Day 43

This started off by being not such a good day. I reached work on time, only to find that the actual work would start an hour later. Aaargh!! So I went grumble, grumble, grumble in my mind for an hour. And then... things changed.

:)

Shutapa called to say that she's going to be here for my b'day. And I went, Yay! :D Just yesterday, I was toying with the idea of ditching the Happy B'day to Me idea once and for all, just eating good food and cake and leaving it at that. But Shutapa's arrival changes things. I don't have as few friends as I thought I did. Okay, so she isn't exactly flying down for my b'day, but the timing couldn't be any better. I love that girl so much. :D Yay!

Also, Rahul 'Chomu' Kunda just messaged his new number. I was wondering where that boy had gone and gotten lost. So, that's another fellow to invite. Boyfriends may come and boyfriends may go, but Chomu Kunda is forever. Even if we talk just about once a month; sometimes less often than that.

Watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Free tickets from office. Found it kinda juvenile (though some of the dialogues are super-cool) and it was tooooooo similar to The Mummy movies. If you do want to win Indian Jones movie tickets, log on to http://www.ilovekolkata.in/content/section/47/1698. There are loadza tickets just waiting to be won.

Was introduced to this weird friend of a colleague. I was kinda distracted, so I didn't catch his name, but I smiled politely and held out my hand for a handshake, and he did a nomoshkar while my handed remained suspended mid-air (and this being a 20-something guy!!)! I kept thinking, Okay, ebaare nomoshkaarer shomoi shesh hoye jaabe, then he will shake hands. Hah! You think! I got fed up after several weird seconds and did a maha awkward nomoshkar of my own and wondered: "what the hey?!"

Day 42

And today was shopping day :D

I'm not much of a happy shopper most days of the year. Am more like a speed-shopper (y'know, like speed-racer and speed-reader) -- blitz into the store, pick up random clothes, vanish (though I usually pay the bill before pulling the vanishing act).

Today however, things were different. Ma wanted a shirt. And we went from rack to rack and from store to store in search of the ideal one which remained invisible right till 5 o'clock (we started at 2 o'clock -- though we took a coffee break in between... Swiss Mocha Frappe again... I'm so in love with that). Ma was very pleased with me for tagging along and not grumbling. She eventually found a shirt, and then it was time for window shopping (Read: trying out clothes that I would probably never end up wearing even though I look wistfully at them each time). So I tried on all kindsa party-wear that I will never buy even though I eye them. Ma offered to buy me one... but I don't want to own something that I'll never wear a second time (assuming that I do wear it the first time).

But I did try on this very pretty dress (Rs. 1500) at ColourPlus. It looked bhery preeety. But sadly, I don't get invited to cocktail parties... else I would've bought it.

After shopping and window-shopping, it was grocery shopping time. And at the billing counter at Food Bazar there was this weird man who was maha upset that the girl at the counter charged him Rs.34 instead of the MRP of Rs.36. He refused to be glad about the 2-buck discount and threatened to go to the manager. Some people are just crazy.

Have eaten a lot of chicken today and two Pepsis. Have walked like crazy. Bought contact lens solution (which always makes me feel poor). Ate chicken-and-veggies for dinner and followed it up with dahi vada for desert. Life is weird.

Day 41

So I met Dreamy, Coffee and Moolah in a very tiny blogmeet. Onn was stuck in 45-minute traffic jam in Shyambazar that jammed phone signals as well. T3 sucks when it comes to food. Don't have their chocolate cake or their pineapple juice or their chicken burger. The french fries (soggy ones) are easier to gobble up.





Yesterday, I went for the football match starring Oliver Kahn who got honoured by everyone who was anyone in Kolkata. All this during half-time. See if you can spot him in this picture:

If that doesn't work, try spotting him here:


As I was standing at Park Circus last evening, looking desperately for a share cab to Salt Lake, I saw truckloads of keora public headed for the stadium. Surprisingly, the public at the stadium were not that keora. And the goodnatured ribbing of Mohunbagan fans by East Bengal supporters was very heehee type. Plus, things like a dog running on to the field, one player kicking another, the Germans playing giants to Mohunbagan's lilliputians, chocolate bombs and pretty fireworks, dozens of men peeing in one long row, etc etc.

