GPS updated!

Blogging from Kansas City for next four days...

Check out my travel blog (GPS) for updates

There were two of them - I really liked one, the other one was not so bad either. But the problem was that everyone else also liked the one I liked. Since the one I liked was so much in demand and was unavailable, the other one was sent over. And I had to tell them "I want the couch I like!"

Weekly update - I know you were waiting!

Looks like I am officially color blind now! Isn't what you call people who buy blue stockings thinking its black? Worse, they don't see it, until they put it on with a black skirt and shoes and go to work.

So men like to talk about shoes and watches too. Really! I served as an amused audience this morning to an hour long (well almost) conversation about which watch looks good on whose wrist and why. And don't forget the talk about prices and designers.

Question: Shirt, straight plaid woolen skirt, tights and boots - why do I feel that I am looking like a school girl? Is this my fear of aging? OMG! Some one said it looked hot ;) but I am not too good at sensing sarcasm.

Something that's common between all the human beings - we all commit mistakes, most of us regret and some of us just forget 'em with time and repeat 'em! Which category do you fall in?

8 glasses of water a day = 800 trips to the bathroom!

Story of the week:
What do you call people who have the keys, and still get locked out of their house? Why do I ask you say. Cz that's what my name will be after what happened last night. After trying hard, walking around in the cold trying to find out what to do, I finally caught hold of a stranger in the laundry room and asked for help. Obviously it was hard to find a human soul on the road when it was 30F (which by the way is -1C) outside!
Why did I not 'call' for help? I would if I had my phone on me. I forgot it at work! Yes! I survived more than twelve hours without any modeof technical communication (Is that even a term?)

Five easy (and effective) tips to lose your job

Include the following easy to learn traits in your personality, and get rid of your job (in almost no time!):

• Amicability - Be nice and just have a good time - Enjoy the office parties to the fullest. Drink the free alcohol, throw up and dance to the tunes of 'Crazy bitch'
• Communication skills - Every morning, make sure you talk to your boss, and tell him how your life sucks cz you have to come to work every morning
• Desire to get more - See it? Want it? Take it! After all it's YOUR work place (Kleptomania is just a fancy word, and who carries a thesaurus these days?)
• Relax - Take a deep breath and just relaaaaaaaaax. Catch up on your beauty sleep. Want it to work faster? Make sure your boss is looking!
• Punctuality - That's one thing you have to stay away from! Show up late and leave early

What a week, what a day!

I started my day an hour late today. Obviously everyone can tell cz it's a bad hair day - On a Thursday, I am dressed like it's Friday. Skipped breakfast. Not a good feeling! And to top it all, the minute I entered my office, my boss asked me to attend a day-long training. Another training = more expectation! And what's not fun is that I have no background of what the training is about. But the good thing is that we got barbecue for lunch from Rib Cribs. Which obviously called for another shot of coffee dark as tar – and I absolutely don’t mind that.

You don't love me anymore - I am saying this cz I noticed a sudden drop in the number of e-mails I get in my personal inbox. All I get is the subscribed e-mails. Why don't you send me a note sometime :-) I still love you; I just don't have internet connection at home. But if you e-mail me, I promise I will reply to it as soon as I can.

This is the second time I have lost my blog draft (final draft) just cz I wasn't smart enough to save it. It is pretty darn annoying! Why do I even use Notepad to draft my blogs? And while I write this, what do I see? I am using notepad again. Wait let me switch to MS Word. OK. So when I say notepad, I am not talking about the old plain notepad; instead, I am talking about notepad++. Which is pretty cool. You can paste your plain text and it formats the test in your chosen language (programming language that is, like java, C, C++, C#, VB, XML or any other language you can think of). I just use the plain text setting for blogs. Plus of doing this is that there is no carry over formatting to the blogger. You will know what I am talking about if you try pasting something from word to blogger.

Did I mention about this hilarious e-mail that I sent to a client? I wrote (text changed):
‘Hey Paul,
I can’t reproduce the problem on our domain. We might have to come up with a work around. I fyou want, call me and we can discuss this.
Thanks,
Sowm’
This is what happens when you don’t proof your e-mails. I didn’t realize this until a coworker pointed this out. ALWAYS double check your e-mails, before you hit the send button.

This Sunday, I watched ‘London Dreams’ – ridiculously ridiculous rubbish! Anyways, so in the theater bathroom, I met with an accident (actually my phone did). It slipped from my hand, fell on the rim of the commode, and broke in three pieces – front, battery and the back cover. The front part fell on the ground and the battery and the back cover went down the flush right in front of my eyes. Now you know why I use a cheap phone. Good thing, I had an extra phone at home :-)

Can’t wait for this day/week to get over!

Five people you DO NOT want to sit next to in an airplane

1. Obscenely obese woman or man (here only size matters!)
I am little and thus I am used to being comfortable in the planes. Why do I not feel the same today? OMG cz this person sitting next to me is so fat that his/her fat is spilling into my seat. I am suffocating! And looks like he/she is too, cz I hear this heavy breathing. Is he/she going to get a heart attack? I don’t know CPR, can I sit on a different seat?

2. Stinky Poo
Believe it or not, there are still some people in the world who are unaware of some wonderful discoveries by man – deodorants and gums/mints. Just pray one of those ignorant souls doesn’t sit next to you. If you want to take my advice, always carry a deodorant and a pack of gum with you. You never know when you need to offer that to someone!

3. People who travel with pets
Yes! They are annoying. Cz they have a plan! The pet would get irritated sitting in the carry bag. Then it would make weird noises. Then the owner will make a puppy face and request you to let the pet out else it’ll die. Then you will have to say ‘Alright’, cz you are a good human being. And then the pet will keep jumping around and will not let you sleep. So Beware!

