Sapno mein jo roz kaha hai wo....

Hellllllooooo...

How u folks doin?
This specially goes out to someone who says he's interestd in reading wat I write, and complaind about the stagnant situation of my blog for the last couple of days :-)

Diwali was gud, lotsa guests and lotsa food. It was irritatin at times to smile n yak thru d day n nite, but thn I know some ppl wud tell me I'm lucky to hav my family n relatives around me rpdurin celebration time. Agreed! But thn its not all rosy either! helpin around d house at odd times, no time to enjoy an afternoon siesta, no time to study or hang out wid frens...

My wkends hav been very good tho... have been roamin around n havin kathi kababs (yummm) n caramel popcorn (slurp slurp). went to scream as i'd informd ya n also saw OSO. dint enjoy d disco party too much (surprisingly given m sucha party freak), but d scene wasnt gud enuf for me. That dint affect d others who had a gala time... OSO was gud, SRK ROCKSSS... but as i'v told quite a few of u, i cant c srk splashin around in d water. i mean akshay kumar or salman cud possibly carry it off, not sum1 as graceful n respectable as king khan. i hav dis image of him as a wonderful hubby n a great dad... cant c him doin a dard-e-disco like ppl half his age.. however, he lukd pretty cool as d younger Om in his rebirth... did u know dat d movie's like rishi kapoor's karz? rebirth n all of dat... arjun rampal kills srk n deepika (who plays arjun's undercover wife and luks SOOO luvly in d 70's getup) n srk is reborn and remembers evrythin (aka karan arjun style) n thn d badle ki aag rises n blah blah... d climax is ok ok, whr deepika's real bhoot (real bhoot?!!) kills mike (arjun) n all's well dat ends well... OOPS I DID IT AGAIN!!!! ;-) d movie has some wonderful dialogues like "agar kisi cheez ko aap poori shiddat se chaho to har zarra aapko usse milane ki sazish mein lag jata hai" (or sumthin to dat effect) n d cliched "if it's not happy, its not d end"... a lil stretchd but not bad at all... certainly betr dan sawariya whr i heard u shud send sum1 u want to take revenge from!! OSO songs r very very hummable... aankho mein teri ajab si ajab si adaye haiii.....
hello? whr did i start off on dis movie review?? I guess sum1's rubbin off on me... m BLABBERIN too much ;-)

anyways, i got an outstandin (O grade) in my social psych subject, so m quite happy... hopin for d best in the other subjects as well... my exams startin dis week... pracs on d 16th n thn d 21st followd by theory papers on d 27th, 29th n d 3rd... NO mood to study at all... i ask myslf evryday y m doin MA; sick of studies... but i aint a quitter, will do my best...

work's goin well... m takin a break upto mid-dec coz of my exam n wont probably log on very often either. so m gona miss u n u gona miss me (hopefully)! but whn i get bac, wil hav lots to tell u (as usual)... might take a trip sumplace early dec aftr d exams but othrwise, its routine as usual. got sum troubles in life, which r (touch wood) sortin up, and thins wil only get betr frm here.

Wish u guys luck... n lotsa happiness...
Luv,
Anuja

Deadly Diwali

It's almost Diwali n my mum's gone berserk... she's cleanin d house wid scary strength n enthusiasm... n unfortunately, wid my PLs on, I'v no choice but to trudge along n do d tasks she tells me to... my bro, dad n sis-in-law conveniently leave for work as i luk at thm wid a sad n envious expression on my face... i cant c mum workin alone n i dont wan2help wid d cleanin! dilemma... barely managd to clean 4 shelves of my clothes-cupboard, n m puttin off cleanin my book-rack until i can... it's gona take hourssssssssss!!! why bother?!! fortunately, my tuts n job dis week gave me a breather (and a wonderful excuse!)

