tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85660512024-03-07T14:25:20.642+05:30rAmyAspAcEPeople used to live lives of quiet desperation - now they blogRamyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-72612703047665198452014-06-13T17:08:00.000+05:302014-06-13T17:08:42.799+05:30Moving on.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After
many months of paralyzing indecisiveness, I have finally decided to move to WordPress.
You can now find me at <a href="http://theidleist.wordpress.com/">http://theidleist.wordpress.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’ve
made this move after a lot of thought and not without some sadness. If I had
held on for another four months, this blog would have completed 10 years this
October. 10 years! It sounds incredible. And this blog has witnessed my journey
from adolescent to adult in these last many years. My older posts often make me
wince and cringe, but equally often make me smile; and they remind me of the
person I used to be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But
in the last one year, I have lost my blogging mojo. I hadn’t written a single
post in 2013. I’ve always been an erratic blogger, but this was the first time
since I started blogging in 2004 that I went a whole year without a single
post. I needed a drastic change to get me going again – and moving to a new
blog seemed like a good idea.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of
course, practical concerns played a big part in this decision. WordPress seems
more user-friendly and customizable, whereas I struggle with even basic
formatting on blogger. My blogger account settings are messed up – my Google/Blogger
account is linked to an old Yahoo email – and this makes commenting on other
blogs a massive pain. Moreover, my RSS settings are also weird, and don't allow
other bloggers to follow me. Finally, almost all the bloggers I follow are on
WordPress so this move would make commenting and following easier.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So,
thank you for your patience, and for reading and commenting all these years.
Like I keep saying, your comments really make my day. I hope you will continue
to read and continue to encourage me to write at <a href="http://theidleist.wordpress.com/">http://theidleist.wordpress.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you on the other side!</span></span></div>
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Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-69663524000675811602014-04-25T10:58:00.001+05:302014-04-25T10:58:48.163+05:30Happy Fridays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; line-height: 150%;">Have you heard ‘Happy’ by
Pharrell Williams? It’s one of the most infectious, fun, <i>happy </i>songs
ever. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; line-height: 150%;">So infectious, in fact,
that cities across the world have been shooting ‘happy videos’ for this song.
So about six weeks ago, a friend shared the happy video for Bangalore on
Facebook. And I was so taken by the idea that I spent the whole Saturday
looking at happy videos from across the world. I shared some of the videos with
a friend from Vizag, saying ‘we should do this for Vizag’.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; line-height: 150%;">Now, that would have been
the end of that. Except that I tore an ankle ligament and ended up with a
badass cast for about three weeks. This happened exactly at the beginning of my
three week vacation - during which time I was supposed to go trekking in Nepal
– so all travel plans were cancelled and I found myself sitting at home in
Vizag with nothing to do all day. That’s when the idea of a happy video for
Vizag began to <i>really </i>take shape. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; line-height: 150%;">Some seven of us got
together one Friday evening to discuss it, spent the next day planning, and
started shooting from Sunday morning. We managed to get over 35 people to take
part in the video, which we shot in just four days. We spent another week
editing the video before finally uploading it on YouTube. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; line-height: 150%;">It’s been just a little
under two weeks since we uploaded the video, and we’re close to a 100,000 views
already! We’ve been featured in three local newspapers and one magazine. We’ve
been approached by commercial establishments offering to sponsor the video! And
we’ve received overwhelmingly warm and positive responses for the video from
people across the world. Nike, who directed the video, is so inspired by the
response that he is now working on a short film that he wants to do next.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; line-height: 150%;">So all I really wanted to
say in this post is: go watch our video, right now! And I <b><i>promise </i></b>it’s
going to make you happy.<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-40503655532920971252014-04-18T22:46:00.001+05:302014-04-18T22:49:16.602+05:30Hello Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Alright, I know I just disappeared for the last year and a half without so much as a by your leave. It’s the longest I’ve gone without blogging. And I don’t really have any valid excuses for the disappearance. Except that I just couldn’t bring myself to put pen to paper…..or finger to keypad.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And while I do have a draft explaining all that I’ve been upto in the last year and a half, you don’t want to read it. I mean, even *I* don’t want to read it. So this post, it’s just going to be about the here and now and it’s going to be all positive and sunny.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Two weeks ago, I joined my dream organization. My aunt tells me that I wanted to work here right from my undergraduate days. I don’t remember that, but this has been my dream organization for the last many years, so I am indeed very excited to be here. Every time I look at my ID card, I feel a thrill of excitement. Every morning when I come into office and see the organization logo, I can’t help but grin. I am also *this* close to sending emails to myself, just so I can see my own official email address in my inbox, but have thankfully resisted so far!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now this is all well and good, but I am not really a full-time employee here, but only a consultant on a contract for a few months. But that’s enough for me for now – I atleast have a foot in the door –and hopefully this will eventually lead to even bigger and better things. So yes, after a string of disappointments over the last one year, I’m finally at a very happy place.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’ve also moved to Delhi two weeks ago, to take up this new job. I was ambivalent about moving to Delhi – and the husband was downright unhappy about it – but it’s been lovely so far. We stay in a little house (little being the operative word here) in one of the loveliest areas in South Delhi. The windows look out on to the park behind the house. There’s nothing nicer than sitting down with a book in the living room couch, while looking out on to that view. Or waking up to see a lush and rain soaked park from the bedroom window.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When we step out of the main gate, we find ourselves in front of a 13<sup>th</sup> century pillar built during the time of Alauddin Khilji. And a few more steps lead us to the park behind our house, which houses a 17<sup>th</sup> century building from the Tuqhlaq dynasty. It’s incredible to be living in the midst of so much history! A little further is *yet* another park, this one equipped with a jogging/walking track, and sellers of fresh fruits and flowers lined along its walls. There are atleast four parks within a 50 metre radius of my house! I wanted to post pictures but I dropped my phone and cracked it, and now it needs to be repaired before I can use it *sob*</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The weather is still rather nice. The city may have bid goodbye to spring, but summer is yet to arrive; so it’s actually very pleasant right now, and we’re trying to make the most of what’s probably the last of the good weather before summer bears down on us. I’m usually home by 6pm so there’s enough light to still go for a stroll in the park and enjoy the mild breeze.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We’re off to Rishikesh for the long weekend. We set out early on Friday morning, and will return by Sunday evening. We will be staying at resort owned by a friend – it looks lovely in the pictures and has been getting very good reviews, so I am quite looking forward to staying there. Nike plans to go white water rafting. I wish I could join him, but I injured my ankle a month ago and have been advised against physical activities for the next one month, so I’m going to resign myself to playing cheerleader. For my part, I’ll be carrying along a few books and doing the three things I’m best at – reading, eating and sleeping.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3c3c; line-height: 15.333333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have a good weekend. And while I make no promises, I hope to see you on the other side of the week! </span></span></div>
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Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com5Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India30.0869281 78.26761160000000929.9770146 78.106250100000011 30.196841600000003 78.428973100000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-75994294142317773992012-10-22T07:12:00.000+05:302012-10-22T07:12:12.049+05:30The Trip of a Lifetime<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So <a href="http://nyxview.blogspot.com/2012/09/down-but-not-out.html">all that day dreaming about exotic locations</a> has finally paid off. I'm writing this post from Paris! The first stop in a ten week long adventure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can read all about it <a href="http://slightlyskewed.wordpress.com/">here</a>. It's a travel blog I started many years ago, and completely forgot about. I am planning to use that space now as a journal for this trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm also going to cheat a bit, and reproduce the same post here (just in case you don't feel like clicking the link above!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So Nike and I have just set out on what we think is going to be the trip of a life time – 10 weeks traveling across Europe and Asia. We started from home on 14th October 2012 and we will be back again on 3rd January 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nike quit his job in May and has been working virtually as an independent consultant since then. I quit my job in September to study further. However, my further study plans didn’t quite work out due to certain unexpected circumstances that came up in the last minute. That was a massive disappointment, but suddenly we found ourselves with the time and the money to do a crazy trip like this before plunging back into the corporate world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There were some initial reservations about doing a trip like this – the time, the effort, and the money involved in a ten week trip are rather intimidating. I think what really helped us was that we were both mentally prepared to be broke, maybe even in debt, by the time I finished my course by the end of next year. Now we weren’t going to be broke or in debt because of exorbitant tuition fees – so we thought “Okay, let’s spend this tuition fee fund on travel instead. We learn more by travelling than than by sitting in a classroom”. That’s cheesy, I know, but hey, we just needed an excuse!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We don’t really have a fixed itinerary. For now, we have spent a week in Paris. We are then flying into Romania, where we will spend about five days. Its an open itinerary after that – we are thinking of doing a loop around the Balkans – Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia – and then one of the Eastern European capitals, before making our way to Italy, where we will spend another week or ten days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’ve been to most of Western Europe as well as to the major cities of Eastern Europe so I wanted to do something very different this time, and yet I wanted to go to Europe again. This tentative itinerary seems perfect for us. We want to keep it open: we will stay back longer if we like a place, and we will leave quicker if we don’t. We may even completely change our itinerary midway if we come across something more interesting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Travelling independently around the Balkan region is also quite challenging for us. We don’t personally know anyone else who’s travelled around this region before, so we find this part of the trip intimidating. But I think that’s actually great because it will make us step out of our comfort zone, and rediscover the challenges of travel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After seven weeks in Europe, we will fly from Rome to Kuala Lumpur. My cousin, who lives in Malaysia, is getting married in December so we are going there for the wedding. My family will also be joining us there. We will be spending a week in Klang, Malaysia for the wedding festivities. Everyone, including Amma, is leaving after that; but Dad, Samee, Nike and I are staying back and visiting the Borneo Islands for a week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once we are back in KL from Borneo, my father and sister will leave for India; Nike and I fly to Koh Samui, Thailand. We will be there for a week – we intend to snorkel, get massages and chill on the beach at the end of a long trip. We will be spending New Years Eve there, and will be joined by Nike’s brother and his wife. We will then spend about 2 days in Bangkok, and finally back home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Phew! I know! It’s a long, long trip. For me, the biggest challenge has been packing – winter wear for Europe, wedding wear for Malaysia, beach wear for Thailand. I’m lugging around a 20kg suitcase that looks like it will explode any minute. I’m not proud. I’ve however convinced Nike to put all his stuff into a 7kg backpack. Of that, I’m proud.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I hope to blog about this trip as regularly as possible. I’d like to post here at least twice a week; but I’m not making any promises. Like with everything else, let’s see how it goes ;-)</span></div>
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Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-4329082636118024822012-09-29T01:20:00.003+05:302012-09-29T01:20:50.034+05:30Down, but not Out<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So remember the <a href="http://nyxview.blogspot.in/2012/05/battered-bruised-and-hungry.html">exciting new phase that I was looking forward to</a>? Well, it didn’t happen. I don’t want to
get into details, but let’s just say that this Big Change that was supposed
occur in September, which would put me in a very exciting place in terms of
career and location, didn’t quite work out for reasons that were beyond my
control. I’d been looking forward to it from January, and couldn’t wait for the
year to go by and for September to come soon enough. But when September did
finally come, it brought with it the news that the Big Change wasn’t meant to
be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Of course, I’m very upset and
extremely disappointed. I’d been dreaming about this for the whole year. I quit
my job end of last month in anticipation of this. I shopped, I went to
Bangalore to bid farewell to my friends there, I bought flights tickets, I
spoke to movers, I made a to-do-list. I went on holiday, and then went home to
Vizag to spend time with the parents before I was off. And then I found out I
wasn’t going after all, that it wasn’t happening. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I could even now probably go and
join back my old job, but I think it’s time for me to move on. This job has
been quite an experience, but I think I’m ready to move on another role now. But
I need a break before I can plunge back into work again - I had imagined the
Big Change for a whole year, I can’t just go back to work now as if nothing has
happened.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I’m in Vizag still, and keeping
myself very, very busy. Nike and I are planning a long holiday somewhere. The
end of the holiday will coincide with a two week family trip to Malaysia for
Cousin K’s wedding. I also need this time to think through what I should do
next that will best suit my long term career goals – I have a number of
interesting options ahead of me, but I want to make a careful choice in terms
of what fits in with my career plans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Meanwhile, here is what has been
keeping me busy in Vizag for the last couple of weeks:</span></div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span>I’m taking a course <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/wh1300">“History of the World since 1300”</a> on Coursera. For a huge history buff like me, this course is absolutely
fascinating. It’s the second week into the course, and I’ve learnt about
Genghis Khan, the Black Death, the Ming Dynasty, Christendom and Islam,
Discovery of America, the Columbian Exchange, Colonialism and the Baroque Era.