4. Babies
They CRY. And they YELL. And they are jumpy. Solution? Just gag yourself. I know you will feel like killing the baby, but then, you will die anyways, cz people will think you are a monster and throw stones at you and it will hurt so bad, that you will kill yourself. So just kill yourself right away to avoid the torture.

5. Overly friendly people
No, I don’t want to be your friend. I don’t want to listen to why you don’t want your parents arrange your marriage. I don’t want to know what you think about the airlines catering. I don’t want to give you my phone number. I just want to put my headphones on and watch this movie, so that I don’t have to listen to your crap. Buzz off!

Another good-for-nothing creation that was sitting in the notepad from last one week! Now you have no choice but to read it. Sorry.


what happened ?
what happened to my dream
of living a crazy life
traveling the world
reaching for everything
that i always wanted

my dream
of doing what none else thinks of doing
living by my rules
being happy
and living my life
just the way i always have
like the crazy one

what happened to my dream
is it still alive
or am i letting it die
am i still fighting the world
to keep it alive?

Why does no one want to be fungus?

Is it winter yet?

If you are still wondering, answer the following questions:

1. You wore a hoodie/coat or boots today
Yes/No

2. You are afraid the fall colors will vanish soon
Yes/No

3. You are looking for a halloween costume
Yes/No

4. You wake up before the sun rises and still don't find time to do your hair before heading out to work
Yes/No

5. The hallway at work smells of holiday food
Yes/No

6. You find people serving cider at parties and you think what happened to beer?
Yes/No

7. While you read this, you have a heater on, under my desk (or somewhere else)
Yes/No

8. You have to put your jacket on, before you step out of the building (cz you don't want to die - of cold of course)
Yes/No

9. Your facebook is being spammed by dinner/party invitations
Yes/No

10. When you go out for a walk at night, you smell burnt wood of fireplaces
Yes/No

If you answered 'Yes' for any eight out of above ten questions, CONGRATULATIONS! you have just stepped into a new season - WINTER!

It’s a brutal truth that I have outgrown a size two in merely two months. And now I am obsessed – obsessed with losing weight, dieting, exercising, and what not. But being a food jerk, it has been hard for me to stick to a diet. I have had several plans, most of which have failed miserably.

PLAN # 1: All vegetarian diet I tried this for two weeks. And I was strictly able to stick to it. No meat for two whole weeks. I think I felt fine. But right after two weeks I started eating meat like a carnivore. Now I am back to where I was. Result – Nothing.

PLAN # 2: Lean Cuisine
I have screamed out loud many times that I do not enjoy cooking. So this seemed to be an easy diet plan to follow (but it was easy only for one day). Soon I got bored of the frozen food day and night. I can have it only once a day everyday at the most. And I found myself snacking like crazy. My snacks became heavier than my meals. and I was always unsatisfied and hungry. Result – Nothing again.

PLAN # 3: South beach diet
Belen introduced me to this diet plan. They say Tobey Maguire used this diet to get his Spiderman body (not that I want one like his). What it is, is basically making healthier eating choices, differentiating between good and bad carbs/fats. And I have been trying to stick to it. But to my surprise, the day I started this diet, I have been having cravings for cheesy, fried and greasy stuff. I have no idea why. I have never had such cravings! Honestly! Result – N-A-D-A!

PLAN # 4: ‘Eat small portions, five times a day’ diet
I have started eating five times a day. But the portions are not small. And some days, when they are, it doesn’t really matter. There are times when I feel stuffed, not hungry at all, but I still want to eat. Result – it’s making things worse!

I feel like I have some kind of eating disorder – the kind in which I want to eat everything edible I see around me. A kind in which I have cravings for food that I used to absolutely hate not too long ago. What has happened to me in these two months? What changed that changed me so much?

Now I am seriously looking for a plan that really works. It’s affecting me mentally and physically of course. It’s kinda shaping into a psychological disorder now. That uncontrollable urge to eat, and then the guilt after eating! To be honest, I am not fat, I just need to lose a couple of inches and I will be back to normal and happy. But I have no idea as to what diet/work-out plan to follow.

S.O.S!

Beware of small things

It’s that time of the year again – when summer is over and winter is not quite here yet. But this is that time of the year when we clean up. Pack the summer clothes/shoes and fill up the closet with warm/semi-warm clothes to get ready for the cold. So just like every year, I was organizing my closet when I saw how cluttered it was. Every time I clean it, I promise to myself that this closet will have only the basics, the bare minimums in it. No extras!

But again, every time I start cleaning, I find a bunch of stuff in there which is basically clutter - things I was crazy about, loved ‘em, spent a fortune on ‘em but will never be able to use ‘em. Random things - clothes I don’t like anymore, or don’t fit into, or are out of fashion, shoes that are pretty but don’t go well with anything, unused make up, souvenirs I collected from different places, bags, jewelry that I will never wear, old gifts from people who aren’t even a part of my life any more, some random wires, old broken phone, batteries, tons and tons of paper/receipts/documents and what not.

I wonder how this damn thing keeps getting so messed up. Where does all the ‘extra’ stuff keep coming from? I don’t even see them sneaking in there. And the worst part is that I notice them when it’s all over the place. It’s like it just takes control of the territory.

Isn’t that how our lives are too? We try to keep it simple, but with each passing day, we accumulate clutter and make our baggage heavier. We end up investing our time in the unnecessary, wasting our emotion in the undeserving, spending our money on the unworthy, and making the contemptible a part of our life. And what’s more tricky is that we realize it only when it takes control of us and messes us up in our heads. We keep overlooking these small things each day cz at that time it doesn’t look so messed up. But at the end of the year, when we look back, we see how these little things shape our lives.

So here’s a word of caution – “BEWARE OF SMALL THINGS”! Enjoy the good ones, and clean up the bad ones while they’re still small.

