Friends, Meet My Friends... :)

I had no clue, my life would turn out this way...

I was convinced I had it all chalked out, and well, I almost had, but it simply took me a couple of years and my sister leaving for Med School and I had thrown it all away...I didn't realize how royally my life was getting screwed ! And when I did realize, people around me, utterly disappointed, told me it was too late...

Well, my life would've been different, without a doubt, but I wonder if I'd have found and kept the company of certain people, people who have been with me in my experiences, my memories, people who know me in and out...Well "Best Friends" sounds cliche, so let me just say, these are my shipwreck companions and I have not a dilemma in being stranded with them on some lost island over the high seas ! =)

So friends, I'd like to present to you, my friends...

Meet Richa & Biswa: ♥

My two best buddies all the way from school...Richa has been with me since 3rd grade and I remember wishing she was my best friend the day she saved me when my hair got caught in my school bag zipper with my head inside the bag ! I cannot recollect why I was upto such an antic, but I remember that she pulled me out and also some of my hair and right then and there, she became my hero ! Though our ways ran different after school, through thick and thin, Rich remains my closest friend till date...

My memory is fuzzy when I try to recollect how and when I met Biswa Prakash Das and when I started tying him Rakhis on Raksha Bandhan...Well, long story short, its been atleast 11 years since I have stuck to the childish ritual we started someday, and today, he's way closer to me than some of my own brothers...Even though we've always been far away, staying in touch off and on, the moment we meet, even if it is after years, its always like we were never apart !

Meet Ritwik & Yuvraj: ♥

The day I stepped into Maharshi College of Natural Law, Bhubaneswar, I thought, I'd lost my last hope of a sane existence ever ! But then, I managed to meet Yuvraj Nanavati Parekh and Ritwik Mohanty...I remember sitting next to Ritwik in my Alternative English class (The only subject that made sense to me)...All my first year I guessed his name was "Hrithik" (Owing to the KNPH obsession) and only when we were signing a petition for some irrelevant cause, I saw "Ritwik" scrawled in illegible writing ! Anyways, the stuck up, specs clad Ritwik and I spoke for the first time when I told him that Richa (whom he had a huge crush on at their Physics tuition) was my best friend...Well, what started as "patofying" the "best friend" led to me playing Cupid and getting the two love birds together ! And today, every time they celebrate their anniversary, they dont forget to discuss what I'll be gifting them on their marriage ! By the way, the gifts have scaled up from a Digi Cam to a Vacay in the South East ! :D

Yuvraj came across as a rebel with a cause so we automatically had to click ! From the same choices in movies, music and dark chocolate, Yuvi and I live up to the quote, "Opposites Attract but Likes Adhere"...Over the years, there have been tantrums, whims and yelling fights...But Yuvi and Vasu have lasted every storm to greet the rainbow at the end !

Meet Smarajit: ♥

Popeye the Sailor and I have never ever had a fight ! And we have been together 6 years now...Sam and I have a taste for everything crazy, tattoos to bad movies (RGV Ki Sholay, James & Bad Boys in Hindi !)...Well, dont even ask ! We are those close friends who can always always take each other for granted and there'll never be a tiff about it ! Sam simply spells F-U-N in my dictionary !

Meet Sunita, Devyani, Bidipta & Anvesha: ♥

The year was 2005...Dr Sunita Behera was in Year 1 Veterinary Science and I was in Year 1 Agriculture...Our beds stood next to each other in our clumsy dorm and though she came across as one who never never ever spoke, we did talk eventually ! And talk we did...With absolutely nothing in common, I haven't an inkling how we managed to forge an exemplary friendship, a year in the dorm and 4 years hence...Maybe it was my quirky traits and her patience, my immaturity and her sophistication, my attitude and her aptitude...We complemented each other perfectly !

Devyani Di was 2 years my senior when I moved into Room 204 with her...My friendship started with an admiration for her indomitable energy, her humour and a bulk of real grey matter in a pretty li'l head, but continued when I realised that she had been right there for me everytime I had a pitfall...She reaffirmed my confidence in myself, consoled me without sugarcoated words and guided me without guile, without hesitation...
Bidipta Di was a Bhubaneswarian and controversial ! A combination I found delectable ! Though she managed to terrorise the entire lot all through our first year, I got to know the real softie in her when I became a sophomore myself...From endless hours of gossip to cups of tea on the terrace, from pouring our hearts out to tasty Tuesday Upma, I thank Bidipta Di for loving me unconditionally and over the years, literally being there for me !

