The Bride

Well, well, well..................
So it seems i didn't wish someone on her b'day.......damn!
Anyways, here's a small write up i sent for her sometime back...
Many people have commented on these...but i have not had the energy, time and the will to change what i first wrote.....so, here's 'the bride' for you.......on the Bride's Birthday.......
Happy B'day dear!

The Bride

I attended one of my friend's wedding for the first time ever. Not that I have not attended any marriages, nor is it that none of my friend's got married and I have not attended any of them. I have attended quite a few weddings of my friends. But this is the first time I ever stayed the whole full fledged damn week with her – before, during and after her marriage – day in and day out. In a sense, it was one my longest social excursions to the so called society and people – and the world of uncles, aunts and grandmoms and granddads. Rituals, rules, respect, norms were staple and I can't deny that I missed my independence quite a many times during my five day stay there.

Among the many things I realized, like the complicacy of the food and the various levels of relationships that exist in a big extended family, the extent of expenditure and preparation one has to make, the most exalting thing that dawned on me was – How one could know everything about a person during her marriage. I realized that if one has to really know a person inside out, see her in all colors of life – it is this one occasion that gives you the opportunity. I will never forget this friend of mine because I saw her through the most important, the most extensive event of her life. I saw every bit of her. I saw her in her deepest distress – when her mother fainted. I saw her in her best moods – with her beloved on the phone– with her see-you-soon tone. I saw her dance and I heard her sing. I saw her early mornings and midnights. I saw her gobble and weaken through a fast. I saw her choose her best clothes and pick the jewelries. I saw her being blessed by her parents and saw her give untiring smiles to end number of neighbors – whom she had never met and whom she knows she will never meet again. I saw her cry on leaving her two lovely sisters behind and I saw her yearn for some more chowmein – that she so loves. I saw her spend – and restrain. I could feel the love in her, the irritation and her nervousness. She wished for something she could not have, she gave away what she treasured.

Myriad of colors, mixture of sweet scents, and mosaic of joyous emotions – it is all about marriage. People, people and more people. Best of food and drinks, dazzling lights, and scintillating music– laughter, extravagance, space, energy and jubilance – it's all about marriage. Amongst this crowd and clamor, chaos and order, it is just one person among all, who goes through extreme emotional stages in such a short period of time, such a drastic and dramatic change – to be uprooted from one family, one culture, one place, and one surrounding to a new world – and it is the Bride. To be the only friend of the bride throughout her marriage is one experience I would never forget. I would never forget this girl who went off crying – in her best dress she wore for her best man. At the end of it all, I had seen it all.

When I picture her today, I ask myself – what else do I need to know about her when I have known her this close? Surprisingly, I get my answer in an instant.

What I know – what I think I understand – is a bride. Bride – I smile at myself, bride - reflection of everything new and fresh – bride – the beginning of a new journey and a new life, a new family, novel surroundings, fresh thoughts, emerging emotions. All my pride and satisfaction of having known a person so deep fizzles out in seconds.

I realize what I saw in the Bride – were questions she reflected in her nervousness, the joys for being so near to the answers, dances and songs for a better and beautiful life, emotions for treading into the unknown, fear of losing the identity she has. But I have not known the person after the beginning. I have not opened the book but its cover. Is she still scared and nervous? Is she happy with her new life and the new found love? Has she made new friends, did she miss her family and her two lovely sisters? Does she belong? Has she found herself? Was all the jubilation worth it after all? Has she found the answers to all her apprehensions, and is she happy? Flick of a thought, I feel as if I am starting a new thriller book, or the latest movie released.

Bride – I scoff myself – and I thought I understood her!

mindless thoughts

bogged down with work...
too much oily eating...
too much i-scream..u-scream...all of us scream....
too much ice-cream

shouting slogans atop the bus...
shouting slogans burning tyres...
at a Frooti Dharna karyakram...

waiting for the phone to ring...impatiently...no, it wouldn't ring...
oh! had to call someone...

'runaway' feels creeping in.....where to?
only available place is the restroom or beneath your own desk....
okie, have asked out a fren for lunch...
thoda fagging....very little eating...

June!
'She was born on first of june...that's why she is called Juni,
didn't you wish her on her b'day?'
wot?!

civilizational confinemnets.... a person has too many affiliations...
it is not just to judge a person on one strong affiliation...hmm....
religion, caste, creed, color of skin, part of the world...
like a muslim or an asian or a hindu or a women or a greek or american or bong..

'all the whites are white due to de-pigmentation, you know that nah?'
hmm..

'so why are they thought to be superior..? they don't have better brains than asians?'
no idea.. let's not talk racial stuff ... okay?
'hmm.. ... ... had your lunch?.. .. too oily food nah?'
hmm... n masala..lots.

crazy times

If you think what you were 10 years ago.... can you become that person now?

No.

Why?
Because you have replaced that person that was there 10years ago.
You are where you were 10years ago.

It is not the time that is moving..........
it is you...who are changing.

There is - no time.
There is just one time - that is now.

You change but you refer to the time as change.


wot?
think about it.

ramble on june

****!

I wrote a long post before this... under the same title...

Just when I started to enjoy writing it, p!ok! I pressed some unwanted keys on the keyboard and the whole damn post disappears not to be found listed anywhere!! Great... how dumber can I get...!!


I was basically rambling about my friends in that write up....

It’s so pathetic....


And the economy of Nepal in general....
On how the so called 'optimists' see the economic happenings as a new start and stuff....
i don't see where the new start is, when the petrol lines get longer by the day, and the huge debts yet to be paid back to IOC...

I may sound a perfect pessimist here...but the garment production units shifted to nearby India have taken away quite a thousand jobs with them...

Market growth's likely to be down-forecasted.... inflation is likely to go up and up....

No, we don't yet have a stable government in place...

The only hopeful industry at a glance seems to be Tourism...even with a double digit growth over last year, i don't see a great thing there...the base was already so low...

All I see quite disappointingly is a group of travelers all set to start their journey... fumbling with a compass on their palm! Let alone, know the direction. So, whoever's had the conception or misconception that the economy has taken a jump start...humble request to pls rethink.

But the hopes are high yes, with the travelers having come together keen to move ahead...which was a rare sight a few months back.

So, all the best for a new start.

Expression

Someone told me to be expressive of my feelings on the blog. Hm..interesting.
Be expressive.

I have got a lot more than one comment on myself at being un-expressive.
It is something that doesn’t come naturally to me. Some one just introduced to me asked whether I had a tormented childhood, for my fear of expression. I laughed at the person and said, Excuse me?

A close friend of mine got completely disgusted with me last week - of my expressionless face.
It's difficult dealing with you - she said, I could have never guessed.

Expressions have been a subject of much debate and discussion in the spiritual and the philosophical world too. Hinduism maintains that an individual should control the 10 indriyas - suppress the feelings and emotions that come out of it and devote oneself to God. That is an aide towards Nirvana, to spiritual cleansing.

I believe this is where the Hindu-istic thinking and the modern western thoughts differ.. the latter being more pro-expression in every field they enter into. Freedom of thought, expression, independence, individual rights.. all go in the same direction. Much of chaos, laxity, and loose character are the bi-products of a too free society, I guess. Both have their positives and negatives on the weighing scale.

Finding a mid-way - a balanced character, I think is the challenge to our minds today.

meeting needs profitably

This morning, I went back to Kotler's Marketing I read two years ago. It made more sense and it did not make more sense than it did two years ago.

I could relate to the theoretical aspects of it, drawing from my experience at work.
The examples he gave then, were in the process of being out-dated in the course of two years.

