Open letter to my Mobile Service providers

First of all, thanks for the concern you lavish upon us.
Every half an hour, I get a call. Though what they are about, I don't know. Of late, I've just about stopped answering them. And since you call me back when the call goes unanswered, (and also because it goes on my call logs as a missed call), I've started receiving it and ending the call almost at once. So, thanks for the calls, though I don't asnwer them. If you want to improve my life with your services and whatever else you wish to offer me, you're welcome to do so. But I don't need (or want) your calls asking and informing me what is there on offer. If need be, I'll visit your website, or call Customer Service.
But wait.... Customer Service? That sounds like something from another era. These days, whenever I try to reach you, I get a prerecorded message giving me a list of options. When I finally manage to choose some lucky combination of options from the menu and get hopeful of talking to a real live human, I'm told how important my call is, and then treated to some music. After an eternal wait , with the importance of my call being mentioned every now and then, I finally get to talk to someone, I'm told that it's the wrong section. So much for trying to reach you.

And of course, thanks a lot for the messages you send me without fail every ten minutes. Where would I be if it weren't for the exercise you provide my fingers - if it weren't for using them to remove your messages and make some space in my inbox, they would have gone (comfortably) numb long ago. I don't need any education loans, health tips or 'jokes'. Really.

And yes, thanks for the offer, but I don't want to download any "hot notty videos" or bikini bombshells on my phone. I don't need any baba's tips, or superhot wallpapers.

Of course, I tried activating the "Do Not Disturb" facility on my number. Many times. But there was always an error just at that particular instant. So much for hoping to be spared.

I'm also grateful to you for sending me bills for calls I don't make. And for giving me a number I didn't ask for. And the confusion that ensued. It's a long story. And to top it all, I get a message from you asking me to pay a bill of Rs.4361 when I'd just got the number activated.

I'm eternally grateful to you for all this.

Yours sincerely,
A very (dis)satisfied Cus(s)tomer.

WOW!

I just came to know that I share my birthday with Tom Petty !!!

Feels good to know :)


"Let's roll another joint" :P

An evening to remember

Where do weekends go? This question always comes to haunt me every Sunday evening and Monday morning. Each week I tell myself that I will work really hard and study over the weekend, but the results are always the same - weekends just melt away... My mornings - sleep for just one minute more, just twooooooo minutes more, round time 6:30, yes,i know, just getting up.... and now, my weekends seem to be going the same way

Anyway, Monday's almost over, so I'm putting the Mystery of the Vanishing Weekends on hold.... It's almost sure of being taken up again a week from now :)

So, what is the point of all this rigmarole, you may ask. I just wanted to write down about my day today, more specifically the evening. And as usual, I ended up rambling. (I'm glad to be able to justify my blog's title by invariably rambling along every single time :) )

Ah, so where was I? Oh yes, the point. Lets come to it.

This evening, I finally managed two things I'd been planning for quite a while - meeting my friend and enquiring about guitar classes. And it was a case of "one stone, two mangoes"*

I invited PM for coffee, and thought that since I was anyway going there, I'd check out the music classes as well...

Now, my friend PM, has been playing the guitar for quite a long time, so I thought it'd be a good idea if I could get his opinion of the place too.

And so, I arrived punctually at 6:30 , after some desperate cycling (made all the more dangerous as I wasn't sure whether to look at the road and try not to hit anyone (after all, I'm accident-prone even on a bicycle!!!) or to stop and watch the football match in progress); and cursing the sudden lack of buses and autos. Only to find that he was already there. I was feeling bad for having made him wait, but he told me he'd come early. :)

A cup of coffee and an hour of conversation - that is something, if you ask me.

Well, I'd tell you more about him, but then, I don't ever want to sound like I'm putting someone on a pedestal and worshipping them - I realized I end up sounding that way when I really let myself go. Not that he wouldn't justify my description, but I do end up getting carried away. And losing one friend that way is enough for a lifetime.

But, to be fair to him, I'll mention the one thing that I always associate him with - travel. I remember the first time we chatted - it'd been ages since we'd last met, and I'd spoken hardly ten lines to him. It was by chance that we were both online at the same time, and it was his status message that got the conversation going. He'd mentioned a backpacking trip to Chile, I told him Peru should also be on the list.