Kol is like a furnace today. Hot and sticky. I no like :(

Day 40

This is the fag end of a looooooong day at work. Left home at 7.30 am. Got back at 9:06 pm. Thankfully, office has AC and a nice team where everyone is a foodie. Else I would be far more grumbly than I am today. I'm not grumbly. Just tired. But again.. I don't feel like sleeping -- coz once you sleep, the next thing to do is wake up, and I hate waking up :( At least, if I stay awake, the next thing to do is sleep -- and that is always a nice thing.

We did have lunch at Amber though. Good food, though a tad expensive (of course, I wasn't paying). My b'day's coming up though -- what can I feed the folks at office that'll be good and cheap?

Boss ka boss is coming to office tomorrow. He's based in Dilli otherwise.

Haven't been able to start Lesson No. 2 of Guitar Learning for Dummies. Will try tomorrow.

Oooh... funny thing happened. Shreya flew. Yes, she flew. Like Superman. Horizontally. The footpath arrived, Shreya hit it wrong, and the next thing we know, she's flying. Luckily, I was there to bring this almost-Superman back to earth minus the thud. Thus, Shreya was saved from falling flat on her face. Yours truly is a heroine. You may now clap for me.

Oh, and my favourite song these days? "I am happy in my heart, dil dance maare re." That song is etoi keora that I love it. Somehow though, this song is wasted on a girl. I wish I were a guy just so I could do a bhashan-er naach. Nothing else would do this song justice.

Day 39

Last night was loadza fun, and it had me wondering why I don't plan frequent-er Girls' Night Outs. For one, we get to dress up in things that we would NEVER be able to wear otherwise. Then (and more importantly) we get to enter pubs, nightclubs free of charge. We have tonnes of fun minus the male species. And, we lose some of the flab while dancing non-stop (ignore the feud between the two left feet in my case). It is nice being a girl.

I don't know if I'll ever get used to calling myself a woman. I don't call myself one anyway. I'm still a girl despite being 23-going-on-24. And so are most of my chick friends. Most of the guys I know are barely men, though the protruding bellies might lead you to believe otherwise. Currently, my list of guy friends is fast decreasing. Sadly so. And not for any single reason.

I'm sleepy today, having got 4 hours of less sleep thanks to partying into the wee hours and then reporting to work before 9:00 a.m. But I'm not quite in the mood to sleep. Sometimes it seems like such a waste of time.

Speaking of waste of time, check this out:


I find the yawning kitkat very cute.

In the meantime, I'm seriously in love with the new guitar. Seriously seriously in love. I was actually missing it last evening and spent every elusive free moment at office today staring at its picture on my blog. I like that initial rush. :)

And that's all for today's episode. Good night and God speed. :D

Day 38

I'm going partying tomorrow night, so here's Day 38 a day in advance. It helps that today has been a fun and eventful day, so I do have stuff to write. To begin with, here's a picture of me and my latest boyfriend:
The concentration on my face is warranted. I'm in the process of trying to play 'Amazing grace'. I managed most of it, except for two notes that I haven't been able to find yet. I need free lessons.

Spent the evening with Madz and Roush. Roush made us model some of her clothes (she's a student of fashion design). Madz rocked the photo shoot. I was my regular awkward self. Sigh... I'm tall also, it's such a waste to be tall, skinny and yet so awkward. Yeesh, potential future on the ramp goes to waste. But Madz really rocked man! Am a fan. Plus, Roush's clothes are wonderful. Wonderful wonderful. I want to buy 'em.

After photo shoot, it was off to Princeton, having cheap booze where the booze content was really little, doing PNPC, robbing some unknown guys of their rightful seats, briefly meeting Coffee Stain yet again, watching Cassini's Division play, joking about fat guy with jelly-like body groove to the music, etc. etc.

Back home now, earlier than I would like though. But tomorrow we are going partying -- just us three girls. Girls' night outs usually rock.

And I'm still in love with my guitar. :D

Day 37

And the owner of Gum, Guitars and Gargoyles finally has a guitar of her own :D

Here it is:

Thanks to the father for providing the money. And even more thanks to Rishi Roy a.k.a. Coffee Stain for taking me along to buy it. In fact, this post is dedicated to Rishi Roy, selfless blog buddy, talented shutterbug, articulate coach, very vain alpha male and holder of much wisdom. Thankoo Druid.

So now that I have a guitar, and chewing gum is readily available, I will only have to look out for the gargoyles. And no, the ones on the Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) building will not do.

Yay! I'm so excited. Now, all I need to do is learn to hold the new stringed possession properly (this is the closest I have ever been to a guitar; have kept a wide berth between self and other guitars at other times) and play like the pros. Given that I have absolutely no idea how to play one of these, any tips and tricks will be welcome.