Whenever I think of Anvi, I think Paisley ! That's crazy, but well, we both are ! Tea addicts, translating English tracks in vernacular dialect, clicking incredibly nutty snaps and ofcourse, laughing relentlessly, over the same joke ! I maybe one of her closest friends, but for me, she is the kid sister I never had...


Meet Aliza & Abinash: ♥
Two people were meant to study at a college called SCS Junior Autonomous and in a few years graduate from OUAT, a Grade A in the NCC C Certificate Examination under their belt...One was the staunch Puri Brahmin, the other was an astute merit holder...And as it always does, fortune shone upon me and in these circumstances, the three of us crossed each other's path...
Being fiery Scorpios, Aliza and I have had our share of tiffs but tiff or no tiff, she remains my listener, my silent supporter...And ofcourse, being the best student in class, generously helping me graduate by donating her notes !
Abinash brings to my mind images of the perfect Senior Under Officer, green eyes shining, remarkably suave and handsome once he decided to shave off his atrocious moustache ! All through four years, he was my best friend on campus much to the disdain of Khanda Sir and all the girls who sought after him !! Though I could neither share his charm with horses or skill in theatrics, I was proud to be the elder sister applauding his every feat and winning his respect and admiration in return...

And Finally...Meet Shirin: ♥

There's something about tall girls, I guess, somehow, they think alike ! From Suni, Devyani Di and Anvi to Shirin, I guess I was always meant to be with other "Navi" like creatures...The very first thing that struck me about Shirin was French Manicure on her nails ! My second glance went to her unconventional beauty and by the time I reached to the third, which was, BTW, our mutual admiration for ABBA and Ayn Rand, we were already friends ! Over a year, she has been my confidante at MANAGE, someone I can run to and pour my heart out and know that she'll say something that'll make me feel better in a thrice !

IT Engineer, Chemical Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Lawyer, Shipmate, Veterinarian, Agronomist, Banker, Biotechnologist, Would Be Academician, Banker (Again), and Agribusiness Manager...My menagerie...I guess this is the inner circle of friends, they say, every Scorpio has...

Reader's Diary: "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Capote & Lee

Why am I writing this?

There are five facts...

Fact #1:

Something sad and awful happened to me two nights back...It was no doubt the consequence of my unimaginably immense foolhardiness and yet, I feel sorry for myself...Well, I'm yet to decide whether I feel sorry or angry or relieved...As ever, my emotions will take their own sweet time to sort out ! Wait a minute, it all happened after midnight, so that officially makes it yesterday !

So, what I did decide is that I'll read 13 books this month...Why 13?No, it wasn't a random choice but dont even ask !

I'm unabashedly lifting MRPS's idea of Project 365...As a matter of fact, I'm already done with two and "To Kill A Mockingbird" shall be my third book this month...This is my Project 13... =)

Fact #2:

Now, how did I choose this specific book from the 90 odd e-books I have?

I finished a book called "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote yesterday...If you've seen the movie, "Capote", you shall remember Philip Seymour Hoffman's quirky companion played by Catherine Keener...She was Nelle Harper Lee, the gay Capote's best female friend...

So, it made sweet sense to me to choose Nelle's book after having read her best friend's...Both of the books were bestsellers, remembered to this day as a reader's delight...

Fact #3:

I came across five unique names in the very first paragraph of TKAM...Jem, Ewells, Dill, Atticus and Boo Radley...And in the next page was Calpurnia ! Sounded like fishes to me !

In the next few pages I found that Jem was Jeremy, Dill was Charles Baker and Boo was Arthur...But Atticus was still Atticus and Calpurnia was still her own name...

But I must admit, the outlandish names did push me forward, reaffirming my good judgement in my choice of book ! =)

Fact #4:

"To Kill A Mockingbird" was made into an Academy Award and Golden Globe award winning motion picture back in 1962...No doubt, that makes the story all the more worthy of my kudos, but what really fetched me was Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch...

Now, my Mum, a fine old lady that she is was nutty about Mr. Peck ! Everytime she saw Dev Anand on screen, she would bring up his semblance to Gregory Peck and dig into 40 year old nostalgia...And so, when I dug into recent nostalgia, I found this book all the more endearing... :3

Fact #5:

Keeping my subliminal and surface emotions aside, I also chose this book for mere intellectual purposes ! As is evident (Fact #5), I place the least priority to anything to do with grey matter but my choice in books isn't that crass yet...

"TKAM" was awarded the Pulitzer in 1961...Much like "Tom Sawer" and "Huckleberry Finn", "TKAM" was inducted into classroom teaching as early as 1961...

