Tell me why?  

Posted by Divya A L

If its one thing to be happy, have you ever wondered why things turn out to be so wretched the very next moment? Sometimes it makes us think twice, makes us wonder how could we have thought it was the best thing that we had done a few moments ago? Situations could turn us upside down in a matter of seconds. Should we really think twice and pay attention to the minutest of the details everytime? Things which appeared smooth minutes ago is now coarse and rough! Is it really true about this age old saying " One shouldn't laugh too much as they tend to cry double later on"?
Why does this turn out to be true always? Tell me why!

6 comments »

Marking a week's illness  

Posted by Divya A L

It was last thursday that I fell sick and am still on medication! Ask me what was wrong! Well, its the most common thing - common cold and fever! Even after 3 days of continuous rest and whatever it required to do to recover from illness, I grew weaker and more sick. I did not understand if the medicines embraced the illness or really tried to help me out! The initial symptoms began to change. Finally I decided to re-visit the doctor.

"For how long have you been sick?" the doc asked.
"Since the last time I came to see you" I replied.
"And when was that?" she again asked.

"The doc needed the medication for memory loss, first of all" I thought.

"Three days ago, around the same time" I replied.

"Oh yes I remember Vidya. Are you feeling better now?" the doc enquired.
What a stupid question I thought! If one felt any better, why would they even go back to the doctor, unless and otherwise they fitted the theory - "An apple a day keeps the doctor away and if the doctor is smart throw the apple away"

In my case,the doc was old enough to have grand kids and most of all it was a "SHE" :-S
"Not at all better and I am DIVYA" I said.

"Vidya or Divya both are the same! Anyways, there is some improvement......" a pause and then "in illness I meant " she said and giggled.

How can they both be the same and how could she display such a mocking sense of humour in front of a patient I could not understand!!

"You seem to have put down weight, I'm sure you must have lost your appetite badly. But that shouldn't keep you away from sound sleep. Try to get some good sleep!" she advised.

"Nope, not a milligram! My appetite has dramatically increased in fact! I get extremely hungry every 1 hour! And I eat almost twice than I used to eat before... As far as the sleep is concerned, as soon as I eat, I feel drowsy!"

"No doctor,she doesn't eat anything at all. She is lieing!" Interrupted my mom. My mom expects me to eat kgs together, thats a different matter altogether, but her timing on spurring out such "so called facts" is astounding! It was like adding conc sulphuric acid to alcohol (though I am not sure what that would result in!!)

The doc said - "No problem! Look there is another improvement there" she said and chuckled!! "How positive of her!! Oh God, the Doc and her DJs!!!" I almost started to repent for seeing her! Later on she enquired about my newly acquired food habits and after I told her, she suggested that I take 2 eggs in excess + a full glass of milk twice a day!

"She never even smells milk doctor" my Mom barged in again! I was like "Milk is odourless ma, what would I get out of it even if I tried to smell. Let me smell it daily hereafter for your sake"

"Smell means drinking atleast a sip" she snapped.
"I thought smelling is smelling, you know, using your nose!!" I said.

"I am a fool to argue with you!!" she said.

The doctor cut in the "pleasant conversation" we were having. She said - "You must both be really good friends kind. You speak so adorably to each other! I rarely find such mom and daughter these days! The children never listen to their elders"
I was wondering how different we had behaved from what she described! Strange people - doctors I thought! I did not know if that was truly a compliment or a sarcastic note - A puzzle of a lifetime I thought. (Incidentally I have developed interest in solving puzzles recently) To simplify and find a solution, I guess declaring it as a compliment will be an apt idea. After all, it was all about positive thinking the doctor stressed upon!

Finally she gave me a huge list of tablets and ofcourse the consultation fee list and asked us to leave. She even said - "I will definitely remember you next time you come!"

I felt better when she said that. We exchanged bye's and left to the nearby medplus to buy tablets.
When asked for bills, they were in the name of "Bhavya"!

Its been another 5 days and I don't feel any "improvement"!
Planning to visit her tomorrow again, after all, I should have known that she expected to see me when she said "I will definitely remember you next time you come!"

10 comments »

An "!dea" did change my life!  

Posted by Divya A L

Its been almost 4 years since I started using !dea, the then spice telecom service. That is when I started using the cell phone too! I was/am still wondering as to why I chose it in the first place and still continuing to use it!!

Reason to get started with it : Spice had a dual sim offer. ie you buy 2 sims with consecutive nos for Rs.500 and the call costs b/w them is 5ps/min + 100 msgs free a day + 69ps to other mobiles. No other service providers ever had this kind of an offer then. I kept one and gave the other to my father. Well, he is also still using the same !!!

Advantages:
1. Spice and no one else provides you an opportunity to memorize the most frequently, less frequently or any no for that matter that you dial. Wondering how this is possible? Well, whenever you try making a call, it never gets connected in the first attempt. You dial, re-dial, type in all the digits once more, keep staring at the screen to see if its connected etc.. In this process you will surely have learnt the nos by-heart!! Esp when the lady on the other end says in a sweet voice - "Please check the number you have dialled"!!

