Unnumbered post

Due to lack of ideas and a relatively dull life, this blogger is henceforth on a one-week blogpost sabbatical. Be back next Monday, unless something exciting comes to pass in between.

Day 65

As I was just telling Madz... I have had a very boring day, and so have nothing really to say. But daily blogging is now a habit. So here goes a short life-in-bullet-points post:

• Woke up at 7:12. Am supposed to leave the house at 7:30 every day, but I only manage to get out a little before 8:00. Today, I got later than that, so I coolly took a cab. In defence of my unpunctuality, I am rarely able to leave office before 6:00 during my 8:00 to 4:00 shift days.
• Breakfast was different from my usual porridge and boiled egg routine. From today onwards till I get fed up of it, my breakfast menu will be French toast, fruit and milk.
• Finally gave my happy budday treat at office today. Ordered too much food. Brought some leftovers home, and had for dinner.
• The lights have been coming and going all day apparently. And they decided to go just as I took dinner, and stayed away right till I had finished it. That's when it decided to come back. But I'm not complaining.

It's been a dull day. As a result, I have a non-functioning brain today. Was feeling exhausted but didn't want to cheat on my daily blogging thing by writing "Good night and God speed," even if just for today. See, such a good, conscientious girl I am. :D

Day 64

One long off-day this.

Was woken up by call from boss who wanted to send me to a movie premiere, which I agreed to go to, but later realized coming back would be a problem. So from 7 to 10 I vegged out in front of the TV and then the computer. Finished watching What happened in Vegas. It has Ashton Krutcher and Cameroon Diaz in the lead.

The day began with a hilarious dream involving Madz, me and Rishi. Here it comes:

Madz and I were going around the city in a cab in search of a loo. This was at night, and by the time we found Rishi, it was morning. Luckily, he found us a loo. Smelly, dirty, and you had to queue up to use it, but a loo is a loo is a loo after all. Funnily enough, this 50-yr-old-ish Bong lady and her husband who were obviously travelling, were trying to drag their humongous, black VIP suitcase into that tiny, smelly loo -- for fear of theft we assumed.

After our loo trip, Rishi could not be found. As it turns out, he was standing atop a concrete structure which consisted of several flights of stairs leading to nowhere. Imagine a car park in a mall where there is no place to park, just a path to go up or down. Kinda like a concrete suicide point. Of course, Rishi wasn't contemplating suicide; he was enjoying the breeze.

We were tired, Madz and me, so Rishi decided to take us to relax at his place. Importantly, 'his place' was a storeroom in the mall behind the concrete suicide point. Not high enough to stand up straight in, though Moo might just about manage. Surprisingly, the mall management had no idea that our Rishi Roy had moved in to one of their unused storerooms. Plus, it had an attached loo.

Once at Rishi's place, it was time for a movie. Madz made a movie request and headed to the loo. (The loo seems to be the star of this early morning dream) I asked, "Can't we watch Who framed Roger Rabbit?" And Rishi said, "Sure we can, except that Madz has already chosen a movie." "And which movie is this," asked I. And he flipped through some CD covers to show me our movie of the day: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

That's pretty much when I woke up, grinning.

Okay, so the dream was much funnier while I was sleeping, but the first thing I promised myself was that I'd record it here. So here you are.

Did meet Madz today. Ma, me, sis and Madz went for lunch together. New Cathay. Coke, fresh lime soda, mixed chowmein (gravy) and chilli chicken, followed by sundaes at Hobby Centre. Then there was juice and puchka (I had just one puchka though). Dinner of aloo-potol bhaja followed, with mishti doi landing up at the fag end of the day.

This is a very long post, and I will stop now, but not before announcing that I finally have my official email ID in place. Yay.

And while you're at it, read this: Oh! Kolkata takes some getting used to (It's by the new English intern at office. She writes pretty darn well if I say so myself. I'm jealous.)