So, apart from marketing, i got two new lessons-
1. get some experience before taking up a management course
2. market dynamics change everyday whether you read about them or not,
so, keep yourself updated.

Having studied marketing for quite a number of years, if someone asks me today, what is marketing? I still tend to fumble for words and explain in roundabout ways. Kotler gives it so damn simple: Meeting Needs Profitably.
I found the classic three-word definintion at the start of the book so fulfiling - like a fresh window has let in chilled fresh air into my mind and no fumbling anymore.

a tiny part

I sometimes wonder whether it is a universal psychological phenomenon when one particular aspect of life or reason, which has always been there, but never considered, so thoroughly seems to have pervaded the day, and the thought process of the whole day as if it has suddenly crept into whatever you are doing or thinking.

These are usually everyday things like, time, the sudden realization of time.
Time is always there, it has always been there and we all know, if we don't use it today, it is gone the very next moment, until you think about this fact.
Now, the catch is, it is a universal phenomenon, we all know about it, but this realization of time exists only when I think about it. And when I think about it, i have the sense of losing it, which would have been anyways lost had not i thought about it. But since I think about it, I am losing it.
hmm....

Like family.
They are always there. But sometimes they seem to be overwhelming.
if you don't think about them, its okay. You seem to have slipped their existence out of your mind. It’s like they don't exist. But when you think about them, they are always there - in whatever you do, or whatever decision you make.

This sense is also there when you suddenly lose something.
Something-s have always been there. You know, like you take off your watch everyday and put it in one particular table everyday. And you naturally reach out to it every morning and go to place it there every evening. It has become a habit....almost a tiny part of you.
How do you feel when one fine morning, it is not there. I get this sudden feeling of losing something because, I can not think of where it could be, and therefore, it is 'lost' to my mind.
And a tiny part of me, feels bad about it.
you know, it does not have to be a watch... it could be anything, a favorite cup of yours, something hanging on your wall, a remote control, a refrigerator handle, a nail on the wall, an eraser, a shoelace, a key or a key ring, your hair, an old telephone book, toothbrush, pair of jeans...
It’s just not there when you reach out for it and you get nothing.
And a tiny part of me goes empty. I sometimes wonder whether it is a universal-psychological-phenomenon.

eXcuse me

I had accompanied a fren cum colleague of mine to the nearby nbds - the so called departmental store. she bought at least 7 varieties of pickle.... i was already amazed by that, when i saw this big huge junkie kid....i will describe him to you...you will see why he is worth mentioning...

he is this huge, huge-built kid... i mean thrice the size of what he should be...bulging from every available angle. but he is short...
fat and short, dark in color.

he is dressed in a fashionable pair of shorts... pulled down to the desperate point of dropping down...the hip-hop style, i think it is called.

he is slurping a can of fanta in the most disgusting manner, and as he does that he is ordering a lil sister-like girl...who seems to be his maid...to keep what he desires in the shopping basket she is holding...the basket is half the size of the girl...and this fat guy is ordering around...this and that...to the girl to drop into the basket....
now i was already amazed at that scene...
when i encounter this chap at the payment counter.

XCUSE ME-EE...XCUSE MEEE - he shouts at me in the most irritating jingle....and he repeats it...
"XCUSS Meee...XCuss mee-eeee....we are illiterate.!!..not literate!! like you uuu...so we don't know how to speak Enggg-lish...XCuss meee"

It was a total disgust. i gave a similar reply to him..."i Xcuss you...You are XCussed"
That's it.
My irritation is still there. Not so much for his XCuss...than the way he was acting smart with the girl with the basket in front of him. Gosh!

morning walk

i went for a walk this morning with the digi... the first sight i caught - this long serpentile queue of cabs and bikes... waiting at the petrol pump

This Ratankar Bihar on way to Mangalbazaar is being renovated... can you see how the bajra is being protected by the iron bars...and the tiny man with folded hands in front of it must be its protector...

the goddess in her chariot.

the chariot... and its wheels.

the chariot, on the left.

bhaktajans on the right.

There are two goddesses during Macchindranath festival. One of them was intact...but the other chariot, raath, was still being constructed... (in this pic)after it went down a few week back. The small one is intact.

This is Macchindranath... it's temporarily put in nearby satal......

and the paraphernelia.....


A short trip on way back...to Mangal Bazaar.........

This is the king's palace... there is a beautiful courtyard in here... it's now a museum..........

King Bhupatendra with his folded hands....he dreamt Lord Krishna in his sleep one night asking the king to build a temple for him....

this is the Krishna mandir the king built...

the durbarsquare...mangal bazaar!

.....had my cam anti-light when i clicked this....

Honacha....chwela-baji...wo and piro aloo....yummy! but it's said, it isn't as good as used to be...

This is the famous ma-marru galli in mangalbazar... it's barfi are a favorite to all kathmanduites

This goddess is the reason it's called Ma-marru galli.....

In this galli, there's this goddess. People who learnt witchcraft came here for prayer....

Ma-maru galli...literally means...where you wouldn't want to go.

the globe

the first thing that hits my mind when i say 'globe' is the television program on travel&living - the globetrotter...it is quite a channel going on there...v.interesting, i like it, but hardly watch it...guess why.

on the globe,

the ocean are painted blue. the ball crisscrossed with meridians, longitudes and latitudes, degrees, equinox.....the colorful country boundaries....

wait there - i think there are continental boundaries to start with...then international boundaries, and national boundaries...

name of countries fill the small globe on my table....and the capital cities on a dot.

without the measurements and the marks, colors and the props, and without the nomenclature that beautify it.....i guess the globe would look naked...unpainted...bare and wild.

Eraser

The eraser is an interesting object. It reduces itself as it disappear lines on your pages.

It’s like bad memory cells, if there are any.

The pencil is at the other end of the continuum - it reduces itself as it creates. Thus if you take a pencil and an eraser, they are at two different poles - the lead and the eraser - different natures.

But they gel together - like people of different nature. The existence of one depends on the other. The significance of pencil to many is because it's erasable...the eraser is there because of the pencil.

circles

it's like everyone's in their own damn world as it is supposed to be...and it is just the interlinking circles of concern that is connecting one life to the other and sometimes the circles tend to drift away and not touch each other...that is when the link between friends and sisters and lovers and brothers and mothers get weakened and sometimes when it rains and we sit with a cup of coffee watching the raindrops sliding down the windowpane, we wonder - 'nothing has changed...the rain still slides down the pane... i am still drinking coffee...different places, change in routine...surrounded by different people but i am still the me and would love to be ... where i enjoyed'...then, we drop a mail to a long lost friend, extend a hand to your lover, call up the brother, drop by to say hi to the uncle and the circles are interlinked again.

recent read

Every road towards a better state of society is blocked, sooner or later, by war, by threats of war, by prepareations for war. ...............War is a purely human phenomenon. The lower animals fight duels in the heat of sexual excitement and kill for food and occasionally for sport. ...........................Some social insects, it is true, go out to fight in armies; but their attacks are always directed against members of another species. Man is unique in organizing the mass murder of his own species.
(Start of the chapter 'War' by Huxley)

Aldous Huxley in Ends and Means, 1937 has quite aptly analyzed the nature of war and the causes of war. What i found most intriguing though was the last few paragraphs of his writing where he has considered the psychological causes of war and how they might be eliminated. He says War is sometimes welcome because peace-time occupations seem boring, humiliating and pointless - which i think held more true in his time...1930s .......now this is rarely applicable or more so, there are so many wars already ongoing that we have not had yet that boredom felt of peace-time...where is peace-time? However, he had given a solution pertaining to job-rotation which he believed would remove the boredom in the occupations.

