No, I dont live here anymore,

If you are a friend..interactive one... you already know where to find me.:)

or , just leave a note, a hi will do..

and I ll get back to you. :)

tata!!

The Sinful act

A letter to most visiting- least bothered to leave a comment-kind-of-people

Dear you- yes you!!

you are the one who is so regular to my blog, reading it almost everyday, at least checking for updates if not reading these posts..
how do you feel if I knock at your door every morning at 3.00(if you generally wake up at 7.00) ring the bell and run off without even telling a hi to the sleep head(read 'you')opening the door .. not a very appealing thought, isn't it?
now that s exactly how I feel.
you are more worse than that anonymous writer who at least pokes me at times hard on my ribs(hypothetically, ouch!!)and wakes me up!
even though,it is sheer torture, trust me, makes me feel special with some attention.

So with due respects to my lovely blog friends, past & present.. who ve been with me almost as much as Aj- my bitter better half through thick n thin.. I hereby do the most sinful act Ive done so far.
give away my dear blog, thus stop more posts here..
Thanks you guys, for being there!
as for YOU, the unknown stalker...
a big fat rosy red raspberry!!

Wave...

A small wave that started far away from the shore,gathered strenght and became monstrous hitting the shore. without any emotions displayed, Sheela sat watching this as more and more waves followed.
Far away, she could hear laughter, chat, chirping birds and the occasional splashing of water.Nothing effected her already disturbed mind,she sat- thinking the same question.
"Is this the end?"
Her heart still could not believe this was happening to her.All her dreams with him, together as a pair were shattered over and again, by him.No, he never abused her physically but all that mental torture, the hurting words, the yelling was over the limit.She tried all she could to please him and be as calm as possible, thinking he would change, eventually see the light and all will be happier.
Till yesterday when she got an sms from him while she was away at a project lunch from office.He yelled at her with all kinds of swear words saying he never wanted to see her face again, just because she could not receive his call on time.This was not the first time, but a routine to her. but this time she did exactly what he asked for and what she should have done much earlier.She just calmly took half a day off, went home before he did,packed all the stuff she never wanted to see again(there wasn't much anyway),called a courier and sent the stuff away and left the house, but not before calling a locksmith and changing all the locks to the house.. her house.
As she remembered the last part, she smiled at herself, a sad smile but worth giving it back to him.
Taking a flight to Goa with 10 days off work, not before instructing her friends in office to stay quite about this was not too hard.. Like the wave getting strong and hitting the shore , she stood up boldly and walked back to her hotel, her steps getting stronger each time towards a brighter future.

And that ends the blog Marathon!!
Thank you Vittal, Swaram,Nancy, Avi, Shwetz,Sash Bhai, Ajai, Vyoma and Aj for reading , commenting and being a part!Sorry if I have missed anyone in the team.
I will be taking a break.So till next time..
BYEEEE!! :)

n(s)ame??

They made a big news..
media coverage, newspapers splashed with the same story.
Connex gone and Metro s in.
Happily climbing the train,I saw nothing s changed. Just the disply read " this is metro" instead "welcome to connex" what the!! :/

Blank- Mindless chatter!

Right here, Right now..
Absolutely blank..
To a chatterbox like me, blanking off is definitely off the cards.
Well, Have to see what I ll come up with tomorrow.
By the way, It is quite hard to imagine I am at the end of the blog marathon , minus 2 days..and now I am BLANK!! :(
This reminds me of the time, during my university course, when we had a jury( when I say jury, it is a viva where we present our design projects to lecturers or external people who are called 'jurors' :/
Already with the scary sounding viva, Someone had to present the whole project by itself, which I had no problem with as someone had to do it.
All went well, but the moment I came to talk about my work itself, I was tongue tied.
No words came, Nothing!
I stared at my work sheets pinned up, stared real hard, But no! I could not for heaven's sake remember what was to be told! Fortunately, the jurors understood as I tried to stop a tear rolling down my cheeks.
They asked me to relax, go out for sometime and I was allowed to give my jury at the end.
All went well in the end, But still makes me wonder why did I go blank?
did this happen to you?

A slice from last evening!