2. You tend to save money on a prepaid recharge. If you are done with the currency and ready for the next re-charge, you goto a nearby service center and either get a top up card or do it online by paying atleast 110 bucks (that is the min recharge amount) only to realize that the server is down for the next 2 days. They even have really polite messages to inform us about unsuccessful recharge. Some of them are -

"Sorry. Recharge not successful. Bye bye". (bye bye is indicative of the fact that the successive recharge attempts will also be unsuccessful)

"Recharge successful. Please dial *456# to check your balance" followed by another message
" The previous transaction has been aborted." (they induce a ray of hope in us by sending a positive stmt followed by a negative one)

"You are not authorized to use this service" (They can't be good always, isnt it?)

Or simply - "Network problem" (simple and sweet)

Regretting of having paid such an amount (during coll days, 110 was really a huge figure) and not even getting it recharged on time, makes you feel pathetic and the next time you make calls, you become conscious enough not to run out of currency fully. The thought of 2 day delay for every recharge will make you do a limited usage of the outgoing calls.

3. Caller tunes that these people offer simply rock. Its 30Rs a month and you can choose from a variety of catogories - English/hindi/all indian regional lang / japnese / chinese / arabic / spanish / danish / latin and what not. Every month end, the service gets deactivated for almost a week which is lucky or me. (My mom calls up often during that week and feels good that I am no longer entertaining the callers at my expenses)On 1st of every month, 30Rs gets deducted promptly and the following week, they give a jukebox offer in which every hour the caller tune is picked randomly from the above mentioned catogories. So only the privileged callers of spice get to hear latin/arabic songs too!!
Oh ya, they sometimes even set the default caller tune to the spice's very own song - "spice hein, toh life hein..." Listen to this song, I'm sure you will be in good health and shape. I was talking about the laughter therapy ;)

4. The special day dedications are astounding. They offer "vande mataram", "mile sur" and such patriotic songs as dedications to our loved ones on a V-day. And "kuch na kaho" "pal pal pal" for the I-day. The teenagers choosing the so-called wrong track, are automatically brought back to the right track, atleast in the former case :P Oh ya, and they charge exuberantly on messages on those days, that will render most of us to keep away from messages. Well, you save here too!!

5. Customer care service is another thing which definitely needs a mention. Call up the toll-free CC no. You will get to listen to soft music for hours together till a CC executive answers your call. They also ask us for feedback for the CC service. (!dea to get better every hour!!). And people are very polite in talking to customers. For an instance, if you shout your lungs out to find an answer/solution to something, they promptly reply -" Sorry. Any of your requests can't be processed. Is there anything else that I can do sir/ma'am??" Of late, they seem to have realized that we "waste" our precious time being adamant to talkto them. Hence, nowthey have a new rule. Now your CC calls also get charged at the rate of 50ps/3min. If one speaks to them on a weekly basis, you will learn to save money and be patient in no time. And ya, few moral lessons too....

Well, I am not at all sarcastic that I categorize all these under "advantages". The biggest advantage for me though is that I have learnt to see things positively. I owe the credit to !dea, which has truly changed my thought process and indirectly to some extent my life!!! Kudos! !DEA, you rock!!


7 comments »

Special dedication!!  

Posted by Divya A L

Our plea:

I think he did it again
He made us believe
That we're more than just safe
Oh baby;
It might seem like a brush
But it doesn't mean
He's un-serious..
To lose all our senses,
Thats just so typically us...

Oh baby baby..

Ooops he did it again,
He gave us all thwarts
Has got us so lame...

Oh baby baby
Oops he wants us unmove
Soon see us above...
But we're not in for that yet!!! :-|

His response:

This ain't a place for the weakhearted
No silent prayer for the faith departed
And I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd
You're gonna feel my strength when I gear it out aloud

It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just wanna live while I'm alive

(It's my life)
My route is like an open highway
Like Monkey said, "I'll do it my way"
I just wanna live while I'm alive
'Cause it's my life

PS: Dedicated to my cab driver!!! :)

5 comments »

A teacher's advice  

Posted by Divya A L in ,

Ramu and Shamu were 5-yr old school going kids. Both were known for their undue mischief day through night. One rarely found them sharing friendly gestures, instead were always occupied with fights and quarrels.

On one such fight in the school, Ramu apparently fell Shamu to the ground and damaged his chin. Shamu in turn fought him off hurting Ramu’s knee. The spectators watching the show called for their classteacher in an attempt to stop the fight.

Teacher – “What do you think you kids are upto??”

Both Ramu and Shamu got up and tried looking at the teacher. The long cane in her hand made them quiver out of fear. Tears rolled out of their eyes and their face popped expressions of fear, rage and pain.

Ramu – “Ma’am, I was having my lunch when Shamu started teasing me for having curd rice.”

Teacher (turning towards Shamu) – “Is that true Shamu??”

Shamu – “MA’am he was the first one to start off. He called me a ‘murderer’!!”

Teacher – “Why did you call him that Ramu??”