Moreover, apart from several honours and awards and her share of paparazzi attention, Nelle Harper Lee, the prodigious writer, also received The Presidential Medal of Freedom on 5th November, 2005, (A Day Before My B'day, BTW)...

Well, I'm at my 25th page today and though I stated 5 facts to justify why I started this post, I've also managed to convince myself why exactly I love reading this book...Maybe I can elaborate that in yet another post... ;)

♥ ♥ Well...R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S...But Cute ! ♥ ♥

I just realized

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I can post cute miniscule hearts on my blog ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

♥ ♥ ♥

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ And some cute li'l ones too ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

♥ ♥ ♥

And one last really cute biggie

♥

Mumbai Beckoned... =)

♥

(A Quote I Read Today)

"Women Are Like Teabags...You Can Never Know How Strong She Is Till She's In Hot Water..."

(A Lunch I Liked)

Chappatis & Masala Alu...

(A Call I Received)

Nani, reminding me to get a saree for Ma and a Walker for Patutie...

(A Quiz I Took on FB: How Will You Meet Your Soulmate)

Spring Break of 2012 !

A surfer guy about 6' 1" will "accidentally" run into you while playing football, apologize, ask your name, and then as your conversation goes on, will ask you for dinner the next night ! Yay for u !

(The Songs I Heard Today)

"Angels Cry"

"When You and I Said Goodbye, I Felt The Angels Cry"

"Airplanes"

"Can We Pretend That Airplanes In The Night Sky Are Like Shooting Stars...I Could Really Use A Wish Right Now !"

(A Friend I Met)

Nitesh Yadav back from his Marketing Project in Orissa...

(Something I Miss)

My weekend with Sid & Ipsi...

(Somewhere I Wont Go)

Bowling at Leela...

(An Important Lesson Learnt)

How to post hearts on my blog !

♥

Reader's Diary: "In Cold Blood"

Some quotes from the most famous work of Truman Capote

The description of a harvested Wheat field:

"Then, with the dog running ahead of him, he moved southward toward the fields, lion-colored now, luminously golden with after-harvest stubble..."

Nancy Clutter

Nancy Clutter in her teacher, Mrs. Stringer's words:

"Nancy Clutter is always in a hurry, yet she always has time...And that, dear students, is one definition of a lady..."

The Clutters

Mrs Riggs to Nancy:

"Good. But why written in three styles of script?"

Nancy's reply:

"Because I'm not grown up enough to be one person with one kind of signature !"

Perry (Above) & Dick

Perry strumming his Gibson and singing for Otto, Dick and The Cowboy, aboard the Estrellita:

“In this world today while we’re living

Some folks say the worst of us they can,

But when we’re dead and in our caskets,

They always slip some lilies in our hand.

Won’t you give me flowers while I’m living…”

In Barbara's letter to Perry:

"There is no shame having a dirty face...The shame comes when you keep it dirty..."

Perry:

"Am ready to climb those thirteen steps..."

Brits & Pieces: Summers 2010

I was warned ! I saw it coming ! And finally, there it was, hovering over me, inescapable...

Hopping onto the crammed Spicejet on the fateful night of 11th April 2010, I was about to enter the premises of a new city, my unexpected home for the next two months...

I remember being asked in the Interview, "Do you like travelling?"I'd nodded excitedly hoping that my summers shall be spent in golden wheat fields in Punjab and Haryana or dust laden Wheat Mandis in Khanna and Bareilly...I could see myself questioning millers at Alibaug and visiting our factory at Lawrence Road Delhi...I wish I could've forseen what was about to happen !

I shall never forget the Kathi Rolls at the airport and the Logan drive to our destination...Unlike its name, Britannia Gardens housed the Corporate Office and several guesthouses aptly named Deodar, Chinar, Ashoka, Champaka and Gulmohur...A concrete irony ! I was received by the complacent keeper Shankar who had put me up in a beautiful flat atop Deodar, with all the other interns...I remember meeting my first co-intern Varun, as I struggled to carry my luggage up the floors...It was Renuka who opened the door to our flat, 3B Deodar...Inside, I met Manjari, Swetleena and Janani...Though it was late and our induction was early next morning, I knew I wouldn't sleep in peace unless I'd unpacked...The trauma of OCD... ;)