This brings me to my topic for d day. Strong ppl lead hard lives – coz they hav a choice n also d capability to go either way. Like my mum. She has d choice to either do/not do d spring-cleaning. Though she's not physically in gr8 shape, her willpower sails her through the task. With frail folks, there’s no choice as they’v already given up on their life and most other thins. Hence, lesser the confusion! D worst predicament is surely of d ppl who lie in between these extremes; while their minds/hearts r strong enuf to come up with 2 choices, and they do choose one, they find it tough to go all the way. Which is exactly what I’m feelin. Havin made a very important decision voluntarily, I’m switchin bac n forth like a pendulum – I think I cud go bac to wat was, n thn I think I shud stick to my decision single-mindedly if I’m to live a betr n happier life… Each time I succeed in dis endeavor, someone conveniently puts a dent into my carefully built wall… Now however, I seem to hav come to terms... Hopefully, thins wil change from now on...

Awrite, I know i dint make much sense thr... but newes, had to get it outa my system, n thr it goes! Here's sumthin u'l agree wid... Kids wil b kids – whether they’r 1,10, 20 or 50! My parents still fret whn my bro comes bac frm work late. I mean, cut it out, he's 27! Besides, he's got a hotel mngt job which entails long & late hours, yet my dad stays awake till he knocks n says "all fine, m home" n my mum keeps callin n askin him whn he's b bac from work n "drive safely haan beta".... m not complainin, they do d same for me. But i really wonder, will I b d same whn i hav kids? probably yes.... parents r amazin ppl, aren't they?? u can shout at thm, say anythin u want, behave anyway u want, n still they luv u... who else wud take ur crap? however, i myself forget this very often n tk thm for granted... n regret later...

Well, lets stop d topic before I get too senti (sniff, sniff!) I'm jus hangin out at home these days as I said before. Uni's out as syllabus over n Diwali here. M spendin time readin, studying for tuts, watchin tv, chattin wid frens, etc (and helpin mum, groaaannnn)... wkend's here but no plans yet. maybe a movie wid frens. long time no party!!! HIGH TIME...

That reminds me, i saw "Bhool Bhullaiya" last week. Saw a movie after ages (for a movie buff like me, even 2 weeks is ages!) It was gud, not comedy as expected, but thrillin n tp. Akki as usual is at his best, but d rest of d crew is SAD... its only towards d end dat d movie picks up... Oh ya, for those who dont kno, d BHOOT is VIDYA BALAN ;-) dont thank me, it's ok... hehe... i LUVVVVVV doin dat! She's amazin as d deceased danseuse "manjulika" - her actin is terrific. luvd dat part... n scared too!

nuthin else, mebe Mumbai Salsa dis Sunday n thn Salsa at Scream. Touch wood!!
Have a gr8 wkend folks. Ta!!!

Luv,
Lonely Princess

Blah Blah Blah....

Heylooooooo…

Nuthin spl this time... just a mixd bag… pourin out all I hav been thinking over d past few days… pardon my incoherence, but I’v got so much to say all at d same time… u kno how it is :-)

U kno, I’v jus realizd dat I hate d ppl I luv… silly paradox, eh? I mean, I luv thm n I’d do anything for thm. But thn I also expect frm thm (naah, I dnt believe in UNconditional luv, luv’s one of the most conditional thins in my life!) n then whn they don’t live up to my expectations (I jus cant undstd WHY), I get bugd n irritated n land up givin thm d cold shoulder for atleast a few mins… Of curz I mk sure they kno y m pisd, sooner or later, n thn if they dnt repeat d same thin again, all’s well… otherwise rather than hatin thm, I jus start behaving indifferent n try not to get hurt time n again… if they dnt care abt me n my feelins, y shall I?

Well, so much for that… Sumthin impersonal n funny now…. While watchin Discovery Travel n Livin d other day, I hapd to see a show (cant rem d name), whr they give u a sneak peak into 5 or 10 best watevers… cud b beaches, hotels, restaurants… Beat dis! They wer showcasing d best loo’s! ;-) certainly a very intriguing topic, wat say?!!! Wat amazd me was their criteria for judging d best pee-zones… one dat qualified had a see-thru glass!! I mean, wat d heck! Not countin weirdos n perverts, which sane person wud want to give a public demonstration of sumthin so personal n private??!! Wat came next gave me d answer… d glass was a special one, which turnd jus a wee bit opaque whn a button was presd. Imagin this – u walk into a transparent loo, press a button, d glass fades, u do ur thin n press d button again n voila!u can c d world n they can c u…