Ramu – “My parents tell me that it is immoral to kill and eat animals!! And I saw him eat fish. So I called him a murderer, Ma’am”

Teacher – “Ramu, Fish has lots of nutritional values. Its going to make you sharper. “

Ramu – “I think curd rice has more nutrients than fish. I have constantly stood first in the class. “

Shamu – “But you can never run like me! I eat meat which is rich in proteins. So, I’m able to run faster!!” shot back at Ramu.

Ramu – “I jump higher than you. “

Shamu – “I am so energetic that I can beat you down easily!!” As he told that, he punched Ramu on his back.

Ramu – “My teeth are so sharp that I can suck your blood in minutes” and he started to bite Shamu’s hand.

And then started the fight again.

The teacher ordered to stop the fight and held her cane upright so as to beat them up if they did not stop.

The boys saw the cane and instantly fell silent.

Teacher –“Stop it, you both. Come to the class.”

Ramu and Shamu went into the class with other children.

“I know what is troubling you both. Let me tell you few things about eating meat and eating vegetarian food” Said the teacher.

“First of all tell me, how many here drink milk daily?”

All hands shot up except Shamu’s. Ramu said – “I have 2 glasses of milk daily. Mom says it helps in making teeth and bones stronger!”

“Precisely Ramu, No wonder you bit Shamu that hard” said the teacher.

“Red meat, sea food and other non veg stuff definitely are rich in protein content which is very useful for children. It helps you in growth..” Shamu’s face broadened with a smile and mocked at Ramu.

The teacher continued… “Nevertheless, each of these have a substitute in veg food as well. For instance, milk is very rich in proteins and calcium.”

It was Ramu’s turn to mock at Shamu.

“Food has a role to play but that isn't all. Your parents may want to give you meat, or cho0se otherwise. Either way there should be no issues.”

Shamu interrupted – “Only meat eaters can be fast runners”

“No Shamu, it needn’t be so. You can run faster because, you have cultivated it as a habit and you like to run. I have seen you coming to school running daily. Isn’t that true?? Whereas the rest choose not to run. They may not like it like you do.”

Shamu gave a convinced nod.

“So, one’s food habits does’t necessarily determine what they are going to be in the future. For example, Rahul Dravid and Sachin both are ace cricketers. The latter eats meat and the former doesn’t.” said the teacher.

Shamu said – “Dravid cannot hit sixes, while Sachin can, coz Sachin eats meat”.

Ramu immediately said – “Sachin has got out with more no of ducks than Dravid has!!”

“Now stop you both!! I guess it was a bad example.” The teacher told. Kids these days are impossible. They are too difficult to be handled she thought,

“Anyways children, eat what you like. Stick onto whatever principles your parents follow. Whatever kind of food you eat, eat the hygienic ones. Eating on the roadside often, can deteriorate your health and growth. So what have you decided to do Ramu and Shyamu?”

“We won’t put up fights hereafter over food ma’am. I am not going to punch Ram for eating curd rice” said Shamu humbly

“I’m not going to call Shamu a murderer.” admitted Ramu.

The teacher continued...

“ For those of you who eat meat now, it is irresistible to give up on it when you grow up as adults. For adults, eating meat is really not as good as it is for children. So, if you think ahead and decide not to eat meat later on, it is better to give it up now. As I told, you definitely have options/substitutes for meat. Additionally, I’d like you all to watch the following videos and think of what you want to do”


Few months later…

It was Shamu’s birthday and had invited his teacher for a party at his residence. The food there had no trace of meat. It was substituted with eggs and vegetables.

PS: I myself am a meat eater. I have been trying hard to quit eating non veg but not not succeeded. In a year, I refrain eating non veg for atmost 6 months, after that cannot resist.(May be my mom's a really good cook ;) ) I want to quit eating non veg not because of the reasons of customs and religion, but because I hate eating them at the cost of their lives and the pain they go through.

8 comments »

Message for pet adopters :)  

Posted by Divya A L

3 comments »

V-Day special :)  

Posted by Divya A L in

My dearest friend,
Today, this friendship is gonna end;
Never imagined you'd do this to me,

Without hard feelings, so let it be;

Though had known you since twelve long years,
I never could understand you crystal clear;
Today is the day of realization,
Let me tell you about it without much procrastination;

I was blinded by a foolish love,
I failed to notice, you expected from me its small clove;
I bitterly, savagely disappointed you,
In retrospect, the fake love I was behind, hit me back - black and blue;

The purity of your love and thoughts,
"Can this be true??" I was trying to analyse lots...
"No" was the answer I got lastly,
"No, it can't be 'NO' " I was convinced firmly;

So, was it your mistake or mine,
That we are ending this friendship that was so fine?
This is only to go on to define,
A new relationship called "love", to tell you, "you are mine and only mine!!"

PS: Happy Valentine's day to you all!! And all the characters in this story are imaginary/fictitious! :)))

12 comments »

Random thoughts  

Posted by Divya A L in

Numerous people around you,
But feel the presence of none;
While the right hand waits to be clasped by the new,
Doesn't it seem that your left hand is the best one?