Poll Results

It's funny how people find the most impossible things to be the most interesting :P

I haven’t had anything interesting happen with me lately to blog about. I had another ordinary week:

The bad habit of not cooking forces me to spend a fortune eating out. But the fear of putting on weight leaves me with very limited options. Well, limited as in practically just Subway. So just like most of the afternoons, I was at Subway for lunch and what do I see there? All the servers were obese! Really? If I see fat waiters/waitresses anywhere else I wouldn’t be that surprised. Cz c’mon after all this is America. But at Subway? Were they not the ones who claimed to be the healthy eating place of the country? What were they thinking?

Talking of healthy food - I have had very hard last two weeks. I have been on a vegetarian diet. Trust me it’s not easy for someone who used to have meat twice or thrice a day. But I can already feel the difference – I feel lighter and I think I am already losing some pounds. If not, then definitely not gaining any more. Since now I have an eight to five job, which requires me to rest my ass on the chair all day, it was almost necessary for me to follow some kind of a health plan. And Belen came for my rescue and asked me if I wanted to be her diet buddy! Without a second thought I said yes. Now we are both keeping a check on each others’ eating habits and trying to work out regularly. I finally found a gym near my work place. So looks like my life is back on track here…

I also had a very quite weekend. Oh by the way, did I mention I got a chance to go for Garba and Dandiya – all dressed up in Indian clothes. Had fun! Except, I bumped into an extremely rude bunch of people. I hate to generalize, so I won’t say that they were rude cz they were ABCDs. Instead, I will say – They were rude ABCDs. What a turn off! But besides that it was fun :) I missed home!

For people who don’t know: ABCD = American Born Confused Desi. Seriously, if someone knows, let me know what’s the deal with that? Until yesterday, I never believed when people told me that ABCDs are cocky and unfriendly. But it’s hard not to believe that now. Am I generalizing? May be.

Work was exciting last week. Things are picking up at work. I finished both the required certifications and have started taking up real issues. I enjoy a little responsibility. Next week should be fun, cz we have a four day training. I like trainings! Coming week should go by very fast. I hope we get free lunch though.

Labor day, came and went. And just like all the other labor days, I was home - doing nothing! Which by the way wasn't very bad :) Why I brought that up is because Labor day marks the end of summer. And that makes me sad, a little. No more cute clothes, bright sun, 70 deg breeze anymore. Don't get me wrong - I like winters too. I like the cold weather, the snow, the fog, coats and scarfs. But I don't like the chilly winds and ice. And thats what I should expect from Oklahoma. Not looking forward to it!!

May be I should come to terms with the fact that I have to stay in OK, at least for a while. And be more forgiving towards things that it has to offer. Afterall, it can't be that bad. There are people in the world who like it here (Really? LOL).

So getting back to the point - It's fall officially! And I am ready for some fleece and sweats :) And yes, it's game season too! What more can you ask for? So my question to you - If I wear my OU-Sooners jersey to work next friday, will that be too soon?

Idea ;)

I should dedicate one entire post to tell you how bad and incomplete I feel about not being able to post on my blog as regularly as I used to. My apologies!

I wish I could at least come up with a nice excuse. Like 'I was in Hawaii on a vacation' or 'I was busy counting the money I won in lottery last month' cz both of these excuses sounds better than telling you the truth - I don't have internet connection at home! Sigh!

Anyways.

So I recently came up with an idea. Brilliant of course. Since now I have a real job, I should write at least one post per week about it. I was thinking about - every friday (Why? Cz I already thought about a name for it. "TGIF!"). But then I realized I am never home on Fridays.

Weekends are not an option.

Mondays? Call it 'Monday Blues' (Note: But I usually donot have any Monday blues). Or Wednesdays? 'Mid week Crisis'? I am a little stuck here... HELP! Shoot me some suggestions and we will get going from there :)

Just A Thought

This is based off of a mid night conversation with a psychologist (well, to be) –

‘Why so negative?’ I said. ‘Cz there is so much negativity around us in this world. Everyone is affected by the I-am-the-best syndrome and no one is forgiving anymore. All they want is to prove to everyone that they are no.1. So selfish, so careless. What is this world going to do? It's like we have stopped growing. We grow only in numbers now.'

Is the world really that negative?

Poll Results

Interesting...

She is new, and she is unfamiliar

She is trying to understand and make it clear

But is she taking too long?

Who knows...

May be she will soon be gone!

Bollywood - Then and Now!

We, Indians, grew up watching Bollywood movies. I still remember those Saturday afternoons, when I used to come back from school and throw my bag in the hall and just sit with family and watch the movie played by Doordarshan (Doordarshan is a default channel on national TV in India which literally means 'television' - how creative! And yes Saturdays were not off in my school from first to eight grade). So anyways... Just like how times change, trends changed, movies changed too. But it is amazing to see 'how much' have they changed. Really! Read on and you will know what I mean...

Then:

- More was less, be it clothes or accessories

- One boy. One girl. Eternal love.

- Nature was important and movies were more eco-friendly. Gardens and hills were considered to be great (and standard) locations. Flowers were basic essentials - for a reason mind you! (Apparantly, all the kissing happened behind the bushes, tress or even flowers. Sometime they used umbrellas too)















- Huge hair do's and tight fitting flashy clothes were the 'in' thing of the times
- Heroes who shouldn't even make an attempt at dancing were stars and were a part of extravagant dance routines

- Body Hair = Manhood (like they needed a proof to tell the world they are men)
Now:

- Less is more

- One boy. Many girls. Less love, more love making.
-Locations- Greece, Switzerland, London, New York, China

















-Body hair? What? New symbol of manhood - going shirtless
- Kissing on camera is the new thing - Invites star controversies = Good for business. Way to go!