Thankfully m nt d only dumbo on dis planet; a few folks said dat they’d avoided using d loo n waited to get hm rather than pee publicly. N I voice their wonder, “wat if d loo doesn’t fade n u ignorantly jus do it?!!!” OH MY GOD, dnt even wana imagine dat…

D other loo I saw b4 givin in to the pleasures of channel-surfin, was one whr thr’s a funny 4-sided urinal – wid ice in 2 compartments n a guy pot in d other 2… wats wid d ice u ask? Well, its thr jus for d heck of it… n a point they made matter-of-factly b4 signin off “it keeps d stink away”… so all u piss-stink-peeved people, rem dat!

Enuf abt loo’s… I saw another interesting thin last week… an ambulance! Now wats so exciting abt dat, u ask? Nuthin except dat it wasn’t d van v usually c, but a scooter! I was ridin to d univ when I hapd to glance in my rear-view mirror at d signal n I saw dis cute lil mobike resembling a Spirit or Sunny. It had red n white squares in a checked pattern in d front, n a not-very-clean-or-sophisticated man in white ridin it. I found it a lil weird, so I jus turnd around, n I saw d words “ambulance” written on d vehicle. I’ve never seen one before THAT’S y its interesting…

Hey did I mention a lot of birdies flock around my balcony? I luv watchin thm n their antics, makes me forget my worries and troubles... I can b very whn i want to, which is y i'v kept a mug of water on the sill now whr they can come n drink to their heart's content... n i can watch thm to mine!!! Crows n mynahs n sparrows n many others I dnt even kno d names of...
Okie thn. Gotta run… u tc n have fun… cya!

Cheers!
Anuja

Darna Mana/Zaroori Hai....

Hey ppl!!!

These days I’m sharing my parents’ bedroom coz there’s no other place for me since my bro got married n d newly-weds (8 mths old now) took over the kiddo’s room…

Last nite I scared my dad outa his wits coz I said in a clear wide-awake tone of voice, “someone’s in d house”. It wud’v been funny if I was actually awake n tryin to psyche him out. But I was fast asleep, so much so dat I dint even realiz I’d said anything of dis sort whn I woke up d next morning…However, d effect my words had on my dad was nuthin short of a horror flick. He jumpd outa his bed and lockd d door in d blink of an eye. He reachd out for his cel fone (jus in case anything went wrong) to inform my bro-bhabi in d other room to stay inside their room. He was also contemplating callin d cops if he so much as heard any movement in d house… All while I was blissfully dreamin my stupid, romantic n scary dreams…

I made up for it d next day though… When he told me dis episode d next mornin, it blew d daylights outa me. I managed to get so scared, I misd a beat! I mean, if I was in d same predicament, I’d go crazy n wake d town!

I’ve had other paranormal experiences, some that my family says r pure works of imagination, others d product of an idle mind… My mom even forbids me frm watchin horror serials on tv sayin dat dis’ wats nurturing my dumb “visions”… either way, they r inexplicable. Soon after my grandma died, I thot I saw a hand in d window, reaching out for a glass of water kept on d window sill… No, m not kiddin nor m I tryin to show off. I also sometimes see sumthin like a white pale vision go past… My mum says she’s felt dat way too at times. So thr u go…

I duno y I keep seein such stuff, or mebe imagining it. But one thin for sure is I see a lot of snakes in my dreams. Long big snakes lying close by, or chasing me … ot once not twice, loads of times… Freud wud certainly hav a field day if he sat down to interpret my dreams, coz all of thm wud certify me a hardcore sex-freak (evrythin Freud did was related to sex sumhow or d other, so dat dsnt bother me much – snakes, balls, hollows, passages – evrythin is a sign to sho u how pervert n desperate u r…)

But Hindu philosophy, or stuff pasd down over d ages says dat seein snakes in ur dreams is a sign dat sum of ur ancestors r tryin to convey sumthin to u… Nobody has been able to teme wat it means exactly, but mebe I shud jus b content wid d fact dat my ancestors feel close to me and think m a gud medium to communicate wid ;-)

