Garish Display Of Patriotic Emotions!!

Time flies without wings. How many of us have realized that we are in the second month of 2009. Well, not many we know. But I have realized because I am writing a post on January 26th celebrations in our office. I know it’s a bit too late for this post to come. Thanks to my hectic work schedule now-a-days. Well, that’s a long story so let’s get back to the celebrations. Amresh, the brain behind all the activities in our office and the Cultural Committee came out with an idea to host a cultural fashion show, representing different states of India.

It was supposed to be a pre-event and was to be staged on January 23rd as it was a Friday. But this idea seeded only on January 21st leaving us with two days of practice. We got a meeting request for practice on January 22nd. All I knew was that I was suppose to be a Kashmiri as there were only three vacant posts- Kashmiri, Marathi and Bengali. Since, the other two involved draping a saree, I backed off owing to my petite frame and the pain that came in managing an unstitched piece of clothing that too on a ramp. Vishal Wadhwa was suppose to be my partner. Never heard of him though.!

When we went for the meeting. From Kashmiri, I was given the role of a Manipuri, as my almost chinky features and height matches that role. Even my partner changed to Vishal Khandelwal, my best friend. Vishal was not there when this was decided. He was very pissed when he came to know that he was a Manipuri, as he didn’t look an ounce chinky. Just to match our heights he had to dance with me. But I was elated to get him as a partner as he used to claim that he’s a great dancer and even in occasions he showed some of his ‘break- dancing stunts’. The other pairs were- Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannadiga, Keralite, Goan, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Marathi and Kashmiri.

When we went for practice, we were told that they will play AR Rehman’s ‘Vande Mataram’ and in pairs we have to catwalk. The order was to come from North and then proceed towards South. So, the order of the pairs were- Kashmiri, Punjabi, Manipuri, Bengali, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Marathi, Goan, Kannadiga and Kerala. When the first pair catwalked it was looking so odd! Finally, everybody spoke out and a new formation was given. Everybody, will do a jig on the folk songs of the respective state for 2 minutes and than we will catwalk on Vande Mataram and we roped in another “Bharat Mata”! The idea came out really well and whatever songs were there in the lappy, the couples started practicing on those songs.

The problem was with us to find a Manipuri song. Though, I am from the north-east am basically an Assamese from Guwahati so Manipuri to me was same as Greek and Hebrew. Also, just two day for the event, finding a song, practicing the steps and keeping the bulk of my time finishing my work assignments seemed suicidal. But luckily, the Cultural Committee was able to convince the HR Director to postpone it to January 27th. After buying time, with two hours of googling and endless downloads, I finally zeroed down to one song ‘Mami Sami’!! It had nice folk beats and sounded just perfect. Though the words were unintelligible everybody gave me kudos for selecting this particular rhythmic song.

The practice session was nightmarish. As Vishal, my partner had two left feet when it came to folk dance. I don’t find myself as a dancing diva but I can catch steps fast and with little practice I carry it off well. Vishal took a full 30 minutes to get the steps right. But I was proud with my partner as there were even worse two left ‘feeters’ around!! Liker the Kannadiga couple was very stiff and conscious, Guru the guy was ostrich like and Mamatha the girl lacked poise and the song was very patriotic as Mamatha wasn’t comfortable with a love ballad!! The Rajasthani guy Piyush, danced aka jumped and shook the whole fourth floor. But full points goes to him for his effort. Comparatively, the guys were worse than we thought and the girls were born dancers.

By the time it was Friday people started backing off as due to the extended weekend people were going for a long holiday. Some backed off as the replacement they got were ‘Aunty’ or ‘Uncle’ types. Moreover, the practice sessions except on Sunday acted as a dampener. The Gujarati and Marathi couple was absconding and had to be replaced.