Day 63

Blogging daily is practically a habit now. I feel a little incomplete... adhoora sa... if I don't blog for a day. Plus, I jet off on an instant guilt trip as well.

Today has been a long, but surprisingly, not terribly tiring day. In fact, even though Wednesdays are my Saturdays during a six-day work week, I feel like I'm on a sprightly Tuesday. (That make sense?)

Did I mention that I've been singing in the auto and while walking down the road of late? I must be happy.

My best friend bought a guitar. A Grenada. Now we are best friend-best friend with guitar-guitar and don't know how to play-play.

Ma called me single-minded the other day. Which equals to focussed. This is the second time somebody has said that about me. To think that all these days I thought I was a scattered, flakey chick who wore torn Oshos and carried a jhola everwhere. If it wasn't raining, and I wasn't headed to office, I would still wear my Oshos everywhere.

The free makeover thing seems to have sprung up several look revamp-seekers. ILK (abbreviation for ilovekolkata, if you were wondering) is planning to have a makeover feature regularly. Keep an eye on this blog for future happenings.

I had puchkas today, after ages. I will sleep till 9 a.m tomorrow morning. It's my day off.

My horoscope yesterday said that my dating life is collecting crickets. It told me to join an online dating website. I haven't and I don't intend to. I like cricket and crickets.

Now, this may seem like unnecessary promos, but ILK has 2 good stories today (neither by me). One is Colour TV Day in Kolkata 'coz June 25, 1951 was the day the world’s first commercial television programme in colour was transmitted. The other story is Remembering the World Cup glory -- the take of city cricket buffs on the historic winning of the 1983 cricket World Cup, almost exactly a year before I was born.

Tomorrow Ma, Anjali, Madz and I are going for lunch to New Cathay. Expect a report on what I ate there.

Day 62

Okay, so I'm done with the forms. Some questions left include: What major reversals have you experienced in your professional/personal life? What are your expectations from this company? Outline your ambitions, aspirations and values.

How do you answer those things??

Forms are crazy things. That's a universal truth. And don't you forget it.

An angrezi mem who is picking up Bengali joined office today. Out of the blue she asked me: Tomar baari kothaye. I was so thrown by that! Blonde, green eyes and Bong. Whattay combo.

It's hard to not write about food, but Onn threatened me with dire consequences if I do (She said she will stop being my loyal reader and commenting on every one of my posts. I'm scared).

Two of my stories got featured on the home page today. Both are rush-rush. Neither have my byline. But I wrote 'em (One on Dada and one on Lake Market) and I'm happy.

Madz has a terribly angry-looking smiley (angry smiley.. what an oxymoron) as her Gtalk display pic. I feel weird talking to her now.

Shreya and I are going for a free makeover. We are planning to start this makeover thing to feature on the website, and couldn't get people wanting makeovers, so we volunteered. It's just makeup and hair stuff. Makeup can be washed off. And hair, well even disastrous highlights grow out eventually. They may throw in a free tattoo as well. I'm wondering if I want one. Wish me luck.

Here are some lines that I came across while surfing the web. They don't go with the tone of the rest of the post, but they're beautiful:

"Everyone stands alone on the heart of the earth
transfixed by a sun ray:
and suddenly it is evening."

Day 61

I have so much to write today, but I really have to (have to have to) go to sleep early tonight. Have to fill out my contract -- I've been putting it off and putting it off, and now I can't put it off any longer. I'm not usually scared of filling out forms, but there are just too many pages and too many questions. Most of them more or less unnecessary. Some more than others.

I'm feeling too confident of my form-filling abilities right now. I need some moral support. Will get Ma to sit with me and answer my rhetorical questions about the form bright and early tomorrow morning. And I have to leave for work by 7.30 a.m. tomorrow, so unless I wake up at 5:30 or 6:00, the form submission will be postponed by yet another day.

I do have a lot to ramble on about today. But I'll keep it for tomorrow. Wish me luck with filling the forms that will make me a permanent fixture.