So we were coming back from work together.
While at a traffic signal, we notice a car standing on the green patch between the road and foot path.So "Know- it- all" Aj and "I-think- I- Know-too"me stare at the beauty and elegance :) as I call it..of the car.
Aj/KIA: did you see that?
me/ITIKT: ya,its a Mazda 6, isint it?
(At this point, we had to move a bit ahead in traffic, so we could not read the model name clearly, but I could see the curvy chrome lettering faintly.
KIA: no,It not.Its Mazda 3.
ITIKT: of course not silly, cant you see the curve of the "6" written.
KIA (a bit irritated now) : read it properly then, what do you think it is?
ITIKT: S-I-X.6!!!
The traffic light turned green and as we started moving
KIA: wanna bet?
ITIKT: Sure(check out my guts)
KIA:ok- drove across the road, pulled the car in a parking lot and we walked back towards the traffic light to cross the road and see the car.
At this point,I was laughing at my madness and people in other cars started giving me startled looks.
ITIKT:Check out my guts, I still think I am gonna win.
KIA: ya, sure...(must have rolled his eyes mentally!)
Suddenly we see that car moving towards us and as it passed us, Both of us turned to read..
And it read MAZDA 3!!
Bloody hell!!(pardon me swearing!!)
So I-think- I-Know-too have become I-Should-Speak-Only -When-I-am- doubly-sure, 20 dollars poor [:(]
and a little more wiser with Betting!! :P

And the rest 4...

8 things I love about winter
Hmmm, I am not really a winter fan, but every winter, I am just getting more and more used to it.
1) Hmmmm, Snow, of course.. Not that it snows here niether do I want that to happen, But going to a snow peak and spending a day is something very enchanting.
2) Not having to worry about what shirt I wear, cause I never take off my coat.
3) Which brings to the third point, Coats, scarfs, sweaters and the cute winter wear.. Just brings a whole new perspective in your wardrobe and a nice hole in your pocket if you arent careful ;)
4) Hmmm, hot soups which I have instead of coffee/ tea and the different flvours you get in the market is slurp! yummy!!
5) getting warm in front of the pathetic looking, but effective heater and fighting with Aj for the best position in front of it.
6)Looking at colourful umbrellas all across the street as people try to keep themselves dry. Trust me, it is a beautiful picture from my office!
7) Humming all the winter cheesy songs like "zara zara ...(sardi ki ratoon me ..;) )and driving aj nuts :P
8) Of course, saying "ufff, I am frozen" "Are we done with winter?not yet...!!!" over and over again and irritating people ;P


8 things on my wishlist
I have written a few here. Guess it still holds good.
Plus I want a calorie (guilt) free chocolate which should taste like real chocolate(no compramise here ).
Also I wish Child porn and child abuse vanishes from earth..It is truly disgusting!!
Lastly..(*mumble jumble..) secret wish done!
so there.... :P


8 things I am passionate about
1)Life in general, I hate to be layed back about anything.
2)Panipuri,I once ate 8 plates :P , that s my biggest achievement in this feild till date.
3) Water theme parks ;)
4)flowers
5)exploring nature and its various forms..- ocean, waterfalls, forests and all similar wonderful things out there
6)Reading
7)Winning ( I am a bad looser as in I dont take failure in a good manner.)
8)Most important, My family

8 words or phrases I use often
1)Sure..
2)Tadaaaan (* at this point, I will jump out from hiding either wearing that new dress or even a different hairdo is enough to do this, But I do this only to Aj and my close friends..)
3)eyyyyyyyy
4)Oh my god!
5)eeeewwww, thats GROSS!
6) Hurr, Hurr (my way of chasing people who pester me! ;) )
7) Some 'random' x,y,z,!!!
8) rascalaaaaa
P.S. My phrases keep changing every season , so its hard to contain everything here :D

8 things I learnt from the past
1. Take your decision, but stick to it and accept all consequnces.
2. Never interrupt anyone while talking,Listen.. then speak
3. Life takes its own course, earlier realised.. better!
4. The sweetness of cheap stuff dies when the bitterness of poor quality comes in and that hanges around forever.
5. Wherever I go/live.. 'My home' is always back home in India. (I can never say 'ok, I ll leave for home ' everyday leaving from work.But I say that if I am 'going home')
6. I need to write down things and it just brings more clarity onto the tasks
7. Never rely on anyone,Try to be as independent as possible.
8. Crying & talking to someone always helps and lessens the burden.