You can be lonely with a thousand people around you
And so can you be happy with just one special person beside you!!
But if the special ones slip away,
Every second turns out to be a hefty pay!!

8 comments »

An interesting conversation...  

Posted by Divya A L

DISCLAIMER: Did not intend bias towards a particular country as such!! This is purely a personal experience of my friend!

This is about a conversation that took place between one of my friends and his travel-mate in a flight to Germany. My friend was here a couple of weeks ago , a holiday visit to India. To give you a brief introduction, he is a doctor by profession and probably the only married bachelor so far. :) He is currently pursuing his research studies in Germany. So, after a short termed holiday back in his homeland, he left to Germany 3 days ago. He wrote to us about this travel experience in a mail. Quite interesting and thought provoking I must say. Here it goes -
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"During my travel back here I met a very interesting french lady..may be around 60 yrs old...she was going back from her 4th visit to INDIA..when we started a conversation, slowly i was getting amazed at her knowledge about the geography of our country..hence the initial formal discussion turned out into a detailed one...i have never met a foreigner so pro-Indian as her in my life..especially after travelling abroad i keep hearing only negative comments about our country..below are some excerpts from my discussion with her..i wish every Indian was like her!!!!!!!!!..

she : i have been to India 4 times..have visited the north,south and west..next time would like to come to east...

me : what is ur opinion about India

she : to put it one sentence i would like to say that " yours is the only country where people are happy in true sense..you people are truly blessed to be born in such a country"..

I was surprised at this statment..the most common reply i get when i ask my above question is that the country is poor,dirty etc etc..when i told her this she replied

she : problems are everywhere..one needs to look beyond the negative things and look at the positive aspects..there are lot of positive things about India..especially the family bonding u ppl have..definitely social life is better than other countries..and one more thing..i think Indians are unique in that they absorb the negative things and go ahead with their life hoping for the best and trying to dig out the positive things..this is not true in the country i come from..we can never handle the negative things in our system..we panic very easily..i am living in france since 30 yrs and i can tell u that the happiness one finds in India is not there in any other country in europe.."

me : i hear often that foreigners report bitter experiences with Indian hospitality?

she : when u go to any country there are certain rules to be followed..as long u stick to these u shld be fine..but of course there are bad elements always everywhere..u cant blame a country as a whole for some stupid fellows"

for me this was getting more interesting!!...i told about the general comparisons made by Indians themselves who go abroad comparing Indian systems and problems with those of USA and europe..she replied

she : Take the example of france..it is a developed country..but we are "poor" in happiness..we are poor in human values..i think people in India work harder than us..we want things to come without any effort...we cannot handle any sudden chaos in our system...we think only about euros ...i was in bangalore this time..i think it is a exploding city..there are lot of problems now like traffic etc but i think in coming yrs it will be a better place..this is what i was referring to look beyond the negative aspects..i also have been to places like mysore, rajashtan and cochin..you people have great tradition and culture..i have toured almost the entire world but i dont find such a set up anywhere else..i think in coming years India will be the number one country in the world..

The above sentence written in bold is actually the words came out from her mouth straight..there was joy in her face when she told this..i mean this lady is so attached to our country than we think we are!!!..but her last few words in the discussion were the words of caution from her side for Indians...this is what she told later

" I think slowly you are getting influenced by the west culture and being more materialistic in life..this is the main danger to hamper your progress..you all should realise what a country you are blessed with...but i think whatever happens the family and friendship values continue to thrive in your country and i think thats what is the driving force in coming days for u all...."

but her punch line came in the end. ( i think superstar Rajnikanth would also envy such a punch line!!)

she: " u r going away from ur home and i towards home..i think both of us are equally sad..!!"

I dont know how debatable was her views or realisitic..but i learnt quite few things from this lady..i think all of us have something or the other to learn from such an experience..and since this discussion happend on the republic day in the flight it was even more special to me..my hopes about my country strengthened even more..only one question was drilling my head after this talk :
"if a visitor to our country can have such views about our own country cant we make a difference to our country's progress??"
"

And obviously, the first Q that was triggered at him was - "Anila you're saying you want to improve the country, whats your first step? for that matter whats the first step any of us would take?"

Namma doctorina answers ee reethi ive -

"1.first step to improve our country is "believe" in our country...without this nothing is possible..

2.if u do ur work honestly in ur place may be thats the best way to make a start to set right ur life first and look beyond...

3. it is good to accept good things about other countries but dont lose ur '"Indianness" in the process..( i hope here the "good things" are not very relative!!)

4. progress does not mean only to contribute to the economic success...it is also maintaining our culture,tradition,social values etc etc...think ur self how much time u spend with ur parents and friends..what justice u can do to these relationships..prioritize the events in ur life...it may be very minor things like spending time at home, caring for the needs for ur dependants,atleast some social events like some festivals etc etc..all these atomic things actually make up the bigger material..we wont realise it thats all...all these involuntarily strengthens our family,social and friendship bonding...progress of the country starts from every home...of course the priorites of life are different for different people..but these small things mentioned above all contribute to the process..