The second psychological phenomenon during wartime was the decline in suicide rate - as during war-time, people had heightened significanc and purposefulness of life as opposed to peace-time. Danger heightens the sense of social solidarity and quickens patriotic enthusiam. Life takes on sense and meaning and is lived at a high pitch of emotional intensity.

Both the psychological causes of war seem very convincing amongst the many other nationalistic, political, religious, economic, social and power gaining reasons of war he sites. The psychological reasons of war are less thought of and more in the individual's control as opposed to all the other reasons why societies, sects and countries fight.

more rain

its been raining continuously in kathmandu since yesterday. its one of those irritating rains which finds a way to seep into everything. whatever you touch or see is wet, being dry seems somewhat of a luxury. i got into office early for no reason at all. maybe i was here to prepare myself for the bashing i was scheduled to get this afternoon, and the rain somehow set the mood right. while raining, the human race seems to have gone to one of those sci-fi movie age where everything is gray-scaled, wet and sad.

i dozed off watching manhattan for the second time yesterdy. i was in my typical rested position with the pillow propped up behind me, surrounded by phone cords, my notebook and a huxley book faced down. when i opened my eyes disturbed by someone, my mom and brother were staring down at me. 'Look at her!' she said. the room was filled with the loud sweet background music from the movie and woody was in his own self chattering to diane. 'how can u sleep with this loud............' mom's voice faded on my ears as i went back to sweet slumber.

today

it's raining...pittary pattary rain...on the roofs of the houses ...tin roofs...clay roofs....concrete roofs...and on buses and taxis and helmets....

it was typical traffic jam today with some tiff going on between micro bus drivers and the police early morning....the tempo i was in took a de-tour....and i had to walk a stretch to my office.....i got in half an hour late....... the micro buses about 20 in number were blocking the main road....and there was big commotion...traffic jam...people walking...what a sight to see!

okie...time to go home...and eat...
to listen to some good music...read...
and sleep...maybe i will watch a movie....

Idiosyncracies-i hope i got the spelling right

what's your problem? Juni asked in fury, as the gaze of the gang-by-the-corner followed her.
She was dressed in a white kurti with small green petals on it. She loved the print. She looked pretty in it - all her flab straightened by the cotton, and she had let her hair loose unlike other days. That was the reason for the whistles and the songs when she passed the last corner to reach her home.

She felt safe when she put down the handbag in front of the mirror. She thought the interview went well. She had answered all the questions - maybe she will get the job.

She got an engaged tone when she called up Pranita. Her friend had been attacked two nights ago in her house. The dad had been injured seriously by the robbers. They had come with khukuris and knifes. 15 stitches on the head Prani had cried on the phone and she kept sobbing till she fell asleep over the phone, her friend consoling her from the other end.

Juni hated thinking of all the sad things in the world. She had stopped listening to the news, and had stopped paper subscriptions two months back when all news that was there on TV or the headlines were of either accidents, bombardments, killings, or robberies. But as the cliché fatalistic saying goes - who can stop what's destined to happen? - honi lai kasle talna sakcha ra?

She was hungry. She went to the kitchen. It was in a mess - nothing new.

Everyday, her elder brother cooked for both of them, and left the kitchen in a mess. Pots and pans to be cleaned, open packet of bread, egg shells, garlic, ginger and potato peels a neat heap on the counter. He was on a night job - call centre. He had even developed a weird accent - he called it Australian. She could tell it was far from being one- but sounded a copycat for sure - trying to be something he is not. But it was the best job he could get with his qualifications. And it was safer - much safer than his previous job - making marketing drives - driving his bike all day in the horrible traffic to sell branded water bottles. Whoever would buy branded water bottles, she thought, but they did. Manus got calls from officers and managers of so called big companies for his water bottles, through his acquaintances he had there.
(to be contd...)

the gr8ness guide

haywire! haywire!

the world is haywire... but it is connected with wires...

vibes and feelings
thoughts and hunches
intuitions and senses

these are the things that connect the world
while we think it is the WWW that keeps the touch...
and the fibre-optics on which we survive....

sleek SUVs, the top most position,
all that heavy pay checks
big bunglows...n a free world trip
wouldn't help a bit if you ain't got the heart for it............

what you say?
so what should we do about it.......? huh?

all the robin sharma i read to boost my spirits
seem to have rubbed off along the weeks on hectic schedules throughout....
these lines must be the flimsy remains of what i read in him.....

i thought he was a callous guy who talked BIG
but after a second thought i don't see anyone not being 'Great'
after he follows the Greatness Guide... what's the harm in trying?!
the worst that can happen is.......you become either good or v. good if not Great...

jumbo

the people around me are just people around me...
n very few special people around me...
i think when that scenario changes to many people who are special around m.e. .... life would sound better...more greener ...i suppose or mayb not... that could just be my general perception on 'the grass is greener on the other side' concept... or mayb not.

'i have many acquaintances but very few friends' - one of my friends says to me quite often and i wonder... hmm... ... isn't that true with everyone?
when he means friends...he means true...soul-mate kind of stuff...surely....

i smtimes wonder what it would have been like if special moments, dialogues, visions and feelings could have been highlighted and stored for later references.... it would have been really good... those devices, if built someday would be a great boon to people like me who hardly remember special events and dialogues and dates and moments... ....

btw... have you seen an elephant suckle? here it is.... i captured it in an elephant breeding centre... around chitwan area...

evreythnig is graet. thnaks for asknig.

Thomas L. Friedman goes on and on in his book to drive at one conclusion as to how the World is Flat. . . and your hajar prayas at telling him that you've understood wouldn't stop him from expalining that the world is indeed flat.

I have just started the book. it talks about how Banglore is as an outsourced city and it talks about Dalian, the Banglore of China for the Japanese.

There's more to come on middle east, technologies and blogging making the world flatter. So will keep you updated.........


3 good things about today:
1. the mouse will play when the cat is away - my boss is away for a brief while...tho the crunch continues.
2. i just had icecream with a friend...i love treating myself to it once in a while
3. i had a good good sleep after a long time yesterday....good and long sleep when you wake up and find that you are actually late for work... and i had this intense sense of satisfaction...

too boiled to eat

'what have u been doing these days?'
i give a list of stuff i have been doing lately...it's a tediously long list...which makes me occupied 24*7.
at the end of my description she gives a satarical smile :> 'is that all?' - the smile says. I raise my eyebrows meaning - 'did i say smthing wrong? did i hear the wrong question?'
she says, 'all that is fine...what on the intellectual side? what have you been doing which tears your brains apart?'

uummpppp..............i go into an uneasy silence..................

'hhmmm.....in-te-llec-tual?' i pronounce it as slow as is permissible.
'wot?'
'i.......i......started a book lately ... it's abt a women's story in iraq........'
'but that's not intellectual nah.....what have you been doing to strain ur brains...?......tell me....'
i give my blank stare and whisper as if whimpering ......'nnothhing', and i know she is disappointed.

after she is out of the room, i rack my brains to remember what i have been doing on the
inte-lectual side? i have been reading....yes, a book..........
i have been reading the person of the year issue of TIME...it's awesome... but it's still information i realize. i do a lot of document reading on the office comp and lotsa reports and churned out stuff.......but where's the thinking?

i feel like a boiled vegetable under the whoooooose of the aircon. i suddenly hate the mehendi painted hands on the keys. i feel the sun is too glaring against the blinds, and all the tubelights too gaudy when the country is doomed to load shedding.

:) stay positive .... stay positive...stay positive :) - the new mantra..........