8 places I would love to go, visit or see
1.New zealand
2.Egypt
3.Paris
4.Hampi(have been there thrice, But I love the place)
5.Kashmir
6.Tasmania
7.London
8.HOME

8 things I currently need or want
1.Start a diet
2.Clean my wardrobe
3.Learn photoshop
4.A nice head massage
5.my job :)(quite scarey situation with all the low business thing going on)
6.Sleep less ( I am a big sleepy head, so reducing that will make life more beautiful )
7.Panipuri
8.A big hit of luck!

I dont know how I managed through this, But..
For now.. all s good and Anyone who wants to do this tag either here or on thier blogs are more than Welcome!

four on eight!

Just on time, when I was getting a bit saturated .. Nancy here has tagged me!
To write 8 things on each topic is quite an effort, But I shall try my best..
here it comes :

8 TV shows I like to watch: (not in any particular order)
I should say 8 TV shows we jointly agree to watch ...
1.Two and half men
2.F.R.I.E.N.D.S
3.Any good documentary on SBS channel.
4.World news Australia
5.Simpsons
6.Better homes and gardens
7.Any animation movie played on TV, ANY!!
8.I think I don't have a 8 the fav. show... Basically TV here sucks!! :( so these are the only ones qualified to be 'watchable.

8 favourite places to eat
again I am impartial to all these- love them all equally
1.Of,course home 1- love my granny's meals anytime.
2. home 2- whatever my Mother in law cooks especially chicken!
3.home 3 - love aj's lamb curry and sausage scrambles! slurp!!
4.Namaskar India (our regular hang-out place) love the food and prices ;)
5.Nandos - espeically the quarter chicken meals.. yumm!!
6.Nandini in Bangalore (loved the banana leaf meals)
7.Dollops in Manipal.. The countless times we ate here as students running away from mess food- thier veg steam rice is a master peice.
8.Pabbas in Mangalore - the best ice cream parlour ever. If you ever go to Mangalore and dont eat ice-cream at Pabbas, your trip is incomplete..*can I hear all mangaloreans say YES!

8 things I look forward to
1. Going to India and meeting everyone I love without a time bomb ticking away which means I have only limited time for each one! :(
2. Christmas break - no vacations planned this time, But all I want to do is relax .
3. Reading Dan brown 's latest book
4. Baking/ experiments with baking
5. Loosing weight, Should say more weight
6. Regular work out to ensure point 5 happens
7. Long, nice beautiful nails. ;)
8. Finishing my deadlines in office well before Christmas break or else I ll end up thinking about it all time.

8 things that happened yesterday
1. I got the 8.04 train, though I reached the station late because the train was running late..huhuuuuu!
2. My dearest friend A called from India and we spoke after really really long time
3. Laughed at the antics of a 6 year old sitting in front of me in the train ans she enjoying the attention, did more of it! :P
4. The day began with chilly weather and ended with scorching heat! :( damn, I had to carry my coat back in the bag, making it look like I was carrying a small animal :/
5. 6 of us had a major discussion via phone and e-mails to go bowling tomorrow. (yay!)
6. went to the gym for aerobics class and was surprised to see that the instructor was a substitute and she is a colleague's friend - we had earlier met at office parties, so I worked extra hard ! :P
7. I got a reminder from the electricity company about a un-paid bill which I have already paid! :(
8. Aj got a call and I was surprised to see him talking for so long, As i could not figure out who it was.Later found it was a survey about state schools!!
er... WHAT! we have not attended school here neither know someone so close who does! :D


This was real hard! more to come later..Cannot finish the tag at one go..

Question and Answer - A quick bite

Question: What happens when Swathy makes an effort of making a less oil, low calorie lunch version of lemon rice & curd rice for herself before adding nuts and tadka for Aj's lunch because he believes in "dignity of food**" ?

