positive thinking

no more phat phat... plok pak...pok pok... click clang.. and ding dong for all the few people in here...
and those few who miss it... will have to .... just miss it...
positive thinking... and all the vibes that come with it... robin sharma... is definitely a smooth writer... all the everyday tit bits of precious gem he scatters through the pages are beautiful... especially when one is caught in the web of busy-bee life schedule... then, all the small gestures need to be reminded and he does it so well.... positive thinking always is the main part of it... for easy thinking he gives the example of the green lust grass in the mind... no weeds ... no nothing... green lust grass of spring is the positive thinking mind whereon there is a lighthouse which shows you direction and a sumo wrestler which stands for the continuously improvement - kaizen... definetely i heard that word in management... total quality management... but mr. sharma beautifully brings it to everyday use ... to contiuously improve oneself... self development... compare yourself against you as of yesterday and not with others... he says. And that reminds me of one more professor we had.. Mr. Vyas... n e ways, you got the message... the book is a good read... a good mixture of a lot of titbits put together... though individually the lessons may have been brought to you at varied times by all sorts of people... robin puts it collated there and you could easily grab a bite to simplify your life... He has simple, very practical gyan on everyday stuff like from eating live food to thinking good thought and having a good laugh and staying physically fit and reading good books and waking up early and power of the will.
n e other time, i may not have enjoyed it this much... but given the country's situation... the mental weariness... the change in lifestyle... the rush and pressure... robin is definitely a glass of cool spring water on a sunny day... too cliche for a last sentence??... well, just take it.

PS. And ya, it would be a good book to gift someone if you are in that dilema stage of what to buy next for your book or non-book lover whoever... kid or a hubby or dad or grandmom. Its just abt 200 pgs.

phata phat

life is fast paced boss...
n i dont speak for myself... m talking of all the busy souls around ...
if u r in the same pace, u hardly notice them in the same lift... but you cud jus take a pause, zoom out and see the scintillating movements of these tie-suit-briefcased individuals. i start with 'whats the hurry boss?' n end up with a fear of the fast contagion. m already in the soup... waiting for the salt to seep in ...

invisible posts

Posted two posts in a frenzy of the morning on the 21st all on nepal and its brand. Didn't get posted :0!!??? shh0cckss... ... or r they posted under some 'invisible' mode... u never know what new thing comes on this screen, n u r caught unaware of it...

n e ways... bro's got into reed... so everyone's happy happy around the house... ... n,
why is everyone joining the gym from monday... is there something in the air or smth?? .........
life's fun when u enjoy work and people passing by say... i can see the glimmer in your eyes... that feels nice... you feel less tired at the end of the day ... have a goodnight's sleep... wake up with a smile stead of a frown...

... bro smiles as i wait for his book on hand... kingdom under seige... his smile means 'you aren't done with the one you have...n u r prying on mine...'

n i m reminded of that big fat book on the conna gathering dust - ms. karenina, as i fail every attempt on it... a saturday is just not enough and the next weekend, i just have to check out who was crying in the bed room ... so i never get past through the scence where the little girl is lifted on lap by the father while her brother looks on with timid eyes. ... n get reintroduced to the characters every weekend... i have borrowed the book for what like more than a yr now?

back to 77

After that short diversion into thinking of the country... back to the real world... where i enjoy outdoor meals with my family... after a nice day at work... this is real life fully controlled by the short diversion in the previous post. The very practical questions i take in everyday is not what you think of the country? it's like: so what are your other batchmates doing? almost every other person i meet ask me this and i have the number on my fingertips... ... people ask very non-sensical questions and brood about waste-matter... ' why did she say that to me?' ... 'and what could be his salary?' ... or ' what's your age?' .... but there have been very good books in the market these few years, on Nepal ... a few my fren recommends, which he thinks i will never read are - 'State of Nepal' and 'A Kingdom under seige'. But i will read them... and i will make the time for it.

People who have been to Kolkatta and Mumbai say to me... it's a beautiful coutry...
I simply give him a wide smile... he thinks i don't believe him. You go there once and you will know, you haven't been to these hot places... it's an AC dear ... i completely believe him.

People eye the country... because it definitely is a beautiful country... but look at the state.