- Gardens?? Talk beaches and discos, lights, drinks, girls, more girls (non-Indian preferred)

The change is HUGE! And I am not really sure where we are headed with this. But whatever it is... I still love Bollywood!

Best things in life come for free

Water - Mornings - Smiles - Eyes - Conversations - Touch - Love - Sky - Music - Breeze - Rain - Sun shine - Thoughts - Blessings - Laughter - Hugs - Work outs - Flowers - Smell of wet grass - Dreams - Friendships - Rain drops - Moon light - Intelligence - Passion - Seasons - Words

Are you not who they want you to be?

Every little gesture takes a lot of thought, effort. A handshake, a kiss, a hug, a stare, a smile, a status message, an e-mail, answering the phone, leaving a voicemail...

Handshakes. They have a certain norm. You have to stand, look into the person's eyes, smile, squeeze just enough, time well and end at the right time.

So is an e-mail. Should start with a pleasent greeting, but not too cheesy. Has to be just long enough to have all the information, but still can't get too long. Should never be in ALL CAPS. Should end just the right way, with a nice sign off.

And so on...

My question is... who defines these norms? Who decided how should I be shaking hands with people, how should I be writing my e-mails, how should I be doing what I am doing right now?

And why do I have to follow them?

Everyne tells you to be who you are, but the truth is you have to be what they want you to be. If you don't act the way they do, they won't like you. Don't beleive me? Answer the following questions for yourself -

- Are you not who your boss wants you to be?

- Are you not who your wife/husband wants you to be?

- Are you not who your mamma wants you to be?

- Are you not who the people in the party want you to be?

Have the answers?

?DURNK

Read very fast:

Once again, I was reading AbsUrd and wanted to write a comment there. Comment became way too long. So am posting it here and linking it to her blog :) Payal my sweet heart, you are my inspiration! :P

Now read slow:

Remember those drunk nights? The kind of things you did... You probably wouldn't even have dreamed of doing anything like that in your complete senses. Those mornings when you wake up and have to go over pictures to trace back the previous night! That's what we are talking about... Let's just list out few of those crazy moments here. Payal has a good list oh her blog - The things you can do on pretext of being drunk. I am just adding some more points there:

- Flirt with that cute guy and get away with it next morning 'Oh man last night was so fun, I don't even remember what I did'

- Kiss the bartender/Bouncer

- Scream your lungs out

- Pour your heart out, laugh, cry, hug, or any other BS

- Slap that guy you absolutely hate, or be a bitch to the guy who doesn't pay attention to you otherwise

- Just pass out. Where ever, when ever! And have a good night's sleep

- Have a life changing conversation with a complete stranger

- Have a serious conversation with friends on "How to save the world?"

Feel free to add to it. I know everyone has their drunk moments :)

P.S. This is no confession!!

My dear laptop,

I know this e-mail might piss the crap out of you, but I couldn’t hide it anymore. There are some things I want you to know…

By how I have been treating you from last few days, you should have a fair idea that something is going on in my mind. The time when I picked you, you seemed to be pretty strong and reliable. That’s why I went ahead and let you be a part of my life – an indispensable part indeed. But only after one year you have changed. So much so, that I am sitting here writing this letter to you.

You have lost all the things that attracted me to you. Your nine cell battery is dead now. You don’t even have back up for a minute. So you are no more portable. I can’t take you anywhere, cz you need to be plugged into the wall all the time. Not only that, you don’t even look the same anymore. The cover for the dvd player has come off. It looks like you have lost a body part. Even if I ignore that, I still miss other things about you.

Like, I miss pressing your left click button! I still remember the day when I pressed it for the last time and it got stuck – never returned to its original position after that. Even today my eyes become teary when I look at that stuck button. I also miss the days when you didn’t have mood swing issues. Do you remember the time when I could just do what I wanted to, run several applications at the same time, and visit ten different web pages? And you… you never had a problem. You were fast and capable of handling all the surprises. But now – you PMS! You throw random bloodhound detection warnings on me. And how can I forget your rude “Out of Disk Space” warning?

And what was up with temporarily effing up my ‘F’ key last month?

What is your deal?

All I want to say is that I still love you. And I want us to be happy together, once again. Just like how we were in the beginning. Tell me baby, what can I do to fix it?

Love.

Let’s call it a reading challenge!

Confession time! I have been wanting to improve on my reading habit from a long time. Back in the days... (High school days I mean :P) I loved to read. All kinds of stuff – classics, fiction, non-fiction, good bad, short, long, sad, happy, inspirational and everything else. And slowly I just stopped reading. And like everyone else, I found a million things to blame it on. School, friends, family, time, newer hobbies etc. And I always promised to myself that one day – one fine day – I will get back to reading.

I guess now is the time. I have decided to start reading for pleasure again. And since I have a very short concentration span, I will have to have a plan. So let’s do this – From now on, every time I pick up the book, I will read at least twenty pages. Not too much I know, but may be a good start.

Some calculation –

I am reading The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama - Its 415 pages in total. So if I read twenty pages every time I pick up the book, I should be able to finish this book in about twenty days. But since I am on a vacation, I can read more, or may be twice. So let’s say forty pages every day. And that way I can finish reading the book in ten days. Not bad!

Wish me luck :)

P.S. Feel free to be a part of this challenge, cz it's like challenging yourself to read better stuff more often :)

How to strike the work-life balance?

All of us have been struggling to strike a balance between our work life and personal life. And obviously it's not easy, else it wouldn't have kept the entire world on toes, trying to hit it. Balance can never exist as a fixed point in life. It is a state of juggling efficiently between the several important things in life, and making time for all. This dynamic state of being, makes it difficult to achieve.