On 12th morning, I walked into the Training Room only to meet the inquisitive glances of the other interns who had reached early and settled in comfortably in their swivel chairs...I looked around for an empty spot and the only one I could find was in the front of the room under the menacing eyes of the presenters in the induction...And all this time, I thought, I was the back bencher ! For the first time, I met the HR persons, Shikhar and Megha, who had been our sole connection with Britannia for the past fortnight...I liked them immediately...They were polite and immaculate...However, it would be a matter of days before perceptions drastically changed ! =)

The Induction lasted 3 days and all the 30 odd interns got to know each other coffee and cookies...I knew Rupali Ma'am was a fan of the coffee at Britannia and now, I wholeheartedly seconded her ! All the interns were gifted hampers of biscuits and hand crafted Folders...For a moment I wondered how lucky the Interns at Kraft would be ! I was also looking forward to the customized notebooks Rupali Ma'am, Nishi Ma'am and Gunanand Sir had received the previous year but in my first experience of the ongoing "Cost Cutting" at Britannia, I was handed a dreary blue Nataraj Notepad ! Despite my minor disappointment, the corporate experience was turning out to be wonderful...There were several insightful sessions with various Senior Managers and Heads of Departments along with amusing games by the HR Manager Rajesh...

Though the Corporate hoop-la prevailed, I felt uncannily comfortable to be amidst eight MANAGEites at Britannia...From the omniscient Pradeep Srivastava to the stress busting Rajeev Singh...From the gorgeous Manisha Singh and Shweta Nawani to the effervescent Arun Goyal and Mukesh Yadav...And finally, the quirky Shashi Shekhar and the big brother Kaushal Kishore... =)

When I'd laid my first glance on my Project Charter back at MANAGE, I hardly understood what my Project Objective was...Over the weekend before coming to Bangalore, I did try to gain some insight over the internet...However, when I met Rajeev Sir,my Project Guide, he casually tossed aside my Charter and dictated two entirely new objectives...My Project had been changed ! Rueful initially, I gradually took it in my stride...What followed was uncertain LAN connections and me, finally buying my Tata Photon as my project depended on plenty of Internet research...Over the days, I learnt all I could in Finance and Commodities over the Internet...From desperate appeals to Brajesh Sir and Gunanand Sir, I could finally understand what my Project meant !

The initial evenings were spent scouring for good food after tiring days of work...From KFC at Total Mall with Renu, Divya and Swetleena to Hyderabadi Biriyani with Umesh and Swetleena...Of course, how can I forget my walk in the rain to Papa John's with Arpit, Ankit, Pratyush, Tushar, Divya and Nitesh ! From the food to the service, we were surprised at how bad it could possibly be ! :D On one eventful weekend, we visited Wonderla and the next weekend was spent exploring Mysore, Srirangapatna and Channapatna...The exquisite Brindavan Gardens, the splendid Mysore Palace, the heady Chamundi Hills ! The creme de la creme was the "Dongi" ride at Sangam which reminded me of the song "Dil Hai Chhota Sa" from Roja...

As the days passed by, everyone busied themselves in their respective Projects...Many of the interns were sent to other locations and I waited in vain to travel ! It was ironic that Nitesh was travelling across rural Orissa for a Marketing Project whereas I was stuck at Bangalore...The remaining interns occasionally partied, though I could never join the group, something I know I missed out on...But I did manage to meet my friends, Siddharth, Ipsita and Rosina, my cousins and my little nephew Akanksh...I ate at the Leela Kempinski, shopped at Commercial Street, marvelled at Mantri Mall, dozed in the Planetarium, and enjoyed Musical Fountains at Lalbagh...

I know, for me, every day was a new slate, chalked in by my peers and seniors...I learnt and learnt and was not tired for one instant ! I was proud of myself when I realized I could work with alacrity from 9am to 8pm five days a week, doing something that had seemed impossible two months back ! All I asked for was the weekend to be solely mine...And often, I'd ruse my way into it... =)

Well, my last week of Summers at Britannia starts tomorrow...Our stipends are safe in our accounts, our reimbursements cleared...My presentation is almost prepared though I'm fretting at the thought of presenting in front of the daunting chieftains of Britannia ! I cant decide how long to write my report but I'll restrict it to what I've done, without any unnecessary fringes...The sole thought of going home keeps me sprightly !

I'm taking a bit of Bangalore and Britannia with me as I leave...I'll remember the Thursday Reviews, the Conference Rooms named after biscuits, Shalini's antics, Anu's hair, the beautiful pastels and sepia murals adorning the walls, the menacing 3rd floor where Vineeta sat and the ample cookies I consumed in my two month tenure ! I shall remember the traffic laden Bangalore, my ride in the 335E Volvo, the Mango Shake at Cool Palace followed by treacherous workouts with Sandip, my gym instructor...I shall remember watching the sky scrapers from my 4th floor window and the grey clouds spitting voluptuous raindrops each evening on scurrying pedestrians...