Went back to country funda again...
But day by day what can i do? Do what i enjoy.. and work my best... and at the end ... Plan for a good friday with frens... because after a tiring week we all deserve it na?
Happy Monday!

point to ponder

Nepal ... a new brand??Nice thought buddy. i don't know who you are.. but it rather intrigued me... so i am taking this up ... why not? very probable possibility... brand is you and me and them... lets say u and me change the brand image... but who gonna change them to this image.. and brand identity... ?? (given it's the best one re)
but we can... doing our own bit... haina ra? Someone inspired me a few weeks back... young people like you should have a strong political thought... but we don't know what politics is do we? we are never taught civic sense, are we? we don't have the feeling that the bridges and road and all the tod-fod done ultimately comes back to us... ... fundamentals is wrong, then what's gonna happen?

all i am left is with questions... so become the answer ... be the change you want to see in the world... that's what mr. gandhi says haina? tara what's the catch? it's a catch 22 situation ke... .... pretty interesting... otherwise there are pretty good leaders ni.... khaita...

thinking by ...

Parliament restoration...
Equal opportunity to women re...
I will make you an offer you can't refuse, re .... Mario Puzo... thought for the day (TKP)...
and it was rocking yesterday.... presentation in a professional setting is rocking man.... out of the world... very different than the classroom claustrophobia.... it's good man!
and i was thinking about... brand ... brand... brand... who says branding is dead! where do they live? jupiter? pluto?

update

even the title seems like it is from some mundane workplace... the workplace is fine.. terrific actually... n it's been ages... i kno...
a few updates:
feeling: down.. with cough n cold... at this time of yr?! exactly! that's my point
reading: the monk who sold his ferrari... robin sharma... half way thru'...borrowed from a fren'...
work: as everything as ever... no time... all work...
other than work? : very little... tiny... actually nil...
family: minimum interaction... bro's got his I20 so all da best for him!
frens: sms... tel calls and bump into road kinda keep in touch... making new ones at work... from all diff kinda planets...
eat: tara's black tea in the morn'... tara's black tea in the afternoon... quick bite in the morn'... lunch, the only eaty thing... i don't kno what i have been doing at dinner time with half eye closed... guess i have been eating!

n e ways, the fact that i m here does prove that, m not so down as i sound up there.... trying to jive up though... consciously...

bak-bak-powk-powk

Can't just stare from your windows and spray water from the terrace,
come and join the revolution... say re those who come in bulks of thousands on the road...
and that made me thinking what am i going to cant when i go on the streets... do the evolution?
It's Vid's b'day tomorrow.... whoever's forgotten or was about to forget, pls take note.... it could be a curfew, so no rush, you can take all your time selecting a card or calling her up...

Talking about curfew, it heightens your sense of stagnancy and staleness...
It's true that friends have gone abroad and they got married and have kids... so much happening...but somehow, moving to and fro had given the perception that smthings happening in my life too... but curfew seems to prove halt, in a physical sense too making it more than literal... you are in front of the TV for 3hrs and stare at a book for the next 2... scrabble some letters up for next 1hr and smash on the keyboard for the 2.

ColdPlay was good on the storytellers...clock...scientist... Fix You...

You should know it's time for you to hit the power button on the remote when you start understanding the hindi songs and can differentiate one song from the next or/and find songs without one of these words: pyar, mohabaat, deewana and dil... ... or a permutation and combination of these: hawaa, saanse, dhadkan and ishq....

N e ways, here's a few lines to chuckle at....
undelivered thanks to: http://www.bitoffun.com

Work in the 00's

Top Ten Signs You Work in the 00's:

10.You lecture the neighborhood kids selling lemonade on ways to improve their process.

9. You get all excited when it's Saturday because you can wear sweats to work.

8. You refer to the tomatoes growing in your garden as "deliverables".

7. You find you really need PowerPoint to explain what you do for a living.

6. You normally eat out of vending machines and at the best restaurant in town in the same week.

5. You think that "progressing an action plan" and "calendarizing a project" are acceptable English phrases.

4. You know the people at the airport hotels better than your next-door neighbors.

3. You ask your friends to "think out of the box" when making plans for Friday night.

2. You think Einstein would have been more effective if he had put his ideas into a matrix. And the number one sign you work in the 'Nineties:

1. You think a "half day" means leaving at 5 o'clock (even if you work at home).

And, a few 1-liners:

So you're a feminist. Isn't that cute.