The course is offered by a fantastic professor from Princeton University. I
CANNOT wait for the next couple of classes.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> The best part? It’s
completely free! Do check out <a href="http://www.coursera.org/">www.coursera.org</a>
– they have close to 200 courses across a wide range of subjects, offered by
professors from some of the world’s best universities; and all this absolutely
free. Do, do, do check it out – I cannot recommend it enough! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I’m finally brushing up on my very rusty driving
skills (I use the word very loosely here). I go driving for an hour every day.
Of course, considering I am driving in Vizag, I’m rather sceptical about this
practice being of any use if I have to drive in a bigger city with more
traffic. Still; I had been developing a massive mental block against driving,
and this driving practice has been very helpful in removing that mental block
to some extent.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I have also taken up a home improvement project
of sorts. If you know the condition of my house, you will realise how
physically demanding this project is, and also, how impossible it is. The maid
and I spent three days just to clear up the guest bedroom and convert it into a
room for Nike and me. One day was spent cleaning up and re-arranging the dining
room. Other little projects – removing an AC from one room and replacing it in
another, clearing up and re-arranging the open shelves in the parents room,
dusting and re-arranging the books on the library shelves, getting a new side
table, getting the dining chairs repaired, getting new bath curtains etc. –
take up a few hours in a day.</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I belong to a
family of hoarders; Amma leads admirably on this front, storing every little
thing that strays into the house, even if it’s just a pamphlet from a few years
ago. Samee is not far behind, refusing to throw away toiletries even if they
are beyond the expiry date. And Dad just keeps piling up his old papers;
convinced that they will be of some use in the distant future (he is probably
dreaming of a time when paper will replace money or something). </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I’ve mercifully
been spared this vice, and in fact, am quite ruthless about disposing things
that I feel are of no use, and have almost no attachment to material things.
But clearing the home of a family of hoarders is still quite an <s>uphill</s>
impossible task. Our maid is quite wonderful – very enthusiastic about all
these projects and extremely efficient. But for all that, I’m sure she’s
counting the days to when I would leave.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I'm reading quite voraciously too. I’m right now
in the middle of a five part series on Genghis Khan by Conn Iggulden. I keep
breaking the series up with lighter reads like Wodehouse or Georgette Heyer,
and it feels good to go back to my old reading habit after what seems like
ages.</span> </li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I have signed up for an online volunteering
project. I am yet to receive a final confirmation of whether or not I have been
assigned to the project, so I don’t want to talk too much about it before that
happens. But I hope it works out, and it works out soon, because I am excited
to be working on it.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I'm also spending quite a bit of time thinking
about what I want to do next, researching possible options, talking to people
in the sector. I have a tendency to just go along with the flow, but I have
over six years of work experience now, and feel that my next move will be very
critical in terms of the direction my career will take. I don’t want to do
anything hasty at this stage, and want to think through this very carefully
before deciding on what to do next.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Some amount of my day goes into day dreaming
about the long trip we intend to take next month. We are so far considering the
US, New Zealand, Europe (which will mostly be the Balkans), and Asia (Bhutan,
Thailand and Myanmar). Sometimes, all our talk of these distant and exotic
lands convinces me that we aren’t actually doing this trip, but just discussing
this to pass the time, and cheer ourselves up – the exchange rates aren’t
helping either!</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I'm also FINALLY getting the time/energy to finish
off a lot of little errands that I have been neglecting for many months now –
getting new lens/glasses, submitting documents to the bank, redeeming credit card
points, settling outstanding bill – little things like that which I tend to neglect
in the daily business of living.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Phew! I think
that’s about it. I had actually added a few more on my wish-list (specifically,
swimming classes, and a community project) but I don’t have time to do this much.
I’m trying to wake up early so I have enough time through the day to do all
that I want to do. It helps to make to-do lists for the next day before I go to
sleep, and I get a huge kick from ticking them off the next day. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I can’t say I’m
happy. I’m just not unhappy. I think I’m over the disappointment, but something
happens to remind me of it, and I feel blue for a little while after that. But
nothing can keep me down for too long. For now, I’m fairly content with my busy
schedule, in fact, rather pleased with myself because I’m doing so much in my
break, and I’m looking forward to my holiday and to whatever will happen next</span>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">P.S: Does blogger have the world's worst formatting or what? It took me so much longer to format this post that to write it! (It shows, you say?) I've been thinking of moving to wordpress for a long time now, and this stupid formatting is really convincing me I should just do it. </span></div>
Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-12958521884369761372012-09-11T23:06:00.000+05:302012-09-11T23:06:16.221+05:30"The Behaviour of Moths" by Poppy Adams<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I've been reading a lot this year. In fact, this has been the year I've managed to read the most since passing out of b-school. I decided I'm going to try and put down my thoughts on some of the stuff I've been reading, sort of as a practice run for some book review programs I am interested in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"The Behaviour of Moths" is the story of two sisters
- what I thought would be a family drama (and it's one of my favourite genres)
slowly reveals itself to be a delicious Gothic suspense. The story is told
through the voice of Ginny, the painfully shy and socially inept older sibling
who become a lepidopterist (a moth specialist!).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9SEiL45n4QuzjBkoK1MXnxIp5h66yUKCDTXb3Eixyg9aF5LtfNQVNpgaigRoZKNomZZoB7e4dp5R3_kxuWFSJ8Gsw_Winbuxn5HMRQRmy-LyCH2ZIEYjI-nvUwTEvtElwI18F/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9SEiL45n4QuzjBkoK1MXnxIp5h66yUKCDTXb3Eixyg9aF5LtfNQVNpgaigRoZKNomZZoB7e4dp5R3_kxuWFSJ8Gsw_Winbuxn5HMRQRmy-LyCH2ZIEYjI-nvUwTEvtElwI18F/s320/index.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Ginny, who's now in her seventies, has lived in the family Gothic mansion all
her life. The return of her vivacious younger sister Vivi to the family home after
47 years brings back many memories of their childhood and younger years. And
through these memories, we realise it's not the happy family we think they were
- jealousies, alcoholism, surrogacies, rifts emerge in the family - but all
this is hinted, not clearly laid out, building up the suspense.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
Adams is very successful in creating a very atmospheric novel. The large,
rambling mansion they live in and the surrounding countryside form an almost
perfect backdrop to this story. Adams gets off to a great start; the sisters’
childhood is depicted with care - their wildly different personalities, their
closeness, and their feelings towards their parents. And the young women these
little girls grow into are also very believable. And through Ginny’s reminiscences,
we realise all is not well, and the happenings in the house and within the
family, though they have happened long ago, take on a new meaning when Vivi
returns home and it emerges that both the sisters have very different views on
their childhood and their parents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
We gear up for the big reveal - whose version is the truth? Why did some of the
characters behave the way they did? Why did some events happen? Does Vivi know
something that Ginny doesn't? We gear up for the big reveal - but Adam subverts
this with an ending that has you completely taken aback.<br /><br />
Unfortunately, I think this is also the books biggest weakness. While it
totally works for it's shock value, it also means that a lot of the events and
incidents are left unexplained. See...it's great to leave something to the
readers imagination, it's good to have an open ending where the reader is left
wondering about various interpretations; but in this case, Adams doesnt quite
manage to achieve that and leaves the reader a little annoyed because of all the
loose ends.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /><br />
That said, it was still a very well written book, and I couldn't stop reading
it. I finished it in one sitting on the overnight train journey from Kasargod
to Bangalore. And despite my annoyance at the loose ends,
it made for an enjoyable read.</span>
</div>
</div>
Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-29865475088557306222012-08-29T01:05:00.001+05:302012-08-29T01:07:30.638+05:30When the shit hits the fan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I came here to put up a long whiny post about how everything seemed to be going wrong with my life right now. I feel like I can see a bit of my life and plans unraveling in front of my eyes - and even as I frantically try and stop it from unraveling thus, I have a feeling that I am fighting the inevitable, that there is only so much that I can do, but things have to play out the way they are meant to. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm rarely so fatalistic but they way things have been going for the last couple of weeks, I see little to be positive about, especially in my current frame of mind.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To cheer myself up, I planned a four day trip to Kerala with Nike for the next week. I booked us into a very fancy Taj resort in a hidden corner of Kerala. And since our usual budget for a hotel room is in the INR 1000 - 2000 range, this is serious luxury for us. And I thought we deserved it, considering how we've had a couple of major setbacks the last month or so. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was really looking forward to this trip. Even joking that this was the only bright spot in an otherwise bleak looking horizon. But right now, I don't like my husband so much. He is easily irritated, quick to take offence, snaps for no reason, is as sarcastic as hell, and loses his temper without so much as a by your leave. And it's all directed at me. And today, I didn't want anymore of this. I'm normally big on sitting and thrashing it out, even if I have to plead/bulldoze/beg/blackmail the husband into sitting down for the conversation. But today, I didn't want to talk about it, I didn't want to discuss it; I just wanted a break from it all.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I realise now that it's possible to love someone, and yet not <i>like </i>them at times. Which is what I feel towards the husband right now. Strangely enough, it's what I feel about my sister too a lot of times.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyway. Now this Kerala getaway has begun to nag at me. I don't want Nike to come. I don't see the point of paying so much money to have someone be rude and awful to me in gorgeous surroundings. So I'm pondering if I should go alone or ask a friend to join me. I normally enjoy the occasional solo travel, but I'm not sure if this is an appropriate place for that. I like solo travel in cities, in places with museums and galleries, not in scenic places wher you just sit around and soak in the landscape. Though they do have a massive spa so I could make like one of the heroines in a chick-lit and pretend I'm getting over heartbreak and use the excuse to get all sorts of spa treatments!<br /><br />I could ask a friend to come along but it's really short notice so flights will be expensive and trains will be filled up. Moreover, I'm going for four days in the middle of the week so it will be difficult for any of my friends to get leave at such short notice. Sigh! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Making up with the husband is an option, I suppose. The longest we've ever fought in our seven years together is about 24 hours. But for too long, we've been fighting about this, we've been making up within hours, and then the issue comes up again in a couple of days or in a couple of weeks. And this time, I don't want to quickly resolve this, and then have to deal with this shit again when I come back from Kerala. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Aarrgghh! Oh well, at least ranting on this blog has helped me feel better and breathe easier. So hopefully, see you soon, in a sunnier mood.</span></div>
</div>
Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-89120662470660954982012-07-30T12:25:00.000+05:302012-07-30T12:25:36.502+05:30Quick Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I looked at my blog after ages and realised with a pang that it’s been
two whole months since I posted. June was a crazy month: my friend G’s wedding in
Chennai, Nike’s birthday, endless work related travel across Karnataka, and
preparation for the upcoming Ladakh trip. I spent exactly five full days in
Hyderabad in June.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But June ended on a very exciting note, with nine of us setting off to
Ladakh for the trip of a lifetime. We flew to Delhi, took an overnight train to
Kalka and then by road to Manali. In Manali, we rented bikes and a car and set
off to Ladakh. We were on the road for three days: Manali – Rohtang Pass –
Darcha – Keylong – Jispa – Baralacha La – Sarchu – Gata Loops – Moore Plains – Tanglang
La – Leh. We spent a fair amount of time exploring Leh and the surrounding region.