Come Saturday, we were off to office half-heartedly. Even though had to come to office on a weekend, the practice sessions were fun unlimited! Everybody was in a holiday mood and everybody instead of dancing to their songs were dancing to others songs. Most of the time I was learning Salsa from Sunny the Sardar. Some real pun intended jokes like the Manipuri song ‘Mami Sami’, while ‘Mami’ in North India means sister-in-law from mom’s side. Since no one knew the lyrics everybody started singing ‘Mami, Mama, Chacha(uncle) and what not. Recession had to play a role in our fashion show too. Due to recession, the budget was very less according to Amresh. As a cost cutting measure, Sunny the sardar was adamant that at least a banner should be put up with two bamboos. This idea was vetoed by the rest of us. Also, there was no ramp and we had to do the catwalk in the cafeteria of Hallmark building. The crowd in Hallmark was too rowdy. Cat, wolf whistles, cow mooing, crows, cock-a- doodle- doo anything you name comes from the crowd. Unfazed by this all the couples religiously practiced on January 26th. The programme was shaping up quite well.

With the excitement of practice everybody forgot about their costumes. Finally, Manish, the ‘Ethnic Dress Competition’ winner came to the rescue. All the clothes will be rented. I was at tenterhooks as finding a Manipuri costume in South India is just finding a needle in a haystack. Also, if they get me the Manipuri dance costume than it will be more like weight lifting for me leave alone catwalking and dancing. So, taking the advantage of being in South India where they can’t tell the difference between a Naga, Assamese or Manipuri, I thought of wearing my own costume. Also, keeping the faith that among 900 employees I just know one Naga and the rest are Assamese like me and the one Manipuri I know is on a L1 visa to US of A. I thought of designing my own costume. So I thought of wearing the weaved ‘Mekhla Chadar’ in Manipuri style that my Aunt gifted me in my last visit to Guwahati. I also remebered that her son had performed Manipuri dance in the Assam Governor’s house recently. So with her help and a little googling again I was able to make a picture of my look in my mind. She was very sad that she couldn’t courier me the Manipuri dress due to short notice.

D-day came and after everybody got their costumes on rent which came with a warning that one stitch gone will face heavy penalty in monetary terms. Good that I wasn’t wearing one. With a little help from my friends I was able to drape my costume really well. Thanks to Smita and Smriti, they helped me a lot and the mekhla(skirt) was very nicely draped so that I can dance freely much to my relief. For the last touch of my make-up I had to put a multani mitti bindi that runs from the middle of my forehead to my nose to give that perfect Manipuri look. A frantic search for a toothpick was on in the girls loo. Finally, got one in Payel’s bag. Girls carry everything. Hence Proved!!! Smriti drew the perfect ‘Bishnupuriya Manipuri’ bindi.

When we reached upstairs., everybody looked straight from a Nautanki company(Theater group). Vishal, my partner didn’t look like Manipuri at all. After endless photo sessions, we were ushered in. Everyone performed really well. The crowd behaved themselves and sang ‘Jai Hind’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ . We had to do the programme once more due to public demand.

Than came the reviews, everyone praised all of us. But there were mixed feelings also. Some of the employees thought that we will be paraded in short skirts just like a real fashion show and were disappointed. But as a whole, we were appreciated by all.

For me this was special as I performed after a gap of 10 years almost a decade. It was exhilarating and I believe I carried it off really well, thanks to my partner who kept me grounded and made every possible attempt to cheer me up. Also, the rest of the people, Yashshri, Pratibha, Geetima, and each and everyone of them were very sporty.

To end this post, I would say ‘WE ROCKED THE SHOW! HALLEJUAH”(sic)!!!!

Things from my childhood

A list of some things that I miss from my childhood:

1. Mary Poppins
2. sleeping period in Nursery and kindergarden
3. multi-colored Sugar-coated fish shape candy
4. Mr. lollipop with that chimp pic
5. He-Man, Jungle Book cartoons
6. Cibaca toothpaste
7. Phantom candy cigarettes
8. Barbie dolls
9. Scotland Yard Game
10. my Hello Kitty bag and tiffin box
11. My Russian folktales book
    
    The list is endless….

Till Death Do Us Part!!!

Christmas is a season of cheer and festivity. With Christmas just gone the day before, you must be wondering, why am I writing this dismal post. But like any happy occasions like birth , marriage , death is also an inevitable part of our lives.

Emily Dickinson the nineteenth century poetess, was a reclusive and introvert obsessed with the theme of death and eternity. She wrote many poems that eulogizes death.