(Just re-read. This is THE worst post ever.)

Day 60

Another working Sunday slithers past.
Another manic Monday creeps in.
With every day, a little older.
With every day, so much more to do.

I could go on with the unhappy poem that doesn't rhyme. But I won't. What I will say is that I'd like a portable hug machine. Press a button, get a hug. Something like that. Coz invariably I feel like I need a hug when I'm squashed into a thin line in the auto, and I can't exactly ask one of those ugly men to give me a hug, though some of those perves would be happy to.

My Tilottoma story is up on the 'My City' section of the ilovekolkata website, if you feel like checking it out. It's just a report, but it would be nice if you dropped by.

A friend of mine is in 'lurve' -- he made me type out the name of his latest crush while we were chatting this evening. You are allowed to guess who this guy is. Not that tough to figure out either.

Have an 8 to 4 shift starting tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll manage to sneak away from office on time.

I've eaten too much dinner. Now I cannot move. Barely.

Day 59

Today started off well. I slept till almost nine. Ate a good breakfast. I have pinky sworn to Onn that I will not blog about food so often. So I will leave the breakfast menu for some other day.

Post breakfast, I did some writing. And listened to Banana Pancakes (the song) at least 7 times, back to back. I get obsessive about favourite songs.

Work at twelve. That's when I heard I have to go cover Dabur Gulabari Sananda Tilottama '08. And since we lost the other invite, it would have to be just me. Sigh.

I was supposed to take a lot of pictures also, but my camera conked at the last minute. Flash wouldn't come on. So no pics of the event. But that's what the photographers are there for. To click away.

On the bright side, I got to sit in the Press seats. And I got a pad, a file, and a pen. All free. :D The pen I am most happy about :D

Pageants are not for me. I don't like the clothes or the questions. The girls are mostly not half as goodlooking as you'd want them to be. Even girls like looking at pretty girls, so if a beauty pageant just has a bunch of cute girls from next door, even I end up looking at the exit and wondering if I'll get a cab home if it gets too late.

The Bombay Vikings singer was there to provide the entertainment while the babes all went to change from one sequinned outfit to another. But he messed up 'Kya soorat hai' and I was very upset with him after that. He sang a bunch of other songs, but the man from Sweden kept drinking water and going off-key a little too frequently.

The last two rounds were a breeze with no super dumb answers. I was pleasantly surprised. And then, once the winners were announced... my favourite came 2nd, Shreya's favourite came 3rd, it was time to move. The guard outside The Sonar very sweetly caught me a cab.. I suppose that's part of his job. And I came home superfast.

I have decided to not be a journo for too long. It doesn't go with the temperament. I have also decided not to participate in a beauty contest ever. Not like they are waiting with bated breath to select me, but in case they were, I would not try out.

Day 58 and August Rush

I just watched a very, very nice movie. And I don't know what to say. I feel a little bit in love. A lot bit happy. Very very fairytale-ish. This is how all movies should be :)

There's more to write about today, but I don't feel like it... Till tomorrow :)

Day 57

My day-off.

Went off well. Singaras for breakfast (Ma read blog while I was still sleeping and ordered the singaras). Then trip to bank. Then to Golden Dragon for soup-and-starters lunch. Then to Momo Plaza to meet Madz where she ate very very very hot pan fried momos and I gobbled the watery soup that comes with the momos. Gave Madz an Alpenliebe I got from the tech guy at office yesterday. She was very grateful for the same.

Then to Forum with Madz. Meet Coffee. Go for movie. Sex and the City. What fashion boss. Amazing shoes. And am in love with one hat in particular. Man next to Coffee fell asleep. Then person next to man next to Coffee kept getting calls on cell. Not on silent mode. Girls kept walking around with snacks in their hand for God-knows-what-reason. Coffee felt lost in a crowd of women. Every man's dream. Madz was super-excited at the prospect of watching the silver screen version of her favourite TV series. She's been looking forward to the movie, ever since she saw the finale of the final episode.