The truth is - there is no perfect balance. Like what former General Electrical chief executive, Jack Welch, once said "There's no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences." So how do we make the right choices?

1. Set your priorities right - We must figure out what really matters to us in life. What is that one thing that our life should be focused on. And what comes next and so on... It could be family, career, health, hobby or anything else.

2. De-cluttering your day -Some unnecessary activities take up a major chunk of our lives without us realizing it. And eventually making us less productive during the day. For example, checking and replying to e-mails instantly. It interrupts the on-going process, and we spend time arranging the mailbox folders every time we get an e-mail. And we end up spending five minutes every now and then. The idea is not to procrastinate, but to set aside 15 minutes or so every two hours to check, reply, arrange the e-mails. Watching T.V., too frequent coffee breaks, long lunch breaks come next in the list.

3. Never bring work home - We often tend to bring work home, or spend extra hours at work when it's not required and this significantly reduces the personal time. Bringing work home is like invading your own private time. Make sure you finish your work before you come back. Even if it means putting in that extra hour in the evening or cutting your lunch hour short.

4. Don't over-commit - Especially Indians tend to promise delivering more than what they can. And then we tend to compromise on our personal time. This eventually burns us out. Don't be hesitant in being realistic and setting realistic goals. If you do end up over-committing, ask for help!

5. Force vacations on yourself - Take some time off to avoid the burn out. Talk to your boss, and book tickets in advance. Vacation is important (and it has been medically proved). This will give you more time for family and will rejuvenate your energies so that you can perform better at work once you come back.

On another note, don't bring your personal life at work. Don't forget you are being paid for the work you do. Try to be as effective as you can be during your work hours, so that you don;t have to put in extra time later.

With these little changes in your lifestyle you can also achieve a state of effectiveness and harmony in your life. Let's make living simple :)

I had to tell this to you...

Without giving you much background, let me just start with the highlight of the day –

I had to attend an online training today, for which I had to call into a web meeting. Since it was going to be a looooong one, I decided not to use my cell phone. Instead I called in via VOIP (Skype) – $2.95/month for unlimited calls within the USA. So everything was set, and just before the meeting started, I found out that there was a technical issue on my end… a VERY, trust me VERY, weird issue.

When I called in I sounded like a man! No kidding! That freaked the presenter out and he had to mute the phone. LOL

Let me know if any of you knows how to fix this problem… please :)

Top ten reasons why you should be happy that you don’t have a job!

1. You can sleep for more than eight hours, wake up late in the morning

2. You have time to enjoy your morning coffee

3. You can lay by the pool during the day, work on your tan and read when everyone else is at work

4. You can take an afternoon nap

5. You can post more often on your blog and have more time to read mine

6. You can listen to your favorite music, eat a heavy meal, read/write what you want to, facebook all day and basically do anything you want to do and no one would care

7. You can work out more regularly and attend the group fitness classes

8. You can stay in touch with your friends because you can shoot them e-mails, call them, or write on their walls

9. You can stay up late in the night without guilt

10. You can waste as much time as you want and enjoy every moment of it

About You, Yes You!!

My dear readers,

As you know that I love you so much, and write for you, and only you :) Let me write this blog for you, about you...

If you read my blog, you possess most, if not all, of the following personality traits:

• You are a good friend - to me or in general to all of your friends. Cz I assume 'most' of the people who read my blog are my friends (if I don't know you, I would love to).
• You are spontaneous and open to ideas. You appreciate observation and respect opinions. You like to know what some people think about things that most people don't even pay attention to.
• You like random thinking. You like to ponder upon things that don't matter to most of the population on this planet. And you also like to know about things that matter to most of the people in this world.
• You are too curious - about life, relationships, incidences, mishaps, things, places, people. And it's a good thing!
• You are awesome - Cz only awesome people read awesome stuff!
• You either like me dearly or dislike me totally (or just don't know me :P).
• You are interested to know what not to do in life. Cz I usually do it and blog about it. You love to have fun and are adventurous.
• Your life is full of those FML moments. And you can laugh about them.
• You love working out but don't work out enough. Or just want to be better looking. Or love shopping. Or food. Or are lazy. Or just simply love life. Or all of the above.
• You are not perfect and you love it that way.

Birthday Analysis (Yeah!)

Turned 24 today. And just like every year, I sat down to think about who I actually am/have become. Results were something like this...

Electrical engineer, daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, friend, woman, dancer, photographer, thinker, talker, writer/blogger, dreamer, doer, problem solver, shopping addict, music addict, food addict, beach addict, future billionaire, Indian, North Indian, Delhite, liberal, traveler, carefree, idealist, fighter, lover, survivor, flirt, volunteer, fun, free spirit, adventurer, explorer, chameleon, celebrity-in-making, goofball, troublemaker, city-girl, optimist, partner-in-crime, extraordinary, funny, rebel, not just-another-girlie girl!

Feel free to add/comment :-)

Not a rant!

I am posting after a break and y'all know the reason - being busy hunting for a job, studying, traveling, maintaining two blogs... Basically just trying to survive each day. But I will NOT rant about it. And I will also NOT rant about my laptop acting funky. I will just mention it. Simply, plainly, casually just mention it...

So my dear laptop (read it with great sarcasm) decided to throw a message on me every time I try to open any program. Be it a word document, or a website, or a picture, or anything else. To get that most annoying "Disk out of memory" message, all I have to do is to click on something. It won't let me log into any websites either. What I don't understand is that what on earth happened to ALL the disk space? No, I am pretty sure I didn't use all of it. Has someone secretly been storing their stuff on my disk? Grrrr...