Answer: After so much care taken, Swathy opens her lunch box hungrily in the lunch break to see cashews and groundnuts with a aroma of tadka oil wafting in her lemon & curd rice and almost faints! :/

The stupid boxes got exchanged!!

Result : 2 hungry/ angry people! :/ ;)

** for the un-jaan and un-known, dignity of food is an act where a particular food should be cooked the way it is supposed to be with due respect to not alter it into a modified low fat/ low calorie version. In simple words,keep it as original - oil,nuts and any fatty ,high calorie stuff included where required.

All for a good deed ...

Back in school days, I remember having a book where we wrote down - "a good deed" or lets say we were supposed to write a good deed. ( I am sure you remember this Vittal :D )
Now when I think of it, I guess it was to encourage us to do a random act of kindness or at least do some effort to be good being completely aware of it.
When I joined this school in std 5, I -like other s in my class got the impression that the book was supposed to have a list of different good things and no 2 days should be similar.(now I wonder, who the hell put that idea into our heads). From the nerds to the morons everyone had a set thumb rule regarding this.
So the beginning of the academic year saw a real conscious act like
" I helped my mother wash dishes "
" I polished my brother s shoes"
" I took the dog for a walk"
or " I helped dad wash his bike"

Now slowly after a few weeks, there will be a mixture of fact and fiction.
remember our stupid thumb rule? Now, how many varieties of real good deed can a child below 10 years of age do, that too in a world where computers, mobile phones and Internet were as far off as going to Alaska for most of us now.I imagine the kids today may write a " I helped my grand ma open a GMail account" or " I watered my friends virtual farm in Facebook!! "haha...

Anyway, back to where I stopped about us, we ended up with a 'mixed- feeling' good deeds in the lines of -
" I picked fruits from our garden" which leaves a series of question if the child in question lives in a apartment unit on the 3rd floor and the whole class knows it ;)
So in this statement may be the kid's mum had left a bag of fruits in the common garden area @ ground level and the child picked it up for her.. quite possible, eh?
Giving the benefit of doubt, lets move on.
:)

then the stereotype " I helped my grandma find her specs" might cause a bit of doubt when you have already heard the story about her being in the US with uncle 'so and so' a hundred times , So may be the 'helping-grandma' bit was done 2 months earlier when she was actually around!hehe.. late confessions of a good deed!!
Soon some of us forget to write the deeds even though we are really good children and the book just travels to and fro from home along with us.
But the real f(p)un starts when it is nearing to half the term, means along with mid term exams, sometimes the teacher will check the deeds book.
Now there is a mad rush to fill it with deeds, sorry GOOD deeds! now the tiny minds and their imagination have no boundaries!

" I plucked apples from the garden" ( sure, please let us know how you manage to go to Coorg everyday, travelling 4 hours one way, cause that s the nearest place to Mangalore where one can grow apples in the garden and then pluck them! )

or

" I saved our cow from a snake " sounds errr more like a story worth a bravery award!

All started in a honest way, can go to these extremes if one does not ensure the person/child knows the thought behind it.
It was definitely done very innocently and I am not sure if it should be held against us.I mean,we would have done a good thing repeatedly everyday, It is just we thought it should be a "special" one each day and came up with stories in the end! :)

All for a 'good-deed'!!

Night patrol!! ;)

With few more days left for the end of the month, My posts are getting to read more like a diary and less like a blog. May be this was not a very good idea after all!

But with the challenge finished I am going to miss all the heights of silliness I reached trying to find a good topic to write about.
Like last night, we had been to the CBD and with Aj looking as cranky as possible about the rains, I was happily looking around for a good click with the camera.
Now I have been to the CBD a all un-earthy times as there could be possible, but have never attempted to capture anything with the camera till date. Until last night and I caught these glimpses.

Just a thought..

Thanks for all your prayers and wishes, It really helped.
He is doing much better now and health is improving!