Guitar girl signing off for the day. How I love my life :D

Day 36

And I have a bad case of the sniffles. My nose has swelled up into a christmas-tree ball and its constantly dripping snort. I wonder how so much stuff can be stocked inside 2 little nostril spaces. Excuse the grossness.

For a change I didn't get wet in the rains today. So yay! For a change I finished work early today, though I dilly-dallied for awhile after that too. So yay again!

I think I'm finally buying that guitar tomorrow. I will draw money in the morning, deposit the salary cheque (it was delayed from office for some processing mistake... and then I forgot to deposit it last week... it's still sitting put inside the India Today in the drawer in the cupboard).

Gawd, my nose is dripping so much I can barely look down at the keyboard. There should be a common cold vaccine. I was reading somewhere that there are so many different types of flu and that the flu virus is so adaptable that it is very difficult to isolate one strain immunise a person against it. But they've been going through the flu DNA to figure out some common link. Maybe a day will come when common cold viruses will be an extinct species.

That's it for today. Tomorrow's post may be a little late, but it will arrive unless the girls' evening out overstretches its curfew and becomes a girls' night out. But all indications suggest that I'll be home by ten-thirty and will have enough time to whack out post number 37.

Day 35

Wasn't it rather cold this morning. I was shivering under the covers till someone came and switched off the fan. The rest of the day was far more normal and I'm pretty happy that the crazy heat decided to take the day off. Though I stay in the AC all day.. so what do I know anyway?

My first real article got published on the website finally. Do go read it sometime: http://www.ilovekolkata.in/content/view/1518/1647

I'm feeling very iffy about putting the link here... but what the heck.. what if you don't find it otherwise? And if you do check out the ilovekolkata site before tomorrow evening, the home page slide picture of the auto is also by moi :D

Tomorrow was supposed to be my off-day, but that's being shifted to Friday. I prefer it kinda. I'm supposed to go out with Madz and Roush this Friday. They (Read: Madz) might kill me if I ditch 'em.

I just ate chips. I think I will go have cherries now. For lunch, the young intern treated us to chicken rezala (which his Momma made) and roti and Sprite. I like my office. The next treat is supposed to be from me. I want Chinese.

Day 34

My dog died last night. So this is not going to be a long post. I'm not even going to wax eloquent and launch into a funeral speech. I'm not in the mood for that. Instead, here's a picture of Cindy the Dachshund:

This was coming for awhile now. And Ma was glad that she could bury her in a nice place. In fact, at the cemetry, they even gave her a letter from Cindy that went like this:

My dearest Master,

I am lucky to have had a Master who loved me enough to see that I was laid to rest with dignity. The word "interweb" has become fashionable these days. There is, however, a Cosmic Interweb of Souls which cuts across the barriers of this world, and this is what brought me into your home & heart...

I lived to bring you joy, to get your love and give you all I had, in my own funny way. Now, I am gone and you live on. For the love I bore you, and for the love you have for me and for the interweb which binds all beings, I make this parting plea:

"Live for those who love you,
For those that think you true,
For the heaven that is above you,
And the hope you have in view,
For the cause that needs assistance,
For the wrongs that need resistance,
For the future in the distance,
And the good that you can do."

Your loving pet,
Cindy
Date: 20/05/08

P.S.: We never did go to a breeder to buy Cindy. She was on her way to being abandoned when Ma decided to keep her for a few days, till things worked out in her original home. But things never did work out there and Cindy stayed on with us and became a part of our family. She will be missed.

Day 33

The thunder and lightning kept me away from the computer last night. But what I want to know is how Prasun Mukherjee got himself entangled in the plastic sheets. I wasn't watching the match yesterday, so I would really like to know how on earth he got there.

I'm really not in the mood to type today. Though my story finally got approved. It will probably get uploaded tomorrow. Will put up link then.

Am wondering what to read next. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Though I am kinda veering towards the pulp writers of the world. Light, quick, and more-or-less brainless reads are what I'm looking for. But don't suggest Chetan Bhagat please. Have a mental block against his books for some unknown, inexplicable reason.

Day 32. Also, Day of Rest.

Holiday today. Did not go to work. Did not think about it either. Went for lunch and then shopping with Ma and Sis (and later with Madz and Roush). As in, I didn't intend to buy anything really, but fell in love with this big bag (am a sucker for big bags) at Westside. Had about fifteen bucks in coins in my wallet. So I bought it with my debit card. Thank God for plastic!

