After a long time...

I'm whistling at work again. That's a good sign.

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?

Latest story

Here's my newest story. For a change, I'm quite happy with this one: Saved by the off-screen Bachchan


I have an eye infection so am avoiding the comp at home for a while. I wish I could avoid the one at work too :'(

Will return with a big bang once the eye issues clear up.

Saturday night fever

is not a good thing. Especially not when you also have a runny nose and sweaty palms and a full working day to take care of. Have been feeling pretty darn sorry for myself all of today. And missing my Mommy also. It's funny how you end up missing Mommy most of all when you're sick. It's nice to be mollycoddled sometimes.

My hottest gal pal and I have decided that we've finally met a true-blue bitch... and while we don't exactly dislike her... it's exciting to finally have one of those types in our list of 'People I've Met'. (No, I haven't put that list together just yet, but it just might be time).

Being cryptic on this blog gets harder and harder every single day given that everyone seems to chatting with everyone else. It's a burden I tell you, especially for us folks who keep everyone in the loop about everything all of the time. See, I'm a quiet fellow... but even I need to do something to fill up those awkward silences. Life is tough sometimes. And complicated.

And I have a cold. And inside-inside fever. Please feel sorry for me.

One reason

why I dislike having a job is because it forces me to ask other people for the use of time that is rightfully mine.

Lost

Sometimes, on the way to your dreams, you get lost. Then all you have to do is find another dream.

Ally McBeal said that one. But the great thing about being lost is that you can find your way back again. There's always a wrong road and a right one. And even the wrong road could turn out to be the right one. You never know till it happens to you.

But this is not quite what I wanted to say when I started this post. I conveniently got lost in the words and now am trying to scrabble my way out of the woods. That's the thing. You needn't be lost forever. A good thing too.

There's this thing I'm trying to say, but it's just not happening. Maybe this is not the right day for saying what's on your mind. But it's started off well. Had enough sleep. Wrote a little this morning. Watched the last 40 minutes of a movie. And have some time left over to surf the net with an unsleepy-unworking mind and blog. And all this before heading to work. How have I managed all this? :D By waking up early. The body clock has been behaving itself over the last one week and working wonders for my state of mind and happiness.

I forget sometimes what I really want to do, and get entangled with routines and deadlines and rage at bosses doing no work. And then there's that "eureka!" moment, and I remember that all this is temporary -- the peasant-like existence, the office politics, the trapped feeling. This too shall pass just like the monsoon clouds outside threatening to burst the moment I get into the auto.

Life is hard and boring and supremely frustrating at times. But sometimes... I just can't help liking it.

Some days

are good days. Amnesia strikes. And the world just goes away.

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).

Putting out the 'Welcome' mat

So I'm the man of the house now... pretty much. And I made my first purchases as man of the house:

• 6 eggs & 1 pound bread
• 100 gm butter
• 3 Metro Dairy chocolate ice-creams

Interestingly, I bought each of those items from three different shops 'cause I was scared the shop closer to home (Kaku-r dokaan) would be shut by then (It wasn't).

It isn't that I haven't bought stuff from the store before. It just felt different this time. 'Cause I knew that this time, I couldn't pass the job on to anyone else or fall back on an excuse (however much valid) like "the store was shut".

Yeah, it feels different. Just two days into the new state of being. I'm liking it so far.

I chased a story today about Yasir Arafat (not the dead Palestinian leader) being signed up by the Kolkata Knight Riders. This involved a total of 8 calls. 3 of which involved finding the Knight Riders' Kolkata office (Got lucky on the third try -- the number I called for info was the KKR office :D). Calls 4, 5, 6, and 7 involved finding someone (anyone!!) who could give me some info. Call No. 8 saw me being passed from person to person to person till I finally got a dude who didn't know about the news really... but sounded like he knew something (unlike the first guy I called and asked if the report regarding Yasir Arafat's joining KKR was true. The dude exclaimed, "Really?"... Boss, if I knew the answer, why would I be asking you?) It was lotsa fun though.

I like. I like.

Today's the first day that I feel not-so-reluctant to be a journo. :)

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.