to but the ones I end up in usually involve a group of people playing cards from 10am till 5pm. Last year, the winner made about 4000 rupees by the end of the day. A worthy task indeed and much boasted about till this date. Another group of people will be dancing for approximately the same period of time, watched by The Audience who probably dont know how to play cards and dont know how to dance either, in my opinion.

And before anyone asks, I belong to the dancing category.

And there is one teetotaller who will be given the most important job of being the bartender. He will be immensely popular that day and will be everybody’s friend as long as the drinks keep coming. The moment the bar closes, he runs for his life and a commotion is guaranteed at the empty bar.

Happens every year.

Continue reading ‘It aint no picnic’

The lunch that wasnt

Published on November 20, 2008 in Life as it happens. 19 Comments Tags: , , , .

A friend called me for lunch yesterday. It was some holiday so it was also a wednesday off from work. I had no plans and was looking forward to a day of pleasant nothingness. Lunching at her place meant a two hour travel but I thought, what the heck – she’s called me early in the morning (at 7:30 am to be precise) and kept asking me to get there as early as possible AND that she’d make lunch.

I’m game for free lunches as much as the next person so sure, I was in. Reached her place by 12 noon and started chatting. Drank two cups of tea (in huge mugs) and was thinking – its nice to catch up after ages. Thats when two of her cousins arrived and she walked off to talk with them. Leaving me alone, sitting and waiting for a long time AND feeling slightly neglected. Also start feeing hungry around the same time.

“What do you want to have for lunch? Noodles or roti?” asks my friend emerging from nowhere.

I am hoping either of them are already cooked since the last time I looked at the clock, it was already 1 pm.

“Noodles will be fine.” said I.

 ”Its meat noodles, isnt it?”

“Oh you wanted meat, huh? Okay, I’ll tell the cook to chop up some”.

Again, the last time I checked, I was and still am a pure non vegetarian.

Continue reading ‘The lunch that wasnt’

Dear Karuna

Published on November 2, 2008 in Musings. 14 Comments Tags: , , .

You were my favourite senior in college. I thought you were the coolest girl ever who was so nice to everyone around you. I admired everything about you, be it your linguist skills or your absolutely gorgeous smile.

You know, I discovered the game of Word Challenge in Facebook couple of weeks back. When my friend, Priya had a high score of 9153, I personally thought she was a being of much higher dimension with equivalent intergalactic word powers. The reason being – the first time I played the game, I scored a measly 2000 something which left my ego hurting for days. I felt like a Word Retard; someone who couldnt even unscramble six alphabets to make as many words as humanly possible.

I played the game for days, weeks even – I dont remember. I neglected everything around me and concentrated on getting a better score even if that meant the dog sometimes having to eat her dinner at 12:00 midnight. Yes, I didnt give up at all.

Slowly, my scores improved. I started averaging around four to five thousand and once even made it all the way to eight thousand; a day that my spirits soared and I felt vindicated for all the countless wasted hours, not to mention eyeballs about to pop out of their sockets.

And then it finally happened! The day I had been waiting for a long time. Out of the blue, I managed to score 10112! Oh, you cannot imagine the over extended fist pumps that repeated itself long into the night. Little joys of my life.

That is when I made the mistake of inviting you to the game.

I thought we were friends but then you went and scored 28000. Yes, I did get the zeros right and incredibly so did you. A feat that I thought was Unbelievable.

And as if that wasnt enough, you went on to score 38105. You know something else? The little girl host of the game occasionally pops in to give me this message – Do you know your friend Karuna has scored 38105? I didnt know she had the vocabulary of an Amazing Cyborg!!!

Well, neither did I. I accept defeat. If you’re thinking of scoring even higher than this, oh great Cyborg – our friendship is highly in danger please consider teaching me how you manage to score this high.

With love,

Your envious enemy junior

Rinchen :|

We were on a break

Published on October 9, 2008 in Sikkim and Wanderlust. 16 Comments Tags: , , .