Then went and drew money. Should always keep some big notes in the wallet in case of a rainy day. And today ended up being one, though I spent only 20 bucks on account of the rain (cab fare). However, I did spend more on two tees. Cheap and goodlooking tees, though I'm scared I'll end up looking like a ruler in one of them (sigh.. contrary to popular belief, being a tall and skinny girl isn't always hahaheehee... will dedicate a post one of these days to the trials and tribulations of this misunderstood breed of female).

Madz, Roush and I bought the same tee in different colours (dark blue, peach-pink and turquoise blue-green respectively). We plan to have a uniformed girls-day-out one of these days.

It rained today again. And again I got drenched a little. I like getting drenched... so I guess this really is my year. Oooh.. and I'm in love with the Swiss Mocha Frappe that you get at Barista Creme. I've had it thrice so far, and it hasn't disappointed me yet. And it's perfect comfort food (drink actually) for when you're down... and though I haven't been down in a while now, this is the ideal mood-enhancer.

Saw a super-cute guy at Barista Creme. Kept staring at him :P He was right in our range of vision. Even took a picture of his side profile :D Sadly though, he was there with his not-so-good-looking girlfriend. Even sadlier, his face looked good only from that angle. A pity, but then, we got a picture of his good side, literally. :D

The off-day has been good. Eventful. Fun. And I feel rested despite being on the go all morning. Oh.. and I finally finished the Grisham book :P

Day 31 and TGIF

A 31-day month since I started posting. Nice. And Thank God It's Friday. I just get the Saturday off, but beggars have to make do with whatever they can get their hands on. From next week, I'm off on Thursdays.

Today was a good day. Tiring, but not as long. Met Ma for soup and Chilli Pork Roast. How I love the day before a holiday. The holiday itself is not as good as waiting for it to arrive. Aaah.. the joy of opekkha...

Had a very heehee-type day in office. This guy (the one who brings the biscuits) brings his whole cupboard in his bag. Yes -- the bag is actually an almari in disguise. Not only does he carry biscuits and ajwain, but also a big, fat newspaper (despite working in a media house which is overflowing with newspapers anyway... and then too... he subscribes to the competitor!!!), a big, black umbrella, an oily tiffin box, a shirt or two, pens, pencils, a folder, a packet for the tiffin box, a packet for the big, black umbrella if it gets wet in the rain (and it's summer now), and so much more. We've planned to have show-and-tell at office one of these days so that we can learn more about the portable-cupboard-cum-bag of his.

I have cracked a few good situational jokes over the last few days for a change. Usually I have a stock of PJs to harrass well-meaning people with.

Today's been a hot day, and the sudden gust of wind threatening a storm hasn't brought any rain and the city is still sultry (not in a good way). But I did see this old man very happily drinking cold Coca Cola through a white straw. It was a Kodak moment, but as usual, my camera was sitting in the drawer of my cupboard.

Ooooh... I'm listening to Marathi after ages: "Tumcha call hold var ghyunar rahet ahe. Kripya line var raha." (I'm on hold while talking to a friend from Pune... the Marathi I typed may be wrong.)

Off hold now, and on conference call with friend who's getting engaged and another who has never had even an inkling of a boyfriend. This is such fun!

Day 30

And this calls for a chocolate cake from Cakes (the one next to Kookie Jar on Rawdon Street). I will pick one up on Saturday.

I am feeling very goodlooking today. Very very. The haircut rocks man! It's not as Bon Jovi as it was last year. Actually, it's a non-Bon-Jovi replica of last year's cut, but looks very very pretty :D Am my own biggest fan today :D

Today has been a very long day, but it ended well. Had company on way back home yet again... though from time to time I do like going it alone. (During those stressful days in M'bai, my two-hour commute doubled up as me-time, and I usually went back home feeling all is right with the world. Nothing like a long, solitary bus ride or a leisurely walk to clear the mind or a ride in a radio-loving auto rickshaw to bring the music back into your head.)

Now, barely two minutes after getting on to the auto, the streetlights went off. Powercut! And it covered a pretty large area. Ma called from home to find out if I was by any chance stuck in the lift. I was not. I was seated in an auto on Freeschool Street.