5. i have seen some people crib about not going abroad on site even being in software field!!...thing about our country is u know it better when u miss it for sometime...so i feel that it is good to stay outside for couple of months to actually realise what aa paradise u r away from....(does not apply to those who easily westernise!)

6. when i first came here had shown some of my shimoga trip snaps to my lab people..they told me they never had guessed India can be so beautiful..if their reaction to the places around shimoga was like this imagine for the whole country?...the problem is Indians who go out dont speak high about the country..it is a very easy approach to acclimatize to the western setup and comment on our system and setups...my question is "show me one place where there are no problems?"....may be we have more compared to others...one sentence i was impressed with that lady whom i discussed that she said we are unique in that we absorb negative things at ease and continue with our life..this is very true atleast for me..we hope more than anybody else in the world..here in germany one small traffic jam will hamper the whole life that day!!..thats the "capacity" of these people to handle chaos...well u can argue that things are so organized here that these things happen rarely...my answer is that in this process u gradually decrease ur hope and ur ability to absorb problems..that does not mean that these developments are necesaary..of course they are required..this is just a different context of arguement...

7. u can never compare a country which has more than 5000 yrs of history to the developed countries..our plethora of problem are by the virtue of our history, tradition,culture,diversity etc etc....if u look back at ancient indian culture i can argue we had the best scientists to be ever produced...we knew the atomic theory and had the plan to build a nuclear reactor thousands of years ago (sage kanada)...we knew the speed of light thousands of yrs ago (rigveda)..dwaraka explorations have revealed that dwaraka was real..nobody in the world can design a city like dwaraka...if dwaraka was real then it favours the existence of the all time mysterious and my all time favourite character "krishna"..i look upon him as the greatest scientist to have ever set foot on this planet..mahabharatha is full of scientific events..u can write books on this..sorry for deviating the topic..but just look back at what we have inherited and what are we now?...the point is to erase this "comparison" and cribbing factor of our system and to think what can be done being within this setup?..even i have suffered a lot academically by our so called "System"..but that has not made me hate the system..it has made me even more determined to get back to the system again and excel....

8. in the long term think what can u do best being born in this country...if u are true to ur indianness thats the best u can do ..do ur duites properly..set ur life right..set ur family life right..set ur home right..country becomes better...

9. my contribution to my country would be to contribute to my country's research progress..i know the turmoils of doing research in India but that is my inspiration to enter the struggle..I have been in the "system" for 3 yrs and i know what it takes...that has made me even more spirited...if everyone can set something like this i think it is a lot for the country...

10..as i said "progress" refers to endless minute things put together..somewhere in ur life if u think u r doing justice to being born in such a blessed country i think thats what is expected from every body...every "movement" starts from such small things..

11. before coming to europe everybody told me to tour the parts of world here bcoz i am in proximity..now after 2 yrs of staying here i have decided that the best thing to do in my life is to tour my country properly!..thats the beauty of the country we are blessed with....

12. lastly , there is no place in the world like sahakaranagar and there is no organisation in the world like our group :)...even after a long time we are still together...this is also a minute contribution from all of us in being more Indian at heart!! "
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Couldn't have said it better doctorji!!! Full points to you!!! :))) People getting westernised is very evident in every sphere of the day to day routine. Right from having branded apparels to awing at hi-cost insensible movies to the craze of settling abroad in an attempt to make money to almost everything!!! Wake up the so called "westernised - Indians"!!

4 comments »

A tragic love story  

Posted by Divya A L in

He saw those sparkling eyes,
They rejuvenated innocence and charm;
He stood mesmerised with that special spell,
The next minute in his arms, she was tightly held;

She was scared to death, on being taken by surprise,
Fought restlessly for breath;
The very next second, her eyes met his' ,
Caught in that eye lock, she stayed still like a doll;

She -
"Let go off me, let me breathe"
I can be yours only in myth"
HE -
"Being different or a different being - not that I care of,
You are mine is what I know of!!"

She -
"Please leave me, let me go..
I know you only since a few minutes ago!!"
He -
"If you are not mine, nor can you be anyone else's;
Close your eyes, enjoy your last breath!"

And so, this love story took a negative toll. Mr. Bruno, ended the life of an innocent and sweet grasshopper!!" :(

:))))

8 comments »

The laughing bash!!  

Posted by Divya A L

Today's been one heck of a day. I laughed my lungs out the entire day like never before. Even the laughing gas wouldn't give this much throughput!!

It all started with my friend asking me to check a mail and asking to be careful about re-forwarding it. After reading through the mail, I laughed breathelessly for 15 min!!! (If someone trying to control your breathing practices, this should be very useful!!) I was not sure if I had to implement the steps given in that mail. Again the thought of it made me ROFL. Somehow, I got to convince myself and did give it a try!! Then I saw many of them already having done that... The result: laughter increased 100 fold.

The next step in that mail was to forward it to our friends. Cautiously I did that only for the intended receipients. Well, in a matter of seconds I got the same replies to it. Some through the mail and some through gtalk. The the replies were:

"hahahahahahhahahahaha"
"hehehehehehheheheheehhe"
"loooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllll"
"ROTFL!!!!!!!"
"Can't believe it!! I just saw it happening!!! LOLZ what a funny thing to do!!"
"Oh man!! Everyone's a game for it!!"