I remember grimacing when Puja C Ma'am and Rupali Ma'am told me I was lucky...Well, all I can say now is they were right...I'm glad and content I had this opportunity of experiencing my share of...

"Zindagi Mein Life"

Ting ting ti ding ! =)

Reader's Diary: "A Thousand Splendid Suns"

I began reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" early one evening after work...Reading an e-book was more difficult than I'd imagined...Paperbacks could always be turned, twisted and even wrung in every way conceivable to sync with the position I sat, walked or lay in...However, an e-book gave me the limited comfort of lying down on my stomach or typically placing the PC on my lap...Also, flicking the pages over was veritably painless as compared to scrolling down the PDF with my fingers...

However, once I started, I spent an earnest 3-5 hours a day pursuing the drudgery of Mariam, the irony of Laila and their subsequent companionship...Sometimes, I'd start my day with a few pages, early in the morning when I reached Britannia Gardens...I'd catch up at lunchtime when I ate at my workstation...Late into the night, when my eyelids battled to close down, I'd reluctantly sum the day up at an eventful twist in either's life...Eventually, it took me three days and nights to complete the 264 pages of Khaled Hosseini's epic...

Being an ardent fan of "The Kite Runner", I found "A Thousand Splendid Suns" similar in many aspects...Beginning in the Kabul of 1974, the story trails the life of an illegitimate offspring, Mariam with her wretched existence and ever illusive happiness and the beautiful Laila whose aspirations fall flat in the face of her obligations...There were several instances where I could allude the tale to Sharbat Gula, the Afgan girl who made headlines with her piercing, steely eyes on the cover of National Geographic...

The tale spoke of polygamy, hypocrisy, bias, strife, pain and relentless sacrifice...Ofcourse, what it also conveyed was the unending dilemma that hope puts us in, all through our lives...Mariam suffers the insults of Nana (her mother) for fifteen years with the hope that the rich Jalil who begot her would eventually take her in at his house in Herat...She hopes for an education at the University of Kabul like her half sisters Saideh and Naheed...Even when she is hastily married off to the middle aged Rasheed, she undergoes seven miscarriages in the hope that she could please her husband by having his son...Laila lives her life with the hope of acknowledgement from her mother who grieves for her sons Ahmad and Noor but is oblivious to her intelligent and beautiful daughter...Laila watches her education taken away from her, her friends bombed to death and yet she is sprightly with hope that one day she shall be united with her Tariq...And when Mammy and Babi die and Tariq has left Kabul, Laila lives with the sole hope of bearing Tariq's child...

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" traverses across Afganistan and in the words I found the harmony that once prevailed in the now forsaken country...There are friends who are Tajik, Pashtun or Hazara...There are instances describing the resplendent beauty of the snow capped Hindukush...What touched me the most was Hakim Babi's trip to Bamiyan with Laila and Tariq, describing the Buddhas which were torn down early on in this decade...The author perhaps strives to show us the Afganistan he was born in before the troubled times of innumerous coups and staunch Islamic rule...

To conclude, I feel smugly satisfied and enriched after having read this wonderful story...A book I would suggest any avid reader to try...I end my post with these words from Saib-e-Tabrizi, from his poem, "Kabul"...

"Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye,

Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass,

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,

And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls..."

Kabul: By Saib e Tabrizi

From, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

"Ah! How beautiful is Kabul encircled by her arid mountains,

And Rose, of the trails of thorns she envies,

Her gusts of powdered soil, slightly sting my eyes,

But I love her, for knowing and loving are born of this same dust...

My song exhalts her dazzling tulips,

And at the beauty of her trees, I blush,

How sparkling the water flows from Pul-I Bastaan,

May Allah protect such beauty from the evil eye of man...

Khizr chose the path to Kabul in order to reach Paradise,

For her mountains brought him close to the delights of heaven,

From the fort with sprawling walls, A Dragon of protection,

Each stone is there more precious than the treasure of Shayagan...

Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye,

Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass,

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,

And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls...

Her laughter of mornings has the gaiety of flowers,

Her nights of darkness, the reflections of lustrous hair,

Her melodious nightingales, with passion sing their songs,

Ardent tunes, as leaves enflamed, cascading from their throats...

And I, I sing in the gardens of Jahanara, of Sharbara,

And even the trumpets of heaven envy their green pastures..."