She loved the movie. I didn't hate it. Coffee gave it 1.5 stars immediately on account of the innumerable hot babes.

Then biriyani at six to replenish growling bellies. Wait for rain to cease, halt, desist under makeshift shelter for plastic chairs. Man runs over Coffee's foot with non-running scooter. Coffee gives me a bunch of movies to watch. Madz hopes and prays for no-rain, then gives up, catches cab, and drops me home. I have nice friends.

Day 56

Long day. Not a terrible day for the most part (I think that's wrong English), but not-so-good by the time it came to a close. Was supposed to catch a movie with Madz. It didn't happen. I got stuck at work :'( Sometimes I feel so old and gloomy, that it isn't funny anymore.

It barely rained also today, except in the morning, while I was walking from auto stand to office building. And I had to manoeuvre the umbrella so that I didn't poke anybody in the eye, or bonk somebody on the head. It happens. At the same time, I had to keep ducking to avoid being assaulted by a random umbrella. It's hard being tallish on Kolkata streets on rainy days. Coz all the umbrellas seem to be heading straight for your contact-lense-adorned eyes.

Work was hectic, in a good way. I carried a jacket today to avoid freezing over (my nails have been turning blue with alarming regularity of late) and I succeeded in avoiding the blue nails.

The guy with the big bag brought kaathaal (jackfruit for non-Bongs) from his tree (yes, he has a kaathal tree, a mango tree, and a few other random fruit trees). We had kaathal, and then the whole office was smelling of kaathal. Not a terribly welcoming fragrance if you aren't a fan of the fruit.

I think I'll have shingara for breakfast tomorrow. Am getting bored of the porridge everyday routine.

Me tired now. Enough for today. More tomorrow night.

Just misunderstood Ad Libber's tag. So deleted the misunderstood version, and don't have the enthu to redo it just now. So that's postponed to later.

Day 56

Began with memories of heavy rain early in the morning, and I snuggled under the covers and caught an extra hour of shut-eye. Few things are as wonderful as waking up in the morning on a work-day and finding that you still have some time to kill before the alarm finally rings.

I woke up 2 hours later, knowing that I would be running late again. But no hurries today. And no reason for the relaxed behaviour. Just the state of mind.

The rain in Kolkata does that to you. And rain it did. I waded through water for close to fifteen minutes in search of an auto. And then stopped one in the middle of the road. Carrying an umbrella as protection from the rain is in vain if you end up sitting in an auto rickshaw after that. The water pours in through the open side, wetting most of the sleeves. And even when you reach office sopping wet, and stand under the hand-dryer in a desperate bid to dry off before heading for the freezer that is your office, you know that you wouldn't want to commute any other way. Long live the rains, the floods, the troublesome umbrellas, and the indefatigable auto rickshaws.

Of course, the whole day spent in office has been rather cold. Even though the jeans had been rolled up, they got wet in the flood, and the floaters had also got wet, and then cold, as the office AC was in chill-pill mode. The coldness remained right till 4.30 p.m., when the jeans finally did manage to dry off.

One and a half hours later, I was back on the road, trying to beat the rain and get home. On the way, my auto stalled, then started, then stalled, then finally started again. And while crossing a road, my convex umbrella decided to concave in thanks to the wind. But I managed to set it right again.

The rest of the way home was a happy though mucky walk, and I was actually singing (humming rather) in the rain. The song in question was 'Drops of Jupiter' (kinda apt-ish for the weather, though I didn't make the connection till just now).

This was followed by Kaathi rolls for dinner (I chomped down 3) and one bhaar of mishti doi each. Blogger Onnesha thinks I eat all the time. I suppose I do.

Day 55

I have chips today... Kurkure to be precise. So I won't be looking for absent midnight snacks when midnight decides to stop by.