This continued and it was for another hour or so.
As things progressed,it started to take a new turn. This time, not only the intended recipeints started to ping, but then almost everyone!! What confusion, what doubts, what analysis!! GOSH!!! I thought my lungs would blow out like in the big bang!!!

Just as I was recovering from the laughing sickness, an Infy friend of mine pinged and started to narrate me a story... Of course it was fiction for me but would have sounded "real" to others!!!

Initially though I wanted toend it at the very beginning, the story was more and more interesting as it progressed with lots of twists and turns. The laughter that had just then died, revoked with the new avatar!! Man you can become a great story teller, I bet!!
PHEWWWW!!! What a day it was!!! I am still chuckling!! :)))

4 comments »

S-U-L-E-K-H-A again!!  

Posted by Divya A L

Well, yes its another win!! :))) This time being the first runner up for the theme "College days". I was so much awed by the theme that I couldn't resist putting in multiple entries. :)

Entry 1:

Entry 2:

Th above entries were a re-post from here. Since both these posts were about my weird lecturers, I was initially hesitant to try for a credit at the expense of making them the "laughing stock", after all they did teach or atleast tried to teach something!! :) However, I was asked to put in atleast one of them as a competitive and the other non competitive :) My entry 1 competitive won. There were some really amazing entries each one narrating some hilarious episodes of the college days. Do try reading them in the "first runner up" link.

Ahh adding to the happiness!! ;)

6 comments »

YO!  

Posted by Divya A L

I find myself to have changed a lot in the last couple of weeks. Though I am pretty sure of the reason behind this, I had not expected the change in this direction. I observe an extreme behaviour in myself. Guess I am too happy and contended or faking to be happy and contended. Don't know which ones. As it is said "An idle mind is a devil's workshop" and I was almost falling victim to this. Somehow, I am grategul to God that my mind is never idle these days and I've changed or rather back to being myself.

1. I speak a lotttt!! Trust me, whether it makes sense to the listeners, I have no clue. Atleast to Bruno it doesn't, he makes a weird face and licks my hand as though asking me to "shut up"!!
2. I eat a lotttt!! I guess I weigh 30%more than what it was a fortnight ago. And I have transited from being an omnivore to a carnivore!! I pity the chickens!!
3. I watch atleast 2 movies a week. Have turned into a total movie freak!!! I was never this kind until I joined Infy. (I started to watch movies regularly atleast 4-5 a year, and before that, was never even bothered to know what movies were released!!) But now, 2 movies a week is incredible. I have even started to promote movies!! Hope the producers are reading this!!
4. Coincidentally, meeting up with a lot of friends. And hence, freaking out a lot!! Have hardly stayed at home 1 full day!!
5. Always in the party mood!!
5. I don't get tensed for silly little things like before!!
6. "Don't-care about anything, whatever happens is for better!" attitude!!!
7. May be I've grown selfish too. May be "selfish" is not the right term. I call it "non selfless". First me and then the rest!! This is how one should be for being practical in life!!

I don't know if all this is good or bad!! But this is how I am, atleast currently!!

6 comments »

5 things one can't live without!!  

Posted by Divya A L

It was ages since I had updated my profile on orkut. It was almost untouched since I created it 4 years ago. Last sunday I thought I'd update it and I came across this item called "5 things you can't live without". Surprisingly, I had not filled up anything there. I sat up to think, what are those 5 things without which a person cannot live?

It took me about 4 hours to rightly update it. Once I did, a good friend of mine pinged on gtalk and started "ROTFLing". The reason was he apparently had read it. I couldn't make out as to what had made him laugh soooo much!! After a while, the laugh took a new shape and it was no more what it was. He said that was "awful" and he even questioned me if there was any humanity left in me that I write such stupid things.

He asked me - "Can you live without your friends?"
I thought for a while. I said "why not?". The term "friends" is always there but the people associated with it keep changing with time. A best friend once upon a time may not even be in touch with you now. So, even after you have lost that friend, you will continue to live. So, "friends" cannot go in there.

He was quite convinced with my reasoning, but not completely. His next Q - "Can you live without Bruno?"
Well, I have lived all these days without him. He happens to be a new entry and I'm happy to have him. But again, when my Tommy passed away, the first few days were very bad. I thought I cannot live further. But here I am, living quite a happy life". So, with Bruno, I may have to expect the same.

He somehow tried hard to deny that answer of mine. He said - "One last question. Can you live without your parents?"
Well, my thought process was in action again. My answer was "Well, I find so many orphans around the world, who over a period of time got over the "loss" of parent(s) and now live happily. So, they continue to live. Why talk about "loss"of a parent? Just consider an Indian girl getting married. If she isn't very lucky, she might have to leave back her home after marriage and spend the rest of her life without them. But then, they continue to live." So, logically, even that wouldn't fit in here.

After this reasoning from me, he was suddenly enraged and cut off the conversation expressing his anger and said "bye". "Change whatever you have written and till then don't talk to me."he said. Well, we did talk, thats a different thing.

