It's been awhile

I've been avoiding the computer chair (which is in fact not a computer chair at all) because it gives me backache. Age and grey hair - the troubles they bring along. And because I've been avoiding the computer chair, the computer has been getting the royal ignore too. But today I decided to catch up with people I've been out of touch with. This included a Cousin Dadi (who I spoke to), an aunt (whose phone was busy) and Mr. Computer (who has kindly forgiven me without a word of reproach).

I've written a lot today. I've also finally submitted my latest article (this one on the Russell Peters show in Kolkata last week) at work. Here's the link: Laughing out loud with Russell Peters. This caused me a lot of insecurity while I wrote it. I constantly worried that I wasn't doing a good job, but despite all the worrying, it's turned out well enough at the end.

I've been telling everyone that I'm reading a bad book by Hemmingway (the same dude who wrote The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls). This one is called Fiesta, and I have only about 20-odd pages left, and I would like to say that it has finally turned interesting. As in, this is no thriller. That sense of chill anticipation is absent, but the last few pages have been an improvement over the first 150-odd pages. I guess, even Mr. Hemmingway had to start somewhere. Nobody's perfect.

Except my father, by his own admission.

Machu Picchu Diary

Am a fan of the Incas today. They lasted a hundred years but built stone walls that lasted five hundred, and they didn't even use cement or mortar; they were simply extraordinary at jigsaws. They fit the pieces in exactly, and these refuse to budge even today.


Plus, they housed over a thousand llamas.

What more could one want?

Happy feet

2 animation movies in one day -- Kung Fu Panda and Happy Feet -- one in theatre and one in drawing room -- one with Coffee and popcorn and one with Grandma and cat.

Momos for lunch, popcorn for dessert, coffee for tea-time, tea pre-dinner, egg curry for dinner.

I like writing about what I eat. It keeps me going.

And I went marketing today. Thankoo to Coffee who decided to be Ramu for a day and carried the basket at Big Bazaar and many of the bags at Dhaangar Bazaar. I managed to pick up all the stuff on my list, including bird seed :D

And I took a long walk as well. The feet feel happy.

Tomorrow is probably meat-buying day.

In response to comments on last post, I am 'man' of the house. I don't see the point in getting technical about gender here. I'm not feminist [mostly] and it hardly matters in this context. Man, woman -- who cares?. 'Man' of the house has a better ring to it. Kinda like saying 'actor' instead of 'actress'. Mere technicalities. Just a word. No big shit/deal (take your pick).

I think I will make a good mom to a gay child. And I wouldn't want to tag my elder child Hasmukh Bhai Patel with gay-ism given that he has a rather (yes, I'll admit it) sissy name. Instead, I will have a second son who will be gay, and whom I will name Debanuj (much to the consternation of his namesake).

I think Debanuj is a nice name for a cute gay boy. And since Debanuj Patel lacks the punch, I'll let my baby keep my maiden name 'Chakrabarty'.

Do note, however, that my son Debanuj Chakrabarty will be different from the much-loved blogger Debanuj Chakraborti (and even more much-loved :D).

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 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 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 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 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 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.

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 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 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 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 7

Just a short one today. Very tired. Had office. A lot of ups and downs (commute-wise, not emotion-wise). Went to Eden. Watched match. Knight Riders won. Thankee all for praying for their success. Met Coffee Stain who tagged along and was quite a hit.Drank lots of water, and perspired it all away. Have lost most of the unwanted flab. Am fitting into my old tees again. Yay! Ate biriyani. Washed off all the sweat. And now I don't want to sleep but my eyes are drooping like Sanjay Dutt's. Review of Eden etc later.

Day 4

I like Shah Rukh Khan very very much. I love the song for 'Kya Aap Panchvi Pass se Tez Hai?' It's stuck in my head. And I love the Hoog Lee-isms on the Kolkata Knight Riders website :D And I jump at every chance to put King Khan's pic on the news section of my office website :D

This is one of those days when I have next to nothing to say. Though I did come across an auto rickshaw that called itself 'The Killer'. How frightening given that I mostly travel by autos along that route.

Ate pork roast for dinner this evening. And not feeling fat. Yay.

One weird combo that you can try: Hot gulab jamun drenched in Pepsi. It tastes super-strange.

Day 1 of Resolution

And I am sticking to it.

My office site went up today. I will look though it tomorrow and then drop the link.

Have been so busy today that I've barely had the time to breathe. Apologies to people like Moolah who wished me Shubho Noboborsho and got a very rushed HNY instead.

Smoked today, on a whim, hated it (and it's not the first time), and resolved not to smoke again till I forget how much I hated it... which is bound to happen in a couple of months.

Ate 2 rotis and a whole plate of chicken hakka chow this afternoon. The boss bought lunch for the team. The hog is back!! Yay! And I don't feel fat anymore either. How cool is that?!!

I've been using too many exclamation marks lately. I now solemnly resolve to cut down on them before I become an exclamation-mark addict like Madhurima. (P.S.: Her blog does not have as many exclamations though, which is rather odd.)

That's about it for today. More on self-obsessed me tomorrow.

Another Tag from Dreamy

A for Antelope. (My teenaged sister says that if and when I have to teach pre-schoolers the alphabets, I'll start with A for Antelope. She says so in a voice dripping with tablespoonfulls of sarcasm, but I ask, "Is there a problem in learning about antelopes?")

B for Blowing Bubbles under a clear Blue sky during Bombay winters.

C for Cats and Cotton Candy. Separately please. I don't like Cat fur getting into my Cotton Candy, and Cotton Candy makes Cats get sticky and difficult to pet.

D for Dogs of course, and Drummers and cool Dudettes.

E for Elephants, boiled Eggs, and Evolution.

F for Fish Fry, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Fastidiousness (Just wanted to throw in a big word).

G for Gigolos, Garfield, Guys, Gorus (Bong-lish for Cows), and still more Garfield. And for 'Gum, Guitars and Gargoyles'.

H for Hesitation, Heartbreaks, Heartthrobs, Hats, and Hangers.

I for Inkpot, Idiosyncracies, and Istanbul by Pamuk.

J for the J in PooJa and the J in PJ and the J in PjC (I confess to being self-obsessed).

K for The Kite Runner, and the K in ChaKrabarty (Very self-obsessed).

L for Lions and Lexicons and Lemonade and Lime and a pinch of ginger in the Lemonade. And for Love.

M for Mallu pals who get Married super-fast and for MoonMoons who become academics and for common friends of Married Mallu pals and MoonMoons who happen to be Goan and wonderful.

N for Nest and Nestle chocolates and Nikon cameras and exuberant Nisha from former office.

O for the double O in Pooja (I think I need help now!)

P for Pooja, Poojo, Pooj, Pajoo, Japoo, and whatever else one might call me. Also, P for the worst PJs in the world.

Q for Queen, Quietness, and Queerity :D

R for Rain and Rain and Raindrops on Roses and still more Rain.

S for Sidey jokes and Special friends and Spontaneity and chicken Stew.

T for Too liTTle Time. Also TaTToos.

U for Umbrellas in the rain and clean Undies and sudden U-turns.

V for Long LiVe Vanity!

W for large, breezy Windows, like the one by my bed.

X for males who can really play Xylophones. I would like to date you.

Y for Yuck and Yay and Yellow (the colour and the song).

Z for yellow and green Zebras and spells that go Zap!

And Zap! Now you know my ABCs.