Re-posting as this is important

I guess I am free to express opinions on a few selected topics more freely now. This one has been put up without any edits. Read on.

Chris brown sings forever in the background as I chat with a travel freak buddy online. He tells me Philipinnes is a honeymooners paradise.. hmm.. My colleagues are sitting around me.. I am drinking coffee and cribbing about it..Chris browns' forever is groovy.. atleast it makes me less sleepy. I ahve explored through a great many techie online mags in the last few hours and have discovered some very interesting stuff.

Group-on multi million dollar company is predicted to collapse.. owing to its business model.. the fake deep discounts that hurt small businesses more than one time paper ads.A guy called Rocky Agrawal explains in his 3-part series how Groupon is a problem child. Reading through the article I realise it is nothing but another company riding on the Americans way of living-on credits! Readthis to understand exactly what I am trying to say.

Groupon makes it to my blog because I work for a start up that's equally passionate about having a similar feature on its api. I cant give too many details(non-disclosure form), but these few articles featured on tech crunch have got me thinking about the repercussions of dealing with deals. They have helped me surface the question, I had not had until now thought of but was the reason for my confusion.

Seriously, even as a layman, I can understand this much, if the value of something is 1000 bucks and I get it for less than half the price, how does the company make for the loss it deliberately incurs? Hmmm.. Rocky Agrawal has the answers. He words out the most obvious flaw in the business model. Deep discounting is a way to acquire loyal customers is a dangerous notion, repeat customers through procured through groupon deals are definitely not good for a small businesses, the non-transparent revenue model loses local businesses into the oblivion and other such facts are enlightening.

This brings me to a resonating doubt I have had about everything digital. Though i work for an app making company, I fail to fully understand the significance of a lot many things . Check-ins, online sharing to name a few. How or why would the worlds brainiest people build apps to get people compromise with their privacy? Maybe its because I am yet to find an answer to this or I am a conservationist that stops me from being my creative best. I reckon I need to be fully convinced about the product to write about it in a good light or else.. I'd only end up producing work that is m-e-d-i-o-c-r-e.

The next thing that gets my attention is Instagram, a feature packed photo sharing app built for apple platform. It has in less than 8 months a database of 100 millions photographs and 5 millions customers. And that that the profits being split between 4 employees is a stand-up-and-take-notice fact.

Reflecting on the things I have read on techcrunch so far, I have a few notes to add here.

Mobile businesses thrive on millions of customers' first time experience. Back track this a little and I discover.. its not social media or anything like that but a humongous amount of people buying smart phones that social media thrives on. Whether check-in makes sense to you or no, you would still do it because you are made to believe that its the most effective way of telling friends where you at. I mean come on, do we really need to tell the world about what cafes we frequent except a few close friends who can be texted. And wont you head out to a place with friends.. probably check-ins is great for singletons looking to hook-up but other than that people who are well connected through calls and texts, I wonder how much does check-in affect their social life.

Businesses leverage impulsive, non-retain able emotions. Hierarchically, social media comes under smart phones. But then it becomes a loop; social media on a rise due to large smartphone user base which later on converts into smart phones built suited to accomodate social media features.

Attention deficit customers are good for online/mobile businesses. I seriously wonder for how long will this digital revolution continue to thrive. Quick, easy, short term is what drives most mobile businesses. Is it even right to instill temporariness and hype about it?

I don't know.. i seriously dont know.. but I see a ray of hope.. all thanks to Rocky Agrawal. :)

Disclaimer : The views are mine and I am just a another female, affected by the mobile world revolution. Please do not take me seriously.

Tales from my grandma

Did your grandma tell you stories when you were little? Mine did and she keeps telling me stories whenever we sit together. Like this time when we went to Anandpur, she told me tales about how the place was built in front of her eyes, how Gurumaharaj performed satsang, what toil people went through and what not.