Workaholic(WHLC)

35+65+693+58+69596+6958+245+658+845+3215+651+856+11+25465+2554+32 -enter-
damn!
how come?
'here's ur tea dear'
35+65+693+58+69596+6958+245+658+845+3215+651+85.... tring! tring! tring! tring!
why don't you ever pick up the phone?!
Shh...damn...all over again...
35+65+693+58+69596+6958+245+658+845+3215...651...taxation..no, there has to be a reversal made...where's the voucher....
13.5 percent times 3 for 12 months...and then...
dyaddy! dyaddy! look at me....i am a spiderman!...dyaddy!...dyaddy? dyaaa...huunn..mommy...
why do you scare the child so much...can't you do those stuff at your office?
come, we will play...spiderman and superman...rite? dhishum...dhishum....
13.5 percent...tring, tring, tring...tring, tring, tring...
Hel-lu...mr. devdass association...this is the residence though...
Phone: think, we have met the right person...are you at your home computer sir? working on your office work?
WHLC: aaa....i ....actually...aaa...no......
Phone: don't move, don't try to escape...all routes will be closing...and we have surrounded your house...you have crossed the work limit hours per week...you are charged of working too much and contributing excessively to the annual GDP per capita... you will be penalized...to a forced vacation with your family to hawaii for the next three weeks...all costs born by the rehab....
WHLC: you can't do that...its a crime...i haven't finished the project yet...it's not fair...
Phone:don't make it any difficult for us...your computer will automatically shut off in the next 10mins. All your work-related files and folders will be sent to your office where you can find them after your vacation....thank you for listening patiently to us...enjoy your vacation!
WHLC: its not fair... oh my god...the computer is shutting off...someone stop it... help...this is...oh my god...someone...
Thus, the workholic was doomed to a three weeks' vacation to the much relief of his family. The WHLC however had torturous hours staring at the clear blue ocean and the sunny sky... i am sure he saw his project and his calculations on them too!

long time no ramble

Soliloquy: wish i knew my next station...i'd probably pull the bell right now... but i will just move on...and on and on...to see beyond the next corner, the next and the next...
the grey cells in the head seem to be numb and the fingers just lull over the black keys, to type in their own pace. the knots and bolts of the body seem to be chugging on their own, like an old train.
the situation is such- i don't know what i just said. i don't know what i am supposed to do. i called three extensions to get no reply and there is a desperate need to talk to someone on things you don't want to discuss.
n then the phone rings for me to give nonsensical replies like - i don't know and it seems so and guess it is right.
efficiencies and inefficiencies. effectiveness and ineffectiveness. management terms go haywire in the head to mix into potpourri of jargonless haphazard.

Information: Anil Ambani was voted the favorite businessman, Laxmi Mittal the favorite NRI and Sonia Gandhi the favorite politician...and yes, Amitabh the fav actor as usual -TOI-christmas day

Compliment: yesterday, got a strange kind of statement for me...it went - i like your way of communication, i think i have learned smthing myself - i was like ? ?

branding is deep deep deep...deeper than I ever thought it would be. its hectic. its tiring. its difficult and its meticulous. i don't do it. i see it being done - that's all the more difficult.

there are these 'thought ofthe day' that a friend of mine keeps posted me with each day, some are good ones like -

do what you want,
be who you are
and
say what you feel,
because
those who mind, don't matter
and
those who matter, don't mind


and a very applicable one:

Don't make promise when you are in joy.
Don't reply when you are sad.
Don't take decision when you are angry.
Think twice..., Act Wise.

n you go thinking like...hmmm......

the waiting

made the phone call
rambled through my handbag
stared at the ceiling
counted the overhead lights

analyzed all the paintings on the wall
read the famous sayings posted there

talked to the next stranger
listened to his woes

rambled the bag again
made a second call
stared enough at the clock
to see the minute-hand move

stared at the ceiling again
talked to the next stranger
passed a couple of smiles around
to get back v. few

i start thinking - what a world it is
all strangers around

jus then the door opens
the priest says - next!

ah! i sigh - the waiting is over

mandah:

the seasons of change...
the festive season...
tell me it's there...
now and forever...

celebrate daily smiles...
the fun and flavor...

the evenings subtle ...
and the mornings bright...

frivolous minds...
healthy smiles...
oh, naughty eyes...
tell me why...

oh, don wanna shed...
this state of mind.

the right glove

So the two of them were in search of the right glove as the title above rightly puts it. One of them was sweaty in the bright lit store and the other one cold. But both of them frantic of one common goal - finding the right glove. Now right here clearly creates a confusion - it was not the right as in "the correct one" but right as in the left and the right - the glove for the right hand. They were sure of the left one - the one they held - all chosen and decided - a sleek black leather glove - all alone on top of the rack -alone - set apart from the rest - to show it was the "chosen" one - waiting for its mate - the right one. The two of them had nothing else in mind - even if they did have smthing, it took a back seat at that moment to find the right glove. They looked for the glove among the other gloves, behind the othe gloves, beneath-under-above-between-below-beside- but the perfect match in the tiny heap of about 20pairs of gloves were not to be found. A few had already tied the knot- so that wen u thot u found the perfect match, it was already tied up with some other pair.
So as we searched for right pair, we became a lil philosophical, a lil pensive, a lil more tired, a lil irritated. Let's not buy a glove if we can't get a perfect match - said he. And the thot was contemplated - and processed - in the lil black box atop the neck. Nah - let's find the perfect match - left glove in the left hand and the right one in the right - they will be a lil different - after all, they have individual existence - their own idiosyncracies - they will be a lil different - and they will be together - that's the fun of it all - that's the joy! And the payment made, the a-lil-different-pair-of-gloves stayed in the bag contented to find the perfect match!

one word

Surely the anniversary of this li'l space is long past due...
Early morning today, i learnt the meaning of a word...zeitgeist.
i didn't know any such word was in existence. But surely it is, and quite a nice word it is... it means the spirit of the times...
Life has reached that crucial stage where one needs to make not just one but quite a few critical decisions. Decisions that would shape life forever.

there is a site called oneword.com...i have tried it a few times..it gives u certain second to write on a particular word....it's amazing how things come out of your mind in that time....it's fun to write and then to read someone's else's entry in that many seconds....

fizzy feelings

I am on my bed lying flat staring at the white ceiling. The bus whoozes towards me on the empty street, almost hits me and whoozes past me in the dark empty streets beyond. A next bus comes does the same. A motorbike, a cab, a car and a truck and the number increases as i stare at the white ceiling. And all of them almost hit me to taper into nothingness.

A fire at one end and a fool at other. I was pretty hit by that sms i got from a fren. Cigarette and a :colon and that phrase. A short sms that was, but quite solid.

Household work is the main stay for many women even today. But why do we feel so unproductive when on a puja day all we do is make diyo lights or prepare flower garlands or mithais?

smses and atms

shrtcuts r taking over the lng-routes
gve me a mssed call wen u're there.
wot? the mom asks in stark disgust.
not jus simple daily conversations like these, most momz are lost wen the kids be engrossed in the 'whose line is it anyway'z n 'hitchhiker's guide to galaxy'z ...
n the kids go bust xplaining them the sequences that it's monica who's married and ross who fell in love with rachel n it's phoebe who loves to sing...
n e ways,

todayz three:

1. cleaning cleaning...cleaning my room after such a long time... off its dust n mess
2. clicking pics with bro in the self-click mode
3. tihar shopping ... bhogatez, lakhamariz, swan-ma n masala (dry fruits)

copycat

M trying to copy smthing from a blog i came across a few weeks back. Courtsey to the blog...