This thought of death, the permanent sleep, came to me while I was in the cab. I was sitting in our office cab adjacent to the driver’s seat. The cab is a typical 36 seater Swaraj Mazda. I had a view of the traffic in front of me. As I was lost in my reveries, a sudden jolt brought me to my senses. Our driver was about to crash with a truck in front of us. Suddenly, I started thinking about the aftermath though we have escaped the gory consequences. If the inevitable would have happened, I would have been the first one to be thrown out banging my head on the windshield and striking the truck. God knows, I might have just died on the spot or died in the hospital with multiple brain injuries. I was thinking about my parents, what would be there reaction when they would come to know about it. Would they let my mom know, before my corpse arrived? What about my bank accounts, my things that I have accumulated would it be handed to my parents? Would my facebook a/c will be filled with wall posts by my friends? Sitting there, just one question ran to my mind that human existence is so temporary. Today, I am alive but I might die in the next second. Faces that I see today can vanish tomorrow.

The scenes in movies that shows the bomb blasts in trains in Mumbai which has claimed so many laymen’s lives. People who were there are not anymore. This is a case where you are not prepared to face death and its destiny.

Let’s look at people who end their lives by themselves. History is replete with death of well-known personalities who committed suicides.

Kurt Cobain, the vocalist of Nirvana who immortalized ‘Man who sold the world’, ‘Lithium’ and ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ is somebody whom I would like to bring to life if given a chance. The member of a band that brought grunge to the limelight just shot himself one fine day when his career was at peak leaving behind a year old daughter and a grieving wife Courtney Love. Trouble loomed large in his marital life, addicted to cocaine fighting it out in the rehab and his deteriorating physical condition took the toll on him.

The sex symbol Marilyn Monroe born as Norma Jeane Mortenson died at the age of 36 due to an overdose of medication termed as ‘acute barbiturate poisoning’. From a troubled childhood, marriages she shone to stardom. But again her fame was short-lived.

Something which is fresh in our memory is the death of Heath Ledger who died on 22 January 2008, aged 28. The actor who immortalized the role of ‘The Joker’ in Dark Knight with the phrase “Why so serious?’’!! Seeing him alive in screen makes it hard to believe that he’s not there anymore. He also died due to an overdose of prescription drugs as he was suffering from insomnia.

Whatever be the cause, but all of us are going to die one day. We are here for a temporary period of time. Some die when they are young and some has to face death in their old age. Let us hope that we have a good existence so that people can remember us with fondness in their hearts instead of bitterness.

Alas! Mofi Sees the Beach!!!

Flashback scenario 1- 12 December, Friday morning; 9 AM

Giti, my roomie while tying her sneakers says "Mofi, I am going to Chennai today! Will you come along?" I said “oki, only if we get the tickets.”

Flashback scenario 2- 12 December, Friday morning; 11 am

Giti says; “Gosh this redbus.in is not accepting the payments. Dunno what to do?”

Flashback scenario 3: 12 December, Friday afternoon, 4 pm

I ask Giti “What are you planning to do, is the trip still on?” She says; “I am going early and would get the tickets done.”

Somehow, it was thumping in my head that this trip won’t materialize again because we have already planned it for the last few weeks. I backed off and told Giti to do hers.

Sitting at office, I already planned my weekend ahead. i.e. to get my power checked for my lenses and visit my two school buddies in Garuda Mall on Saturday. Also collect the Oriflame products that I have ordered from the local beauty parlour. So, I was all set for the weekend.

So, as usual, took the company cab and reached home at 8.45 pm. Giti had already prepared dinner and was packing simultaneously. She told me again to come with her. But I denied. Me being me, I do my air tickets six months in advance and train tickets before 3 months. I really dread the last minute confusion and the suspense of getting my tickets confirmed kills me. This leads to insomnia and am in a state of panic all the time. So, I prefer, an orderly, well planned holiday.

I had already answered in the negative for many holidays that she had, she wasn’t able to convince me then. But Giti, was very convincing this time. She reasoned out that, her sister, Aditi is working in Chennai and she is shifting to Mumbai, so this is the last chance to visit her. Moreover, one of the things in my wishlist was to see a beach.( Yes, I know you can’t believe it that I never saw a beach in my life.) So, finally, I thought I will take the plunge. So with minimal packing we rushed off to the Madiwala Bus stop at 9.30 pm with 300 bucks in my pocket. Giti had her bus at 10.45 pm. Hoping against hope that I will get a seat in the same bus, which seemed unlikely.