The other stories she used to tell me in my young days were mostly fables, you know stories with morals like don't lie, don't steal, be honest, work hard, how God stands by the strong and true and punishes the evil. More or less every story had a similar end and there were in all 7-8 stories. But I remember going to my granny every night to hear them over and over. I vividly remember how she used to ask me "Aaj kaunsi wali sun ni hai?" or me going to her and saying " Aaj mombattiyon wali sunaona". Then there used to be times when she would go through each of them quickly until I stopped her at one and she would start from beginning to end. Despite the repetition, I have grown up hearing all those stories. Today when I went to see her, she told me another story about ego and sacrifice. Whle driving back home I was thinking to myself that some things that I received as a kid were priceless. Dadi ma ki kahaniyan.. are seriously some of the most precious events of my life. It stands for deep bonding, family time, harmony within a family and love above all.

Wow! I am just overcome by pride and humbled to be part of such a close knitted family. I am definitely going back to my granny to hear the 'mombattiyon wali kahani' all over again!

Its time to unclutter

Somewhere in the last few months I turned into something that until a little while back used to think was part of me. I convinced myself that through some human connections I will be able to connect with my core more deeply. Somewhere I thought, I had found that perfect human connection who was the closest to my own alter ego. But the same bond has made me feel diffident, unloved, insecure, unprotected, ugly and crazy more number of times than it has made me feel wanted, desirable, perfect and beautiful.

Until yesterday, I was ready to let go of my basic nature thinking what I'd become through impositions will also be me, one day. Until yesterday, I was ready to let go everything. But yesterday I realized, no amount of efforts are enough to satisfy anyone who cannot trust their own choices and cannot understand the importance of being courageous in life. Nothing that I would do, will make anyone confident. People who love misery, will stay in it.. however hard you try to pull them out of it.

People will wake up from ignorance only when they choose to. People change only when they choose to stop being adamant. People progress only when they choose to move out of their comfort zone and people can give fully only when they have the courage to accept and acknowledge other people fully.

Until then, no amount of anybody else's wisdom or goodness can help because to embrace even that is a matter of choice.

Haaah... that's life!

I can not get over the rainy season

Things have changed, they definitely have because yesterday evening when it began to pour, I was home..cooking. And then I was on phone for an hour or so. I did open the balcony door, did peek out and watched the rain fall but unlike old times not once did I stopped to gaze. But by night things had changed. Nostalgia had hit. Rains do that to me.. yesterday as well, I spent quite a bit of time recollecting some good memories attached to monsoon. The certain rituals that I have always been part of every monsoon are ingrained in my memory forever. Stuff like monsoon texts, spontaneous chai and dalwada meet-ups, long drives with songs playing full volume, getting drenched or simple sitting at home and hearing the rains pour are like the must-dos.

This time too I was woken up by an early morning call from an old buddy who couldn't stop ga ga-ing about the weather and the view from his house. 'What rains!!! What atmostphere! Chal aaja ghar chai peene ko.' We promised to catch up in a few days and hung up. Later when I drove to work, without a helmet, the wet roads, the puddles and the damp air and the drizzle did consume me.

Whatever might change, whatever might come and go, this season still is and will always remain my favorite!

BTW, I came across these lyrics in an article on the best advises mothers give to their daughters. Its by Lee Ann Womack and my eccentric head says is perfect for this weather :

This one is for mood revival and eternal hope :

'I hope you still feel small when you stand by the ocean.

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens.

Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance.

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance.'

Things I read and listen

• A woman's confused over adopting her husband's last name as hers as she fears losing her identity if she did so.

Wow, really?! Like adopting his surname will enslave you. If your husband chose to be the dictator, adopting or not adopting his last name would become insignificant. Some food for thought for the lady though; the fact that he is letting you ponder over this mindless confusion says something about his liberal views right? If he wasn't concerned about your happiness and your freedom, would he even let you decide what surname you preferred? dah.. get a life!

• Google+ is better than Facebook/Finally Facebook has competition/Mark Zuckerburg joins Google+

Do I even care? Even if I don't, I am sure I will care enough tp waste my most useful time into figuring out how to connect with friends on Google+ who I have already re-re-re-connected on hi5 then Orkut and then on Facebook. One more 'social' network that succeeds in gluing me to my cellphone drowning away the real chatter.. actually everything real. What makes it worse for me is, I might soon need to come up with ideas and suggestions to market some of my products soon on Google+.

• Men who marry you promising the whole world, generally fulfill the promise.