We did overnight trips to Pangong Tso, Nubra Valley and Tso Moriri and day
trips to Hemis and Sangam. We then headed out to Srinagar from Leh, passing by
Alchi, Lamayuru, Kargil and Drass and Zoji La. After a day in Srinagar, flew to
Delhi, spent some time with friends in Delhi, and finally flew back to
Hyderabad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This was the trip of a lifetime for us. Now I view the whole year from
the prism of Ladakh. And suddenly, after the trip, all seems alright with the
world. That’s how much the trip rejuvenated me and changed my world view. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am in Bangalore on work and currently don’t have the time for a longer
post. Hopefully, a more detailed trip report will follow, along with photographs.
But for now, I will leave you with a few photographs.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPPRxUBaH_44ohCFEARsoj_iNRc3DUSCGsBPiRCWSsfFhVIbHGYvYCzXC2NGmXUCWOZotca8yDyQIiqN60JGTNLtpIE45tAwWzF5MEqgECPP50mrg_udbxKJslQuCnj9FeQUK/s1600/548175_4261844544113_536076939_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPPRxUBaH_44ohCFEARsoj_iNRc3DUSCGsBPiRCWSsfFhVIbHGYvYCzXC2NGmXUCWOZotca8yDyQIiqN60JGTNLtpIE45tAwWzF5MEqgECPP50mrg_udbxKJslQuCnj9FeQUK/s1600/548175_4261844544113_536076939_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi173LTURALjYVpofUn6qUl90Fcwb-h2ehfAWnmtufeJj_vZqEHoBjWVv7y3h5oI6rXIO_TY7XBCgf7DzL-LIDu9Tq1N0XdftGm3C0wpo8qggvJmvnhp1HNVE_4astVXh5mmTuU/s1600/Nubra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi173LTURALjYVpofUn6qUl90Fcwb-h2ehfAWnmtufeJj_vZqEHoBjWVv7y3h5oI6rXIO_TY7XBCgf7DzL-LIDu9Tq1N0XdftGm3C0wpo8qggvJmvnhp1HNVE_4astVXh5mmTuU/s1600/Nubra.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSW7AXrYgi_R5b55BEKRE6W0lj-G9TsfWo2Eh7x3c2JnVTqSo4C0kvO8P1fY_c0eBznMsKWULOx8-OCZx1Fkuci-I_jydxp7gsdYnSvp8K97jcfoccaUGy7xco9T1URxxbO1Cc/s1600/388984_467642009914820_1332584503_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSW7AXrYgi_R5b55BEKRE6W0lj-G9TsfWo2Eh7x3c2JnVTqSo4C0kvO8P1fY_c0eBznMsKWULOx8-OCZx1Fkuci-I_jydxp7gsdYnSvp8K97jcfoccaUGy7xco9T1URxxbO1Cc/s1600/388984_467642009914820_1332584503_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-33030383768763704642012-05-26T23:51:00.000+05:302012-05-26T23:51:28.669+05:30Weekend Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thanks for all the sympathy! I'm feeling much better now. And I'm home in Vizag for the weekend so the month is at least ending on a great note. :-) </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Meanwhile, I’ve never done this link posts before, but there’s just so much great reading
material on my FB newsfeed right now, that I absolutely HAVE to put it all up
in one place.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/25-things-ive-learned-in-my-twenties/">This fabulous piece</a></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">,
titled ’25 Things I’ve Learned in My Twenties’ – how the hell does this guy
know the story of my life?</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> I
was nodding so much throughout the article that my head was in danger of
detaching itself from my neck. About dating jerks until you finally realise
they will never become better people, about metabolism slowing down so you
start feeling unattractive, about losing touch with friends and how it hurts or
doesn’t, about questioning every decision you make, about watching your parents
grow old in front of your eyes, about cruel bosses, about betraying your
convictions, about first love, about our own cruelty, even about puking in
public. This really resonated with me. If you’re in your twenties, go read.
NOW!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I found <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html">this article</a> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">very disturbing. What was
worse was that even after reading it, an acquaintance wrote about what a
wonderful place it was, without even acknowledging all the issues that the place
has.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/100-pieces-of-advice-from-movies">This</a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> was fun! Especially if you’ve
seen the movie and know the context. My favourites: </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Man who catch
fly with chopstick accomplish anything" from The Karate Kid. And "Truth
hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing, but it
hurts" from Naked Gun 2 </span><sup style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">½</sup><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Who would have thought action movies
had such profound wisdom in them?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tehelka.com/story_main52.asp?filename=hub260512STING.asp">The story</a> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">of the sting operation performed by Shripal Shaktawat and Meena Sharma on
doctors performing sex selective abortions in Rajasthan. Because these two very
brave people deserve to have their story told. Many times over.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On the topic of sex selective
abortions, Nivedita Menon writes a </span><a href="http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?280902#.T6_5bI-NIZw.facebook" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">brilliant piece</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">that reflects many of my own reservations about how my pro-choice stance aligns
itself with my stance against sex selective abortions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/world/europe/21iht-educlede21.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&smid=fb-share" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">anti-MBA</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">sounds like something I would enjoy. Even if I don’t learn anything, I will
get to travel around the world, meet some fascinating people, and come across
some very interesting perspectives.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fdfdfd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/article3439624.ece">hard hitting article</a> from P Sainath</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> raises some uncomfortable questions. Even as the Planning Commission, in all
its wisdom, brings down the BPL, our governments continue to blow up money
while poverty, health and education remain neglected.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Happy reading!</span></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-62506040974935738882012-05-22T02:25:00.001+05:302012-05-22T02:25:09.490+05:30Battered, Bruised and Hungry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If anyone is still reading this blog – I am so very sorry that I haven’t
updated (not that anyone was holding their breath) or even bothered to respond
to all your lovely comments. I’ve just been going through a blue funk for the
last month. Punctuated by bouts of whirlwind social activity. Or extreme lethargy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So it’s not been the best month so far. A lot of things that I don’t
want to happen are going to happen very soon, and I keep thinking about it, and
it makes me very cranky, annoyed and hard done by. A lot of things I want to
happen are also hopefully going to happen, but </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>that’s </i></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">not
happening for much longer so I get frustrated thinking about it, and then
realising that its really far off, and getting cranky all over again. I feel
like this year, I’m just waiting for September to come, so I can start this
exciting new phase of my life then, and I HATE the fact that I’m not really
living in the now, but just waiting for the future to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now that I’ve sounded suitably vague and mysterious and angsty, you’d
think I’d leave it when the going is good and spare you further details. But
alas, innocent reader, that is not to be. I shall now entertain you (not!) with
the gory details of the especially awful week that has just gone by. To start
with, I slipped and fell down and hurt myself pretty badly – bruised knees,
aching back, scratches on my feet, the works. After a few days of this pain, I
was recovering and beginning to feel better, but then I did something to my
neck, and it hurt so bad that for two nights I couldn't sleep because of the
pain that kept shooting through my neck and right shoulder every time I turned
in my sleep. Of course, I kept moaning and screaming loudly enough to keep waking up poor Nike who kept rubbing balm through the night*.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The crowning glory (pun unintended) was the visit to the dentist on
Sunday for dental flap surgery. *GORY DETAILS AHEAD* It basically involved separating
my gums from my teeth, after which they are folded back like a flap so the dentist
has direct access to the roots and bone. The dentist then removes infected
tissue, plaque and tartar from this area, and then stitches the gums back in
place. *END OF GORY DETAILS*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have a very low (read non-existent) threshold for pain and
communicated my discomfort very clearly to my dentist so he suggested we do it
in two sittings. This weekend, he did the procedure for the upper set of teeth.
I was given anaesthesia so it was totally pain-free but I could feel that he
was putting pressure on my teeth/gums/root and I could hear all the scraping and
I could see all the blood so that really freaked me out; to distract myself,
I focused on how fat I would become if I put on a kilo every year. How would I
look at 40? At 60? What would be the ideal age to die if I wanted to die before
I got too fat?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway, after such delightful ruminations on the dental chair, I came back
home with a blood soaked mouth and swollen cheeks. As I examined myself in the
mirror, I was horrified to discover that my gums has become completely
misshapen – until Nike pointed out that I was looking at blood soaked cotton! I
took painkillers and antibiotics and slept through the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also mumbled my way through a lot of phone calls from all the friends
and family with whom I had discussed it like what I had undergone was the world’s most
revolutionary surgery. My dad, very touchingly, called me half a
dozen times through the day to see how I was doing. My mother, who had gone
through the same procedure a couple of years ago, was regretfully very cavalier
about it – I’m still thinking of ways to guilt trip her over this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was also Cousin M’s birthday so we all went to dinner to Serengeti.