The first Travel agency I went to where Giti did her ticks was all sold out. Finally, I got a ticket for another bus at 11.15 pm. I got lucky on that part but now I have to think about my return ticket. I asked atleast a dozen of the travel agencies, everything was sold out for Sunday night. Finally , I crossed the road and got a return ticket for Sunday at 2 in the afternoon from a nondescript travel agency. The funny part is that both of us were going but in different buses. I was doing things that I won’t even dream of. But somehow, I was feeling so excited about the whole thing. One of our friend gave us the idea to exchange tickets with a bachelor guy in the 10.45 pm bus. Luckily, that time, the guy from whom I purchased the ticket for 11.15 pm called me and handed me a ticket for 10.45pm in another bus.

It was a non a/c bus. I sat in the first seat and the TV was bang on in front of me. A tamil movie was already playing in there. I looked around and I could see only guys. A big burly man was sitting next to me. I started to panic and started stretching my to neck in the hope to see some lady passengers. In the process I got some awkward glances. Finally, I saw a girl sitting some few seats at the back . Whoa! I took a sigh of relief. Later on, some more girls came though.

As soon as the bus started, I made myself comfortable, slouched back and started enjoying the movie. Though I couldn’t understand one word also, the movies was stylishly done with hunks and pretty babes with gadgets and a foreign location. Thankfully, the heroes have started trimming their moustaches and looks presentable. Whoa, the heroines are still voluptuous but their garb has become refined. The movie seem like a cocktail of 'The Matrix' and Sharukh Khan starrer ‘Don’. As I was enjoying the movie, after some few minutes, an itching started in my lower back. To my horror the seats had bugs/fleas. It was proven when I saw the other people itching there hands and feet. The whole night I couldn’t sleep as I was busy itching and the bugs feasted on my blood. Darn, I felt so helpless. Also the man next to me was snoring so loud, that sleep went for a toss.

We reached Chennai at 5.30 in the morning. My bus gave me a tour of the city before we reached Koyembedu bus stop. A funny thing happened, a girl came bare-feet to complain that her shoes were missing. The handyman guy had to go under the seat to fetch , the sleeping beauty’s shoes. She seem to be lost.

After touring for 40 mins, I reached Koyembedu bus stop. Poor Giti had to wait half an hour for me. After that it was very tough to tell our destination, Saidapet, some tongue twisting market. The autowallahs couldn’t understand what we said. They were blabbering in Tamil and was asking us 150 and 200 rupees to get there. Finally, we got an auto who was ready to go there for 90 bucks (as he didn’t know the directions). But like all of them , he knew only Tamil. We called up Aditi to wake her roomie, Bharati who knows Tamil. Bharati explained the autowallah and then finally we were on our way. Gosh, the autowallah started picking more passengers on the way for a few bucks. What a bugger it was. Finally we reached our destination and straightway headed to the bedroom. We slept and woke at 10 am. Aditi had a lunch invitation but she cancelled it for us. We saw ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ in her lappy and had nice Chettinad chicken and pulao for lunch that her tamil friend's mom has prepared. The food was yummy .I think I love Tamil food more than any other South Indian food.

Now, the time had come to fulfill one of the wishes in my wishlist that is to see a beach. Aditi couldn’t believe it that I never saw a beach in my lifetime. That was really expected.;) She kept on asking me as to why I never saw a beach in my life. So, in the evening, me , Geeti and Aditi were with me to share my moment of joy. We went to Besantnagar Beach. All the images that I use to see in TV came to life in front of me. The colourful balloons and air rifles, the small-sized giant wheels, corn on the cob, fried capsicums and the amazing aroma of seafood. It was dark by the time we reached there. Still, it didn’t deter my spirit. The moment I was there , I opened my floaters and went straight to the water and allowed the waves to kiss my feet. I could feel the sand getting washed below my feet and it seemed I am getting pulled in quicksand. The soft sea breeze refreshed me. The feeling was awesome, it will always be etched in my memory. Then, to celebrate the moment we went and had Pomfret and prawn fry. It was mouth-watering and fresh from the sea. Eating in the open with the soft sea breeze blowing added to the ambience. We went to the Besantnagar Church and also to the 'My Dollar Store' and 'FabIndia' stores for timepass and get some goodies too. Aditi was very keen to feed us Murugan Idlies, some famous shop. But seeing the crowd who were dying to eat idlis discouraged us to go with the idea.