What's even more annoying is that I feel paralysed without this piece of technology. I have mixed feelings about technology. Well yeah, I am an engineer, but can we not ignore it for a moment? Good. So as I was saying... I have this mixed feeling about technology. As much as I love it and am fascinated by the new gadgets that keep adding to the already flooded electronic market, it makes me think about the days without the blackberries and the laptops. I totally appreciate the development and I promise that I am totally not from the old school. But I do miss the days when a computer was just a computer, and a phone was just a phone. And we had our personal lives, not dependent on or addicted to these super products encapsulated in tiny bodies.

I miss the days when we used to go out and spend more time with our friends and not just poke them on facebook while doing million other things side by side. (Puhleez... don't bring out the point of distance, time etc here). Those old days when the kids used to go out more often and not just play video games at home. When there were no facebook/orkut stalkers. When we actually used to call our parents more often and not just send them an e-mail. When we used to send real flowers and greeting cards on birthdays instead of the e-cards. For some reason we were not this busy. People who came up with the electronics claimed to ease our lives by doing everything for us, faster than us.. But don't you think we have become busier than ever before?

Eeeeesssshhhhhhh... So I just read above, and yes I agree I sounded like a grandma :-P But you can totally blame it on my laptop that is acting up on me. I get SICK keeping it under control... or at least trying to keep it under control.

P.S. I stick to the grandma statements I made. But I also admit that I am addicted to technology and I can NOT imagine a life without my electronic friends - laptop, ipod and their other cousins.

Excuse!

With so much going on with me off late, I have not had time to update this blog in a while. With more stuff to keep me busy – my birthday, long weekend trip and more, I think I won’t be able to update till next week. I do have some things in mind that I want to write about. So check back next week for more :)

xoxo

Introducing... GPS - a Girl, a Phone, and a Suitcase!

Yes! that's the travel blog I mentioned in my last post. I wanted it to be out on my birthday (yeah I am one self obsessed idiot :P), but then realized that'd be too late. And also it didn't seem to be a great idea to start a blog in past tense. So here it is - GPS - Officially public now. Currently I am writing about San Diego. Why? Duh! Cz I am in San Diego right now :)

Read and tell me what you think of it :)

I have a plan! What do you think?

May 24th, 2009: San Diego, CA

May 9th, 2009: Orlando/Miami, FL

February 1st, 2009: Norman, OK

January 30th, 2009: Newark, NJ/New York, NY

December 18th, 2008: Delhi/Mumbai/Pune, India

November 27th, 2008: Boston, MA

November 6th, 2008: Baltimore, MD/Washington DC

September 26th, 2008: New Jersey, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, Atlanta, GA

September 15th, 2008: Tucson, AZ

August 23rd, 2008: Peoria/Chicago, IL

July 7th, 2008: New York, NY/Atlantic City, NJ

May, 2008: Tulsa, OK

That’s the list of places I have traveled to (for work or leisure) in last one year: May, 2008 to May, 2009. Come to think of it, if I had maintained a travel blog, it would be a bomb by now!!

So better late than never! I am planning on starting a travel blog. I have just started working on it. Right now I am trying to dig out snippets from my not-so-well kept travel journal and other sources. I hope to put everything together soon and make the blog public. I will keep you guys posted on that.

Meanwhile, do you mind suggesting me a nice name for my blog? Post a comment here or just shoot me an e-mail at bhardwaj.sowmyatta@gmail.com. I would also love to hear from you: your honest comments/advice/suggestions - About look, feel, content, pictures or anything else – Like you have always done :)

Thanks in advance! You know I love you *wink*

I was reading Zeba’s blog about how much she went through to get to the polling booth to be able to cast her first vote. Made me think… Indian youth is not at all a bunch of careless wanna be’s! They might be westernized cool dudes/dudettes on the surface, but within, they are responsible citizens of India. And I am proud of them.

I turned 18 five years ago. And how many times have I voted? Zero!

I was born and brought up in the capital city of India – New Delhi. While growing up, I used to count years to be able to go vote and get that ugly blue stamp on my finger nail. I used to be so jealous when my parents used to come home after voting, with that stamp on their fingers. I always wanted it on mine. It was like a tattoo of pride for me; Pride of being an Indian; Pride of being an adult. I just couldn’t wait…

Bless my luck, as soon as I turned 18 I moved out of my parents’ house - Left the city for studies. Never had a chance to get my voter’s card made. Because when the forms were out, I would always be away. And no one else ever bothered to fill that little form for me or at least save a copy for me so that when I return I could fill it out and submit it.

Then after my degree was over, I moved back to Delhi for some months. And before I could act towards that, I moved to the United States of America. And of course they don’t let me vote here. So all in all; I just don’t vote. I have no say in how my own country functions or how the country I stay in functions. That’s how important I am to the world!!

I am still waiting for the day when I cast my first ever vote… very eagerly.

Adventures of miss little Gini – San Diego! (Part 3)

P.S. Read Adventures of miss little Gini – San Diego! (Part 1) and (Part 2) before you proceed with Part 3

Tired like hell, looking like a mess, I somehow reached San Diego!

‘Finally!’ I said. Trying to avoid anything else going wrong, I rushed to the baggage claim and called my friend to come pick me up. I just want to go home now! I was relieved and was counting minutes to get back home – when I heard my name being announced.

NOT AGAIN!!! My luggage had not arrived. Grrrr.

But good thing they said they will deliver it by mid night. ‘Thanks!’ I said.

So another long and eventful journey ended that night when I finally received my luggage (only to find that it was broken). But good thing I can call united and claim a new bag. Although it won’t match my fancy blue 3-piece luggage set, but I am sure it will be better than carrying a broken bag.