Today has been a surprisingly good day. I've been un-stressed and happy and just generally pleased with life. And surprised at the light-heartedness too. But it was nice to feel stress-free on a stressful day. Doesn't pan out like this too often.

Life's been more or less dull today. Sometimes there's comfort in dullness and drudgery. All in all, a good and boring day.

Day 54

I did catch up on the 120 winks that I missed out on over the past week. Yet another stressful week begins. But I'm happy. Even with all the stress and lack of sleep and xerox-copy days. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe not.

After a long time I managed to get some rest on a Saturday night. Had turned into quite the party animal over the last one month. What I need to do though is get some time off to clear out my cupboard. It's truly truly a mess. I'll take a picture of it before I get to work though. This is the messiest any of my cupboards have ever been.

The most seranade-friendly song ever is Billy Joel's "She's always a woman to me". Sigh.

This morning, the dhobi in the next para was singing the blues away. Headphone over the ears, a song in his head, and an off-key voice with a non-functioning volume button -- the song was unrecognizable for human ears, but it's nice to see people singing at the top of their voices before yet another day gets into the swing of things.

Day 53

So I'm back, from a hectic, stressful trip with a serious sleep disorder. Tonight, I'm off to sleep super early in the hope of making up on all the sleep I lost out on.

M'bai wasn't even half as rainy as the prophet-of-doom news channels had us thinking. The weather was nice. Humidity wasn't too high. And we didn't need the boats. I was in just the right frame of mind to go exploring, but sadly, there just wasn't enough time. But I did get much work done. Though much remains undone.

In bullet points, stuff I did since my last post:

• Slept on flight to B'bay (usually ami pat-pat kore takiye thaki).
• Got nostalgia attack on reaching B'bay.
• Hung out (yes, hung out, had tea) with former boss.
• Waited for 5 hours while Mom, sis and sis gave Visa interview. 5 hours. I aged much in those 300 minutes. Didn't even have a book to read. Spoke to a lady. Sat around with blank expression on face. Wondered why I had worn my lenses which banned me from grabbing a snooze. But on the bright side, they got the Visa. So yay.
• Changed e-ticket date from Friday to Saturday. Got scared about credit card fraud when the confirmation didn't come in and the call centre guy seemed the biggest stupid ever. But all's well that ends well. Ma's credit card is still untouched (touch wood). And I reached without a glitch this morning. Slept throughout the 3.5 hour flight to Kol.
• Walked all over Univ. Took a pic of a gecko.
• Met Moon at Fort. Had lunch at Mondy's (first time for both of us). Too much food. We ate till we were ready to puke. But the garlic bread rocked.
• Shopped at Colaba. Bought lotsa bangles. A skirt. A tee. Oshos. And all so cheap. I was loving it, McDonald's ishtyle.
• Hung around to meet me best friend Smita Padmanabhan. She has been privy to much juicy gossip about me courtesy chaddi buddy Chomu Kunda. I cleared it all out. Do not ask what the juicy gossip is. I will not tell.

This is just the tip of the iceberg though. More details as and when I remember. Now I'm off to get some sleep. I've been missing out on essential snores in recent times. I wouldn't mind some chocolate about now though.

Day 52

This will be a short post. I have a plane to catch tomorrow. Please pray that it is not delayed. That I get my work done. And that I have many funny stories scheduled for when I return. Shortest post this year. Please clap.

P.S.: I may or may not get a chance to blog tomorrow and day-after. Be back on the 13th.

Day 51

One of those days when you stop being human and become a machine. Very Terminator-like. Worked breathlessly almost all morning, and then, even more breathlessly after that. It is so nice to finally be home and moving at non-break-neck speed and sighing some happy peaceful sighs.

But office wasn't all work today. Got a very pink cake from the folks at office. We waited ages till a knife finally made its way to the conference room (few conferences happen there, but lotsa lunches do). They wouldn't sing though, at first. But I insisted. And they sang. And then we all ate some cake. And then they very politely (very politely) smeared my face with cake. But I tell you, washing cake off your face is very difficult, if you're trying it at the cooler (as opposed to the basin). Especially, when all the tissues you have are sheets of writing paper.