The loadshedding lasted throughout the journey. And then I spied with my not-so-leeteel eyes, lightning. Rain rain, stay away, at least until I get home. The little droplets started letting go of their cloudy abode almost immediately, but only two and three at a time, and these glided down rather than crash to the ground pulled by the evil force of gravity. The brilliant thing was that this lasted till just after I opened the door and walked into home-sweet-home. A minute and a half later, there was much rain, albeit short-lived.

Oh, and the power cut? The lights came back the minute I reached my building gate. :)

So all's well that ends well.

And did I mention that the new haircut rocks? :P

Day 29 and Gajra Pic

I don't feel like grumbling. I've had a good day. Despite barely five hours of sleep, I managed to

• get a lot of work done,


• do some chhablami,


• eat too much lunch,


• buy aamloki from colleague (what do you call aamloki in English? I just can't remember!),


• eat some aamloki,


• distribute some aamloki to the gang at work,


• try to recruit WIAN? for a summer job (offer is open btw for wannabe journos and folks with free time on their hands),


• fail to recruit WIAN? for a summer job,


• meet a skinny (gay?) guy who shuns carbonated drinks bcoz they will add much flab to his reed-thin frame,


• get boss to read article and hear him say, "good" :D,


• get company to go home by auto,


• get that long-awaited haircut. (It's a lot like the Bon Jovi cut I had last year this time except that it's not rock-chick at all. Go figure!),


• eat falsa post dinner,


• chat briefly with best friend, and


• log on to Orkut after a very, very, very long time.

I'm in the mood to put up a nice pic of me and my best friend (even at the cost of resembling a six-year-old) but I can't find it :( So here is an ancient, ancient, very ancient picture of my bestie and me:

P.S.: Notice the gajra in the hair.

Day 28

And I'm super-tired. Colleague had a tough day at work. As a result, I had a long day at work. Finally managed to file my first full-fledged story today, and I'm not too unhappy with the results. Though given that everything happens via MS Word and Gtalk, we really aren't 'filing' anything in the true sense of the term, though MS Word files are also files.

Like I said, I am tired. I'd like to grumble, but am too tired to type out a long grumbly blogpost. I guess I'll save it for a rainy day and retire for the night. Tahs.

Day 27

Monday night, and I'm back as promised. I dreamt that there were 21 comments on the last post. Alas, there were only 4... woe is me :P

Spent the day babysitting grandmom. Was very worried that I would not be able to light the gas and give her warm food -- I'm cool with the lighter but suffer from severe matchstickophobia -- but the matchsticks there were high-class stuff and every one of them (except one) lit in less than three strikes. So now my matchstickophobia is almost gone.

I scared a cat this morning. He was busy getting done with his morning ablutions and trying to cover it up when I crossed the road and interrupted his thoughts. He started at first and then gave me an irritated stare before carrying on with the job.

Ate chow and chilli chicken from office canteen and finally realized why the tiffin-buying gang keeps grumbling about the canteen food. I'd had chow and chilli chicken earlier too but it takes a few times to recognize the inedibility of it all. (It's odd in a rather gross way that the earlier paragraph led to this one...)

I'm very very tired today and so glad that I'm back home in my room with my pillow and mattress. I will sleep the sleep of two logs tonight.

I'm still stuck with that book though. Didn't read a single page all weekend. Though I did finish the India Today that I had in my bag.

I'm planning to get a haircut day after tomorrow. After thinking of drastic stuff, have decided to just go for a sane haircut for the time being. Will keep the drastic stuff for when I have a little more money.

In the meantime, I'm very very sleepy.

Day 26

I had beer today. After thinking that I won't, and wondering why I won't I decided to give in to temptation, except that the amount I had would not make an ant high. But then, I did have beer.

This was at a dinner with the office team. We took pictures. But since I look terrible in all of them, I will not put any of them up.

I may not have access to a comp tomorrow and day-after so, Day 27 will be 2 days delayed. I'll be babysitting my grandmom and will be stuck at home over Saturday evening and Sunday. So see y'all on Monday night. Happy weekend. Miss me in the meantime. Mwooahs :P

Day 25

Yay! In another 25 days it will be Day 50 and less than a week before my happy b'day to me! :D

Tomorrow all us folks from office are going out for dinner at 5.30 p.m. Yeah, it does give early dinners a run for their money, and I'm not convinced we'll be served food at that time, but the people on my team come from places like Chandernagore (is that the spelling?) and Habra (is that it?). I think I'm supposed to dress up a little (just a little) better and go. Did I mention that I mostly dislike dressing up?