Three good things today:

1. had lunch together with frens
2. the rain
3. live music

scramble

Shris has a new member in her family...a german shephard...she's called DJ - guess what it stands for ...Dashing Junior...her mom is called Dashing...
She said DJ will have her family reunion in Tihar when all her relatives who has DJ's kins will come to her place. Happy reunioun!
Bro asked me to draft a resignation letter...then i kept on thinking... how the hell does one write a resignation letter? it's a pretty irritating task for one who has never done it before.
One senior guy at work accidentally picked up my phone to praise it...but old model as it is...he couldn't say anything and said it's a nice blue... on which i replied ya, the phone's reception is good. What kind of conversation is that to pass the day?
Deep bright red... all of us three girls had deep bright red shirts on by accident... and we were telling melon he shud've had on his too... we could take a snap and frame it up to read... the redincidental day!
so tomoro could be a walk walk walking day for all-o-fuzz... something's brewing in the air...Probabale bandh ... we heard the rumour...
how can one get used to it? all of us kind of expect on the back of our minds that we'll have to walk to work in a gap of one month or so...coz it's all there...nothing of political nature has been settled ... not until the next meeting atleast... and then, all unsettled matters are brought to the streets...

cya 2moro

Too tired to post anything.

so here's a corrs lyrics ...courtesy: lyricsdomain.com

When your day is long
And the night
The night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough of this life
Well hang on

Don't let yourself go
Cause everybody cries
And everybody hurts
Sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong
Now it's time to sing along
(When your day is night alone)
Hold on, hold on
(If you feel like letting go)
Hold on
If you think you've had too much of this life
Well hang on

Cause everybody hurts
Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts

Don't throw your hand
Oh, no
Don't throw your hand
When you feel like you're alone
No, no, no, you're not alone

If you're on your own
In this life
The days and nights are long
When you think you've had too much
Of this life
To hang on

Well, everybody hurts
Sometimes, everybody cries
And everybody hurts
Sometimes

And everybody hurts
Sometimes

So, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
(Everybody hurts
You are not alone)

pears and plums

Nice painting na? found it on blogs of note... you can even bid for it!
http://rebeccabischoff.blogspot.com/

Fruits: direct from wiki -

Fruit is a part of a tree or bush that contains seeds. It is often eaten as a food.

Most fruits we eat contain a lot of water. They contain natural sugar. They have a large amount of dietary fiber at the peel, seeds, and fibrous parts. All fruits contain iron, and they are very low in protein and fat content.

Sometimes "to bear fruit" also means "to produce results".

"Fruit" (or "rotten fruit") can also sometimes be slang for "a homosexual". I didn't know that!

Types of fruits:

• Citrus fruits
• Berry fruits
• Fleshy fruits
• Stone fruits

I found the list of berries of particular interest... didn't know there were so many types of berries! how many have you tried??

There's even Huckleberry...
nomenclature seems to have gone out of stock for any berry-berry name towards the end of the list!

Berries

Raspberries

• Blackberry, dewberry, boysenberry, and loganberry
  
• Raspberry,
  
• Cloudberry
  
• Wineberry
• Salmonberry
  
• Loganberry
  
• Thimbleberry
  

• Bearberry
• Bilberry
  
• Blueberry
  
• Crowberry
• Timberry
• Cranberry
  
• Huckleberry
  
• Lingonberry
  
• Strawberry Tree , not to be confused with the Strawberry
  

Other berries:

• Barberry
• Currant , red, black, and white types
• Elderberry
  
• Gooseberry
  
• Hackberry
  
• Honeysuckle: the berries of some species (called honeyberries) are edible, others are poisonous
  
• Mayapple
  
• Nannyberry
  
• Oregon grape
  
• Sea-buckthorn
  
• Sea Grape
  
• Wolfberry
  
• Mulberry
  

lampshades and cool green grass

That's my breakfast...
no, i am not on diet... jus love Citruses... is there a plural form to Citrus? don't know...
Anyways, back to the Cubicles (Kuh-beeh-kles) after so many days... to reply to all the greetings that came in.
This period between Dashain and Tihar is real lazy lazy days... coz there are two simultaneous things into play... one, the hangover from Dashain... other, the pre-holiday symptoms of Tihar...

Colorful Lampshades with a light evening music...
Cool wet green grass on a hot humid day...

Today was one of the most hectic days i have had in many many days... everything took place fast and furious... and had to skip lunch...
Shris jus called me on my cell... she is on the phone write now... and I listen to her day's happening...
which means i will have to go now...
have lost my power of multitasking!

What's that i smell in the air?

i read a short mail on paradigm shift by someone a few days back... and it took me back to one of my college days where we watched a video on a swiss watchmaker and how there was paradigm shift in the industry... so that the Japanese strode over them...
unrelated and insequential stuff like these were hitting my mind all morning... like i was trying to remember the lyrics of the song 'purani jeans' ... i had the whole song written down when our class sang it on the last day of school ...but had never quite understood the meaning!
the duck we were to sacrifice, bit me on my arm - an offensive snap actually... n then it was dead in a matter of minutes.... rather, it was sacrificed... i got pensive after that.. recovered a few times with a few glasses of coke....
i finally go the chance to sit down n finish 'tutor of history' sterday... i liked it unlike many comments i heard abt it.... all in all it has captured the sentiments of a Nepali... quite tastefully....
Last time i met nidhs, she commented that i had changed... haven't had a holistic conversation to find out how and to what extent....
haven't had... hadn't had... haven't had... is that right english? haven't had...if that sounds alright...should be right...
like last year... haven't touched the playing cards for a single hand this dashain.. it's difficult to resist but m learning a few techniques.... don't let others around u play, n it's easier to restrain urself... a selfish motive....but it's working...
m concentrating on using my time more productively... m reading voraciously whatever comes my way... it's necessary...coz i hardly get time to read n e other day...n there's so much to catch up... .... mom thinks i have gone crazy... sitting with a book - on a fine dashain, deserted day... ...yeh toh gayi!......for those not in kathmandu.... the roads are deserted.... shops are all closed... at least those around where i live.... very less traffic, pollution n noise....
n for those v. far off who are confused... it's nawami today... n it's tika day tomorrow!
So, Happy and Peaceful Dashami... that's all i can wish for now! Goodnite.

sterday

Was out at dinner sterday. Got a call while we were driving back - there's something outside our home. Few more calls, i find out a guy got killed in an accident with a truck on the bridge, and there are people burning tyres across the street so that no vehicle can pass.
How can anyone predict that a calm day would end like that at 10 o'clock at night? My parents were pretty worried - how are you getting home?
How do we go now? i asked my fren as she kept driving with a grave face. And the look on her face told me it was racing fast.
She took the extra pain to go on a roundabout to drop me by. Thanks to her. The bridge looked as if it was on fire. There were police and people on the road. Huh?

sparkles and smiles

wasting my time....
resting my mind....
here by the fireside
and the warm light of the love in her eyes....
(floyd)
sometimes all this seems like a dream....
as if you'd wake up one day and find urself in a different world....
n i try to imagine what that world is like...
may be this is a common feeling for all of us....
is it called deja vu? vu ja de? ja vu de?
i don't know...

we met nidhs for lunch sterday... in the middle of our conversations... her phone rang...
n by the look in her eyes , and the way she jumped to talk... i and hope everyone around too could say who it was on the other end!!
that spark in the eyes and the smile is just so revealing huh?
congrats dear!

Fud for thot

This could have been easily my fourth blank blog, wherein i come and stare at a blank screen to return untampered. And this could have been my any other day.