Now I just think , what was wrong about the 5 things I wrote - "air, food, water, shelter and clothes". You'd definitely die without these things. I swear!!

Bottomline - Life goes on whether you like it or not. God's greatest gift for humans that renders them to be not really human - "Volatile memory". For so long it persists, it makes us emotional and human!!

Like the Murphy's laws - "The brain tends to persist bitter memories and wipe away the sweeter ones or vive versa while you want it the other way round."

Now don't tell me that majority of the population in India are living without the 5th thing that I wrote!! :)

11 comments »

A wonderful post by a fellow sulekhite  

Posted by Divya A L

http://deveika.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/11/love-that-s-the-way-it-is.htm


2 comments »

WHY DO PEOPLE LIE???  

Posted by Divya A L

People lie because of many reasons. Some of them are:
1. A popular reason is that they wouldn't want the other person to feel bad about whatever they truly think of them.
2. People feel, for leading a practical life, they ought to lie at one or the another point of time!!
3. Most often than not, they lie to conceal their mistakes!!
4. Sometimes, there have been cases that people lie for the betterment of the other person! That's now called a person with the great sacrificing heart!!(or at least that is the reason they give!!)
5. Lies can break/make the bonds. So people use them suitably, especially when they ditch one person/thing for the other!
6. The best of them is people lieing that the other person is lieing, which is unforgivable!!

Strangely, as I have observed/experienced, the liers are always on the winning side!! Some kind of a moral imbalance!!
Breaking news - "Honesty, humbleness, love, emotions have no place in the current world!!"

BOTTOMLINE - "LIE TO WIN"!!

0 comments »

Backstreet boys  

Posted by Divya A L


I was/am a die hard fan of backstreet boys since school days. Favourite being Bryan for his looovveeellllyyyy voice and the handsome Nick carter!! This was one of the songs I listen to in repeat mode which I am doing right now!! Jussstttt loveee ittt!! Hats off to "hinde beedhi huduguru", - thats how we named them in our school days!! ;) Their music is soothing and comforting... Just love most of their tracks!!

0 comments »

My new laptop :)  

Posted by Divya A L

Bringing up puppies is no cushy job. Its no different with Bruno. Initially though I was skeptical about my decision on bringing him home, now I have no slightest feel of regret whatsoever.

Puppies/Dogs are damn amazing creatures. They not only learn a lot of things but teach too. In this process of learning and teaching, you also get a bonus plus - lots of entertainment which you will never be bored of.

So, what has Bruno learnt so far?

1. He has learnt few words like sit, come, go. His favourite being - "biscuit and carrot". His ears will instantly prick on hearing those 2 words. To better his understanding of the former words, I will have to have the latter ones in my hand :D
2. He climbs up and down the stairs with ease now. Before, he only knew to climb up. After climbing every step, he used to sit and whine to get down off them.
3. He has learnt not to piss inside the house.
4. He has kind of started to identify strangers, which otherwise he went behind everyone he met.
5. He barks v chweeetly :) :) :) Love to hear it!!
6. Since this is his teething period, he bites everything and everyone he sees. He now fears biting, with our voice raised.
7. Gives a shake hand, but conditions apply* (*Only when you have an eatable in your hand ;) )
8. Very good at chasing and v smart in escaping when chased.


Teachings for me:
1. First of all, I've grown to be responsible now. (It seems I sometimes even sound like a mom :) )
2. Induced lots of patience in me.
3. I understand the non humans. I understand, his signs and he understands me. (Well, I feel like the shepherd in "the alchemist ;) )
4. Have realized what unconditional, selfless love is!!
5. I have started to shop more for him than myself. Every second, I think of him. Kind of so totally involved that even in my dreams, I see him :) I wonder what kind of dreams doggies have :)
6. What ever I do to him, at the end of it, he'd always sleep on mylap or feet. He's become my new laptop. It just feels sooooo good. (My father gets J and asks me to never sit down on the floor ;) He's like - "I'm the one who takes care of you day though night, and you are least bothered about me!!" ;) ) Puppies and kids are no diferent at all. Feels nice to care and being cared for.
7. Just love that guilty face of his when he does mischeif and he looks cho cho cho cute when angered (esp when pulling his mustache or when blown on his face :P) :)

Me and Bruno:
Well, its said that you'd like someone if you had shared something in common. So, Bruno, does have many similarities with me. :)

1. Both of us sleep upside down most times :)
2. Both of us love fooooood!! Just that Bruno likes it a 1000 times more than me.
3. We are really buddus at times!!
4. We speak more and listen less :)
5. Good at giving back bites with Bruno literally doing it ;)
6. Difficult to handle us :)
7. We like to go out often. (me for shopping, he for playing :) )
8. Very poor liers. He tries to conceal having eaten paper being tight mouthed but never realises a part of it is hanging out from either sides of his mouth. :D :P

Today I had washed the terrace for 2 hours, with an intention of not leaving anything there for him to swallow. And this kothi mari, went there dont know when and started biting the water pipe that was used for washing. When I stared at him, he promptly dropped the pipe off his mouth and stood there wearing an innocent look. Take a look at the pic below:



Well, to put it simply, I am bindaas enjoying his company. :)))))))

7 comments »

1st blogging anniversary  

Posted by Divya A L

Though I knew self discovery is very important, I discovered myself majorly after I started blogging exactly an year ago!! Thanks again to my friend Dilip!!