An eye-opener conversation with a married friend, about what men say and what they mean, revealed some interesting facts about male attitude towards love and life in general. For ladies who have had the privilege to love a man and marry him too, might easily relate to the many things that I heard. Apart from fulfilling his promise to give you the best, he, if he has warned you about his love for untidiness, will unabashedly leave everything lying around and expect you to clear up so that he can find his den as clean as before. 'Men are kids' she said to me laughingly. 'Whether I like it or no, I have learnt it the hard say that my guy has to be mothered.'

Is she happy? For the time being her answer is a 'You bet ;)'.

• Astrologers decide your future for you.

I wore a stone(Guru) around my neck for a month, when my mum was here, believing(half-heartedly) that it will help me find a 'good' guy for marriage. I bought into stories like I will have a troublesome marriage, I will suffer and so will my husband and this pendant will bring the required balance. But, reasoning took over and I stopped wearing it. If wearing a stone could eradicate all the troubles, I would wear one each for all my problems right now and then I will attain what so many people can't - Moksha.. nai?

Nahi.. Astrology is a science which most astrologers themselves fail to understand and explain to seekers who come for help. I had asked the astrologer what sort of problems will I have to face after marriage and he had said grave ones. Like what? Umm.. really grave ones. Will it lead to divorce? Not divorce.. but real grave problems!!! So unclear are the words ' grave ones', I felt like telling the astrologer what he thinks is 'grave' is part of not just mine but everyone's life. A stone cannot change much, not atleast when the two people involved do not try hard enough. What I make of my marriage and what it makes of me is for me to work upon. So is the fate of the stone..which has found a respectable place in my house.. a place where it really belongs.

• Life is strange but best enjoyed when unplanned.

This one is my favorite. I just came back from Anandpur, a self sufficient religious town, run by the followers of Sri Paramhans Advait Mat and I have experienced the most unexpected to the most beautiful things in just a couple of days.

My family is a staunch follower of this sect and have always made it to Anandpur during the eve of Vyas Puja(guru Purnima). This time I accompanied my granny and bade papa to this place. The room we were alloted had no electricity except for a switch each for fan and bulb. The connectivity was horrible. Every place was so far away from where we stayed. 5 minutes on foot to the canteen, 10 minutes to the lunger-hall, 20 minutes on foot to the main temple and so many more minutes to figure a way to one place from another. Given almost nil connectivity, a total cut off from Facebook, the world that I lived in was filled with bald women clad in orange safas and white salwar-kameez. What I saw was young women being nudged by old for more space, women falling over each other in the hope of getting a glimpse of our guru and hands groping for packets of parle-g given away as prasad. And if this was not enough, I had the memorable journey back to Ahmedabad. Packed with rural MP population, they made my journey to and fro the toilet unimaginably irritable, I swear I could have picked a fight with a few for just standing in my way.

As much are these bitter incidents a part of my journey, a few good ones is what I am going to remember it for. Like right now, all I can think of is the sun setting at the temple, the aarti sung in unison by more than five thousand people, kadha prasad, my granny's slow walk, her incessant talk about the miracles she has seen her guru perform, the 4 '0' clock watery chai, the tasty traditional lunger, bad cellphone signal but more time to meet people and hear their stories, the 65 year old caretaker and her dedication towards this place, the yummy paranthas and achar that we somehow managed to eat in the over crowded train and the thoughtful 13 year old girl who woke her papa up and then her grand father for medicine.

Simple is rare

And thats why you gotta take a leap of faith.

HTC Desire S

If I was a boy, I would explicitly drool over the idea of touching this piece of art over and over. But despite being a girl, thank god I can still do it. Guess what am talking about? Its my new smartphone. Presenting *drum roll..* HTC Desire S. Phone of the (last) year, this one is packed with features more than you can fathom and apps more than you know counting.

........................................

Rewind two months back - I am driving to office, my reflection time(read budgeting, bills pay karne hain, isko milna hai, udhar jana hai, grocery leni hai) and I have a passing thought about my phone : New Samsung Wave is not as impressive. Should splurge this time and get a better phone.

Fast forward a month and I have lost Samsung. The first thought - God definitely is listening

(to remotest thoughts.. divine interventions..:P) The second thought - time for some cell phone hunting.