Have you ever had situations where you feel so helpless and lost, that you just decide nature will take its course and time will heal things to the best!
Cause I have experienced that in a number of instances.
Simple ones like not joining a job i got in campus interview because my parents did not want me to move to delhi, I was angry, sad and disappointed as 3 of my friends did go.
However,I got a job in Bangalore, joined the job and now if I turn back and look, Life could not have been better for a fresh graduate with all the work exposure, wonderful team mates and some of them now friends for life.
It s been 4 years since I joined that place and almost 3 since I left, But I still feel, with the turn of events...
All that happened was /is for some good.
It is for us to find what to relish / to learn from the bitter parts if any.

no more.. no less.... just 55 words!!

Kicking an unconscious Manu again,Sanjay started looking for the money,It had to there.where could a bundle disappear?
He looked everywhere he could think, No use...
Deep under the carpet, below the floor board, a few scurrying mice see something green and edible,slowly they reach it and a tiny noice - chomp chomp!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


'Should I?'- She asks herself again. 'Oh, this torture, cannot take it anymore ' a tiny voice says.She puts her head down, as though she cannot bear to hear it any longer.
Moments later, happily eating a double mocha chocolate icecream, the red highlighted words of warning from the dietitian s letter seems to mock her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


P.S: did I sound very criminal? hehe, I am experimenting on every possible thing to write :)By the time, the month's gone.. I would have licked clean many a sane brains - so my inner voice s shouting.Also I am desperatly trying to make a fifty five words note of this.Yipppeee, I made it!!

Hope

Staying calm and focused
she did, once for all
raised to be brave
as need, she thought

close to her, he was not
neither were they friends
but her heart could not bear
the trouble , no doubt

the series of pain
running through him
his face , a deep crimson
his body frail and limp

she wished to hold his hand
gave a smile, some hope
a little prayer , that s all
for him, she told

P.S: some things are not in our control, But I truly believe that well wishes and a little positive vibe helps a lot.All my blog dosts, I too want a little prayer from you for someone one you many not know.
It will make a difference, so that is all I ask.
(No more questions please, wont be able to tell:) )Nothing to worry,chill-pill..
:)

waiting...

A girl sitting braiding her hair,probably a school girl. She opens her bag and out comes a big cosmetic bag.she continues with her work as though she doe sent care who does.
This guy looking new,confused glances, looks around for directions.Soon he look re-assured and decides to relax.Phew!!Probably new here....
The lady with a red bag, probably in her early sixties fumbles with her coins and drops one of them.
Instantly comes in picture , the bearded man with a brief case who picks it up for her as she mumbles a "thank you".
Walks a mum with a pram, her toddler who seems like she s already tired just sitting in the boring thing. All she wants is get out,but mum s too busy balancing a bag, the pram and of course the little one.
And I sit watching all these people, totally jobless as we all wait for the tram.
Another useless post, well.. it is better than not writing anything.

P.S: I have this friend V who s recently started reading my blog. :)
Thanks for the encouragement and Welcome officially! :)

Friends

My close friend Sm & me have 3 things in common we loved, atleast during my graduation days when we met as classmates in B.Arch.

Well, They were ( in order of pertinence) :

Harry Potter ( Books & movies) F.R.I.E.N.D.S and

Saurav Ganguly! ( dont ask me why and how, But we were in our teens then, uhhhhh.. almost ;) )

We would watch HP movies countless times, Bunk our training (I ll explain later in detail) to watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S and risk our reputation by racing to the staff library when our darling was on the ground to ask the scores..

I was not really known to be sober, but for Sm to do that was a matter of jumping out of her whole character and being a oxymoron of herself! :)

But I still remember the time when I met F.R.I.E.N.D.S!

We have a semester of professional training and we both decided to do it in the same office.Since Sm 's originally Bangalore and her parents were away at that time, We were allowed to stay at her place and another friend Ch joined us. Now she got us all watching friends (ya, I am tired of writing it as it actually is, Please bear with me) and i remember the first episode while she explained the story and I actually was yawning throughout the episode and finally fell asleep. Hmmm, but soon the day came when Sm and me managed to call sick from training, just to watch what happens with Ross and Rachel :D

Why I remembered this today? I was watching an episode sitting all alone yesterday since Aj s away on work and remembered all those wonderful time we had back in college!

ah, the bliss..:)

This is one of our favourite episodes....Enjoy!!