To put things in context, I work on the fourth floor which is attached to the terrace. There is no loo there. The loo is on the third floor. And walking down to the third floor with cream on your face is a no-no in office. Not that I mind walking down a road with cake on my face even. But so long as you are hoping to hold on to your job, it helps to not be terribly eccentric. Most jobs don't hire you for life. Most.

Shreya missed even this cake-cutting ceremony which is rather sad. Maybe this is just not her year to party.

I am under red ant attack. They are everywhere and biting, these villainous red ants. It's like some magic spell gone wrong somewhere.

Day 50 -- A.K.A Budday Post

So it was my budday yesterday. It was a good day overall. One of those nearly perfect days where nothing really goes wrong.

Woke up at 5:30, brushed and rushed for Chinese breakfast of meatball soup, fishballs and prawnballs. (Koto rokom-er ball ... excuse the PJ. Couldn't resist.) Came home. Went back to sleep. The night before had been a rather sleepless one. I couldn't get ready for my own budday with bags and dark circles under my eyes, could I? So off to sleep it was.

Except for one thing. It was my birthday. So the Happy Birthday calls and messages kept waking me up. Till finally I gave up. And woke up. And wore new tee from sis that said: "Crazy but cute". I like.

The Chinese breakfast had us all filled up to the gullet. So lunch would have to be light. Narrowed down on Barista Creme. It's kinda one of my favourite places to hang out at now. It is expensive though. Relatively.

But a light lunch it wasn't. The pasta was heavy. I managed only half of it. Didn't want to end up with food poisoning on my happy budday. As it is, two of my friends complained of the same.

Post-lunch, it was time for a budday shopping spree. Conquests included: black night-out top, chunky earrings that go with the messy hair, chain with heart-shaped pendant that I like very much.

Post-lunch it was rush rush rush to reach 2 of my fave girls. I was on time more or less, but somehow the chunky new earrings went missing. Missing completely. 15 minutes went by looking for 'em. They were a gift from my littlest sister, so I couldn't very well go without 'em. Somehow or the other, they had made their way to the room on the roof, well-hidden in a green plastic bag with white flowers in the centre. Of course, it hardly matters what the plastic bag looked like, for the earrings were found after many "Thakur-dada-r choshma kothaye" moments.

Then, having donned the new top, new earrings, new chain (and feeling rather over-dressed), and carrying the new bag (which is toooooooo cool!!) I headed to Barista Creme again. Second time on the same day.

So it was girl chat chat chat till Chomu Kunda (my chaddi buddy) arrived with hot, new gf in tow. I like her. She's pretty, seems smart, and Kunda's cleaned up a lot since meeting her. I'm glad.

Much after the much-in-love couple, arrived the brothers-in-arms flaunting their latest obsessions: a rat tattoo and a tree tattoo. Both were very much in pain, and convinced me to stay away from the tattoo needle forever. I might get a painted one from time to time though. Next budday maybe.

The hit of the evening was the Swiss Mocha Frappe. Everyone had it except Moo and Madz. Moo's was decent. Madz's was a watery mess-up.

Coffees over, it was time to bring on the booze. In the excitement, Madz's chappals decided to tear open. But all cobblers were out of station for a Cobblers' Convention.

So off to Old Tavern on foot. All of us with shoes intact. Madz with one shoe not-so-intact.

Reached there to see a mujra type performance. Singing ladies with potential bar-dancing capabilities. Beer and mujra is a very crazy combo. Try it sometime. But don't go there on your birthday with Madz and Shutz. They will go up to the tone-deaf man (singer?) at the microphone and request him to sing you a very filmy (that comes naturally) Happy Budday to Pooja song. As the song begins and random cheesy people start clapping for you, the best thing to do is shove your face inside the ice-box and wait for the song to cease and hope that no one will recognize you a day later. (Note: It wasn't that embarrassing once some beer slithered down the gullet, but it is nice to pretend that it was.)