But before that, a little self dialogue - Spending 23500/- on a phone is definitely unlike me, because I fall into the category of people whose eyes widen at every expensive purchase(even if I am not the one making it). I think it is something to do with my life still being about priorities and me being used to operating strictly on a budget, month by month. So when it comes to splurging on myself, it feels a little odd. But sense need not prevail all the time, I tell myself. Let go a little, indulge a little, no harm. And yeah, with a bit of cajoling, I am convinced! :D

Now is the time to decide which phone to buy and to decide buying an HTC is not a result of survey. It has more to do with something one of my colleague(an HTC user herself) said last time I was buying a phone, that stayed with me. She had said, while at a mobile dealers shop, that HTC is a robust phone and I vouch for its operating system. A statement like that, coming from a techie, is more than just a re-assurance.

So when I lost my Samsung wave, I knew HTC would be my next buy. But what I hadn't thought of was that buying HTC in Ahmedabad will not be a cake walk. Mobile dealers seem ill informed about the goodness of any phones which are not Sony or Samsung wave. On my hunt for the HTC, I discovered how little information the staff had when it came to selling a phone. How else can one justify the act of selling me a Google Nexus when I ask for an HTC?

A good camera, should have 3G and should be for less than 25k translated into anything but HTC. One chap even tried selling me an Acer cell phone, manufactured by the car making company Ferrari. I was taken aback and furious at how confidently he sold that horrible touch phone which came at half the price of HTC!! When he could sell that, than why not HTC.

Mind you, until this time I had not seen a single HTC phone and I was adamant about settling down for anything else. Finally, the electronic store Chroma came to rescue and how! It had all the HTC models launched so far in India on display.

Just a little while ago there was such a dearth of the phone I loved and all of a sudden I was spoiled for choice! Persistent pays.. :D. I fiddled with all the HTC make. The HD took my breath away, wildfire was cute enough but not good enough and Desire Z was a no no because of the insignificant quarty keyboard. I was left with Desire S : smart, sleek and full of features.

5 things you should not store on your phone. However smart it claims it is. :)

Remember me cribbing about my old Nokia N81 that stayed with me for good long 2 and half years. I bought a Samsung Wave 533 in December 2010. And today at around 945am I lost it. Black tongue as you may call me, but a few days back I was telling my colleagues that Samsung has failed to hold my attention, it is not even an android phone and I might buy a new phone soon. Did I know then, this is how I would buy a new phone.

Anyway, As soon as I lost it, I called the customer care and got my phone locked. I went to the nearby store and asked them to issue me a new sim card with same number. They told me, I could do that only if I had an id proof of the person under whose name the phone has been registered. And.. it is registered under my brothers name who doesn't reside in Ahmedabad. Well given the circumstances, I might get his id proof only in the evening.

Before that I am going home to check, the one option I totally ruled out, that the phone might be at home only. But the chances are slim.

Now without a phone and no phone numbers, I do not feel as disconnected as you might expect me to be. But losing the phone definitely has made me alert about the sort of things I should not store on my phone.

1. Private messages. However iresistible it is to go through them over and over, delete them from time to time. It is better than to have some stranger read your messages.

2. Pictures. Mannn! I almost missed my phone thinking about the lovely food pics, my pics and so many other pics, the phone had. Store everything on the phone. If the phone memory is not enough, buy a phone that has more internal memory. This way when you lock the phone, it will be But, its gone, its gone. :|

3. Don't store bank details esp acct details and atm pins, pwds together.

4. If you have synced emails on your phone, change passwords immediately.

5. Take back ups of everything important that you store on the phone.

People/Things that make me...

Happy

1. Friend couples get romantic.

2. Acoustic guitar song that words out my current state of mind.

3. Romantic comedies because it always has a happy ending.

4. People relishing the food I cook.

5. Getting back into routine after a wild, chaotic weekend.

6. Draw the curtains on a Sunday afternoon, lie on the bed, dream aimlessly until the heads heavy and eyes begin to hurt.