You're just jealous because the voices only talk to ME.

Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult.

If You Can Read This, The Bitch Fell Off... [Seen On The Back Of A Biker's Vest]

If You Can Read This, Please Flip Me Back Over... [Seen Upside Down,On A Land Rover]

Cat: The Other White Meat.

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway.

This Would Be Really Funny If It Weren't Happening To Me.

The Earth Is Full - Go Home. Peta - People Eating Tasty Animals. Illiterate? Write For Help. Some people are only alive because it is illegal to shoot them. If You Can't Dazzle Them With Brilliance, Riddle Them With Bullets. Body By Nautilus; Brain By Mattel. I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather...Not screaming and yelling, like the passengers in his car. Out of my mind...Back in five minutes Damned if I do, damned if I don't...so damnit I will! Accountants don't die they just lose there balance. Laugh alone and the world thinks you're an idiot

ripples

Life goes on like-normal today... no curfew on the streets for a change... you can walk around and just ramble on the street, enter a cafe and sip a bottle of coke, under the sun as if it's BAU... ... ...
the streets are the same. the cafe is the same, and the multinational-multi-billion-dollar -company produces the same coke... ...
all that is different, is my mind which come in different moods and different temparaments everytime i visit the store....

once, i come with a friend beside,
next time, I, alone,
once when the wind blows east,
and other to skip a storm,
today after curfew i come to you,
tomorrow to relish a day unknown.

Being political and holding a polis opinion seems to be the new trend around the corner esp with Rang de.... a big hit... and all that movement in the country. What does the youth think about all this thing? what do they want? how would they want to shape the country, that will be theirs to live in the next genre? are they for, whatevers going around? why are they so eager to leave everything and go on to some foreign land? why they refuse to hold an opinion on this? why are they scared to come upfront? ....... scared? first, let them hold an opnion beh.

who will ask them these? who will answer theirs in return?
are these just incessant blabbers or a point to discuss on?
m i being too serious on this? or do I just shrug it off?

leave it off.
so, the mouse has grown fatter and healthier by the day. The other day my dad sneaked up to the corner to check out on a few old magazines... Wooo!! did he get startled to see a mouse jump out...

quotai-quote

I had a mood to go through a few happiness quotes...

I like this one -

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time. - Edith Wharton

Thank god someone said this. I can work on one of them - i already have the other.... what was it?
Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. - Albert Schweitzer

I have always revered John Milton, though i have not read any of his works... great chap..so i hear...
The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven. - John Milton

I have no idea who she is... but kya deep baat hai...
It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day to day basis. - Margaret Bonnano.

Happiness, it seems to me, consists of two things: first, in being where you belong, and second -- and best -- in comfortably going through everyday life, that is, having had a good night's sleep and not being hurt by new shoes. - Theodor Fontane

Goodnite.

I am awake

It's the middle of the night. I wake up with a start from a nightmare. I remember the name of a few gods and ask them to dispel whatever bad i saw. Though i am an atheist at other times, or so i claim to be, I have the strong urge to pray to a few images that come to my mind. Because I'd do anything to cool myself down at these times, and dispel my nightmares of any consequences they might bring. And when I am more sane, I go back to the night and remember a saying. I think it was Dr. Radhakrishnan. He said, if there is no god, man(you) should create one. I always loved the saying. But at these times, I can actually feel it inside my head, as I create my own gods.

I remember quite a variety of them- Narasimha, Hanumana or Lord Krishna - as I am taught to do from my childhood whenever I have a nightmare. And so I do. But I still need a human voice or a human touch to solace me.

There is utter silence outside and a dog bark incessantly across my room. My senses become suddenly alert as I remember - Oh, man, there is a curfew outside. As I think this, a chopper flies quite low with a loud noise, hovers over a few points and flies south.

I then realize, I startled up from one nightmare to live in the next - which of the gods should I pray to now? I would do anything to dispel this one too.

'evening

There is little time and lot to do...
so what does a planner do?
plan as to make it "as effective and "as efficient as possible""
and the financer calculates and the poet looks for an ideal spot...
the consultant looks for the 'right person on the right job'...
the marketer scribbles for the click on the punch line...
but WE just keep looking for some more time...
a few more minutes under the quilt before sun dawn...
one more smile around the corner...
few more sips of coffee...
a few minutes more with friends...
one more kathi roll...
one more banana lassi... ;)
and one more joke...
so, definitely i enjoyed yesterday evening like n e thing...
though all we did was eat and chat...