The rest of the evening went in devouring beer and peanuts (I had a bowlful of that) and singing along with the off-key folk hogging the microphone and posing for pictures (this would be Madz, Shutz, and Moo) for the shutterbug (Rishi) and eating chilli chicken and rather pronographic-looking kbabes and not being able to shut the loo door despite repeated tries and contemplating a trip to the very-dirty men's loo and having the flash blind us like a million times thanks to Madz going trigger happy and then getting zonked in a very 'whee' sorta way and thankfully being dropped right to doorstep and then not being able to sleep and after much fighting with the sleep sheep and tossing and turning and more fighting, Happy Budday to Me, Part 24 came to an end.

A good year it seems to be. And it rained also. :)

I'm happy :)

Day 49

My blog turns a year old at 11.45 p.m. tonight. I turn 24 as soon as the clock touches 12:00 a.m. (though according to the birth certificate, the auspicious moment is after 1:00 p.m. sometime). So it's b'day time for GGG and PjC.

I've got lotsa gifts over this past one week -- all leading up to the happy budday. There's been a very cool-looking bag, a guitar lessons DVD, a smiley-faced clock, a night suit, a wallet, and tomorrow I'm getting clothes. 2008 is proving to be a good year.

The only problem this year is that work seems to be taking precedence over everything else. And that isn't by concious effort. In fact, Shreya said a very deep, philosophical thing today. She said that "Everyday seems a xerox copy of the other these days."

Shreya and I have been grumbling about having to go to work on bandh days when it rains cats, dogs, elephants and blue whales. Bandhs are supposed to be holidays when you sit at home and crib about the political parties that call the bandhs but not move out from home while munching on popcorn and chips for in-between meals and khichudi for lunch.

Yes. I am a lazy Bong. And I'm proud of it.

Btw... I have already been wished thrice. And it isn't my happy budday yet. One guy thought it was D-Day today and sent me a very sweet 'Many happy returns of the day' message. Then I got all happy and changed my status message to: ' Just got first budday wish'. This confused Ex-bf No. 4 who also sent a 'happy budday' IM. Both have promised to wish me tomorrow again. The third one knows my bday is tomorrow, but felt like sending greetings in advance. Plus, my school principal just Happy-Birthday-ed me on Orkut. Pretty cool in a nerdy way.

Day 47 and 48

This is to bring the blog up-to-date. Missing a day is usually not a problem unless the day is an overpoweringly happening one. And Days 45 and 46 weren't the types that you can dispense with in a paragraph or two. Thankfully, the last two days have been fairly boring. I worked so much and so hard yesterday that I was actually wondering what I did with myself last evening. The answer: I worked myself to amnesia.

Today was a bandh. This morning it rained. Normal people would have woken up in the morning, shut the window to keep out the rain, smiled in sleepy joy, then turned over and gone back to sleep for three to four hours.

I am not normal people. I woke up, shut the window to keep out the rain, smiled in sleepy joy, then turned over and slept fitfully for barely another hour. Media whore you see. I had office. The white ambassador with a press tag came to pick me up from the police station a few buildings away. And off I went. Wasted the whole day (from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.) at an air-contioned (Read: freeeeeezing) beige-painted office room with a lizard peeking out from behind Shreya's computer. Some day, a future prospective employer shall ask: "What challenges did you face in your last office?" Answer: "We had to deal with slimy reptiles of various kinds... Not all of them were human."

Day 46 (still running a day late)

Yesterday was my surprise birthday party. Organized by mother dear and attended by the following conspirators (in no particular order):
Friends: Madhurima, Shutapa, Jesica, Rishi, Debanuj
Family: Mother, 13-going-on-16 Sister,4-going-on-5 sister,13-year-old's 2 friends and one of their mothers.
Conspicuous by her absence was Shreya Shukla who got held up at work because I had to leave early. She was in effect, finishing my work and couldn't attend my party despite conspiring about it.
Also conspicuous by his absence was Rahul 'Chomu' Kunda who apparently broke his leg and was in hospital. I'm not sure I believe the story. He has a new girlfriend now. I wonder how this one came to pass.