7. Drive on empty roads, the wind in my face, blowing my hair.

8. Hearing about close ones doing well.

9. Accomplishments, desires, dreams, stories of struggle and failures that transform and transcend people.

10. Monsoons - just can't wait!

11. Conceiving, discussing, having heart to hearts with people who matter.

Sad

1. Attention deficient people

2. Illness and death because of slack lifestyles

3. Broken families

4. People suffering from complexes

5. Ambitious parents, unattended/deprived kids.

6. Unaware people leading objective less life.

Angry

1. Promises

2. Talk and no action

3. People who can't see you happy, progressing.

4. People who are not generous.

5. People unable to adapt and change according to circumstances.

6. People who disrespect their grand-parents.

7. Child molesters

8. Insecure women.

Irritated

1. Mindlessly choosy people

2. No appreciation for the efforts people make.

3. Performance pressure

4. Surroundings that suffocate

5. Parasitic people

Jealous

1. People who know how to live simply.

2. People who wake up at 5 am everyday.

3. People who have conquered their sloth.

4. Women with flat tummies and full breasts :P

5. Kids living with families.

6. Writers who have managed to publish themselves.

7. People who can go on vacations at will.

8. People who travel solo.

9. People living my dream - travel, travel, travel solo, backpack travel and write about it all.

Wonder

1. Conversations left incomplete.

2. Hesitation from your closest buddy.

3. People who are unwilling to accept reality.

4. People who do not learn from ordinary experiences and change.

5. People who look at others dealing with their problems and thinking "Thank God! It dint happen to me!"

6. Fat people who fall sick and wonder why.

7. People who don't mind taking pills but mind living healthy.

8. People who think spirituality is for 50 year olds!

9. People who make a big deal of themselves.

What's up, Zindagi?

What's up huh? No... seriously? Whats with you that some days you make me feel invincible, some days you break me down and some days you just let me float on an endless ocean of hope and love. Its like one day I see you, the other I am searching for you. One day you are pop-rock, the other - an opera piece beyond my comprehension.

It's like one day I pick you up and scrutinize, the other I have you sorted through and through.

It's like one day you are linear, the other - lateral.

It's like one day I wake up to you and want to hug you forever, the other - I don't want to know you at all.

So many questions and I can't even turn to you. Because you hold all of them and you are unwilling to open up.

It's like I got on a boat that lost its way.. It's like being with people who look for the same things but in different places.

It's like dealing with you.. day in and day out. Sometimes, I give up, the others - I want to keep on trying...

Another piece of mindful fiction! Read it, rate it, comment also pleajhhh!

He looked at me and smirked. I blushed! Wow, so he knows! And all this while I had been thinking I was the only smart one here. It was an arts class and I had managed to slip someone else's work as mine.

That someone lived somewhere in Italy and there was no way my prof could have found that out. But when things have to get screwed they just get screwed. One look at my work and he knew. The way he raised his head slowly and looked at me, the conviction his gaze bore, my heart skipped a beat! There was no need for him to word his thought. The silence between us was evident that I had mistaken his smartness.

He broke the pause and asked, "So you should be detained for you have cheated."

I remained silent. I wanted to laugh.. After the initial embarrassment, I was dying to ask him how did he know the real artist. But I held back. My face showed no shame, I did not feel any. On second thoughts, I felt my attempts were forlorn because he knew of my artistic capabilities. And the combined reflection of both, the give away and my indifferent connection with arts showed on my face now.

He continued staring and before I could control, I blurted, " How could you possibly know the person who made this?"

"Ok tell me, why did you pick this?"

"Oh! Its very simple. The first look and I thought to myself.. if I was forced to become an artist, this is how my work would end up looking. Look at the lines, look at the symmetry. Are there any straight lines? Is there symmetry at all? And his name.. Its like amateur Indian wanna-be artist barely surviving under an Italian alias! It all went down good with me. One look at this and I was like, this is so horrible, my prof would buy into this!"

His pale fair face had turned crimson. I thought I saw hurt on his face. He looked at me and whispered hoarsely, "Really? Is that why you picked this?"

What could someone who was caught cheating in university test say to the same questions asked the twice? He already knew the answer. Maybe he needed an affirmation.

"Yes", I said.

And he put a big zero on my assignment paper.

Not that I wasn't expecting that, but still my face fell. He wrote detained next to my name in a register and handed the paper to me. I could sense his sudden discomfort and the weirdo inside me just got all the more curious. I shrugged away the hesitation and asked him again, "How did you know this was not my work?"

He looked straight into my eyes, which filled up with anger mixed with hurt and said, " Valentino is my pseudo name and that is my work."