New Road was the most pathetic place to be in Kathmandu yesterday evening but surprizingly half the population seemed to be there - doing nothing but walking on the streets to make my every step a pain in the ***

I was telling my mom yesterday - 'Mom, you are the dream customer of every marketer'
If every customer psyche worked as vulnerable as yours, there would be no customer surveys hence. Believe me, she is excited at every corner to all the display of goods under the white tubelight. She doesn't need a repeated TVC, a jingle, an outdoor display or a POP to get her buying what she doesn't need. She will jump at the next chance to empty her wallet. That's because she has been so busy running about, she hardly has time to stop for a breath and shop for herself. 'She is so busy driving, she doesn't have time to fill gas!'

My friends, my colleauges, and my superiors at work ask me once in a while, what's your aim in life? And i look at them, my head reeling to find the perfect answer, to give them that stupid smile. I haven't thought about my life so hard to come up with an aim. I live everyday, one day and the other passes - i know i am living right. But am i going right? If after five years, i look back at this day - would i think then, i should have lived it differently - would i repent that i should have done this and not that? Frankly, i don't know. Today, do i repent at the days i spent two years back? One, i am still not that old to look back at my days or years. And, no, even if i look back, i don't. I didn't know what i'd become, where i would be. I am here and I am happy.

But if i start from a place and walk 20 kms, i'd definitely reach someplace very different. I walked a certain way, which way i don't know and i am lucky to have liked this place, but i may very easily have been crying at this day at what i am doing.

But just because i've worked hard to reach someplace doesn't mean i am on the right direction. If i'd put a direction to myself and worked that 20 kms on it to reach a certain aim i had in mind, i'd definitely have a benchmark to say whether i am happy with what i achieved, and lot of chances i'd reach a better place! But lots of us don't have an aim. We change everyday but are unaware of the direction of change - are we changing in the right direction?

Invariably we change. But just imagine that everyday change to be in the direction of the person we'd like to be 5 years hence. The conscious everyday change mentally, physically, socially, emotionally, ethically, logically - would it be the same as this directionless living we have everyday.

Where i am coming from, is the unconscious living and insensitive mind to a conscious living, and a sensitive mind - which would work towards not just an individual's happiness but also their growth. In turn, their happiness and growth would reflect the society's happiness and growth.

Conscious living could be the buzzword now, i don't know. But Ktm is definitely not on that trend. The chaotic mass of people i saw yesterday - was a disaster to all the buzz words of good living. But to end on a positive note, we will have to try. 'Turn the clock to zero...to start on a Brand New Day'. I just hope!

ramble on

As i was giving my blogspot add to a friend today, i was wondering what she would think of all the nonsensical blogs i have here... i got charged up then and there to make this place a little readworthy... which fizzled out in a few moments... no doubt.
But i am amazed at the different kinds of people we have in this world... and how each one of us have different expectations of each other, although if you ask of someone, ... they have a normal reply - i don't expect anything of this or you....
N when you actually don't do or do something that was a little wayward by your or the other person's standard, you actually get the dialogue going - i didn't expect this of you!...
which naturally diverts my mind to the more fundamental query of - what was that you expected of me... which keeps the argument going for sometime for sure.

i once started a book called The diving bell and the Butterfly... it's a fascinating book which i never got till finishing. .... it's written by a paralysed person whose only moving muscles were his left or the right eyelid (i can't remember which... i think it's the right). He dictated the whole book by blinking his eyelids to denote the alphabet he wanted written down.... that's quite a feat huh!! and the writer's a pretty accomplished fellow in his own field...
last week, i read a review on it in the TOI.... which made me reflect on so many incomplete tasks which i leave to get back to ... someday...
like learing the piano... learning to be a good swimmer, taking care of my diet and becoming more jolly....

Scenes from a Memory

too tired to write anything.... and sleepy.

listening to dream theatre, staring at the screen for some solace. The day's happening flash back to me and i feel dazed as if that wasn't me having lunch or standing on the aisle or waiting for the elevator or typing out an email. I had forgotton Oedipus was the name of a character too, 'oh, really? i never knew it', i had said.

'September is a busy month', I think as mom pour more oil on her palm to massage my head. I feel the sweet sensation of sleepiness and immense feel of tiredness and relaxation as she moves her hand on my scalp. I stare at the ET on my lap as she does it, trying to read the cartoon bubble - it then strikes me that it's weekend in India. I remember my unturned pages of THT that I forgot on my desktop, i visualize it all alone in the darkrooms on the 3rd floor.... tomorrow it's perishable already... it takes me to the QT classes where we calculated the average number of days to keep a perishable item ... and try to validate it with a daily newspaper....

gudnite.

Oh!gust

How was August?
Usual.
The month saw inflation peaking more than nine percent. It saw fluctuating stock prices, not that the stock exchange is so active here, still. The number of tourists increased. The monetrary policy was revised. Price hike in petroleum was taken back after two days of demonstrations and vandalism. Few other demonstrations took place each day in the valley which created disturbances in various parts of the city. August saw a few gold medals for the country. The winners rode through the city with praise and accolades in garland and tika. UN demanded a more systematic way of management of arms from both sides. August saw the draft constitution which was not well appreciated by few other constitutional experts, should i say? Last but not the least, the month end gave the depressing news to ready us for September - NEA is running at losses and we need to buy candles for the load shedded evenings.

What message is the authority giving us? If you demonstrate enough, like tapasya and the bardan from Mahadeva, you get what you wish for, is it? Don't take the policy as it comes out... wait for a revision? I can't believe a person can get used to such stuff... it's difficult to remember the rules already. Did someone ask for a strong political opinion?

Featured above: August sunset, terrace ropelines

flux

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is present, does it make a sound?
I was flipping through my old books on advertising and i found the above line underlined in pencil. I must have liked it pretty well to have done so.

I sometimes wonder how people can write such philosophical lines which make you actually pause for a while and think, and make dumb people like me go - wow, solid man!

I wonder a lot actually.
It would have been a compliment, if it was said in a more positive way. Some great thinker once said - all philosophy begins with wonder.

The other thing i wondered about a few days back is how people like Richard Branson could be foolish enough to go on a balloon ride risking such precious life... but again, i got the answer after a pauseful think, to satisfy my own wonderings.... which i found on the title of his book - Screw it, Just Do it! , and my dumb mind said - that's why he went up on the balloon.

Those are big things i wonder about...but the small mind as i have, sometimes wonder about the smallest things...

food:
why do tasty food make us fat? or is it tasty becasue it makes us fat? or more probingly, why don't we like being fat? isn't it just the social norm to be slim and trim? why is the social norm like that? is it because it's more healthy to be slim and healthy? then why do people make tasty food that make us fat? shouldn't it be banned?
like movies which are not shown publicly
or books which corrupt the mind
or political opinions that are too leftist?

Give up at this point. you can continue if you like... it's just the question upon question. wondering over wondering.

Vegetables:
one of my friends term those people who don't stop-by-to-think as 'veggies' - which precisely remind me of bringles - you can think of any vegetable u like, i think of bringles because it's not my favorite food item... ... and i wonder whether it's justified to call these people who don't think on common sense issues as veggies - because you never know - maybe vegetables do think!!

Give up at this point, you can continue if you like ... but it's absurd... it's so absurd that i feel like deleting the whole thing so as not to embarass myself.

Oranges:
the other thing i wonder about are oranges.. and why there are not enough of those in the world.