Btw... I am slowly but surely becoming opinionated - a great leap forward for a completely non-opinionated person. Today I was upset at SRK's not performing because it is Robi Tagore's birthday and because his Bollywood jhatkas would be against our culture. What made it worse was that people at office (well, person actually) agreed that King Khan dancing to Woh haseena woh neelam pari would be uncultural. Jaata! Not like Robi Dadu was a Jesus Christ or a Prophet Mohammad or something to that effect.

Bongs and their preoccupation with the ancient past. I'm sure Robi Dadu himself would have liked partying at Venom and shaking his beard to the tunes of Dard-e-Disco. More importantly, I think business is far more important than culture (Generalizing dangerously, but don't take it out of context). And SRK dancing is bound to bring in far more moolah (NOT the blogger) than local artistes putting in their two-paise bit. Uff! Bongs and their kaalchaar!

On a different note, I got wet in the rain. Again. This year, barring twice, I have managed to get wet each time it has rained. I think this will end up being a good year, and by the time December 31 comes around, I can look back and sigh in joy. And then I'll go grab some Thunderbolt beer at Oly. Or wherever.

Btw... given that we are all gung-ho about the blog-meet-to-be, there's an example of a blog meet on ParisDailyPhoto. Check the 8 Mai 2008 entry (individual posts are non-clickable). If only we weren't meeting in the height of summer and Kolkata were Paris, we could have gone on a nice scenic picnic armed with lotsa food, Pepsi, and more.

Day 24

24 -- my age by this date next month. Remember to wish me. Gifts, cards and treats will be highly appreciated.

Incidentally, May 7 is also the day three years ago when I got together with Boyfriend No. 3 -- but that did not last long. It's weird to think 3 years have passed since then. He's happily married and living down under with his Aussie citizen wifey now, and his Gtalk status message says: "Oh you poor lonely souls" :P

I promised myself I would not ramble on for too long today. But this looks like the start of another long post. Except that I have very little to say today.

I fell asleep again last night with my nose in the Grisham book -- and it isn't even a boring one. It's super-quick reading, and interesting, and it has all these cool legal eagles and conniving-conspiring politicos. So I can't quite figure out why I keep dropping off with my nose in the book and the light on. Ma suggested that I sit up straight if I want to finish the book. I think I'll do that today. Have to return it by Friday as it is. Oops, I think tomorrow is D-day... Otherwise 30 rupees more. No way Jose. I reach the last page of 'The Appeal' today!! Watch this space.

And... I did this test:

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Am happy :D

Day 23

23 days of blogging. 23 years of living. I will soon turn 24. Sigh. But it's still better than turning 25. I actually have friends who turn 25 this year. It's kinda scary.

I saw a Kingfisher on the TV antenna of the next building this morning. In between gulping porridge (my daily breakfast -- preferred b'cause it's convenient) and hunting for the green comb, I had to take the cupboard key out of the pouch in my bag, open the drawer, take out the camera and click this blue wonder. Here are two pics (the same pic actually). Sadly, I could not zoom in any more than this:



I guess I'm not much of a photographer. The bird looked much prettier in real life. Also, I'm not even sure that it is a Kingfisher. Do let me know if you happen to know what it is. The body is almost electric blue (if that helps).

Life at office has been cold today. I was sitting at Shreya's comp today with the blast being directly over my head. I shivered through most of today even while most other Kolkatans were complaining about the heat.

I really have to finish that Grisham book today. Have been falling asleep with my nose in it for three nights running. How embarrassing to be reading a pulpy book for so long. Sheesh! It's a good read though.

Note: Ma read my earlier post this morning and was aghast at being made the villain of the piece. To be fair, she merely did not want me to finish up most of the grapes (as I am wont to do) before the sister got her fruit salad ready for school.

This being a not-terribly-exciting day, I will sign off at this point.

Day 22 -- and still going strong!

I have been specifically told to stay away from the grapes.

My teenaged sis needs it to make a fruit salad for school tomorrow. Grandma will cut up the fruits, Ma will get the fresh cream ready, and the sister will mix the cut fruits with the cream, write down the recipe and take it to school in the pool car.

Once the fruit salad is ready, I can pounce on as many grapes as I like. But till then, I have to keep safe distance. :(

This morning I went to work in the auto of a very chatty rickshaw-wala. I actually crossed and then re-crossed the road to get into his auto, and I'm glad I did. He kept chatting about road rules even as he itched to run the red signal at Park Circus (which is difficult to do unless you are an auto-wala from the area.)