...............................

Ringing silence

...............................

My inexplicable waves of motivation

What a weird title for a post.. but thats my state of mind this morning. Is it the effect of Indian winning Pakistan, I do not know. But this morning I felt inspiration returning back. You may ask, why say return? Because life becomes a ridiculous lull after very short intervals and you don't realize you have been lacking inspiration until you feel it again.

So how is this motivation reflecting upon my mindset? Well, its a big sign of me coming back to my senses. It is giving my the affirmation that all that I have ever believed in is true. It is telling me that all that I have learned from experiences is a universal fact. It is telling me that, life is too big to get stuck in trivial matters, to lose your individuality, to lose yourself.And I think we all have a tendency to lose ourselves to our circumstances. It may happen not too often or it might happen every now and then, but what matters is whether you regain your originality.

As I speak of staying the same.. I feel a weird sort of detachment from everyone. This particular feeling has an amazing calming effect. It's like breathing slow and breathing right. To up the detachment quotient, I just saw "free hugs" campaign which has moved me deep within. Sick puppies are so right when they say "And I'll take you for who you are. If you take me for everything. And do it all over again. It's all the same."

Have you ever thought that if everyone is stripped off their inhibitions and apprehensions we all are no different than one another. And the real us is definitely lovable. And when we all are just the same what's the hulla balloo of being good/bad/beautiful/ugly. We all boil down to a few simple facts - we want to be loved and cared for, we want to be owned and we want to be told that we are good.

.....

Well, well.. eccentricity is taking its toll! Today is detachment day.. motivation day.. originality regained day.. call it whatever.. its my day basically and I am lovin' it!

Because I am absolutely the opposite of you!

Is what cheentie told me when I thanked her for reading my blogs!

She referred to the common friend's mum's health and we discussed about life's uncertainties, attachments and the pain it brings. In the moment of pause there hit a realization that here is a girl who follows my blogs and takes them seriously. Maybe she doesn't know but I will word it out here- it means the world to me cheentie.. and you know it because you have been around for the longest time. As I thanked her for following my blog, she said to me "I like your writing style. Its fun to read. You can express very well and you are lucky that you have that gift." I said to her " Thank you for noticing my gift". And prompt came her reply - "I notice because I am the exact opposite." This statement brought a smile to my face because at that very moment I was thinking of telling her the same.

Because I think and analyse too much, I sprinted down the memory lane and thought of the times I had gotten annoyed with her because she lacked the skill to word her feelings. I remember getting irritated by her incapability to communicate well. I recollected times when she listened to me and I waited for her to react. How frustrated I was!

But when she put in words her lack of expressiveness.. some knots of distance loosened and I felt close to her instantly.

Lack of expressions or too much of expressiveness.. does any of it matter.. I wonder. Me and cheentie have known each other for almost 10 years. We have gone from being extremely talkative to being busy to becoming distant. There were instances when I my over expressiveness caused me to think I had lost her. But in those times, it was her inexpressiveness that kept us bounded. She might not have said exactly the words I would have wanted her to say, but at this point it all seems frivolous.

Aren't relationships about imperfect people trying to stick together? Aren't relationships about unresolved fights, unfulfilled expectations and unsorted instances? Isn't each of us dealing with something or the other with someone? If yes is an answer to all of this then I reckon me and cheentie have faired pretty well.

I'd give a 10 on 10 to us because she is absolutely the opposite of what I am and thats what makes us... PERFECT TOGETHER!!! :)

This is to - Life

One more incidence that leaves me speechless. I am humbled by the little boys courage. I am sad for what is happening to him. I am amazed to see him keep his face straight, while his red eyes give away the pain he feel when he tells me about his mums deteriorating health. In times like this, you would want to turn your head up in the sky and question God why would he let a 23 year old go through all this. Isn't it time for him to think of career. Isn't it time for him to have girl friends. Isn't it his time to be carefree like a child?

Well all I can figure out here is that this is life. and I dedicate this blog to this boy and this life that he lives with his head held high. To life that will always surprise and shock. To life that will always let you down, that will break confidence and shatter your faith, that will make you wait and when your done waiting present you with what you always wanted. This is to that life which offers opportunities and disappointments and in the same order, that takes you at the peak when you no more are hopeful. This is to life which I feel in those motivated moments. This is to life that is sometimes frivolous, sometimes simple and sometimes way beyond my understanding.