Now "world" here refers to only 'my' world...
who cares about ROW anyways... ?? it's just for CNN or BBC ... or, say those whose business is directly affected by happenings in ROW - like maybe international marketers or manufacturers...
small people like me, have my own world.
Ya, so why not more oranges? i only think of oranges because i like oranges.
i so much like it, that i even wrote a piece on it - it's a different matter that the whole point i was trying to drive home had nothing to do with oranges... and i so much used oranges in driving home the point, that at the end, the only thing people remembered about the piece i wrote was oranges.
ya, so why not more oranges in the world? it's oranges for me but think of anything you like or want? it's always less of it - time, for instance and good company or for some, more money... peace of mind... or for the miss universe kind - world peace!... whatever,
you like it? you don't have enough of it. Or, do you like it because there's not enough of it? Wouldn't you like it if you had enough of it?

Give up at this point... you can continue if you like... and so on and so forth....


By this point in time, i must have sufficiently suceeded in convincing you the kind of mood i am in today - in a flux!
point conveyed. you can continue if you like...but there's nothing more to convey further than this. Goodnight.

! express urself ! type it out

the terms and conditions change...
it matters whether your fren has an exclusive folder in your name in the mailbox...
everytime my mobile set falls on his hand he checks what's the name i have on his number...
whose snap do you keep on your desktop...?
which colors do you use on the background... or which fonts do you use mostly...?
which sites do you visit most and how oftern do you go to them... do you surf from one site to other more oftern or are you the stagnant type to a few sites?
what are your behavioural patterns of using the keyboard while typing a piece? do you look at the keyboard? how oftern do you go to the backspace key... can you type the number on the second row without any mistakes?
how often do you go through a piece once you've typed it out?
do you read all the fwds: ? where do all the fwds: go once u've read or not-read them - personal folder or the trash...?

All the answers to these could say who is important in your life... and find your psychographics...
your behavioral patterns and how your mind is made up...
hmm.... i don't know where i am headed to .... or where i am coming from.... i just know -- that i am on the right track...

con-versations

table talks to chair all day... where is the sitter gone?
has he disappeared inside the cupboard while taking out the morning cups...
did he get lost in his wardrobe when deciding on clothes?

the jeans asks the zipper open
why you getting all rusty
where are those legs gone...
in some cotton suit?
has the tie stole them ?....
or a shiny black leather boot?

floyd asks morrison in awe....
where are the wires to connect me...
to the world a wide... and stations abound
morrision replies dazed as dumb...
some new headbanger... borrowed them...
for a while he said... until i saw his poster there...
where used to be mine...

-sucky poets number: do sho gyara

the customer is the queen!

I walked into a sweet store today – bright and nice – and I observed.

----- the shining white marble floor being constantly mopped-to-shine by an elderly looking gentlemen.. Bright lights all over – it hit the eyes so bright you couldn't make out wherefrom the lights are being thrown at you. Beautiful cakes of a variety of sweets – symmetrically arranged in their own stacks – apart from the bland square, round and the rectangle, I find the cylindrical, the diamond shaped, the apple shaped and the multi-colored more interesting. I find the usual pyramids of yellow and white shorter today, some popular ones finished to their last few pieces.

I go to the longest counter in front of me. The bespectacled look of the pot bellied gentlemen behind it makes me feel uneasy – he doesn't look like a typical salesperson – cheerful and welcoming. His appearance gave me an impression of an accountant – thick glasses on his nose – difficult-to-smile thick lips –like the one who would constantly pore over dull, dry numbers all day and bingo! be happy to find the unbalanced figure of five rupees twenty-five paisa amongst the pages and pages of printed data.

Anyways, I estimate my pieces of gulab jamun and barfi cubes to mutter out over the counter. Six gulab jamus, six pieces of kaju barfis and six buniya laddus I say pointing at the bright yellow balls with little white skirts. Haan he nods with a hindi whisper, and packs off for the lady before me – aur kya rakhu medam – his hand half way up in the air to take the single brown note the lady is offering. I repeat my order again - Six gulab jamus, six kaju barfis – missing out the buniyas purposefully – Dad reminded me to get as little mithais as possible – I like swiss rolls and some fruitcake maybe – not much mithai – he'd said. I wait as the literal gentle man, slowly and unwillingly pick a small branded box of his - while I get impatient. I feel him lulling over something.

One more customer hustle bustles in with her bored-by-shopping hubby, which I could see from the look on his face and more prominently the heavy white polythene bags slung on both hands. Two kilos please, I would order the variety, and you pack please, she orders in English as she surfs the well lit display. The lousy old man keep down the small box he'd opened for me and is energized to fill a kilo in each of his large boxes.

I throw both my hands in air with disgust and walk out of the place.

Two buildings down, I walk in another sweet shop, order my stuff, have it packed nicely and come back home satisfied – with the extra buniyas I had dropped off the list. But I'd never go to the brightly lit irritating store again which had gained my trust and confidence on my last visit. I'd stop few of my friends from going there. And I'd not order a few kilos if I wanted it some day. Rather, I'd walk to a smaller store two buildings down.

This made me reflect back to my marketing lecture days. And I conclude how true it was that we studied - it's the attitude and the warmth that differentiates and not the product you sell or how big your store is. It’s because I can get the chef, and I can get the right ingredients – to make the best buniyas in town - it's copycat-able ----- but just think – if I swagger to you as a customer each time I pass a buniya ball over the counter – how many of you would come back to me again?

This is what they teach us at B-schools and they teach us right. Customer is the Queen! If you walk into big names like Wal-Mart and Mc-Donald's they say, every customer counts – because you never know!

At last, it is not a good laddu, not a good chef, not bright white lights, not the colorful display, not the free welcome drink that brings in the customer – it's her state of mind when she leaves the store that brings her foot naturally back to your door to get that feeling with the product again – mind you, not the product – but the state of mind – the perception – and the feeling, is what gets the customer back. If she has that satisfied curve on her face when she walks out your door, go home my friend and sleep tonight – she's will come back again!

The question each salespeople need to ask themselves before the customer walks out that door of his - with or without a purchase is – will she come back again? Will she refer me or my product to one more friend? Because it all makes sense - and a very relevant business sense - it would not just reduce your cost line in saving money to reach new customers, it would definitely add value to your Brand and ultimately hit the more critical revenue numbers.

Note: I have used a she throughout this write up to refer to the Customer – as from a recent survey I read in one of the papers, more and more of the wallet share is moving to the gentler and the more emotional hand. In this new scenario, I strongly believe that we need to touch the feeling, the minds and the softer side of the customer sentiment ever more so often and more deeply than we have ever done before - because whatever preaching we give of new fundas in marketing, the base reality remains - - - the Customer is the Queen!

eyecandyVSblackteeth

i have a guest writer tonight.... i present ..............

when the dust settles, when the noise ends, when everything comes to an end for a new beginning, as everyday we go into the past, when it's perfectly useless to theorise about the future, arises the hero of the dark light, to brighten your teeth.

interlinked bullets

• My mind is in a state of flux with all the day's happenings flashing in front of me in micro seconds of thought - a slideshow as if being checked before the final presentation - phat...phat...phat...
• no rain.............
• started my day off with recalling yesterday's dialogues:
• what keeps a person going?
• what is that you seek in life? asked a friend of mine
  
• He gave me some time to think
  
• - happiness - i said in a monologue.
• then thought process on it:
• I have been thinking a lot of this question with a slight philosophical tilt...
• a little psychological tilt and a slight practical inclination too...
• and it does boil down to happiness and peace of mind basically ...
• no rain.......
• went through today's paper (out of: habit, interest and to avoid sense of miniscule guilt if i miss a major article or newspiece)
• There was an article on Spinoza and i was wondering what is this ancient guy doing on today's paper? But it was nice reading that his revolutionary thoughts are as new as they were when he first propounded them.
• put it aside and ...
• went to my old college notes to refer to some old numerical problems i may have done.
• Sums... and doodling went together then... dialogues exchanged between rows of seat under the unassuming eyes of the madam, neatly drawn landscapes, portraits, song lyrics, party plans...
  