I had eleven days off from work, thanks to puja vacations. I decided not to grow roots at home and travel with friends instead. And that is how we headed off into the sunrise, since we started early morning at 7 am.

The exit road from my house till the main road is a steep uphill. Now many may wonder how it is that we actually navigate the vehicles out without getting killed everyday. Those who live here, like me, do the same – but only once a week if you must know.

As my friend sped the vehicle uphill, I yelled BODY WEIGHT agay (front) and not surprisingly, no one understood what to do. Well, you see a few years back, we were on an adventurous horse back riding trip up the steep, slush-filled hill slopes of Kufri, which was some kilometres after Shimla.

The horse guide walking in front screamed: body weight agay – after which we had to lean ahead. The call downhill was – body weight peechay! (back) and we had to lean backwards accordingly.

It was either lean or die laughing at that point of time. I leaned all right. Then felt sorry for the poor horse afterwards.

The day turned out to be quite pleasant. I like this pic here cause the sun had just risen and the whole image has different shades of blue for all contemplation. The bridge leads all the way to The Avenue. This is my favourite spot throughout the journey. 

The moment we reached there, I turned and before I could speak, my fellow passenger says - I know, The Avenue – a road which is lined with trees. I thought the I know part was stressed a bit sarcastically but I was too caught up to respond.

I think I forgot to add the Feel free to click on the pics for a larger view part in the beginning. I know most of you are smart enough to know that without me having to tell you. If nothing else, I know that I run the risk of those people getting pissed and wondering if they should stop visiting my blog for the insult. 

It may come as a surprise but I’ve recently learnt the arts of Changing The Topic When Needed Most. LOOK AT THE PRETTY PIC BELOW!

P.S. All the pics were taken from a moving car so the blur you see (if any) isnt intentional and most certainly is not bad photography, how dare you. Good trip, with Tiger and especially Stan Marsh from South Park behaving extremely well for a change.

Strange element of narcissism

Published on September 25, 2008 in I me & myself. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The previous Love Tag had my friends answer a common question - What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

Well, I guess I’m very happy with all the answers I got to read what they feel about me. Take a look:

Do I have to answer this? Rinchen is my chaddi-buddy yaar. We went to school together and were neighbors. She has always been that wild child! But ironically, leads a life of one tamed lecturer these days. Might get over that and turn into a wild bureaucrat soon though. Fingers crossed!!!

Heh – all true, I’m afraid. Every single word. Tamed lecturer??? Hahaha… I would like to see an untamed one. And I’m hoping for that bit about a wild bureaucrat to be true too.

She’s different from everyone else I know! She’s one of a kind. She’s a little weird in a curious way and I’ll never be able to predict her actions. :)

And I think there’s a totally different person buried deep inside the exterior she’s been showing to everyone in this world.

Cant disagree. Thanks to you, I’m going to have to reflect on the last sentence and ponder over it deeply… Though I like that bit about being different and one of a kind. And being unpredictable is spot on. You know me very well, dont you? :)

I like Ringchen. I know in first person her humility, intelligence, sense of humor and Captainship. HATS OFF TO MY DESKMATE.

Aww… Times like these, I want to go back in time and hug my desk mate in the middle of a long, boring lecture involving electrical machine design. I wouldnt have been in so much of a hurry to finish college and grow older if I knew that our path would rarely cross again after that.

I have known Rinchen for so many years. She was my senior in school, but we never interacted. But now that we have, I think she is a wonderful person,fun to be around, totally addicted to the internet :) ,very good with words. I think she can talk her way out of any difficult situation. 

Can I? Hahaha… That little trick comes in handy when I have a fire-breathing boss demanding for a specific piece of work that was due yesterday. Upon which, I buy a little time (yes, talking out my way) – LOG OUT OF THE INTERNET and then do that stupid work.

Rinchen, Shes witty, forthright and intelligent. So much I can tell from her writing and I love her blog! She also has good taste because we seem to have a lot in common.