And that was it - since then, I've gotten to know him better, and his friendliness is something I really like. With travel and languages to discuss, conversations flowed. And then there was music, yet another topic of discussion.

To cut a long story short, I really enjoyed the evening. Except for his refusal to let me pay. :( Maybe next time, he'll let me...

Coming back to dinner-and-chai with friends just extended the pleasantness of the evening.

And now, with peace in my heart and a song on my lips (hopefully, soon I should be able to say, song on my fingertips!!!), I now go to attack my work.

Peace!

*- a literal translation of a Tamil phrase, which is roughly the same as hitting two birds with one stone.


(Apologies yet again for such a soppy title - I think I should seriously post a disclaimer that good titles are not to be expected, and any that happened to be good were purely due to sheer good luck...)

The Chronicles of Courage - Part two

When I wrote this post, I didn't expect another test of courage to come so soon :)

A couple of days ago, some of us had planned a trip to the famous 'Mushroom rock' on our campus. Despite having been here for a long time, I hadn't yet had a chance to be there.

Morning dawned fine, and on top of that, I found back my favourite football t-shirt. The day passed pleasantly, and evening came at last. We had planned to start around 5 P.M., but you know what happens to even the best laid plans... It was finally 6 P.M. when we set out.

Our friend N, who's also a philosopher ;), was now our guide. The walk was really enjoyable. And then came up the issue of how we were going - whether we were willing to jump a wall and be spared walking almost 2 kms. We decided to jump the wall. I just said yes, thinking it would be a small wall, like the ones I used to jump over many years ago. (The shortest path to my best friend's house was jumping a wall, so naturally I gained some experience ;) ) And then, when I came to the wall, I managed to get on to it with the help of my friend A. I looked down, and the ground seemed a long way away. T was already on the ground, and told me to just jump. And jump I did. Thankfully I landed safely on my feet.

Having walked a bit further, we finally reached our destination. I had never even imagined that this was the kind of rock I wanted to climb - it looked pretty scary to me, there not being any proper foothold or grip for the hands. N's first attempt at climbing failed, and he fell down. My fears increased tenfold seeing it. But he just got up, dusted himself and went on to climb again. This attempt was successful. He helped two of the others climb up. When my turn came, I was still hesitating. I didn't have the guts to climb - I didn't want to break any bones.

After some cajoling, I finally managed to climb up with the help of my friends. (I know their shoulders must be hurting from the burden of almost lifting me up - not that I'm heavy or anything, just, you know, erm... the effect of trying to do a job against the effect of gravity.

Once I was up, I enjoyed the breeze and the panoramic view. And of course, watching T refusing to climb this rock where we all were. When it was finally time to leave, I realized that getting down was also a Herculean task. But I managed it. With a little help from my friends. :)

We then dined together before going our separate ways.

 I was glad to have overcome my fears. Thanks to the special people I call my friends. Thank you, A, T, S, S & N, for lending me a helping hand (literally!!!). And for a wonderful experience.

And before I end, I should mention one more little incident to justify the title of this post - while we were waiting for dinner, there was a tiny grasshopper on our table. Right in front of me. I wouldn't have even noticed it if it hadn't been for T!!! It slowly started scratching itself. As I tried to calm myself down, it slowly turned away from me. And finally, when our dinner arrived, we decided to change tables. And the grasshopper decided to leave as well - it just jumped away. And I happy to realize that I was slowly overcoming my fears of various members of the Insect Family.

That's it for now... Adios!

Some photos :

Ramble on

"Ramble on"... So, here goes, obeying Led Zep's words :

I just thought I'd ramble on... And, maybe get my life back in order...

I had an exam today, and for once, I didn't have the jitters. And, I also bought a Sportstar. I think that the couple I went and sat down next to (having gone more than an hour early!), didn't know what to make of me :) The guy, at least, seemed to be lost - what do you make of a girl who suddenly comes and sits next to you and starts eating her breakfast while reading a Sportstar??? Poor fellow, he decided it was easier for him to just turn to the other side...