I started reading d tarot sumtime bac, n jus like all my other pastimes, tired of it soon after. But it sure is intriguing n fun… scary too sumtimes, especially once whn I forecast dat sum1 close to a fren wud expire… n his grandma did…

Well, so dats dat. U may think me crazy, too, but u gotta feel it to understand it…

Until then..
Luv,
Lonely Princess

Road Rage

Do u drive/ride a vehicle in Pune? Coz if u do, thn u can certainly undstd y I’ve thot of writin abt dis VERY crucial topic…

I kno ppl r supposd to hav a drivin license b4 they start drivin a vehicle (and most do, I hope…) Yet, dats a fact I find hard to believ considerin d whackos who cruise down the streets and (pseudo)roads of the city. Rules of d road r broken left, rite and centre… And lets nt for an instant think dat drivers/riders r d only ones to b blamed; no siree! Pedestrians r equally bad… will come 2 dat shortly…

I think driving is a luvly activity. It makes u feel free and in ctrl. I still rem d 1st time I rode a bicycle to school. It felt amazing. I dint hav to depend on my dad or my rickshaw-wala-kaka anymo to pick n drop me frm all over d city. I cud come n go as I wished, plus I cud enjoy d scenes as I rode at my own free will and pace. Yeah, it was tiring at times when I had to trudge home after a hard day’s work’ especially d symbi ‘chaddh’ was a nightmare. But no pain no gain, rite?

Well, so drivin is a great experience, as u hum n sing as u cross mile after mile… But not so great whn d roads r bad n ppl r worse! Dementd freaks drive in the middle of d rd n refuse to budge, or they decide to speed up exactly whn they realiz ur about to overtake thm, or they overtake frm d left widout so much as a honk to inform d others dat His Highness is approachin, or they honk in sucha ‘surround-sound’ way, dat its impossible to fathom which direction they’r comin frm or goin to! To top it all, they give u dirty luks as if ur at fault!!!

Don’t get me wrong – I am a cranky driver, but I aint a bad one. I can get u safe frm one place to another in reasonable time inspite of all d multi-faceted obstacles in the way. I do drive fast, but certainly nt rash; I’m in ctrl… And I worry abt d person sittin behind me… more than myself… (Bangd my dad’s Activa quite a few times a few yrs ago, but since I got my Scooty last yr, thr’s been no unfortunate events - touch wood). However, this dsnt mean dat I dnt yell or abuse ppl on d streets. Not a day/drive passes widout me mutterin words of indignation at folks who jus DON’T kno how to drive on a busy road at a busy time on a busy day! Earlier it was only the PMTs, auto-rickshaws and bicycles… Now thr’s no such demarcation – evrybody’s jumpd onto the bandwagon!

Some drive on the rite side of d road (d fast lane) n refuse to give ‘side’ even if they’re saunterin at 20km/hr. Others sudnly remember dat they’r supposd to be takin rite whn they’r on d extreme left hand corner. Forget indicators, they dnt even care to look a little apologetic, forget abt feelin guilty! Thn thr r those who perpetually hav their indicators on whether they’r goin left, rite or nowhere in particular… n d headlights on as well! N thn thr r those who either show their left indicator or left hand n very conveniently turn rite… LORDDDDDDDDD….

As if the drivers weren’t troublesome enuf, our wise old seniors folks (and some who r not SO senior), walk wid their bac to d traffic while crossin d rd. Due to this ingenious strategy, they get a convenient reason to accuse whoever bangs into thm as they of curz cant see who’s going whr n which vehicle is headed at wat pace, so its d driver’s responsibility to luk out n avoid hittin thm while simultaneously using their judgment n sense of prediction to visualize which direction n pace their feet wil take… grrrrrrrrr!!!

U’v surely experiencd these thins too… N m sure thr r a lot more that can b added here…
But well, lets end on a hopeful note wid a prayer to the Almighty…

“Hear Ye Divine Master, As We Join Thee In Making a Better World; One In Which People Know How To Drive Well, Walk Well, Think Well, Speak Well And Last But Not The Least, To Remember That No One’s In A Massive Hurry To Join You Up There…”

“AMEN”

Wish u luck n a looong, safe, healthy life full on long, pleasant, un-aggressive drives!
Lonely Princess

All in rhyme...