• I look at the half scribbled financial problems and stare at the neatly printed balance sheets on pinkish pages of ET... would i have done something different so that i could have taken in more of the BS today?
  
• hmmm.....(thought)
• nay... i took in what i cud... i am taking in what i can... and i would what i can tomorrow...
• it's all boils down to happiness and peace of mind ... nah??
• drowsy...
  
• phone calls... traffic... phone calls...
  
• computer... phone calls.... laughter... drowsy... conversation.... drowsy... notes...
• calculations...drowsy... computer....phone call....
• Lunch time!!
• caught up with nidhi .... talk...talk ...talk... (i don't talk so much as i repeat those words here)
• nidhi is fine... she's enjoying... it's nice meeting her up after some long time... made few plans for weekend... nothing fixed...date, time..venue...plan....
  
• we have a superstition - A plan always fails... it's bad..
  
• but it does .... and it's proved us everytime...
• rush back... conversations... computer..phone calls...
  
• repeat....
• met up with frens for coffee... but we had coke... coke is universal... coffee is vague... brand!!
• drizzling rain....
• share with dad...share with mom... conversations
• nice day? nice day. what happened?
  
• blah..blah...blah...
• oh!!
• sneha calls up... chat...
• call up soni ... chat...
• i don't chat so much as it appears in here...
• full stop.
  
• m tired of remembering wot i did today. But it's said it's nice remembering a day's happenings sequentially... gud for memory power re....let's c if i can b a lil more specific with fresh grey cells tomoro....
  
• we shed so much skin that we are a totally new physical being in a year's time re... dat's what i hear!
  

corrupted minds

Many days have past... when i come after rambling here and there...
to this place again... i feel ... what is this place.... where have i been ...
as if returning to your home after a month's trip... you get a strange feeling of lostlessness and affinity in a remote way and happiness and that comforting feel...

This country needs help... serious help....a vacancy should have come in all the dailies by now:

Vacancy Announcement

A country rich in water and other natural resources needs as many young citizens between 16 to 35 years of age to steer around the fate of the country to peace and development. Candidate should possess following skills to take up developmental activities in all parts of the country and in later stages of career should show potential leadership skills to compete for top ministerial positions in the country.

Qualifications:
* can be educated or uneducated
*should know what a country is and what love of a country is
* can be of any nationality until he/she has proven concern for the country
* should not have previous record of destroying public property in any demonstrations
* should have clean record on bribery and corruption
* should not be affiliated to any leaders or names previously uttered for any kind of contradictions on bribery and corruptions

Positive attitude, lot of energy, and fresh ideas for cost saving and productivity will be an added advantage.

Note: The country believes in fair practice and does not discriminate in the selection process on grounds of sex, caste, or economic background.

Young, intelligent brains who have left the country are encouraged to apply

Prohibition: All citizens associated at any age and time with bribery or corruption related cases are prohibited to apply even with a fake certificate proving liable age.

alu paakeko

kalu went to buy alu.... and said to the shopkeeper "give me alu in a jhola"
shopkeeper said "i have no jhola for alu"
so kalu went to another alu ka dukan to buy alu... the shopkeeper's name was saalu...
this is not a continuation of the previous story... FYI...
it seems BAU makes life boring from one cell to other and from one cubicle to other... but no one is bored from one cubicle to other nor from one tubelight to other... they all enjoy changing work environ from one day to the next... and one color to other... chaning shades and changing music...

so kalu was frustrated wen he cudn't find the alu and went bac home to eat only dal and bhat which he ate in front of the TV. The TV was showing only news today with old people with caps on the mikes... it was budget budget they kept saying... now, what is budget kalu with no alu at the moment wondered because he had bought that TV 55months ago to watch 'dhishum dhishum' fight of sarukkhan like on movie 'koila'. But they didn't show saruk like on koila... it was all laila laila only... he was with yellow and red shirt around girls or on trains or on green nice picture like fields only... anyways there was no charuk on the channel, it was some old guy drinking water from time to time disturbing everything and giving long long speech ... reading it out from the paper because he cudn't memorize it all and some at the back of the audience were yawning... and some clapped the table from time to time .... they were very naughty...

since he could not see rani dancing on screen, he missed alu with his bhat even more... kalu had thought a lot about buying a bicycle recently. All his friends - bhalu and saalu had bike and he was the only one who had to run behind buses to get on the backside and get off with a lot of danger to skip the bus fare...but he thought - i will buy a bike in a few weeks... but first the alu in a jhola...
...not to be continued

flabbergasted

The clock hands flicked to 5, 21 as she descended the stairs with a sense of freshness - after a cool bath, perfumed talc, deo spray and a dab of roll-on - it made her look and smell fresh. Taking the keys from the floor where she'd let them fall last evening; she massaged the dog's head behind its ears as it hid its eyes already in a deep slumber. She came out of the house, looked left and then right, bit her lower lip and headed left. She didn’t know where she was going or where she wanted to go. She wanted to move and go somewhere, but the destination was unknown – the process was clear.

She walked, increased her pace slowly and in matter of about ten minutes she was jogging past the other early risers on the street. She could hear the heavy breathing and could feel her muscles flick as she threw each sneakered feet faster than the one before. Nothing stopped her now – the sweating, the breathing, the tiredness that slowly seeped up from her feet – nothing seemed to have a control and the feet moved forward like a train chugging without brakes. She slowed to a jog when she saw the familiar sign boards raised high above the others and panting heavily out of breath she entered the building.
(to be continued...)

prt

error

banana lassi

i order banana lassi from the list of drinks... others have coffee...
on my second sip... the glass slips between my fingers as i desperately try to control it ...
the glass topples over the table ... on my fren beside me...
b4 n e of us realize wots happened... she is on her feet ... her pants..shirt...bag ... n most of her stuff inside the bag ...now, in a different flavor...banana!!!
we dab pkts of napkin on her pants, her bag and inside her bag...
after the initial commotion we sit back quietly with the kathi rolls.... we take a few bites to roar up laughing our heads off at wot happended...

now that i think of it.... it was the day we got our appointment letter...
but more that it... banana lassi reminds me of a new bonding n a new life that we started off that day... all of us....
wot a 'food item' on the list to associate oneself with....
banana lassi!!! i order everytime i enter...

lunch

caught up with an old fren after abt 5 yrs... i called her up for lunch...
i don't think she understood n e thing i said in that one hour chat ... except a few comments on the sandwich, momo and banana lassi i was passing...
we parted- each wondering... which world does she live in??

freshen the start

5:30 every morn' i run and feel my own breath... panting...
it's good to jog in the fresh morn' air...
and am sure this is possible in n e part of the world...
yet, wen i take the fresh air early morn...
i realize wot i av been missing all this time... n n joy all the more...
a fresh start ........... every day.

jus a thought

Is it the lyrics of the song that matter? or the music? Both...
wen both of them are gud... it makes wonder... an analogy to everything in life perhaps...

sweet home alabama

Well, one more fren leaving for US this August... Alabama...
there's a song on Alabama.. i jus can't remember at the moment... hm..hm..hmm...
and the update is brain drain continues...

WC fever continues and is shooting high with fav Brasil and the British team out...
whoever's predicted the odds b4 the games shud be beating his head against n e wall available ...

If Portugal was to win the WC, there are a few odd-men-out who have put their sums on them... well, boys all the best!