It was an unfortunate choice of restaurant because the food smelled absolutely
divine and made me very hungry. While my entire meal consisted of two pieces
of paneer tikka. I am still drooling at the thought of the chilli olive naan. Though
I suppose I could live much longer before I reached my fat threshold if I ate
so little every day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The whole post-procedure experience has been pain-free, though there’s
mild discomfort before sleeping and after getting up, I guess when the effect
of the painkillers has worn off. I worked from home on Monday because the
process of dental care was too messy to subject my colleagues to. And I had curd
rice with the yummiest, most delicious and juicy mangoes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I wanted to watch Ishaqzaade today but decided to postpone it till I am
in a condition where I can eat popcorn during the movie (or fries. I’m not a
big fan of fries but the INOX snack counter at GVK One serves wonderfully fresh
fries, even though in incredulously tiny quantities). So </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nike bought me ice apples so I’d have
something soft to eat through my television marathon today evening (Junior
Master Chef, Big Bang Theory, Raising Hope, Scrubs, Amazing Race – I've seen more
television in one day that in the whole of last month!). He also made me cold
coffee because I felt like it. The next time I whine about him, someone please
remind me of what a wonderful, caring, considerate, indulgent person he is, and
then knock me on the head with a club.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’m off to a painkiller induced sleep right now. You all have a Happy Tuesday!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*I am not including minor injuries such as when my friend stomped on my feet in her heels when we were dancing, leaving it bruised. Or when I accidentally jabbed a sharp pencil on my leg, so hard that it created a deep scratch through my jeans. That would make it look like I'm trying to get sympathy (which is absolutely not what this post is about, no sir!)</span></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-33281505450596035262012-04-03T00:41:00.000+05:302012-04-03T00:41:58.671+05:30All Alone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’m sitting in a hotel room in Patna as I type this, with a television sitcom
providing an incongruous background sound. My room is comfortable enough but
old; the furnishings and upholstery are heavy and faded, giving this room a
dated feel. I know by now that this is how most mid-range hotel rooms in the
smaller cities are and with my curtains closed, I could be anywhere – Bhopal,
Srinagar, Bhubaneswar, Patna.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Usually, I love being where I am right now. In an unknown city, in an
anonymous hotel room, all by myself. It’s the only time when I really get ‘me’
time. When I’m home, even if I am home alone, I rarely get ‘me’ time – I’m
talking on the phone, I’m chatting on the internet, I’m reading blogs and
commenting on them, I’m faffing on Facebook, I’m sending and receiving emails -
basically living a busy social life, even if much of it is virtual. But in
these old-fashioned hotel rooms, internet is at a premium and I don’t use a
data card, so I finally get ‘me’ time; I watch more TV in a day than I would in
a whole month at home, I read, I sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But this time around, I’m not enjoying the alone time. I’ve been travelling
almost continuously the last two weeks – Tirupati, Vizag, Delhi, Agra – and throughout
these weeks I have been spending a lot of time with family and friends, so
maybe I’m just disoriented to find myself alone all of a sudden, after hanging
out with not less than six people on any given day in the last two weeks. Or
maybe I’m just tired and disoriented from all the travel and movement, and it’s
finally gotten to me and I’m beginning to feel low. Or maybe there’s nothing
fun to watch on television – and as uninteresting as that sounds, that’s most
probably the reason.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is my first visit to Bihar. Since I am travelling alone here, I’ve
been advised by all and sundry to be careful. And all these ‘be careful’
suggestions have led to a slight sense of discomfort about being here by myself,
especially because I will be paying a visit to some rural villages as part of
this trip. And as much as I try to shake off that discomfort, it doesn’t
completely go away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But the people here have so far been incredibly friendly and helpful.
Whether it is my driver, or senior government officials, or local NGO workers.
And Patna was a surprise to me – it’s a fairly clean city with good roads (atleast
the parts I have been to). Tomorrow though, I will get a taste of rural Bihar. Which
reminds me that I need to go to sleep now – I have a long day tomorrow, and I
need to get an early start.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That's all for now!</span></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-2642058794292635472012-02-24T18:00:00.003+05:302012-02-24T18:00:59.788+05:30Tales from a Marriage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Priorities or Lack Thereof<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One night last week, Nike and I had
a long discussion about finances. Rather, I launched into a long monologue about
finances while Nike pretended to listen. We expect some big changes in our life
in the second half of the year - a possible shift of jobs and cities – and I am
worried that we will be in a tight spot financially for the next one year after
that. Which led to the monologue where I spoke about how I was worried about
finances and how we need to manage finances better; at the end of it all Nike
said I worry unnecessarily and promptly went off to sleep!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The next day, he noticed a single strand of grey hair. And fell headlong into depression. I told him a single strand did not a whole head of hair make. I told him that he would look very sexy with grey hair - an Indian George Clooney, if you will (I don't actually think he will look anything like that but you're allowed to lie in extenuating circumstances). That day, he poured half a bottle of oil on his hair and then made his mother put some sort of hair pack on his head. When I came back home from work that evening, he had a long talk with me about how worried he was about his grey hair, and what steps he would take to prevent more grey hairs! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If ever there was a case of messed up priorities, it is this!</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Of Course, it’s a Competition!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Last week, Nike made banana walnut
muffins. I was not happy about this at all. I made a banana cake just a few
weeks ago and was still basking in the glory of all the praise I received for
that. Now Nike was making banana walnut muffins. And since he is a much better
cook, I was sure his muffins would taste better than my cake. I couldn’t let
this happen. So I bombarded him with recipes for vanilla muffins, apple cinnamon
muffins, red velvet cupcakes and anything else that did not have banana in it.
But he was adamant that it would be banana walnut muffins only and rejected all
the other recipes I sent him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I then tried to sabotage the
muffins by hovering around him while he was baking and giving him all sorts of
incorrect advice. However, he banished me from the kitchen so I went and sulked
instead. He called me to come and taste once the muffins were done, and I was
forced to admit that they tasted better than my cake. Even though the walnuts
were burnt. But, but, but, but, but…..my banana cake looked WAY better than his
muffins. So we’re even now, no?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Great Expectations<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My birthday is this Sunday. I am so
excited and hyper about it that one would be forgiven for thinking I’m going to
be eight, instead of twenty-eight (As an aside, I am rather anal about spelling
out numbers, instead of simply writing them down in number format. They look so
much more beautiful when spelt out fully. Twenty-eight. 28. You tell me, which
looks better? End of aside.) And so for my birthday, I thought long and hard
and discussed with friends and colleagues and finally decided I would ask Nike
for a diamond pendant for my birthday gift. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Instead, Nike gave me vouchers
worth Rs.7000 at Landmark. This is much worse than it sounds because (a) These
were vouchers left over from the gift he bought me for our anniversary, not
vouchers he specifically purchased for my birthday (b)We (though Nike says I) managed
to lose half the vouchers so in reality, I have vouchers worth only Rs.3500 (c)
Despite my insistence on going and shopping alone for books, Nike accompanied
me and then ruined the entire experience by being in a bad mood, snapping at
me, and hurrying me through the shopping so that I ended up buying books that I
am not sure I want.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Consequently, I feel cheated and
gift-less. I am telling Nike that he needs to buy me another gift. Something
that <s>I can show off on Facebook, on my blog, and to my family and friends</s>
is thoughtful and considerate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And so the countdown starts to
Sunday. Happy weekend, you guys!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-30496136432990980122012-02-17T23:35:00.000+05:302012-02-17T23:35:16.980+05:30The Story of My Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvt_sRawtf3eTsamKlHN08Am_JuSyFDSyYThJnPZeZu1EwqVRcN1caQNofO1nSjrBWdNX-gZIy6LFzb51L401vuODP9TFkzvToecre9JRJBnmFN0CBsmKak38QqnUO5FrPtWF/s1600/Updated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvt_sRawtf3eTsamKlHN08Am_JuSyFDSyYThJnPZeZu1EwqVRcN1caQNofO1nSjrBWdNX-gZIy6LFzb51L401vuODP9TFkzvToecre9JRJBnmFN0CBsmKak38QqnUO5FrPtWF/s640/Updated.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo Credits: Ahmed El Mezeny (from Facebook)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I found this image on Facebook and it was SO bloody true of my life! I showed this to my colleagues yesterday, and they all had a hearty laugh. After which we bitched in great detail about how we never get enough money, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">how nobody understands what we do, and how, sometimes, we ourselves aren't sure of what we're doing!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Happy weekend, y'all!</span></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-22068266334996490162012-02-10T21:26:00.000+05:302012-02-10T21:26:38.760+05:30Of Sex Tapes and Banana Cakes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So our esteemed ministers in
Karnataka have been caught watching porn during an assembly session. I’m not
surprised; rather, I’m much more surprised at the outrage that has followed. I
mean, what more did you expect from our ministers? That they would actually
participate sincerely in an assembly session that is paid for by the taxpayer?