Phloot!!

Click, Clack,
Click, Clack,
Click, Clack...
rings the hall with the on and off of the ballpoint pens on so many hands.
Click, Clack, Click, Clack... one of the refills in one of the pens in the hall is constantly being pushed in and out. The others join in.. Click, Clack, Click, Clack, click, Clack.

The speaker doesn't hear it. He is a thin bespectacled man with neatly combed hair, slightly graying at the corners, speaking in a low soft voice. He holds an old model of a Sheaffer pen - 1960s, the kinds you don't find the in the market these days. This, he points at the last row of kurta clad girls and beckons them to join Rama in the first few empty seats. The girls stick to their chairs at first but slowly bring up their thin bodies in crisp churridars and shuffle to the first row directly under the man's nose.

Silence. Click, Clack. He speaks something, "............................". Silence. Click, Clack.. click, clack.
Phloot!! goes the bubble gum. Silence. Someone has blown out a bubble gum and it makes an unintentional loud Phloot!! And this time he hears it. And the hall goes silent. And the ball pens go silent too. "Who was it?" he questions in a louder voice. Blank faces stare back at him.
After a few awkard moments of silence, he resumes his talk, "............................................" and the ball pens start again, click, clack, click, clack, click, clack ... ...

ors-crash

So, CRASH won the Oscars!
I definitely thought it was a good movie...
but Oscars?

excuse me?

"So, howz office" he asks me...
"ya, so so", i say.
"Enjoying?" he questions in a monotone
"Hmmm... ", I brood, which he takes a yes.

So, after much thought I left the book "A way in the world", quater way through. It was good. But, I had to take too many pauses, which disturbed its flow. I have started a new one by the same author - "A house for Mr. Biswas" and at the same time, out of curiosity I brought home "The Great Gatsby" and am flipping through it. So my reading is at a snail's speed these days - one page a day - that too if i have any energy left at the end of the day.

So, Shristy is the same old Shristy. She gives me the same smile she had three years ago, with the same twinkle in her eyes. And we are comfortable working with each other. It's like, thank god she's there and work's fun. I sure couldn't have handled one more stranger to de-strangify.

Underground

And there was more.

The questions had no sign of finishing up. The exam had started two hours before and the questions kept coming in, one after other. And she kept answering them one after other. She did not have time to think how long it took to answer the questions. All she had in mind was one minute=one complete question - and she did not want any incomplete ones. The black Dell with an slanted 'E' stared back at her with radio buttons all over.

'Continue' she clicked and waited for the page to load. The false ceilings gave the room a claustrophobic feel. The tubelights made it cold. The black monitors seemed professional and the whole atomosphere was serious.

She hardly remembered the farewell party she had a week ago, the glasses of wine she'd drink, the stubs of ciggis she'd put out.

She had forgotton that she would be celebrating her niece's b'day party that evening with a bunch of people she'd hardly met. And she had forgotten that she would be embarrased at her absent mindedness when everyone brought out neat parcels of colored gifts for the girl and she would be empty handed. At the moment all she thought of was the next question and the next minute.

That evening the niece waited for her aunt. The cake waited for the aunt. And the rest of the guests waited for her aunt. Even Tiger, the black Alsatian waited for the aunt. But the aunt was somewhere in the undergrounds, among insulated wires, biting her nails, waiting for the next question and praying for the next minute.

dozed by dose

Life is good :)
Just don't be too sensitive ...
block away the human sorrows of ROW...
and life is good.
Think about urself... just you...
and your goodness, your virtues and your interests...
and life is good.
You are happy.
You are successful and you get all the benefits...
life is good.
You smile and you dance...
you drink and you dine...
life is good.
a blue cruise...
a silver spoon...
an orange moon...
and life is good.
Good food...
Praise and laud...
twist and turn ...
and life is good.
With all the sorrows in the world,
with all the tears and cries,
with the pain and the sighs,
thank god, life is still good.