Ploy to get me out of office belonged to the Mother: I was told that there was some legal document that I would be required to sign. I went along unsuspectingly. Late by less than a whisker, but still running late. Mother was dressed up. Surprising, considering we were going to some run-down government building. As I mentioned, we were late, but she still wanted to stop and pet this very cool-looking overweight labrador. I didn't let her: 'We're late. Come along." And then... she wanted to go inside Golden Dragon to book the place for my birthday (which, incidentally, is on June 7, Saturday). She headed for the door. I said, "No. Not now." She dragged me by the hand into that dimly-lit little restaurant, while I struggled to escape. Ma won. I was in. And before my eyes could adjust to the lack of light,

SURPRISE!!

Presenting my Surprise Happy Birthday Party.

What happened next was that a lot of food appeared on the table all of a sudden, and none of us pounced upon it, though the two boys were asked to stuff themselves silly, and they didn't stuff themselves silly. Some of the folks at the table struggled with the food, while others polished it off ASAP and refused to take any more.

My Surprise Happy Birthday Party cake was a white guitar. Apparently, Ma offered to pay for the 24 candles that were needed for my cake. How old am I???

I got a book and a bag from Anjali's friends and a card with a guitar quote that I will find and put up tomorrow. I had planned to put up some birthday pics given that Madz went clickhappy. But since I look horrible in the two that I saw, I will not put them up. If I see one nice photo of me, expect to see it in tomorrow's post.

Day 45 (a day late)

Chicken and rice for lunch. Getting drenched in the rains for tea. Meeting Shutapa for beer and dinner. Girl talk and boy issues for during-dinner conversation. Drunk waiter who takes forever to bring menu, then order, and finally, bill. But food at Silver Grill rocks. Pre-meeting with Shutapa, got wet at Chandni and kept getting wet all the way to Park Street. Shutz also decided to get wet in the rain while waiting for me. Was very nice meeting her after ages. Well, not that long -- met her in Feb this year. We drank and ate and drank and ate some more... and then she dropped me home :D

A good day overrall.

There's lots to write about today. But I'm too tired to do justice to it, so will keep it for tomorrow's post. Then I will bring blog up to date also. For now, tata and gnite.

Day 44

I’m tired. I’m sleepy. I can’t think straight. This is what happens the morning after. The morning after a night out that is.

There was chicken, and music, and booze, and many drunk people who gave rise to stories that I'm keeping aside for a later date. Like I said, I’m tired and sleepy and can’t think straight. Slept for barely thirty to forty minutes last night. That too, rather fitfully. Dreamily heard folks mentioning how hard I was trying to sleep unsuccessfully, and felt overpowered by the pressure to pull off a sleeping beauty. Couldn't take the load. Gave up, got up and stayed awake, albeit a little zombie-like, thereafter.

I look hungover. Minus the dope, the booze, the acid pills. The things lack of sleep can do to a girl.

I somehow sleepwalked (sleepsat rather) through my Sunday morning office work. Having managed somewhat, I put my head on the table and had the whole office spinning around me. Like in the song.

The ACs were non-functioning as usual. This being a Sunday. The 3rd floor loo was shut. So had to take the lift to the 2nd floor toilet. It's almost like going to another building for a loo trip.

Added at 10 p.m.: Moori having formed today's special breakfast item, I was hungry all morning, till I finally could take it no longer and stole part of Shreya's tiffin from right under her nose. Lunch happened at four with Ma. Soup and chilli pork roast. Then bag shopping for the mother -- which got over quick, quick, quick. Then juice near house. Then house. Then sleep. Then dinner. Chicken. Again.