Don’t be ridiculous!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On a serious note, I have three
major issues with the whole controversy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span><!--[endif]-->I have no moral objections against pornography
as long as the acts were performed by mutual consent. And I don’t think there
is anything wrong with anyone, minister or not, watching porn. However, I do
take issue with their watching porn while the assembly is in session. My firm
isn’t going to be happy if they find out I am watching porn during office hours;
for all I know, they may even be well within their legal rights to fire me if I
am watching porn in office. Similarly, as a taxpayer, I am not happy to find
out that my representative in assembly is watching porn instead of doing his
job.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fdfdfd;">2.</span><span style="background-color: #fdfdfd; font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-color: #fdfdfd;">More worrying is the fact that the minister is
now trying to prevent all news from reaching his constituency – </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">the cable lines have been
blocked in the village; newspapers aren’t distributed there</span>.</span><span style="background-color: #fdfdfd;"> Firstly, I
am fairly sure this is unconstitutional because an MLA does not have the right
to censor/filter the news that reaches his constituency. Secondly, this sets a
very dangerous precedent – I can imagine other MLAs and MPs deciding to follow
this tactic the next time they are in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span><!--[endif]-->The hypocrisy of the ruling party (and its
allies and associates), and of the ministers involved, infuriates me. They are
all up in arms about the attack on our great Indian culture if couples want to
celebrate Valentine’s Day. If women dare go to pubs, our lofty traditions are
under threat. One of the ministers of the ruling party went ballistic when the
topic of introducing sex education in schools was brought up, saying that it
was ‘against Indian culture’ (of course!). But these arbitrary moral standards
are only for the rest of the population apparently, while these gentlemen
engage in behavior which would be considered amoral by their own standards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That said and done, I’m more amused
than angry by the whole rigmarole. I think it’s because I have reached a point
where nothing our politicians do angers/shocks/upsets me anymore. I just shrug
and move on with my life. I am now officially a cynic who believes there is no
point in caring about what happens in the world around.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Meanwhile, it looks like the media
is milking this for all its worth. And I am thoroughly sick of the media
sensationalism these days – so much so that I never watch the news on
television and barely read the paper anymore. It either makes me depressed, or
it annoys the hell out of me or it makes me furious, and being aware and
up-to-date isn’t compensation enough for all the anger, frustration and sorrow
it causes (enough to shorten my life by a few years, I am sure!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And so, as this news slowly gathers
dust, and the media waits for the next grand controversy to come up, I have
said my piece, and I too shall move on to better things. And so, I leave you
with this, a banana cake I baked last week. Remember, one of my resolutions
this year was to learn to cook? Well, last month I made coffee cake, and now
this. Both of them came out alright, though they could have been much better (I
am also apparently my sternest critic when it comes to cooking!) –
nevertheless, I am very chuffed! What do you think?</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-88158731971224475082012-02-01T17:19:00.000+05:302012-02-01T17:19:03.378+05:30Because Karma is a B!*&#<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since
I don’t have any babies, and don’t foresee having any babies in the near future
either, I fully and freely exercise my right to judge all parents on their
parenting. Because, <b><i>of course</i></b> I know much more about how to bring up kids than the
parents of said kids themselves. This is what happens when people think they are
well-versed in the theory, but don’t do the practicals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But
those were the good old days of yore. Not anymore for me the luxury of grinding
my teeth because the kid sitting next to me on my flight/train/insert preferred
mode of transport is making this a journey to hell. Not anymore for me the pleasure
of munching my popcorn and sagely commenting on the inappropriateness of bringing
infants and toddlers to movies not meant for infants and toddlers. Not anymore
for me the joy of contorting my face into what I imagine are scary expressions,
while wagging my finger at badly behaved tots, all while nervously glancing
around to make sure their parents don’t see what I am doing.*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In
the last couple of months, my life has seen an astounding reversal, as I leave
the ranks of the judgmental, ignorant masses and join the much maligned ranks
of people who are stepping out of the four walls of their home with an infant. All
because my SIL had a baby six months ago! Now, I live with my ILs. The baby
also lives with my ILs. Ergo, baby and I live in the same house. This isn’t
really a bad thing because baby is incredibly cute and very interesting and
when she screams I shut the door to my room. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But
the difficult part comes when we got out of the house with baby in tow. I am
terrified that this baby is going to throw a tantrum and behave badly and have
everyone around cursing us – and that would just be my karma coming to bite me
in the ass, for all the times I cursed other people for their badly behaving
babies, little realising that babies, even 6 month old babies, seem to have a
mind and will of their own which can’t be matched by the combined will of baby’s
parents, grandparents and assorted aunts and uncles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Last
week, we went shopping for shower heads (yes, I live in exciting times!). Since
my interest in shower heads petered out about 5 minutes into seeing what
looked like the billionth shower head in that store, I offered to carry the
baby around so that the rest of the family could focus on the shower heads. For
over an hour the baby was happy and cheerful, though I can’t say the same for
my arms; but I suppose there are only so many bath tubs and kitchen sinks that
a baby can look at before she starts wailing, and for those few minutes that
she wailed while I rushed to hand her over to the MIL, I was more panic
stricken than I had been when I waited for the CAT results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But
today, we are upping the ante. We are taking baby along to see <i>Agneepath. </i>In the movie theatre. I tried
suggesting to SIL that maybe the audio-visual stimulation of a three hour long
masala movie on the big screen is too much for a 6 month old to handle. But she
is a doctor, and she said that it wasn’t a concern at all. But because I am
nothing if not persistent, I slyly googled for articles and studies which
proved that it was bad for a 6 month old to be taken to a movie hall – and I
came up with nothing. Nada. Zilch! When I think of the billions being poured
into scientific research, and see not one such article, I despair about the
current state of scientific research.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I
then tried wriggling out of the movie, but to no avail, since SIL is determined
that <b><i>we
should all go together</i></b> to the movie. She even postponed dinner at the
home of a family friend for this purpose. My ILs are very <i>Hum Saath Saath Hain </i>that way. Especially when viewed from the
prism of my own dysfunctional family (I offer you the mild example of this New
Years Eve where I had to call Amma, Dad and Samee separately at midnight even
though they were in the same house, because they were all on different floors,
doing different things!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And
so, to <i>Agneepath</i> we go. I have made
SIL promise that if the baby gets restless or looks like she is about to cry,
she will be taken out of the theatre. In fact, I’ve made it sound like such a
noble thing to do that MIL and SIL are actually arguing about who should carry
the baby out even as I type this post. I have also made sure we have pre-booked
the movie tickets (which we almost never do) so that we get the seats closest
to the exit. And now, I shall steel my nerves, gird my loins, and such like and
proceed forth. Wish me luck!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*Before you jump to baseless conclusions, this is not a really round-about pregnancy announcement. Now do scroll
back up and read, do. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-51253277139830388512012-01-25T18:17:00.000+05:302012-01-25T18:17:41.673+05:30New Year Resolutions (Alternative Title: Foolish Hopes)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As
a child, and even as an adolescent, I was wise and mature. As I grow older
however, I am becoming more childish and immature with each passing year, and
seem to be regressing both emotionally and mentally. Nowhere is this more
evident than in the fact that when I was younger, I refused to make New Year resolutions,
knowing that I wouldn’t keep them anyway. But all the wisdom of my childhood
and teens vanished as I entered into my twenties; and now, <s>even though I’m
well on my way to bidding farewell to my twenties</s>, I refuse to learn from
the failures of the past years, and continue to doggedly make resolutions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After
much reflection, I decided that there was a woeful lack of discipline in my
life, and that it had caused a fair amount of frustration and misery in the
past couple of years. Yes, it took me this long to reach that conclusion.
Anyway. So I decided that the theme for 2012 was going to be <b>DISCIPLINE</b>. With a capital D. Oh, well,
I guess you got that already. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So
my resolutions this year are <span lang="EN-GB">centred</span><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>on
bringing more discipline into various aspects of my life, both personal and
professional. And today I’m going to list them out on this blog in the hope
that making them public will pressurise me into putting more effort to stick to
them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Eat
healthy</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have very unhealthy eating
habits and have been working to change it for the last couple of years, with
limited success. I’ve decided to keep track of what I eat on a daily basis so
that I have a better idea of what is going into my body. Also, I’m going to try
to generally eat more of the good foods and less of the bad foods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span><!--[endif]-->Eat
more of greens, vegetables and fruits. Try to drink milk once a day. Try to drink
<span lang="EN-GB">at least</span><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>two
<span lang="EN-GB">litres</span>
of water every day. Try eating something green at least once a week. Ideally, try
to eat something every 2-3 hours. Snack on fruits and nuts instead of junk
food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span><!--[endif]-->Cut
down on the unhealthy foods. Not more than 600ml of cola a week. Not more than
two single scoops of ice-cream/one sundae a week. Not more than one visit to a
coffee shop in a week. Cut down on biscuits, chocolates, pastries, puffs and
other snacks. Replace regular oil with olive oil.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Work
out</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is a resolution that I have
been struggling to keep up for the last couple of years. The goal is to work
out atleast 3 times a week – I could potentially do yoga, badminton, swimming
or aerobics. I don’t need to lose weight but I definitely want to be fit and
toned, and look good for the beach at the end of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Take
better personal care</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now this is the resolution that I
have been most successful with in the last couple of years; and through this
resolution, I have managed to incorporate a lot of small (and seemingly silly)
changes in taking care of myself. For this year, I am going to try to: brush my
teeth twice a day, floss every day, take my multi-vitamins daily, oil my hair
once a week, <span lang="EN-GB">moisturise</span>
thoroughly, use a face pack/scrub once a week, and visit the salon regularly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Write
regularly</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For the longest time, I believed
that one either has a flair for writing or one doesn’t, and that’s that. But I’ve
come to appreciate that just like any other skill, writing takes time, effort
and practice. And that working on your writing is what makes one a better
writer, not sitting at the laptop and waiting for inspiration to strike. So my
resolution is to write more regularly (at least three times a week) and put
more thought and effort into my writing than I currently do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Learn
new things</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have realised that in the last
few years I haven’t learnt anything new. Not a single damn thing. And it makes
me so ashamed of myself. Especially because there are so many things I want to
learn and so do! So this year I am going to make an effort to learn on new
thing. So this year I am going to focus on: learning to tie a saree, learning
to cook/bake, learning to swim, learning a foreign language and learning to drive
on real roads (as opposed to imaginary roads without any traffic). I will be
happy to achieve at learn at least two of these skills. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>Function
more efficiently</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am quite the Queen of
Procrastination. I leave everything till the very last minute, and then
scramble to finish things on time. The good part is that I work best under
pressure and can always be counted on to meet tight deadlines. At my earlier
job, I was the go-to person for last minute work and urgent proposals. The bad
part about it is that it leads to stress, tension and general negativity that I
can do very well without. Now this procrastination is not limited to my
professional life but extends to my personal life as well – I am very lax about
responding to calls, emails, doing favours I have promised to do etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So this year I am going to work
on being more efficient – both professionally and personally. At the beginning
of every day, I am going to make a list of things I need to finish on that
particular day and I will not leave office till I finish it off – that way, I
will be under pressure to finish my work for the day and not take work home.
Every weekend, I will make a list of errands to be done for the weekend, and
ensure I finish them off that very weekend rather than postpone it for the
weekend that never comes. I am also going to make an effort to respond to all
personal calls and emails before I hit the bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now wish me luck for this one!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]--><b>De-clutter</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This has been one of my
resolutions for 2011 as well, and I did rather well on this front. Last year,
the aim of de-cluttering my life was to not store/buy things I did not need in
my life. The move to Hyderabad was very helpful because I gave away a lot of
things I did not use before packing up and moving. And since then, I ask myself
‘do I need this?” before making even the simplest of purchases. Except books;
they have been my only indulgence this year, and quite frankly, I don’t care to
cut down on that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This year, my resolution is to simply
continue with the de-clutter mantra and question myself before making any purchase.
I am also going to give away clothes, books and other things that I don’t need anymore.
Most importantly, I am going to work on building a lifestyle where I simply don’t
need so many things anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So
those are my resolutions for 2012. Wish me luck in keeping them. Oh, and
what are your resolutions for this year?</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-5084182845514323422012-01-06T15:11:00.000+05:302012-01-06T15:11:00.071+05:30Happy Happy 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Happy New Year
Everyone!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So the last week
of 2011 has been very interesting. We did a road trip along the Konkan coast in
a beat up old car; and it turned out to be a trip that neither and Nike will
ever forget. We experienced secluded beaches, soft golden sands, clear waters,
charming little fishing villages, delicious seafood, imposing forts in the
middle of the sea, and unbelievably scenic views. We also had many
misadventures – getting lost, running out of fuel, car breaking down, leaving
our ID cards behind and driving an extra 80kms to retrieve them, being refused
a hotel room because we didn’t have proof of being married, our car engine
sending out crazy fumes in the middle of a traffic ham, driving to what we
thought was the hill station Khandala, only to find out it was some random
little village of the same name!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We landed up in
Goa two days before New Years Eve. This is my fourth NYE in Goa in 7 years –
every other year, I end up there. Every time I go there, I am turned off by the
crowds and the traffic jams and tell myself I won’t do this again – and promptly
land up in time for NYE. Clearly, I am not growing up. Goa this year was
alright – we spent our mornings lying on the beach and playing in the water,
and the evenings going wild. By the end of our 3 days there, we were all
bruised and battered, quite literally. I still have my battle scars from Goa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">New Years Eve
itself was like any other in Goa. We went hopping from one beach to another, in
search of the perfect party (hint: there is no perfect party). In the course of
the night, we played Taboo, spent some time at a pick-up joint, participated in
a fire ritual, passed off as a Russian from Vladivostok and fell into a ditch
while running away from some hens (which were locked up in a big cage). And to
top it all, we reached the car and found out it was punctured! What can I say?