The guy who got onto the auto before me wanted to get off at Gol-talao. That's fine at most times except that after 8:00 a.m., the road becomes one-way. It was already 7: 59 a.m., but the auto-wala decided to be nice and drop the dude at Gol-talao (circular pond). However, after asking the policeman at the crossing for the time and then telling him that it was still 7:55 (it wasn't; it was 8:05), Mr. Auto-wala followed another auto into the one-way street. Two minutes later, the Circular Pond was reached and the dude got off with a "shukriya".

That was the worst thing he could have said for the driver decided that "shukriya" could also be misheard to sound like "sukar gaya" -- which resulted in no further passengers for the auto. What followed were a million PG-rated curses to the dude: "Why couldn't he say "Thanks" instead of "shukriya"? Then I would've got a few more passengers at least!"

He then went on to tell me about the benefits of either turning around or waiting till someone else drove past when a cat decided to cross the road. "Educated people think this is all rubbish, but I have experienced it first-hand -- thrice! These animals sense these things. They have higher powers than we do. They know!"

By the time I reached my stop, I had developed a new-found respect for all animals who happen to cross roads.

Incidentally, a rooster crossed my road today near the butcher's shop. I think he landed up in somebody's curry.

I worked so hard today that I suddenly found myself staring at the comp and thinking je ami hothath ek din top kore morey jaabo. It's so sad having to go to office sometimes, and today I spent almost 11 hours there! And 1 hour extra coz I thought Shreya dear would leave in ten minutes. She left after an hour. And I hung around for just as long.

I came back late, and now I'd like some grapes. But Ma's put up an invisible "Beware of grapes" sign. Sadly :(

Day 21

And I assume the blog-daily habit has been formed. Yay! :)

No weird lizard/other reptile/insect coincidences happened today though I double-checked the area around my office CPU before settling down on the chair. Legs were placed safely on the chair, away from any camouflage-master garden lizards.

Lunch was Chicken Wanton Noodle Soup and Chilli Roast Pork (dry). Met the mother. Took off to pick up the sister from a b'day party at Forum. And...

And :) ... found a tee that I fell in love with at first sight. It's a little big, but who cares... it's red in the front and striped at the back and says "Rock Queen" amidst a bunch of other music-related graffiti. Haven't studied the tee properly yet, but Sugababes finds mention on it -- of that I'm sure.

I like that it's been raining every evening since yesterday. Today I got wet because Ma and I had to run up to cover the bird cages on the terrace. Here is a picture of the birdcage by yours truly:

As luck would have it, the power went off just seconds before the storm, and I had to go rescue this man who got stuck in the lift (Read: call the darwan to unlock the lift). It was his fault for coming to meet Ma at a time when she had specifically told him not to. I guess he's going to do away with his late-evening visits from now on. Thereafter, I had to scramble up the stairs in the dark by which time the rain had already started. As it turns out, Ma is better at covering the birds than I am, so I was left shining the torch while Ma did all the hard work.

There was something else that I wanted to type about, but it has completely slipped my mind. So adios for the time being. And for all in Kolkata, enjoy the Nor'westers while they last.

Day 20

Another day, another lizard. Except that this one was dead -- half-eaten actually -- and we spent a while trying to figure out what this blob of meat was. Very ughs! [Makes puke sounds]. It freaked me out for a bit: Madman, scorpion, garden lizard, again scorpion, dead lizard remains -- all on almost consecutive days. It's got to mean something!

A wise woman, my mother, said, the coming of ants and other biting insects = the enemy is close at hand; the coming of reptiles = the advent of evil. This spate of weird coincidences is being blamed partly on my non-religiousness and partly on the misdeeds of an enemy (identity unknown as of now).

On a less reptilinear topic: It was Ma's b'day today. She opened presents. We went for lunch at BarBQ. Nappy [photo left] was mistaken to be the birthday girl and got not one, but two balloons! It's good to be a kid.