Mouse-licated

And i sniffed the familiar greenies. They had dried up. I sniffed them - one, two and three on her palms - all dried up from the same pod. I like them fresh and juicy. I ate a dozen the other day, I can still taste the juice. I ate one by one until i could eat no longer. And she game me some milk - it seemed stale, it had already turned into the jelly like thing that makes me sleep. However, I ate it because I liked it - it is my own color. I like all things my own color.

I then thought for a fitful sleep- a nice siesta. So, I started cleaning myself - I had hardly given two licks - and up I was airlifted. I hate it when people do that- all of a sudden. They pick me up by one palm and place me on the other as if I was one of those freaking battery run toys. I hate it when their hands are cold and want to yank off their fingers when they are wet.
She had two guests today and I was turned into a decorative piece - some said my eyes were pink, isn't that cute, and the other liked my tail - because they hadn't any? I could see she was all proud of me- all fattened up after last week's cheese treat on my b'day. Ya, I get a cheese treat on the ninth of each month. I can't tell her I was born on the sixth. She got me a month later on the ninth. So it is, the ninth.

I find it so irritating - it's sixth why should it be the ninth? I tried telling her by several techniques. I squeaked six times everytime she came in the room - she patted me - thought she'd got the message. But the 6th passed off with the normal meal and their comes cheese on the ninth. I came up with different schemes. The green peas she got for me - i arranged them in groups of six and waited for her to come and she and make my point - but i nibbled them at last when she hadn't the eyes to see it. Sometimes I wonder if she actually can see those peas she feeds me because her eyes are twenty times the size of it. Maybe she just feels them and tosses them around.

I did a few more things before i gave up - I jogged to and from the room six times had a long pause and did it again. Once, i circled her six times. I even tried giving her a lite bite six times. But she's as dumb as me. Think, i will have to at last learn the alphabets and the numbers.Oh god!such a dumb thing to do.

I gave up finally - and just wait for the ninth to get my treat. But i still think in my free time, the way to tell her of the sixth. Once, I got a crazy thought to shave my whiskers to leave just six on my cheeks - but on second thought, what if i got a rash? i had no after shaves around.... these days, i just ramble on how to get some after shaves... the father's? the brother's? should i pop-in in one of the stores? which brand again? so complicated... old spice?denim?... uff! why so many brands...

a dose of ramble

i don't chat often... i don't like the idea of words appearing on screen...talking to an inanimate monitor....
if my great great grandmom wud have seen me laughing at a monitor... she'd straight away head me to the mentals.... if they had n e in those days...
n e ways, Radhakrishnan starts his bk - Religion and Culture with ...The world has been shrinking at an increasing pace with the advance of communications and technology... and i talked with my fren half way across the globe as if she were beside me through this inanimate screen... and i was thrilled by the presence of her.. and it brought back good memories and we chuckled with the he he and ha ha typed all over...
and people fall in love with their web cams on .... and the voice chat thing....all these make face to face an old fashioned community... but i am one of the old fashioned ones... nothing beats the f2f thing....
one of my frens... actually two of my frens whose b'days just went by this jan... got a little cross... no cards.. u didn't wish me she said....
i don't like e-cards, i said... especially finding the right one... sending n e of them at random is irrelevant.... the process of choosing a good one is irritating.... you need to be lucky... n for me who is totally unfatalistic or is it infatalistic?...i don't have the patience...
and with all the customizing we talk in marketing... i jus wonder how much of it i get as a customer...
so there is this trend i find pretty interesting ... customizing reminds me of this....
the kathmandu market is all for one piece thing for a change... i got a gift for my friend... i wanted a ditto a few days later for another of my friends... and the lady at the counter says... no, we only make one piece.. that makes them special...wow!
and i bought a kurta piece... found it damaged... i want the ditto piece ... just exchanged for a good one.... no, says the bald man among the colorful dozen kurta pieces... they just come in one pieces, they are special.... in a rage, i felt like 'to hell with special... could some one pls bring the mass production back...'
but as soon as i thought of it ... i took back my thoughts... suddenly i remembered the chinese goods' inundation... how can n e one forget that... we are still trying to gasp for some air under it.

which one

You are...
the place you work in...
the bike you ride...
the brand of jeans you wear...
the place you live in...
the music you listen to...
the book you read...
the cell you use...
the contacts you got...
the friends you keep...
the places you go...
the words you speak...
minus these... and what you got? clones?
who was it that ever mentioned branding's on the wane?