Adventures of miss little Gini – San Diego! (Part 2)

P.S. Read Adventures of miss little Gini – San Diego! (Part 1) before you proceed with Part 2


Denver CO to San Diego CA-

As I mentioned... the plane that brought me from Oklahoma City to Denver was going to take me to San Diego as well. All I had to do was just get out of the plane and after cleaning, get back in. I very casually walked out of the plane, ‘knowing’ how simple the rest of my journey was going to be… but but but… as I step out, I hear a voice instructing all the passengers to get to the take-cover area ASAP. NOWAY!!!! There was a tornado. For god’s sake! It’s end of May! It should be bright, sunny, clear skies outside.

So this gentleman pushed all of us in the bathroom (yeah right, the bathrooms were the take cover shelters there). Disappointed… Where I was supposed to just hop out from and hop in to the plane - there I was stuck in an overcrowded stinky bathroom waiting for my next flight to take off (which by the way got delayed by a couple of hours). Sigh!

Adventures of miss little Gini – San Diego! (Part-1)

So here’s another chapter in your future kids’ story book…


This year, I decided that I should spend the summer in California – Yes!

Decision was made, tickets were booked, ride to airport was arranged, stuff was packed and I was just waiting to get to California. Considering the history of me missing flights, I made sure that this time everything was done on time. Tickets were booked for Saturday afternoon (in case, I go out Friday night). Which obviously I did… so didn’t sleep Friday night, packed all Saturday morning, was ready before time! Perfect!! :)

Saturday Morning:

I reached at the airport and no points for guessing… I missed my flight! Again! How? Doesn’t really matter. I was sad, happy, confused and excited at the same time.

1. Sad cz the next flight was on Sunday morning
2. Happy cz now I can be there for Belen’s birthday
3. Confused cz I didn’t know if I will be able to wake up next morning to reach the airport at 7.30 am
4. Excited cz I decided to give Belen a surprise by not telling her about my flight and just showing up

Since I didn’t really have an option, I went back home. Took a nap and then got dressed to go to the party! Yay! I was excited. The little bit of sorrow that I had for missing my flight disappeared in the process. So there I go… Yes! Belen was pleasantly surprised (thank god, cz I was thinking what if she is not :P) It was a crazy night though. We went to a club in the city. All I remember is that we were having fun and then a bouncer told us to get out via the back door. Huh? Why? I don’t know. (I found out next morning that we were kicked out – details not necessary lol). All in all it was a crazy night! And I almost forgot that I have to be at the airport at 7 30 am next morning…

Sunday Morning:

Somehow I managed to get to the airport. Phew! I had to spend 45 minutes at the counter to get my boarding passes. Why? Cz I had US Airways tickets for Saturday, and it was only operated by United Airlines, so they didn’t have my details in their system. So I had to call US airways etc etc etc. So I finally get my boarding passes. And I was on standby! Never mind… as long as I was going to get to California on Sunday, alls cool! (Yeah I am very patient, thanks).

So the 9.50 flight was full. They couldn’t even accommodate a little person like me! Too bad! I had to wait for the next flight. Killed some 4 hours at the boarding gate – had a nice vegetarian sandwich, apple juice and gum, people-watch-ed, took a nap, talked to some random people… No, I don’t read at the airports, especially when I am sleep deprived of two nights.

So finally this lady announced that I got a seat in the flight to Denver CO. And it was cool cz the same flight was to go to San Diego CA. How convenient I said.

And yes, I said it too early!

O my techie techie mom

I have been having a very hard time waking up every morning. And even after I wake up, I take a lot of time to actually get out of my bed aka the couch at a friend's house. Not that its unusual, but it is terribly unusually difficult for me these days. Blame it on lack of motivation or just call me lazy!

So last night I decided that I won't waste any time in the morning, and will start working even before I actually get out of my bed. And hence set the laptop right by my pillow. So very excitedly I wake up today to check my e-mail. And Surprise Surprise!! I have an e-mail from guess who? My Mom!! Well, actually the e-mail wasn't the surprise. The e-mail was written in devnagari script.

WHAT?? I said. I always knew my mom was kinda tech savvy, but it was surprising how she found a devnagari character picker online to write me e-mails. I can actually picture her with her reading glasses googling stuff. Moms are usually not supposed to be so smart with technology. So now if you wonder where my tech savvy genes come from - blame it on her LOL

I am officially her fan now!!

FML moment of my graduation day

I had chosen a white chiffon dress with black and blue flowers for my convocation ceremony. I was getting ready and after getting done with the make-up and hair, when I put my dress on, I wasn’t able to zip it. So I had to wear some other dress (COMPROMISE) that, by the way, I had already worn once. FML.

The Tooth!

Have you ever had a tooth ache? I think that’s the worst part of the body to have an ache in. Seriously! It literally makes your day incomplete. I have had this swollen gum and an achy tooth. Looks like my wisdom tooth is making it’s way out. But one of my friends warned me that it could be a false call too. So you never know…

Honestly, at the moment I have neither the time nor the money to visit a dentist. So I think I will have to live with it for some time, until I get used to it. So why am I ranting about it so much? WHY?

1. If you are a person like me who’s naturally talkative, and your achy tooth doesn’t let you talk. You live through the day with such discomfort and dissatisfaction. Your thoughts keep knocking at the outlet doors but they just can’t make an exit cz your mouth wouldn’t open properly. And your words don’t sound right. (Do you think the British would have less trouble on this one, cz they anyways hardly open their mouths much)

2. If you are a person like me who loves to enjoy a good meal, and your tooth doesn’t let you eat. You live through the day craving for good food and even if you get it you won’t be able to eat. So you live that day in discontent.

3. If you are a person like me who loves to smile, and your tooth doesn’t let you. It makes the day terrible. So not energetic, not positive! I don’t like that.

4. If you are a person like me who loves to doll up, and your tooth doesn’t let you cz one side of the face is a little swollen. It makes the day dull. What will the make-up do if you have a swollen face (LOL it looks weird I think)

5. If you are a person like me who likes to go out with friends, and your tooth doesn’t let you. The day feels so restricted. You want to get out but don’t want to feel bad cz you can’t eat or drink.