Day 19

Two days away from Day 21, by which time daily-blogging will become a habit - like brushing teeth (though I've been doing that for over 21 years, so it's not quite fair to compare brushing with blogging; even though both start with "B")

Today has been a little-less-boring day. I went shopping for Ma's gift (Read: walked into a store and walked out with two gifts -- one for her; one for me). I re-joined the library I used to go to as a kid. Now I can once again return to reading pulp fiction. At Rs. 30 per book per week, it's quite a good deal. Plus, I generally read fast. And when I know that slow-reading will be costlier, I read faster. Money always talks :D Have brought home John Grisham's The Appeal, which my Boss has been praising for a while now. Btw... have written a post on Eden on the office website. Please go read it and comment. :P

Now to get on with the account of today:

To begin with, I woke up quite late which made me crabbity early in the morning. I don't like having to rush. But slow and steady, even if it wins you the race eventually, doesn't ensure that you reach office on time. However, I managed to find a speedier auto and emptier roads than usual and reached office only 15 minutes late. And since I'm usually the first one in, it hardly matters how late I am anyway.

But the exciting bit happened this afternoon. A little background here: My paternal grandfather was a Bengali from Bihar. As a result, I have inherited some khotta tendencies (no offence meant to anybody), like putting both legs up on any chair I find. This includes dining table chairs and computer chairs, even if it's a struggle to have my legs fit there.

Anyway, so I was happily strumming on the keyboard with my feet up on the green chair that creaks like the door of a haunted house. I happened to look down to see if my shoes were still there (I am paranoid about my things getting robbed from right under my nose), when I see this grey bit of paper that looks like a lizard. Look a little closer, ask colleague to take a look, and the verdict: it's not a bit of paper disguised as a lizard; it's a lizard.

A prod at the lizard from colleague, and lizard moves. I squeal and rush off in a bid to maintain safe distance. Whole office gets together to chase lizard out away from my CPU. Boss wonders in amusement: Why does the whole office have to be involved in chasing a silly lizard?

But ah! Seated on the other side of the room, how would he know that this is no regular lizard. This is a tree lizard that lifts its head like a snake and hops-skips-and-jumps rather than walk like our civilized house lizards. It is better-looking though, this lizard that temporarily ousted me from my desk and motivated me to keep my feet up on the safety of the chair for the remainder of the afternoon.

Of course, the colleague that looks like and eats like Jughead Jones (minus the hat) managed to collect Lizzy dear on a newspaper and deposit him outside, but the colleague who brings biscuits every morning said that Lizzy was deposited in such a place that made it easier for him to return to the warmth of my CPU. This means more squeals and office disruptions are likely in the near future.

Later this evening though a scorpion emerged from the pot in the bathroom. I had seen him a few days ago and flushed him down. But this water-lover survived the waterfall and came back up today. But by doing this, he also sounded his death knell, for he was crushed into two and flushed down again.

A lizard, a scorpion, and a mad man the other day -- is the universe trying to tell me something??

Day 18: Part II

Just when you least expect it, thoughts of ex-boyfriends decide to haunt you and send Mr. Sleep packing. Interestingly, it's almost exactly a month since the breakup, give or take a few days. Coincidences and weird connections rule my life. E.g.: Breakups with Boyfriend No. 1 and Boyfriend No. 2 happened on the same date -- 19th Jan -- though it was three years apart. I was quite freaked out when I realized this. Luckily, I've managed to overcome the 19th-January jinx. [Heaves sigh of relief]

Am feeling very pathetically Ally Mcbeal-ish. I just wish I could land up at office wearing minis like her. :P

Day 18

Holiday... and I don't know what to do with myself. Was supposed to meet the teacher and the almost-fashion-designer, but that's not happening. My floaters are torn so I have to wear these shoes that give me major leg ache... and they aren't even high-heeled thingies. I need to buy new shoes. And kurtas too... the existing ones have shrunk like crazy. Will go shopping to New Market one of these days. Will hopefully not get caught by mad man.

Need to leave work early tomorrow and buy Ma's b'day gift. Her Happy B'day is on Saturday. I haven't thought of what to buy her yet.

People don't blog half as much as they used to any more. Okay, so everyone doesn't have crazy blog-everyday resolutions like me, but once a week would be nice. This is a request. [Smiles winningly]

I like when a new month begins, even if it is a potentially scorching May. I like being able to read the horoscope for the month on Yahoo. I'm a horoscope addict, especially for awhile after they match.

I slept for close to ten hours after ages today, and woke up only to my Boss calling for something. I was half-scared he'd tell me to go to office. So I called back only after downing a leisurely breakfast of Bong-style French toast. As it turns out, I was just being paranoid. It was just a regular status call.

Stir-fried chicken and veggies on the menu today again.

I have been noticing that my posts are becoming increasingly nonsensical. Maybe I should try and write something a little more meaningful from time to time.