Hey ppl,
Here's a poem this time. Written by yours truly ;-)
Leme kno how u find it, n any memories or emotions associated wid it...
Always here to lend an ear n a shoulder ;-)
It’s been ages since v met,
My body yearns for your touch;
Oh my darlin sweetheart,
I love u so much…

I gave all I had to u,
Surrendered myself in your arms,
I ain’t so firm and strong,
To resist your magical charms.

But tell me have I not suffered,
For the months and years gone past;
When you ignored and took me for granted,
And all I wanted came last…

I tried my best to keep mum,
And vent my sorrows as tears,
But when things only got worse,
The pain stung like pointed shears.

I could take no more,
All my efforts were a waste;
We broke up a million times,
And each time made up in haste.

I guess I’m strong enough now,
And I know I deserve better;
I must give life and joy a second chance,
Or I’ll do nothing but regret later…

It ain’t easy my love,
Though I’m trying to move on,
I still weep when I’m lonely,
And remember you from dusk to dawn.

If only we’d been wiser,
And respected the precious bond we shared;
I’m sure it would have been the best thing in the world,
But unfortunately, we never cared…

So when you stumble upon it next,
Give it a tender caress, not a shove;
I wish you luck and laughter,
And hope you now know the value of love…

Luv,
Anuja

Busy Bee...Me!!!!

Hellyyooo!!!

Its been ages and ages, and I’ve been waitin to get bac to you all!!! Jus been verrrrrrrrry bz. My days r tumbling into each other wid hardly a moment to spare. MA’s taking its toll – wat wid d innumerable assignments our profs expect us to deliver in record time, and to top it, we have tuts (class tests which r considered internal assessment and marks added into final score) evry other day. Alongwid dat, I’ve had pracs. As if searching for a “subject” wasn’t tough enuf, I also had to write a report for evry (practically meaningless) expt v conductd…

However, the assignments were quite interesting, I mus say. An assignment declared by my ex-crush professor (he’s gone mad after he got married this yr) was to write a blueprint for a workshop that can be conductd in an industry, bzness school or any other organization. Naturally, it was our industrial psych project. I chose the topic creativity (after he rejectd memory improvement). Multiple hours of net-surfing and goin thru bks, sorting n assembling info, putting it together coherently and making it luk professional and conduct-able certainly made me wiser (and hopefully mo creative, tho I haven’t had d chance to verify dat yet!) It has also given me the confidence to actually conduct a workshop somewhr, as I hav d material ready.

The other assignment was for my social psych paper. We wer told to conduct a survey to check attitudes of ppl towards different topics/objects. My brilliant classmates came up with a variety of ideas – attitude towards physical attractiveness, IT industry, gender bias at work, sex education in schools, etc. Me n a gud fren conducted our survey on attitude towards caste reservations. I rememberd d medical students’ protests sometime ago against quotas and seat allotments to reservd caste candidates. SO, I thot it wud make a gud study to find out how (at least some, if nt too many) ppl feel abt dis provision. My fren agreed, n v got down to bzness pretty late, coz of our other comitmnts, tuts n stuff. Once v startd, we did quite a gud job outa it (if I may say so!). V chose a sample of 60 (which might seem small), but it was still a mammoth task to design a reasonably decent questionnaire, administer it to ppl, score the responses, n finally infer a number of things from those responses, complete wid technical language and pie-charts n d works. It gave us a practical feel of all the theory v hav struggled wid so far, and completing it was a real achievement; boostd our ego n self-worth! (v nevr thot v’d personally use factorial designs n stats ever in our lives! N doin all those calculations correctly was a great feeling). V haven’t got any marks or comments on it yet, so v’r still awaitin an evaluation… wid TREMENDOUS hope in our hearts!!!