Though it so happens that I lose interest in anything I pursue as a hobby sooner or later, this is something I have not been bored of till now. In this 1 year of journey, I've made quite a number of friends and also lost few of them. Luckily, I don't think I've earned foes, at least not that I know of. :)

Anyways, I am surely enjoying this!! :)



10 comments »

Waiting for THE day  

Posted by Divya A L in


That day I feel no fear
It'll be the end of my tears
I will have all that I desire
Anticipation for that day, very dire

"THE day" seems to be a fantasy
Its existence, just chancy
If there is one, its an ecstasy
God, please have on me, a little mercy and courtesy

6 comments »

Naming ceremony  

Posted by Divya A L

The day he came home, there were mixed reactions in the family.

"Ohhh... why did you get him? I did not promise that i'll take care of him. Leave him from where you got." an inaugral statement from my father.

"Of course you did!! I will call Sapna, the eyewitness. You had told so in her presence. Anyways, I cannot go back to leave him now. " I said calmly.

"I am already too much fed up with you!! And now him!! I am looking forward to the day you get married and then out of this home!!" my mom blasted.

"If you keep humiliating me like this, one fine day I'm gonna elope with a deaf or dumb guy. I will start my search right now" I said in a low tone in an attempt to scare her.

"Well, here's an unsolicited help from me.You don't have to go in search of them. Just goto K R Market. You will find so many such people in victoria hospital. I will be happy that you will spend your entire life serving the unfortunate ones." said my mom her voice cooler than ever.

She is impossible I thought and gave up.

I thought I made a terrible mistake that day getting him home. Nobody wanted him here. :(

I took some of his snaps and uploaded them on orkut. Another terrible mistake. The pics were taken just after his walk and so, in the snaps it appeared as though he was tied up.
Comments on orkut:

Friend 1: "Don't steal his food"
No wonder she's my close friend. She knew what would happen to half the cerelac, though I argued I never touched his food.

Friend 2: "When you are already there, did also need him in your home??"
I still wonder what that meant!!

Freind 3: " I pity your mom. Now she has this additional work of taking care of him also. I shall tell her to throw you out first!!"
I have a major doubt if she is my friend or my mom's. Just coz she's married, she wants me also to join the club!! (or the pit??)

Friend 4: "I didn't know you were so cruel divya!! Plz let him free!!"
Why don't people understand a simple logic that you'd get a pet home only if you love them. No question of cruelty at all!!

I don't understand what my friends gain putting me into so much humiliation.

Next day my father asked - "What are you gonna name him?"

"That means he's gonna stay. Thanks !!" I said happily.

"No not at all!! I just asked if the breeder has already named him something. Not because I wanted him here permanently" lied my father. He continued a gyaan session on the troubles we'd face if he was here. Not that he dislikes dogs, he, in fact likes them 100 times more than me. I knew it the moment he asked about naming the pup.

We started suggesting names and my father insisted on tommy (my prev pet)

"We'll name him Dixie!! " I said.

My father started to laugh loudly. "Whats wrong with you??" I asked.

"That's quite a popular name. Not for the pups but for the inner wear" he said.

My face turned pale n purple. Dixie kind of matched my name (5 letters starting with D)

"How about Dominic?"I suggested, this time a name with 7 letters starting with D.

"That is no good either"said my father.

"But whyy??"

"It isn't easy to call. Somehow I don't like it!!" my father expressed displeasure.

"If he has to stay in this house, call him Bruno" said my mom.

I instantly liked it. BUT MY FATHER DID NOT.

"Ok mom, this will be named Bruno. But you should never again crib about me getting him home. If you do I will start calling him Lalith ;) " I said.
"Come again, what did you say??" she asked with a disgruntled look on her face.
Before she could say any more, I escaped to the terrace. :P

On the terrace I heard my father calling him "Bruny".
"Papa, he is BruNO not Bruny" I corrected. k.
"Oh ok. Hey tommy " he said.

So now he has 3 names Bruno Bruny and Tommy. And the best part is he responds to all thos names. :D







6 comments »

Welcome to the family!! :)  

Posted by Divya A L

I was looking forward to this day since sooooo longgg!!! My prayers have been answered and here comes my tweety cutie pie. I managed to convince my parents for getting him home after a series of arguments. HE's my 37 day old Labby :)))) This day happens to be one of the best Deepavali in my life. Ironically didn't fire crackers in an intention of not scaring my new love ;) He already recognises me sooo well and doesn't want me out of his sight!! I get a feeling of having adopted him years ago!! :)

Tomorrow will have a naming ceremony for him!!! :)))

Cyaaa... Busy for now... He's in front of me beckoning me for a play!!! HAve a great Deepavali !! :))))))))

6 comments »
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