Why is it that I remember all old and long-forgotten songs suddenly in the middle of an exam? I was trying to solve an equation, and suddenly my mind starts singing!!! And then, there was this guy sitting next to me - he reminded me of an old friend, and so I was thinking that he'd clear the exam, my mind starts singing "Grow old along with me!!!" (Maybe the fact that he looked like a kid had something to do with the 'grow old' coming up!) Am going crazy, methinks... (psst!!! Don't mention this to any of my close friends, they'll tell you I'm already there ;) )

Talking of old songs, I recently felt good after managing to sneak in a BSB line into one of my posts :D But I felt I hadn't done justice to my friend - and so, poor him now merits a soppy Princess Diaries style dialogue - "Thanks, for hearing me when I was silent!!!" That's just what he did, did AJ - when a guy takes time out to talk to you when there is a really beautiful girl around, it shows you that Mankind isn't all that bad. ;)

"And now it's time to go" (as the PF song goes :P )

And stock up my list of soppy dialogues for future use (I just got my hands on a collection of books my mother and her sisters used to read way back when they were just finishing school, when there weren't enough libraries around!)

Looking forward to a brand new week ahead - maybe this will the week when I get to take up AJ's football offer, the week when I finally make my room habitable, the week when I actually study (big joke, that!), the week I finally get my guitar classes going, the week where I meet PM after ages... and a whole lot more ;)

"That's it,folks!"

Blah

Sometimes, a day can go bad despite a promising start...
When the mess serves you food you enjoy... for breakfast (the one you got ready for in 10 minutes flat!) as well as lunch, you might be lulled into feeling that things just can't go wrong on such a day...
And then the day throws the sucker punch... In the form of a picture... A picture you could have done without... Just when you think that everything is alright with the world once more, there it comes, the jolt to rouse you...

Why did I see the photo? As if it wasn't enough that A is one of the sexiest guys in the world to me (it means something, when he wins even over many Spanish footballers!!!), his pictures keep turning up. And in a grey t-shirt and blue jeans... That irresistible combo (what is it about grey t-shirts that makes them so awesome? Maybe the fact that I'm (desperately) seeking one adds to their appeal!).

"he don't give a damn to me", to slightly modify a Tom Petty song... I seriously wish A weren't this attractive...

What is it about insecurities that once one starts, it's almost like an avalanche? On coming to know that my friend was a friend of someone who almost brought out the green-eyed monster in me started me off with the blues. And more followed. And almost before I knew it, I was really down in the dumps...And it was "beaucoups of blues", as the song goes...

Thank God for my brother in whose company the day came to a close on a splendid note...

There was too much on my mind, and I just wanted to rant...

The Chronicles of Courage - Part one

Sometimes, victory doesn't seem as sweet....

A couple of days ago, just before going to sleep, I went to brush my teeth. As a precaution, I switched on the light in the bathroom first and waited a few minutes before going in. I finally went in with my brush in hand, thinking I'd given the cockroaches in there enough time to go back to their hideouts... But alas...

I opened the door, and there it was... One of the biggest cockroaches I'd ever seen. And with wings! If there's one thing worse than a big cockroach, it's a big cockroach which flies. At least, that's what I think.

And thus began my war with the cockroach. Despite my fears, I tried pouring water over it, but it managed to escape all my attempts. So, with Machiavellian cunning, I just closed the door, hoping it would get back to its hole if it valued its life. But it didn't. When I opened the door again, the roach had fallen into the water and was trying its best to swim out.

I was now in two minds. Whether to have pity on it, and help it the way the bird helped the ant; or whether to hope it would die. In the end, my pity lost out. And the roach died.

And I told this to a friend, and he was "impressed" by my courage.

Now this friend, AJ, had already been exposed to my "courageous" self. We were returning from a wedding dinner, when I heard a dog barking somewhere in the distance. Not being scared at all, I made a slight change to my walking trajectory, and walked as far away from the dog as I could without falling into the ditch next to the road. And observant as he was, AJ commented upon it :)

So, when I told him about the cockroach incident, he called me "courageous" and "brave". (And I felt like singing "AJ hit it", pleased to know there was one soul in the world to call me 'brave' :P (Yay!!! I've managed to insert a line from a song I used to listen to years and years ago!!! :D ) )

(I seriously doubt if he'd have made such a comment if he'd known the barrage of messages coming his way :) )
And thus rests the victor, seeking new territories to conquer, and new fears to overcome :)

* - the part one in the title makes it seem like there will be more such episodes of bravery in the future... :D