A crazy end to a crazy year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2011 started on
a good note. We spent all of <a href="http://nyxview.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html">January</a> traveling across South East Asia. In
<a href="http://nyxview.blogspot.com/2011/03/turning-27.html">February</a>, I saw many of my friends and cousins get married, turned 27, and had
a lovely time at home in Vizag with family and friends. In <a href="http://nyxview.blogspot.com/2011/03/holiday-travails.html">March</a>, I went on a
lovely holiday to Rajasthan, and then made the most of my last month in
Bangalore. In <a href="http://nyxview.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html">April</a>, I moved to Hyderabad and joined an exciting new job and
fell headlong into a hectic social life. In <a href="http://nyxview.blogspot.com/2011/05/mussoorie-footprints.html">May</a>, I spent a lovely week in
Mussoorie, started learning the ropes at my new job and continued to have a
busy social life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But things
started going downhill from then on. The last 7 months of the year were quite
awful. There were 6 deaths in my family. Two of my closest friends are headed
for a divorce. Three other very close friends are involved in messy
relationships which are causing them a lot of grief and pain. Some people very
close to me have been facing health issues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Personally too,
it hasn’t been a great year for me. I took on way more than I could handle, what
with the distance learning course, and my many personal projects, and ended up
feeling stressed and pressurised all the time. I slipped often in the process, and
then beat myself up endlessly for it. I didn’t really spend much time with
family and friends either because I was just so busy all the time. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My social life came to a complete standstill –
no movies, no reading, no dinners, no clubbing, nothing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At work, things
simply weren’t going the way I had planned so that was also another major
source of stress. And none of the holidays helped! I was sick throughout the
time we were in Siem Reap. Nike didn’t enjoy our weekend in Pondicherry. Our
three days in Kerala were a massive disappointment. And our year-end road trip
was not smooth sailing either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So yes, I’m
happy to see the end of 2011. And I’m really looking forward to 2012. I want
this to be a year of big changes and much excitement; a year during which I
work to be a better person; but also a fun and happy year. And for you and yousr
too, I wish for a year filled with health, happiness, love and laughter. Happy
New Year!</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-3342009726111906002011-12-06T16:57:00.001+05:302011-12-06T17:02:53.391+05:30Of Nike<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FDFDFD; line-height: 12.0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://chroniclesofdee.wordpress.com/">Dee</a> and <a href="http://smartassbride.wordpress.com/">SAB</a> have done this fun tag where they
listed seven weird things about their partners. And even as I was reading their
posts, I was making a list of all the weird things Nike does.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FDFDFD; line-height: 12.0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FDFDFD; line-height: 12.0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So without much further ado, here is the list:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FDFDFD; line-height: 12.0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Nike is obsessed about his hair, or
specifically, about losing his hair. He used to oil it EVERY SINGLE DAY, much
to my irritation. After much whining on my part, he now oils his hair every
other day only (and says he will blame me if he loses his hair!). And he
uses an expensive, special oil meant for hair growth. Now all this will make
sense if the man had thinning/balding hair but he is blessed with a head full of
thick hair so I just don’t understand his paranoia. He’s even calculated how
much it will cost for him to undergo hair-weaving treatment if the need arises,
and says he felt relieved when he found out it was <span lang="EN-GB">well</span> within his means – and he was NOT
joking!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>His attitude to money is very weird. When he has
money, he will blow it up like its Christmas every day. If he likes something,
he will buy it without even looking at the price tag. And when he doesn’t have
money, he will happily sit at home and not spend a penny the whole month! He has
lakhs owing to him from a previous employer – after a few months of trying to
get the money from him, he’s simply shrugged and given up. Sometimes, I think
about it and feel bad for him, but it really doesn’t bother him at all. He
recently lost 15000 bucks and it didn’t pinch him much. ‘It’s just money’’ is
the thought that defines his attitude to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>He’s bloody good at everything he takes up! When
he takes up something, he shows incredible commitment towards it and works
very, very hard at it. When he started DJing at IIMB, he ended up getting
professional offers! Six years after IIMB, people mail him to tell him they
were at a party, and that they wished he was there to play music. He started
cooking when he was in Singapore and within a few months he got so good that
when friends hosted parties, they’d call him up and ask if he could bring along
his special biryani or his kebabs to the party. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">His latest love is photography. He’s been into it only
for a year and a half now, but he’s been featured in the Flickr Hall of Fame,
has been shortlisted for a National Geographic contest, and even been paid hundreds
of dollars by Getty Images for his photos. He has thousands of people visiting
his Flickr and FB pages and each photo of his gets hundreds of comments. Gah!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>He LOVES shoes. He’s like a male Carrie or something.
He can’t resist buying shoes every few months. If we happen to be in a mall or
a market, he will inevitably go and check out some shoes. He recently bought a pair
of shoes and he loved them so much he wanted to buy another pair of the same, only
in a different <span lang="EN-GB">colour</span>
this time! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">5.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>He swears by the wisdom of ‘prevention is better
than cure’. If he so much as coughs or sneezes, he will completely give up on
cold water, take a medicine and stay indoors. If he runs a slight fever for one
day, that is enough for him to start on antibiotics. That said and done, he
handles illness very calmly – doesn’t curl up in bed and moan for mother like someone
else in this house (ahem) does.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">6.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>He looks good in just about everything. When we
first started shopping together, I’d be alarmed at some of the stuff he’d pick
out because it looked too weird or funky. And he’d try it on, and he would
totally pull it off. If you think this is a biased wife speaking, then ask
Samee. The first time she came shopping with us, she was gob smacked at how
Nike looked good in everything he tried on. After seeing this for a few years
now, she’s told him she’d like him to be her model if she ever gets a designer
line out for men. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">P.S: If you think it’s a good thing, it’s not! For my
self-esteem, that is. I forbid Nike from trying on anything when I go on a
mission to buy jeans. The experience is traumatic by itself without the man
effortlessly fitting into every single pair in the showroom. Hmph!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">7.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>With
the exception of biryani, he cares very little for food. He never craves for a
particular type of food, like other normal human beings do at times. If you
were to tell him that he will be denied a particular food for the rest of his
life, he wouldn’t be too bothered by it. All this with the exception of biryani
of course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fdfdfd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can write much
more about Nike and his eccentricities but I think I have done enough damage
for one day. ;-)</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-85588336817294312932011-12-02T02:01:00.001+05:302011-12-02T02:28:20.230+05:30Two Years and Counting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Today we complete two years of being married. And it's been a great ride so far*. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We had a small, pleasant dinner with family today. In a few hours, we are off to Kerala for a holiday. We intend to relax by the lake side, where I will read and my husband** will take pictures. We will spend a day in a houseboat which will be all to ourselves***. And we will explore Kochi. I am really looking forward to this, and I need to go now and pack so that I am not short of books, clothes or sunscreen (in that order!).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For our anniversary, Nike gifted me the entire Tintin collection. *big grin*. I ordered a whole bunch of things for him but they are all coming from abroad and the shipment has been delayed so I can't talk about it till they are here. :-(</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since his gifts have been delayed, I decided to order a very special cake for now. I happened to hear about this lady who makes gorgeous novelty cakes and got in touch with her; we discussed themes in great detail, she sent some designs and finally this is what she made for us:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_fzBJolBwN3JchI1mX-2wo5ZK4Nwbqg1Een8NO3hNR0d2aYYXe8eYJ6JWoq_dmyscT8GrgEZ2RMwyKbClrAuOnSR4bQXiL3MSvys-JN4uyhC3mbUrntQ2gMwwW5_iQMbodXa/s1600/383180_329794400371241_287519727932042_1580379_137645876_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_fzBJolBwN3JchI1mX-2wo5ZK4Nwbqg1Een8NO3hNR0d2aYYXe8eYJ6JWoq_dmyscT8GrgEZ2RMwyKbClrAuOnSR4bQXiL3MSvys-JN4uyhC3mbUrntQ2gMwwW5_iQMbodXa/s640/383180_329794400371241_287519727932042_1580379_137645876_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Isn't it the the most fabulous cake ever? I'm totally, utterly, completely wowed by it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">* On the days when we fight , I console myself by saying that atleast we haven't yet killed each other. Though my family and friends predict that it will be Nike who will eventually kill himself for having to deal with me! With friends like this.....</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">** It took me two whole years to start referring to him as 'my husband'. For the longest time, I couldn't bring myself to say the word. So much so that I would tell random people that he was my boyfriend or my friend, simply because I couldn't say the word out loud. I've finally learnt to say it, and I'm now enjoying how it sounds.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*** Well, except the boatmen and the cook of course, and I wouldn't want to get on to any houseboat without them!</span></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-78902726215138404242011-11-01T14:43:00.000+05:302011-11-01T14:43:16.890+05:30The One in Which I Italicise. A Lot.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The
Pondicherry trip was okay. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if Nike hadn’t
cribbed through the two days. Sure, we didn’t get anything to eat on the train
to Chennai, and the bus to Pondicherry broke down, and the next bus we got on
to had standing space only, and Auro beach was dirty and stinking and Auroville
was closed by the time we got there, but STILL.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In
Pondicherry, we didn’t do much. We stayed at a lovely heritage home. I love
these old heritage homes, with their high ceilings, wide open courtyards,
wooden beams and heavy doorknobs, and this one was all that and more. They
served <i>vadas</i> and <i>dosas</i> and <i>idlis</i> for
breakfast and it was all just perfect (see how I italicise all those words like
I’m an Indian Writing in English, which I am, but I meant like a published
author writing literary stuff, you know).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway.