It might have been ez-er to cope wid all of d above had all been well at home. My mum had some problem, and it was quite accidentally that v discovered she had acute appendicitis. The doc recommended an urgent operation, n d surgery n post-op meant dat she had to spend a lil less dan a week at d hospital. Luckily, bhabi was on leave, so v cud work out her meals n d housework together, otherwise I duno how I’d hav managd…More than d work, it was real tough to see her writhing wid pain whn d docs n nurses wer injectin her wid god knows wat, all day long… Thr was nuthin I cud do to alleviate the pain, I felt so helpless :-( However, its gud d surgery hapd b4 sumthin went terribly wrong. She’s home now, not quite fit as a fiddle, but certainly smiling (dat itself makes my day) AND she’s doin d housework inspite of everybody threatenin n scarin her in all ways possible… (GOD! these women JUS DON’T listen.) … (I belong to d same bandwagon, so cant say more! I aint less stubborn, headstrong or egoistic to make tall claims!)

There’s a pc of extremely bad news, too… my great-grandma expired yday. She was almost 90 n has been quite ill for a few yrs now… wid nobody to really care for her in Jabalpur (MP), her last few mths n yrs weren’t very happy, I’m afraid. My mum was very close to her; having spent her childhood n youth wid her grandma, she shared mo of a mom-beti relation wid her. At this instant, my mum’s traveling to Jbp, and she was in a terrible state all day yday. I was scared for her, her stitches haven’t healed completely n I hope she keeps a hold on herself whn she sees all her (grand)mum’s room n possessions. If it wernt for my tuts n submissions, I wud’v gone wid her, not really for my grandma, but for my mum… I jus cant c her cry…

Such is life… Ppl come, ppl go away, wats left r memories… which fade away not in a matter of mths, but barely in a few days, n its bac to bzness again… life dsnt stop for anyone, or widout anyone… Nobody is indispensable…

Well, other dan dat, my job’s been as usual. Oh ya, our office premises hav chngd… n tho d new one isn’t as grand and impressive as d earlier one, its still pretty gud… A lil farther dan d last one, but then again, wats a few kms in Pune… Hav been doin courses bac2bac for the last 2 mths… n its been fun… completed a 1B, thn started a 2A, and whn d 1st ended, again a 1B. Due to some complications, no place was avlbl for d class, so I also took my batches in ICC on SB Rd (which was gr8 as I cud leave merely 15 mins b4 clas actually starts!) M thoroughly enjoyin d 2A batch… d students r a mixd bag, each has his/her own strengths n weaknesses, but overall, its a real challenge! They r a bubbly enthu lot, wid loads of ideas n quite a few expectations wrt d course… I have to be alert to tackle all their Qs n errors, both of which r innumerable. They r 5 in all (there wer 6 but 1 dropd out coz of sum reasons), n I luk fwd to evry Mon Wed n Fri whn I can c them…. M really gona miss thm after their course ends on d 22nd of this mth. But I hope they stay in touch… They’re amazing ppl… Probably one of d courses I’v enjoyd d most till date!

D 1B has jus started so I cant say much. The all-guy gang were not very comfy at first, but I think they’re settling down gradually wid eachoder n the inlingua method… fingers crosd!!!

Oh ya, two lovely observations!!! Its great to c so many honest, dedicated n professional policemen near the univ main gate flyover! Aint it amazing dat hordes of ppl, young and old, cower under the authority of these khaki-clad folks n obey their orders! I jus luv it… re-instills my faith in d power of law n law-protectors, who uptil now I’v only considerd as bribe-seekers n work-shirkers. Of curz, some smart-asses alwes try to display their non-existent smartness by trying to jump signals or crossin d line marked out as a “lakshman-rekha”, which results in a few annoyed and annoying honks n a policeman very impressively makin his way to the smartass n takin him under his wing… All very amusing, but not so much so, when m in a hurry to get to my dept in d univ. Wud like to keep goin on n on abt my experiences on d roads of Pune, but lets keep dat for another day! M sure ur bored of reading this “RAMAYAN”!!!

Oh ya, I almost forgot – I mentioned 2 observations; the other one is a lot of luvly birds hover around my house these days. They r quite darin n venture rite upto our balconies n windows – birds of all colors n shapes, all voices n attitudes! I cud sit all day watchin thm n their antics…

Awrite now, for those who'v managd to sit thru dis entire KJo-style-never-endin-saga, thanks... Hope2b bac soon frens… Till thn, tc n keep rockin!!!

Luv,
Anuja