6. If you are a person like me who loves fresh breath, and the tooth doesn’t let you brush well. You will keep using the mouth wash every two hours (although unnecessarily)

So yeah all this and more, makes a tooth ache such a horrible ache to have!

Long story short

I want to tell you a story today – a story of this guy in Norman whose life was in a key…

Once upon a time (that is right now), there used to be a guy. He was tall, dark, but not handsome. (Let’s call him Jay) He was dating this girl in town – quiet, mature and sensible. Everyone in the town thought Jay was weird and socially awkward, so they wondered how such a nice girl fell for this jack ass. But love is blind…

So anyways, they were so much in love that they couldn’t stay away from each other. So technically they should have just moved in together. But since Jay was a hypocrite, he told his girl friend to live with a roommate and then he will just stay at her place unofficially. The girl listened to every word Jay said. So she did the same. They caught hold of this girl who was moving into the town, Somy. So she moved in with Jay’s girl, not knowing what she was getting into. Obviously she didn’t have a clue about Jay’s existence. She thought she was going to stay with this nice girl peacefully for the rest of the semester. Somy was going through some tough times, emotionally, personally, professionally, so getting a nice apartment and a nice roommate seemed like some relief to her.

Soon after she moved into the apartment, she found out that there was going to be a permanent visitor in the house, Jay. He used to go back to his house in the beginning, but soon he moved into the apartment with his stuff and never used to go back to his original apartment. Jay was very comfortable in the girls’ apartment. So comfortable that without any hesitation, he would use everything in the apartment – living room, kitchen, bathroom (eeewwww). This loving couple used to stay at home most of the time, while Somy used to go out a lot for work and leisure. Unfortunately, there was only one key to the apartment (long story). So Jay’s girlfriend and Somy figured a way so that none of them gets locked out because of limited access to key. Their method was a six sigma! It worked perfectly, until Jay interfered. Because of him Somy used to get locked out of the house. Not once but nine to ten times a month. After every lock-out incidence, Jay will give Somy a lame reason and apologize. So sweet of him! But would repeat the same thing the next time. After the last incidence Somy was really pissed and was talking to him telling him how he should be more careful about it. And Jay said sorry and started looking at the computer screen, totally ignoring Somy.

Well, it was like asking Somy ‘Please take the key with you or I will lock you out’. That’s what she did. She started taking the key with her thereafter. And guess what, neither Jay nor his girlfriend ever got locked out when the key was with Somy. But Somy didn’t know a secret…

She didn’t know that key was not an ordinary key. This key was Jay’s life. So if the key was taken away from his eyes, he would freak out and become restless. To get the keys back he would do anything to everything. He won’t mind yelling, screaming or going crazy. All he would want at that moment was THE KEY!!! So what if he is an illegal resident at the apartment? So what if he had moved into girls’ apartment without thinking about how it will affect other girl’s life? So what if he didn’t pay the rent? So what if he was such a pain in the ass for his girl friend’s roommate? Nope! All this doesn’t matter. What matters is that when Jay steps out of not-his apartment, he should have the key with him.

Since Somy didn’t know all this, she dared to take the key with her one morning when she went to the mailbox to check if she got any mail. Before she was back, Jay woke up. And he didn’t find the key in the usual place. OMG! He freaked out. Of course… his life was in danger. He called Somy right then! In his loud and rude voice he said, “Where is the key?” That day Somy lost it. She was putting up with Jay’s crap from the day one. His presence was annoying, but she adjusted. But if this control freak gets instructional, that’s beyond the acceptable limits. Knowing the character of the guy, Somy had already told her roommate that she doesn’t want to/have to deal with Jay. If there is something to be talked about, it will be discussed only by the girl. So well… Somy said the same thing to Jay that morning “I don’t want to deal with a manner-less guy who doesn’t know how to talk to ladies” Damn! She should have known that 1. She had dared mess with Jay’s life (the key). 2. She had dared to ignore Jay who was suffering from how-dare-you-avoid-me syndrome. “No, you talk to me!!” Haha you think Somy is crazy or what?

So Somy kept trying to get her roommate out of her room. While Jay kept yelling at Somy, she multi-tasked - sipping on cold water, ignoring the wild, out of control Jay, and knocking on roommate’s door so she comes out and puts her boyfriend on leash. And wow it took her 10 minutes to put herself together and step out.

Now the battle ground was set: 1, 2, 3 and shoot!!! Half an hour of non-stop yelling, screaming, pointing, blaming, defending, examples, dates, incidences. Jay went ballistic! He was yelling at Somy at the top of his voice, complaining that she took the key. Huh? Dude! You are a damn illegal unwanted visitor! Know your place.

The girl tried to calm him down, but didn’t succeed. Somy announced that she is not saying a word to Jay! Talking to Jay was like volunteering to bang your head on the wall. So after all said and done… Somy was upset with this treatment. Her parents had raised her to be sophisticated and dignified. And surely this ill treatment was unnecessary and totally uncalled for. After this insult and disrespect she wouldn’t stay in that house. She doesn’t need to deal with an insane uncivilized uncouth barbarian. She moved out the same day (thank her friends, Rajib and Ana).

Jay should definitely think about investing in classes like anger management, how to talk to females, how to behave well, moral science etc. May be he skipped these lessons while in school.

Now Somy is at Ana’s place and loving it. While Jay is in the same apartment paying the whole rent and bearing burden of his deeds (God’s watching).

P.S. Somy’s roommate was a nice girl. If she happens to read this, she should understand that she is a very nice person and she deserves someone better than a jerk like Jay; someone who knows how to respect women, gives her right to decide for herself, not be a control freak and take care of his girl well.