We headed towards home after paying a fortune to the autowallahs. We had a grand feast back home. The sumptuous dinner was cooked by Giti, Aditi and Bharati. I stuck to peeling and chopping the veggies!! !! One of Aditi’s friend also joined us named Ramanand , all the time I confused his name as Ravan when the girls yelled at him. He got a local brand vodka named MGM, that tasted like shite!!! Thankfully I just took a sip. I was shell-shocked to know that the tamils have their vodka brand also. Amazing!!!

After dinner, Giti was in the mood to watch a horror movie. So, the scariest one in the collection was The Omen, Part 1. So, we settled down , to watch it. I knew I will doze off in the middle. As everybody drooled to see the antics of the kid Damien, me and Bharti were the first ones to sleep off. Ramanand left and Aditi also fell asleep. Giti saw the whole movie till 2 am. After that she was even scared to switch off the laptop.:)

I was the first one to wake up( since I was the first one to sleep also). After that one by one everyone woke up. We had our breakfast and was watching RDB (Rang De Basanti). In the middle the CD started playing foul. It was coming out as if it has drunk last night and was puking it out!! (This extraordinary comment was made by Aditi. )Finally, we settled for ‘Chicken Little’. But since I had a bus to catch at 2 pm, I had to rush. After having the leftovers of the previous night (which tasted even better in the morning.) I rushed off to Koyembedu bus station half-heartedly. I had so much fun, didn't thought it will be so short-lived. I had to wait for a full hour before the bus came.

Thankfully, the bus was A/C, we got blankets and water bottles also. The trip back to Bangalore was smooth and I just reflected on the past two days. For a change, I felt better. I needed this break. Thanks to Giti, who coaxed me and the hospitality of Aditi and Bharati were touching. I wished I could have caught the 10 pm bus, then I could have spent some more time with them.

Anyways Cheers to my first beach experience and for more beaches to come. Next on my wishlist is SNOWFALL and DESERTS!!! Let’s see when that happens!!! For now am still reveling that for a change I SAW THE BEACH!!!!

Dentally Mental!!

The taste of physical pain can be really dreadful. I experienced it on November 24, Monday, a day to be remembered as I had one of a lifetime experience. Well, thankfully its not an injury or a delivery. I got my third molars on my left jaw removed. Well, in simple lay man term, I got my wisdom teeth removed.

The bugger on my lower jaw (read as lower third molar) was bugging me from last week. It was showing on my left jaw the size of a dot, never thought what am in for a few days down the line. I resisted, persisted , had painkillers but this bugger got its way.

Last Friday, I went to see a dentist. The lady doc told me to get my OPG done which is kinda an X-Ray, that shows the teeth portion of your skull. I never saw such a distorted portion of my skull! It was just like a grinning skull. FYI, you gotta remove your ear-rings if you are going for an OPG. Since, I got sensitive ear lobes, I could not open my ear-rings. But the OPG was barely passable. The dentist verdict was, sweetie you got four wisdom teeth, you gotta remove all four of them. I tried telling her that since one is only paining, why she can't do away with it and I can be back if the other three pains. (So much for my wisdom that I have gathered all these years, am still stuck at the age of four)) . The doc swayed her head in a negative motion and told me to remove all of them. I bargained and settled it for two on coming Monday and two laters. She agreed too, thankfully and put me in a dose of painkillers which hardly worked.

Well, after that I started reading on the Net about wisdom tooth and managed to see a vid on Youtube. After that I couldn't even breathe. I was so filled with awe, but I had to as the dot inside my mouth was testing my all limits of patience. Finally I confirmed my appointment for Monday afternoon at 2 pm. She told me to have a heavy lunch.