Surprise from "The guy" :P

Two days back a school junior added me on facebook. Then she spoke to me later in the day and then called me the next day and insisted we meet up for coffee. The conversation went something like this :

"Hi"

"Hi"

"How are you?"

"Good, thanks. You?"

"Where do you work?"

"At Ashram Road"

"Lets meet"

"Sure, tell me when."

"Today?"

"How about Saturday?"

"I want to see you today but?"

I am mildly surprised by the enthusiasm she has to catch. I am secretly happy that there are girls out there like that. I readily agree to meet her. Infact I invite her to my place for coffee. We promise to co-ordinate and meet at around 6 pm.

At 5:15 we decide to meet near a shoe store. I reach there and am waiting for her when someone else, who I did not expect in the least to be there, arrive. His french beard suits him. His glasses make him look geeky. His smile reaches his eyes. His face has the same genuinity that they always had. Its Vish.. bacchhe as I lovingly call him, my school junior, my eccentric chat friend.

I am a bit stupid in reacting to that surprise from him. I don't completely get off my activa instead hug him half sitting. We look at each other for full two minutes and smile harder than ever. From behind comes the lady who insisted on having coffee that very evening. She is a common friend. Infact the real connection is that they both are classmates and are my school juniors.

I thank her for the surprise. Inside my head I am still a little taken aback by this gesture from Vish. He has no idea he unintentionally cheered me up. I was cribbing about loneliness et all remember? Well Vish's visit proved to be a total mood uplifter.

Coming back to the scene, Vish hops onto my activa and we drive to someplace where we can eat. While driving he tells me "I did it!" and I ask him what. "Surprise someone on my birthday" and I go oops.. its your birthday! then I suddenly remember wishing him on his fb wall and think of my stupidity of not remembering it when he is with me. So after we reach municipal market I hug him once more properly and wish him happy birthday. He smiles hiskid like smile and we head to Cheers.

While sitting together he reminds me of the blog he wrote for us. Its called She's the man, I am the guy. I smile at him and his thoughtful ways. He stares at me a little more than usual and I wonder whats going on in his head. We order non-grilled white bread purohit sandwich(his favourite) and sugar cane juice. While we wait we update each other about our lives. We discuss his random eccentricity, the love of his life, his various crushes, his goals, the realities, the responsibilities and what not!

After about an hour and half we return home. The meet is short because its a regular working day and I have certain chores to get done with. But the meet was nice. Although the time was less we had a great time. I don't know when I get to see him next but I'd like to thank him for surprising him on his birthday! Such gestures are hard to forget.. thanks bachhe! You did make my day!

Such a wasted day at work!

I am trying to keep my eyes open, my mind wants coffee, my sore throat is wanting hot ginger tea. Its hot in here and people are quietly doing their work. My work is reviewed by my colleague.

A gtalk friend pings me and asks have I written any fiction lately. I tell him I have not been able to find time. He tells me I should let him know if I write fiction again. I wonder why. He signs off and I am back with myself sitting on this chair still waiting for the review to get over.

Today everything looks so frivolous. I just thought of my colleague who recently got engaged. We all notice the new changes in her. We joke about her incessant talks with her fiance amongst ourselves.

Now I am thinking about my career and the way its going. Where am I headed? Do I like this place? Do I want a change? Is there job satisfaction? Would I trade good colleagues and flexibility/freedom of a start-up with better salary and pressure of a brand company? Right now.. I just have one answer.. I don't know.

I guess I know who I should be speaking to..

Save your best for me

Once again I find a song that lifts my mood up and peps me up. I love it for the guitarrrr. I love it for the lyrics. I love it for the feelings that produced such meaningful words.

Its by Steve Reynolds btw.

And here are the lyrics :

Your needs and my needs ain't always in line.

Your wants are your wants.

They're not always the same as mine.

And your love is your love,

But it ain't always the forgivin' kind.

And your ways are your ways.

But I hope you'll keep me in mind.

And your maze is your maze.

But I know you'll get through it fine.

And your world is your world.

But I know you'll be home at night.

Save your best for me.

And we'll lay it all down.