We ate a lot in Pondicherry. We went to all these places where they served
Creole cuisine. The food was expensive but very good. Nike complained that
Creole cuisine seemed no different from the generic Continental cuisine but I
said that was okay because Creole = French, and France is a part of the
continent. He wasn’t reassured so on the final day he said we should eat the
local cuisine which was <i>Chettinad</i>
cuisine. And I said no, the local cuisine is <i>Karaikudi </i>cuisine. No matter, he said, and took me to <i>Anjappar</i> where we asked for <i>Chettinad</i> Chicken and got served Pepper Chicken
instead. We enjoyed it until we found out it was Pepper Chicken and not <i>Chettinad</i> Chicken, and then we felt
quite betrayed and disappointed. I theorised that we should never eat at chain
restaurants that open branches abroad because then their focus is on their
foreign branches, while the poor locals have to deal with sub-standard food and
service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We
drove down to Auro Beach one evening, and it was dirty and stinking and Nike
said “Gah! Vizag beach is a hundred times better than this” and I felt
inordinately pleased; though in retrospect, I’m not exactly sure that was a
compliment. We then drove to Auroville which was closed by the time we reached
there but I was determined to enjoy the tiny little villages we drove through,
except that Nike started a long discussion about <b><i>why </i></b>people would want to
leave everything to come and live in an <i>ashram
</i>in the middle of nowhere, and I gave him millions of reasons why people
would want to do so, but he didn’t find any of the reasons convincing so I told
him sternly that he shouldn’t judge other people by his own warped world view,
but I don’t think he cared much for my words of wisdom. Oh well!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We
walked up and down the promenade quite a bit, and it felt good to just sit and
watch the waves crashing against the rocks. We also drove around the quaint
French Quarter, which was simply lovely, and it made me want to go and live in
France. Though I suppose I could as well go and live in Pondicherry!
Apparently, Pondicherry is also home to 153 temples – which isn’t really surprising
because there is a temple.on.every.single.street – but we didn’t visit any.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Our
bus ride back to Chennai was eventful, to say the least. We got on to a bus
which went by the bypass road instead of the ECR, and then the conductor convinced
us to get off at this place called Perungalathur which is on the outskirts of
Chennai. The auto drivers asked for 500 bucks!, yes you read that right, 500
bucks! to take us to the city. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Instead,
we decided to take the local train, which cost only 12 bucks for the two of us,
and where I had my own <i>Alaipayuthey/Sakhi/Saathiya</i>
moment. I got into the ladies’ compartment and Nike got into the adjoining
general compartment, and then I realised that my phone, wallet and ticket were
all with Nike. And so at the next stop I ran into the adjoining compartment,
which could as well have been a men’s compartment since it had only men (duh!),
and pushed my way through the men, all the while urgently calling out for Nike.
Every single person in the compartment was staring at me, and when I finally
found Nike, there was a hushed silence, and I felt like they were all waiting
for me to do something filmy, (like maybe hug him and burst into tears?). Instead,
I took my wallet, phone and tickets from him, and ran back to my own
compartment, leaving our audience very disappointed. Such drama in our lives, I
tell you! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After
this, we reached Chennai safe and sound, and made it to the wedding in time.
The bride was looking absolutely radiant and lovely, and the groom was looking
decent, which is saying a lot for him (BJ, I hope you’re reading this). We
congratulated the happy couple, thulped the yummy food and headed back to the
hotel for a night out with the gang. It shows how much we have matured over the
years that everyone stayed sober that night. Well, that’s not really true, but
nobody got drunk either and we all turned in by 2.30 that night, and some of us
even woke up at 5am that morning and made it to the wedding on time, while the
rest trooped in for breakfast. This new-found discipline and punctuality is a sure
sign of old age. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So
that’s all about Pondicherry and Chennai. I had more adventures on my way to Bhubaneswar
and I had a great time at home in Vizag for Deepavali but for now, I’ll leave
you with this much. How was your Deepavali?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-67933109379465922552011-10-21T15:45:00.000+05:302011-10-21T15:47:05.678+05:30Finally...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9px;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Finally, finally, finally I have my life back! </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> So here is what happened in the last one month: </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I had a good trip to Kashmir. A very fruitful work trip. I also met some really
warm, wonderful people and made new friends. And managed to do a bit of
sightseeing. Kashmir, and its people, are totally enchanting, and I’m going to
be back soon.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I
also went to Dehradun for two days on work. I spent most of those two days in
the airport but it was a good trip work-wise.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I
finally managed to get started on one of the personal projects I was ranting
about in the previous posts. It’s just a start, but it’s a good start, and it’s
given me some confidence that I can do it. There is more work on that project
coming up in November but now I have the confidence to handle it.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I
gave the GRE, and did pretty well, considering I had absolutely no preparation.
Since it’s the new format the results won’t be out till mid-November, but at
the end of the test the computer told me that the equivalent score according to
the old format was in the 1500-1600 range. I understand that’s a very good
score, so I am quite pleased with my performance.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I
also sat for an exam for one module of my distance learning course, and I didn’t
do as badly as I expected. I think I stand a good chance of passing. So that’s over
and done with. And I am not taking up the next module till January so I get
some breathing time.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span>After
all these trips and exams came Nike’s brothers wedding. The wedding was in
Delhi but there were a lot of pre and post wedding events that kept us busy. It
was a lot of fun, with people coming down from across the country to celebrate,
and there were so many people and so many festivities it made me quite dizzy.
But lots of fun was had, everything went off very smoothly, and the happy
couple is now in Europe on their honeymoon while we continue to be disoriented
and tired and suffer from the empty house syndrome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’m
back to work, and I’m still a little disoriented from l that’s been happening,
but I’m slowly getting back into the groove, and looking forward to a more
relaxed life where I go to office, do my work, and relax in the evenings. Day
before, after work, I met up with Srinu (who’s here from the US) for a brief
while and then hung out at Gloria Jeans at Inorbit with Samee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yesterday,
Nike and I went to a random Telugu movie – it’s called Pilla Zamindar, and
while I’m loathe to call it a bad movie given its interesting concept, it’s a
badly made movie with awful production values, so it’s probably much kinder to
think of it as a tele-serial. We then went out for dinner; ArmyMan was supposed
to join us but he ditched in the last minute (and today he calls to ask if I
want to meet for lunch on a day when I’m swamped at work!!!). And after dinner,
we came home and watched an episode of Dexter and I even read for a while (‘The
Wish Maker’ by Ali Sethi).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It’s
been so long since I’ve had such normal, relaxed days that I am truly relishing
this time. Sometimes, I feel guilty about wasting my time when I should be
studying/ working on my personal projects/working to meet some deadline – and then
I catch myself and tell myself that I don’t have to feel guilty any longer, my
time is finally mine. Life is good!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tonight
Nike and I leave for Pondicherry – I’ve been wanting to go there forever, and
we’ve finally found the time and opportunity to make a quick trip. From
Pondicherry to Chennai for BJ and Maggu’s wedding – I’ve been telling them how
happy I am that Maggu is finally make an honest man of BJ, and that they mustn’t
forget the key role I played in bringing them together, and I’d love to tell
you guys the story but it isn’t fit for family forums like this, really. I will
be meeting the rest of the gang in Chennai too and it’s been so long since I
met them so I’m really looking forward to this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">From
Chennai I am going to Bhubaneswar for two days on work. AND from Bhubaneswar I
am going to Vizag for just one day, but that one day is Deepavali, and for now,
I can live with that. I didn’t think I would get to go home for Deepavali, what
with the festival falling bang in the middle of the week, and the travel to
Chennai and all, but things somehow came together and I’m going to be in Vizag
for just that day and I’m happy. It’s not that we celebrate with a lot of dhoom-dhamaka
- Samee is scared of fireworks and crackers and while I really enjoy them, I’ve
given up on them for the past couple of years – but I haven’t been home for a
single festival this year so I am happy I am finally making it to the last but
one festival.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Oh!
And my poor, neglected blog turned seven this month. SEVEN years, y’all! </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-82965401145433367492011-09-28T22:48:00.000+05:302011-09-28T22:48:23.340+05:30Like A Yo Yo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>I wrote this post last Tuesday but was too busy to publish it till now. Also, when I wasn't too busy I was too lazy. Or forgetful. Such is life.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Warning: <i>Long, whiny, annoying post ahead. Please feel free to skip and head to the last 3-4 paragraphs; actually, no, I INSIST that you skip the whole sorry post and head directly to the last 3-4 paragraphs.</i></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The last week, everything in my life was going wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At work, I had undertaken a new task in mid-August for a 4 month period, pushing back my main project by those four months. Yet, a month after I had made my new work plan, I was unable to secure a single appointment with the people I needed to meet; basically, I had nothing to show for all my efforts for the past month, I was behind my work plan, my main project was getting delayed, my work load was piling up, and all of this was increasingly stressing me out.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To make things work, my work from home policy had also been changed. Earlier I worked from home about twice a week, so the 3/3.5 hour commute I did wasn’t so bad because it was only thrice a week. But the idea of spending 15-17 hours a week commuting, the very thought itself was enough to make me want to cry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And then you know the distance learning course I am doing? Well, I covered only about one-fourth of the portion I am supposed to have covered by now. And my exams are in the first week of October *This is the cue for full on panic attack* So I had this assignment to submit last Tuesday, and I spent ALL NIGHT up working on the assignment, and due to a genuine confusion about submission timelines, I missed the submission deadline by a few minutes. Which means I have to defer the module and take it in another session – so the studying I had done for this particular module, the time I had spent working on the assignment, the money I had spent on registering for the exam, they were all down the drain; not to speak of how awful I feel about not being able to keep up with what I had set out to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And remember those two personal projects I had mentioned in a previous post (I know that by now they are all beginning to sound the same)? Well, I haven’t so much as started on them, and one of them is due to end on September 30<sup>th</sup>. And the other one a couple of days after that. Argh!!!<span> </span><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To make things work, I was constantly disappointing my family. Amma is in IIMA on a Faculty Development Programme and she wanted me to go visit her in Ahmedabad. I booked tickets to go, but every weekend, either or both of us had various commitments and the tickets kept getting endlessly postponed. Finally, I never went, and she’s heading back next weekend. She was there for over 3 whole months, and I couldn’t make the time to go visit her for even one weekend. I can’t even begin to describe how awful I feel about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And Nike’s family was disappointed that I was too busy to be involved in the wedding work (Nike’s brother is getting married in October). Cards, menu, shopping, decoration – whatever the task, I cry off saying I have to study or work. So I’m sending the message that I am not interested in being a more active part of this wedding.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Meanwhile, my social life is non-existent. I have seen an average of one movie a month since moving to Hyderabad in April – earlier I would watch a movie a week. I go out for dinner or clubbing about twice a month – again, earlier this would be once or twice a week. And for other stuff – day trips, picnics, plays, concerts etc. – I haven’t had that life since I moved here. I hadn’t met some of my closest friends in MONTHS, despite living in the same city. I hadn’t met Pinni in so many weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And by Thursday, I couldn’t take it anymore. It felt like my life was completely <span lang="EN-GB">unravelling</span>. That night, my friend A called up and casually asked me how I was doing and I was * this * close to breaking down and sobbing. All this stress and panic got so bad that I started feeling rather unwell; I woke up on Friday morning feeling so tired that it was exhausting to even get out of bed, and I called in sick to work.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And then, the much needed break happened. At noon on Friday, I got confirmed appointments for meetings in Kashmir! This was so many birds with one stone – first, my new task at work was finally taking off, and I know that once the first meeting happens, it’s easy to get the other meetings; second, since I would be in Kashmir the whole week, I would not have to commute; third, working on the field actually saves me a lot of time (because I save time commuting, save the time I need to spend with family, save time in meetings and administrative work at office, and get back to my room much earlier) and gives me more time to study and focus on my personal projects. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And finally, I get a short holiday in Kashmir! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I felt so much better that I immediately planned activities to correct things and prod them along in the other areas also. This weekend, I did wedding shopping and planning with the in-laws, visited Pinni, met friends for dinner, and got started on the . Next weekend, Amma will be in Hyderabad and I intend to spend time with her. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am writing this post from Kashmir (I landed in Srinagar on Tuesday afternoon) and already, I feel so much better. I’m calmer, more peaceful, and more confident about my ability to handle this phase. I just need to stretch myself a little for the next one month, and I will be fine. So all’s well that ends well.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-37880884991858610842011-08-30T17:23:00.002+05:302011-08-30T17:28:22.821+05:30Ding Dong Bell<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Because that’s as good a title as any for the nonsensical post that is to follow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I’ve continued to be insanely busy through August too. My work has suddenly picked up pace. The distance learning course continues to be demanding – lots of readings, regular assignment submissions etc. On top of this, I have taken on two personal projects – both of which require significant investment of time, effort and money. And because we are no staying with the in-laws, we have all sorts of family obligations to fulfill. It’s a classic case of biting off way more than I can chew. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I like my days to be full and busy – but this is too much, I say. I constantly feel sleepy and exhausted. The sense of being hassled accompanies me all the time. My social life has come to a standstill. If I so much as plan to go out for dinner on a weekend, I start to feel guilty about the billion things on my to-do list. And to add salt to the wound, some of the things I have been working on fell through, and that put me in a blue funk for a while. The worst part is that this situation won’t change till November. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Alright, now I’m done with the whining. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The best part of this month was that Nike and I took a short holiday to Cambodia. Yay! So we got engaged on August 15<sup>th</sup> two years ago – and since we just need an excuse to travel and since this August 15<sup>th</sup> holiday gave us a long weekend, we took another 3 days off and set off for Cambodia. I wanted to go to Kerala since I had already been to Cambodia, but Nike was keen on Cambodia, and because of all his <a href="http://nyxview.blogspot.com/2011/06/birthday-blues.html">dashed birthday travel plans</a>, I graciously gave in to his wishes. I also made it very clear that next time, <b>I </b>get to decide our holiday destination, mutual agreement be damned. Ahem!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So Cambodia – which was just Siem Reap, actually – was all things fun and interesting. We stayed in this lovely little boutique hotel with a nice pool, and the most marvelous staff, and a four poster bed. It was wonderful. We had a really good guide who took us around the most important temples around the Angkor Park region for the first two days. And on the third day, we got this super-sweet and super-talkative driver who took us to the temples in the outskirts, and to the floating forest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On the last day we just got long, luxurious massages, hung out with other travelers, shopped at the local markets, and just soaked in the very touristy atmosphere of Siem Reap. It was a lovely holiday, but it was also tiring and too short. And since I had a bad cold from the time my flight from Bangalore took off, I had pretty much drugged myself throughout the holiday, so when I came back home I was rather disoriented. I’ve been saying that I need a holiday from the holiday, but nobody listens to me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now I must be off, for tonight we are going to the old city area to check out the Ramzan festivities, and eat Haleem. </span></span></div></div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-64706266839374772662011-08-10T13:50:00.000+05:302011-08-10T13:50:56.696+05:30An Appeal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smart Ass Bride in her<a href="http://smartassbride.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/an-appeal-from-the-un-to-the-worlds-people/"> recent post</a> highlighted an urgent need. I am replicating her post below:</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The UN needs 1.6 billion USD to save the lives of famine stricken Somalian refugees, especially the women and children. So far, they have been able to collect only half that amount.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="alignnone" height="427" src="http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00730/TH23_OPED_EAFRICA-S_730802f.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Refugees" width="636" /></span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Image credit : thehindu.com</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2285564.ece" style="color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Here is Ban Ki Moon’s appeal</a> to the <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">world’s people</span></span> – <b><u>it includes me and you.</u></b></span></div><blockquote style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 50px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 60px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">This is a wake-up call we cannot ignore. Everyday, I hear the <span style="color: maroon; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">most harrowing reports </span>from our U.N. teams on the ground: Somali refugees, their cattle and goats dead from thirst, walking for weeks to find help in Kenya and Ethiopia; <span style="color: maroon; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">orphans who arrive alone, their parents dead, terrified and malnourished in a foreign land…</span></strong></span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">..That is why I reach out today — to focus global attention on this crisis, to sound the alarm and call on the world’s people to help Somalia in this <span style="color: maroon; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">moment of greatest need</span>. To save the lives of the people at risk — the vast majority of them women and children — we need approximately<span style="color: maroon; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> $1.6 billion</span> in aid. So far, international donors have <span style="color: maroon; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">given only half that amount.</span> To turn the tide, <span style="color: maroon; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">to offer hope in the name of our common humanity, we must mobilise worldwide</span></strong><span style="color: maroon; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">.</span></span></div></blockquote><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let us *please* awaken to the fact that we can do more than sparing a thought for them. The horror the images invoke in us needn’t be a one moment thing. We *can* do something here. We are not powerless to watch and let this go. My dollars and yours matter – <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/emergency/somalia/global_landing.html" style="color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Please do donate.</a></span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">With <strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">as less as 7$</strong>, we will be able to provide a malnourished refugee child with ready-to-use therapeutic food. <strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">For 100$</strong> we will be able to give someone a survival kit. These are not staggering figures, <strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">this is money we can spare</strong> – we don’t have to wait for our governments to donate.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can donate online at the <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/emergency/somalia/global_landing.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">UNHCR website.</span></a> You have the option of making a monthly gift or a single gift. I was able to make the payment successfully through the global portal for directly donating to the UNHCR. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">If you live in Australia/Canada/HK/US/China, you’ll also be able to donate through your national offices</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sometimes, cynicism / plain apathy overtakes us at these moments and makes us feel that there are people dying in our own country, that this might be beyond us, that the agency’s implementation and rescue efforts might not be flawless etc. That doesn’t preempt us from doing out bit. Nor will our arguments help that baby in the picture.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We feel helpless many times, when we are actually powerless to do anything but seethe and let it pass. This is **not** that time. We are not going to travel and deliver help directly, but we are empowered just the same.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Please spread the word on Facebook and your blogs. And do leave a line if you donate. It wouldn’t be boasting if it inspires another person to do the same! So much of our lives are laid open for all to see – in blogs, in Facebook posts. Why hide the best of us, especially when it can make a difference?</strong></span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you do not have a Visa/ Mastercard and would still like to donate, I can do it for you instead and forward the receipt to you. Please do leave a line in the comments section or drop a line at ramyachatter AT gmail DOT com.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can’t help thinking that it could have been me or my family. Thank you for taking time to read the appeal.</span></div></div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566051.post-42045462047434260452011-07-27T00:30:00.000+05:302011-07-27T00:30:04.152+05:30Such a Busy Month<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So July has been a very, very busy month. I’ve spent the entire month in a constant state of exhaustion and limited sleep, and I feel very overwhelmed by all that I have on my plate. At the same time, I can’t lay claim to efficiency either – I waste most of my time surfing the internet, reading blogs, obsessively checking my mails, and taking long naps in the middle of the day. So I waste the whole day, and at night I start hating myself for wasting the day and not making the slightest dent in my list of things to do for the day, and I promise myself that I will work hard the next day and make up for it, but that tomorrow never comes. Sigh!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So yes, I’m very displeased with myself at the moment. But let me tell you what all I have been upto in this month.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Spent the first five days of July in Bhopal for a conference. The conference was interesting, and it was a great networking opportunity. But it was also very tiring. I managed to make time to meet up a friend in Bhopal and hang out with her, and to do a bit of shopping, but didn’t have time for sightseeing.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> One of the main reasons why I feel constantly overwhelmed and short of time is because I have enrolled in a distance learning course which is very intense. It requires atleast 20 hours of study per week, and because of timed assignments, there is no scope for slacking. So I spent the next five days of July slogging my ass off, and putting in night outs in order to finish an assignment for the course. I ALWAYS underestimate the work involved, and overestimate my capabilities, so this last minute slogging and night out are, and always have been, an inevitable part of my life.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Once the assignment was over, I hightailed it off to Bangalore. My friend Amu was moving from Bangalore to Gurgaon, another friend L was moving to Chandigarh on a project, Swas had had a baby and couldn’t meet us as much as before, and I was already in Hyderabad; so this was like one last meet-up for the Bangalore gang before everyone headed off in separate paths. I had a great time in Bangalore, catching up with old friends and taking in this much-loved city but at two days, the trip was too short.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> As soon as I got back from Bangalore, I had an important personal submission to make. So the next five days saw me putting more night-outs and slogging my ass to finish the submission. In case you are wondering why I am perpetually doing this, kindly refer above comment regarding underestimating work and overestimating myself.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>The very day after I completed my submission, my SIL went in to labour. I spent the whole day at the hospital, awaiting the birth of my niece. Baby A was born at 14.40pm on 15<sup>th</sup></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> July 2011, a tiny little thing, weighing 2.6kgs, red and wrinkled. Nike is a thoroughly smitten Mamu. The next three days after her birth saw family coming down from different parts of the country and even the world (that was her father coming from the UK) to see the little one, so that kept me busy too.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> The baby shares her birthday with Amma. Samee and I are still not sure if that’s a good thing! So I was supposed to go to Ahmedabad that weekend to join Amma for her birthday, but the birth of Baby A saw me cancelling the tickets.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> I finally managed to relax, watch a movie, meet up some friends, and catch up on my work – for all of FOUR days before Nike and I headed off to Vizag. We were in Vizag for four day, and the days were very hectic, though it felt very good being home. I came back just today morning to Hyderabad – I’ve left home to go to college 10 years ago, and even after all these years, every time I go to Vizag and its time for me to go back to Bangalore/Hyderabad/wherever I am living at that period, I always, always keep wishing I could stay home one more day.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> I got back just today from Vizag, and already I am dreading the assignment submission that is due next week. I am WAY behind on my coursework, and the only way I can finish the assignment on time is if I put in double the usual time required this week to catch up on the coursework, and spend the weekend writing my assignment. Meanwhile, I have lots of work pending on the office front, and that is adding to my panic and frustration. Sigh!</span></li>
</ul><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So amidst all the work, the studying, the submissions and the travel, my personal commitments have taken a backseat. I am not replying to mails or calls, I have a few writing commitments which I have fulfilled, blog posts have been ignored. I really need to get my act together, stop wasting time, and be much more efficient and disciplined if I want to finish most of my pending work by this week and start off August on a fresh note.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Till then, ciao! </span><o:p></o:p></div></div>Ramyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200409540625218822noreply@blogger.com4