:)

Just a picture.. that s it!

:)

Secret Tag

I am not sure I am have too many secrets about me.
Even If I do, They are a BIG SECRET!! (Ha,ha Kidding)
1) During my School days, after say std 5, I have never written notes( you know the ones with Q & A) for any subject except Mathematics of course.
I believed that one needs to know more than what s in those questions and answers,So i used to study just from the text books and every answer coming on the answer sheets would be well, On -the -spot.
Helped the creative juices flow ;) but sometimes would be quite a disaster. :)

2) Regarding the same one, I think most of my teachers knew about me not writing any notes, But well, I think they would ignore this trait as I was not doing all that bad in Exams anyway and I could answer any twisted question from the text book, so why complain ?

3) Though I haven't given any formal exam, I have learnt Carnatic music for 8 years. Me along with my mum who used to learn it with me, have sung in quite a few programs and cultural functions. Sad thing is I am out of touch and as I told , Have not formal certificate for this.

4) Even though, I literally quiver like an arrow while facing a crowd or audience, I somehow overcame the stage -fear factor with real efforts and I am quite proud of it!! (now-a days people like me have no modesty- are you saying? well, What to do... sigh!! ;) )

5) I plan every single thing like I have a mental diary. It s another thing whether I follow it word by word, But my mind constantly churns out time table for me!

6) Inspite of being a very talkative person with a very active social life all my life, Still I am known to be a very reserved, silent and a quite person in my work place. I open my mouth only in front of certain people and never speak unless really necessary.
(I shall soon know if by any chance someone reads this from office. )

That s all folks!
Good night and I wont tag anyone , but you are most welcome to take the tag. But do let me know if you have any secrets to go public .Write atleast one in the comment box, will you???

see the sea and you shall see!

After successive hot days, today was no different. Here, everyone hits the beach during these heat waves and after all our weekend chores , we went down to Aj's favourite beach just before sunset.

The sea always have the same effect on me - calm and serene even amidst all that chaos. Back home,my parents house is just a stone s throw from the beach and luckily for me, We live in the Island country and in a city with beautiful beaches. Still, Every time I walk on the sand, It is a different experience. And I can never finish without soaking my foot in the warm and cold salty spray from the sea waves.The never tiring waves, the vast stretch of water and the ever lasting sand always , for me -seems to last forever .

changed and the un-changed

We all believe and agree we are in the modern age.Along with technology, we have also advanced , if not have lots of things that has changed in and around us.This huge world has shrunk to become a "global village" with greater advancements in technology.
Sometimes, As I run about, doing my routine,I stop to wonder how things have changed over time in me. From Dosas and Idli platter that I fed on almost everyday, we have changed to "whole grain" toast with "fat free spreads" for most breakfasts, Not just because I am quite inefficient in waking up any early than 6.30,but also because they are healthy , easily bought and we don't mind eating it.This is just an instance how the day's beginning has changed.
Our clothes, fashion sense, methods of going about a problem,living style are some other things influenced by modern times.
However, I still pray , religiously follow all rituals and festivals to my best ability, which again most of us do.A link to what has been learnt by us from our past.Most time we do this sensibly , but some times, we tend to believe in things that could sound just so unreasonable, yet we follow.
Like for Instance, I never accept anything with my left hand from anyone.
Even if I am hanging on to the holding rail in a crazy roller coaster ride(hypothetically) and some one from the left corner in the back seat offers me something, I will still do some stunt and stretch my right hand by turning in a weird position ,but No! I won't use left hand.
Sounds silly, to show such partiality towards your own hands, but that s the way I am.

A lot of such believes come and go as generations pass by, But the other day i saw this little boy of Indian origin standing beside his mum and incidentally stepped on her.Immediately he touched her and then put the hand back on his heart and forehead *. I was surprised and happy that the mum had taught her son something which we all learn and follow as Indians. I was only hoping, she would have also told the reason behind that act, Or else one day the child would think it is a belief without any reason behind it.

P.S: * It is a method of bowing to the person when you have hurt them ,which also means recognising all human beings and their feelings as you would care about your own.