This is the first time I’ve been told I have good taste. I love this compliment. Very much. Thanks, you all. You guys made my day :)

Its a good thing to have friends

Published on August 3, 2008 in Good things and These thoughts of mine. 4 Comments Tags: , , .

We make a lot of friends along the way. A friend once told me that we’re all like passengers on a bus, traveling along wherever our lives may take us. We talk, share, open up a bit of ourselves to each other for the moment and as long as time permits us. Sooner or later, we reach our stop and get off, sometimes without even looking back to say goodbye.

Thank you to all my friends, whom I’ve met, known, no matter how briefly or even if it may be from a distance. I cherish the moments spent with each one of you. For they say – you have but one life. And it was a pleasure meeting all of you.

There are a lot of my close friends with whom I’ve lost touch. People who have been instrumental in making me the person I am today. Yet we’re no longer in contact for we’ve parted ways long back. Sometimes I wonder when it was that we lost touch. Was it me or was it them? Were we all so busy and caught up in our lives that we slipped away unnoticed so easily?

I look back and wonder where all of them are, what they’re doing and wish them love and happiness in everything they do. Perhaps we shall meet again, perhaps not. I hope the former, in all earnesty, some day.

There there are some, a handful of people; who dont let distance or time matter when it comes to friendship. They are my backbone, my strength in life. I would be lost without confiding in them my deepest, darkest feelings as well as any ecstasies that come along my way.

For those who have always been there for me, even if I werent for them. True friends, with no issues towards any of my idiosyncrasies and who embraced me for what I am – thank you. Happy friendship day.

Corny things

Published on July 27, 2008 in Good things and Sikkim. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

Things get very corny enroute to Gangtok and you can intercept the freshly roasted smell miles before you actually reach the place where they sell them. Thats my cook buying some roasted corns while we were on our way towards Gangtok. The corn fields line the highway and the village people make their living selling corns for 5 bucks a piece. Pretty cheap. And delicious too. I ought to probably say healthy too but I’m not entirely sure if it is indeed so.

I dont know how but nowadays they sell corn throughout the year along this stretch of the road. Earlier there used to be certain seasons for which people used to wait impatiently for the corn to ripen. Guess the villagers decided to make this a way of life. And looking at the large number of vehicles which stop and buy from them, I’d say people are really fond of this stuff.

Use of plastic bags are banned in Sikkim so we didnt get one. A small step towards reducing pollution and rightfully so. Therefore, as we continued our journey, the whole car started smelling like a corn field itself. Half an hour later, as I picked up a friend, the moment she sat in the car she exclaimed, You bought corn!!! Lets have some!!!

Mishap@Rose Day

Published on May 8, 2008 in REC Calicut. 8 Comments Tags: , .

Apparently it was Rose Day some days ago. Someone was kind enough to wish me Happy Rose Day although I did not get any rose(s) this year or any other year before for quite sometime now. Not that it prevented me from breathing or living life in any case. I was just amused by the interest in this particular day by the younger generation. Ah, to be a teenager and still be in the process of building sand castles in the air.

We too used to celebrate Rose Day religiously back in college. By stupidly buying roses at over inflated prices of 10 rupees per rose. And sending them anonymously to certain parties over at the Boys Hostel. Or at least thats what the senior girls told us.

There was this particular senior whom my friend and me thought was pretty cute. His friends nick named him Katti, in the local language. I think that means one-who-speaks-a-lot. Anyways, after repeated assurance that anonymous roses wouldnt be traced back to us at any cost, we sent one to him along with the message, “from your admirer” (I think)

Innocently enough, the senior girls made us write out names & the message number in a register after which the sale would be made. We were stupid enough to write all that. What we didnt know was that the seniors girls would be so co-operative with their male colleagues that they would hand over the register for a complete scrutiny of who sent which anonymous rose to whom and how many.

I was later horrified to hear people snickering about being enamoured with Mister Katti. The guy himself was decent enough not to address the issue even once. So much for anonymous roses. And so much for female unity. Moral of the story: Dont trust girls, at least those who’re not in your friend category.

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