The surgeon was Dr. Ramdas, thankfully it wasn't a lady, as my friends has already told me about the myth that lady dentists don't have sturdy hands and strenghth to pull out your teeth. They might injure a nerve and all that idiotic blah! But somehow I felt relieved to see Dr. Ramdas. Gosh his phone was constantly ringing.

Finally, he called me in and explained me the initial procedure. He numbed my left portion of the mouth including the tongue with a local anaesthesia. After a minute, I couldn't feel anything, only a tingling feeling. I closed my eyes as I was scared of the surgical tools that were put inside
my mouth. The only diversion was when I heard 'Holy God', only to see my teeth gave way and Dr. Ramdas shirt and forehead was soaked with my blood. It was such a funny sight,eventhough I felt like puking seeing my own blood. The doctor calmed me and started cleaning his shirt. I was like 'hello, what if my anaesthesia effect goes off, I will be darned, like I saw in an old movie where surgeries were done on patients without anaesthesia and how they were screaming. Thankfully he was back. He extracted the whole tooth and that dot was actully half the size of my little finger and I saw the bugger came with a small portion of a tissue in the shape of a mouse heart. That heart was paining all the time.

Finally, it was time to extract the second tooth, he injected me again, Gosh it was so painful. Injecting part is only painful but the rest of it went well and then he put the stitches.

After I came back, I couldn't sleep because the anesthesia effect was wearing off. I cried with the pain. I just popped the painkillers and antibiotics. I could feel the blood in my mouth. I can't even spit it out. I drank my blood and the gauze was filled with it.

It was only after I had a large family sized chocolate sundae , I felt less pain and finally, the painkillers were working too. Ibuprofen and paracetamol together. I didn't eat anything that day. After 24 hours, I just had a mixture of rice and lentils. That has been my diet for the last two days and I have to be on it till two weeks till my stitches are cut.

I can't brush properly, neither can I use left portion of my mouth. But atleast I am blessed that its out and I hope that my healing process will be quicker. I am dying to eat solids again!!

"Chicks on Flicks"!!!

I was watching this new programme called, "Chicks on flicks", in Sony Pix on Friday night. The main crux of the show is that Neha Sarin and Ira Dubey, reviews movies and tells the audience whether to 'thrash' or watch movies that have released. My take on the programme is what follows:

Well, I loved the programme, am not being biased or feministic in this issue. I say that because I usually follow Nikhat Kazmi's TOI reviews on Saturday. I liked the programme because of its sheer choice of words, reviews and movies comprising of two new releases and two DVD releases is quite appealing. Also, there is no rating system, which has been very misleading off-late.

The presention of the hostessess looks very chic too. Dressed in formals with subtle make-up sitting on big-sized sofas, the kind you get in PVR Gold Class with a flat-screen television at the background is simple but contemporary. Anyways, you just can't keep off your eyes from the girls. Though, both are equally good, Neha seems to be protective of Ira who seems to be a novice in playing a host in the show. Ira stammers at times but what seems amusing is the time while taking a commercial break. Though both are spontaneous and manages it quite well, it seems the commercial break part is out of the script. :)

They give you a lasting impression on the review though. The perspective of watching a movie through a girl's eye really hooks you. The observation, knack of detail, intelligence shines in their reviews. Simple things, for example: while reviewing 'Body of Lies' they observe that the title of the movie is not going with the movie script. I was wondering, the guys who would be watching this programme would really nod their head in affirmation or not. Also, both of them don't sing in each other tunes, they have a difference of opinion too. In those few seconds, you are bound to think which side to take. The conversational format of girl talk is very catchy definitely.

I am definitely catching another episode next week. Gosh!! I would give my right arm to do a job like this!!! :)!!!

Your Love is a Stranger Now!

The pangs of the heart know no bounds!
You left me without a word!
A heart that loved me with all its might is stranger now!!
That warm hug, entwined fingers, listening to each others heartbeats!
Those sweet nothings whispers comes back to haunt me!!
I realise I have been a fool again!!

You said a lot and I listened!
My eyes had all the pain that you were aloof of!!
The heart has got deep wounds!!
But you don't care!!

I still hold on!
Am not afraid to fall in love again!!
This time with a head!
My destiny awaits me!!