My Pug Marks

As a ritual, I drop my wife to office every working day. As a ritual, we end up running 10-15 mins late. I am an owl type, hence mornings are usually slothfully slow for me. This irritates her. While she gets ready in 20 mins flat (5 minutes added, thankfully, because of the dressing table that we have now), I end up taking almost 50 mins. This also means she gets more time to sleep (aargh!). As we menace through the rough traffic & pot holed roads and reach her office, she says the same thing to me everyday. "Be good. Don't get angry!" I smile back and drive on to my office. I was wondering about this once. I was outraged for a bit - What does she mean? Am I a cruel heartless beast that she has to ask me to be good everyday? After calming down in an instant thinking she knows better, I gave it a deeper thought. In general, we forget to be good and get irritated with all the small and big things that happen to us or around us everyday. The roads are bad, the w...

How irritating is it to get a phone call when you are in that last hour of your sleep on a Saturday morning? Worse, if it turns out to be your mobile service provider wanting to confirm if you would want to upgrade your 3G plan (which in any case sucks with most providers in India!) Even worse, what if it turns out to be someone important, like your boss? Now you don't want to sound totally sleepy - do you? What would he/she be thinking of you if he were to ask, "Were you sleeping?" at 11 am in the morning? (And, this is judgmental attitude is especially true of older white haired balding bosses!) Well, here are a few tips to sound all alert & morning crispy when actually you would have killed him for ruining your sleep on a Saturday morning. They have worked well for me, hope they would for you too! - Take a deep breath, let the phone ring for a few seconds so that you get a chance to clear your head (hope you did not have much alcohol last night). T...

Of late, worse than the pollution, population & politicians (elections are underway here where I stay); it has been crows and pigeons that have been giving me a heart ache! In a city where there isn't enough space for people to stay and more get pouring in everyday, it looks like things aren't much different for these birds as well. When town was full & expensive, people moved to suburbs. When prices shot up in suburbs - hey there still were the outskirts to stretch and extend Mumbai further. When trees were full, there were poles & buildings. And now - these little funny creatures don't mind to procreate on our window ledges! People are generous of course. I have seen elevators in some Jain dominated buildings having stickers saying how you can wash away your sins by feeding them. Humbug! So, every morning (especially weekend mornings) when you are having the best sleep of your life (at least the week!) - they simply can't stop moving round and...

'So, how does it feel?' 'Oye hoye, shaadi shuda insaan!' 'You're married, waaaaaaoh!' 'Congrats! Your prison term begins now!' 'It must be bliss now... but wait for it my friend' No amount of italics or bold fonts can justify the knowledge, the pleasure, the displeasure and many such feelings to which I am innocent to that people express when they come to know that I am the newly married guy. I am partly to blame for that. I couldn't resist expressing my happiness and excitement to everyone and anyone I have known for 20 minutes or more. But it did not take long for me to realize that it was a grave mistake to do so in a 'connected everywhere all the time' world. You say the M word and people have all the gyaan to share with you. Like they have been married forever to know everything or if it is a kind of a cheap course that everyone has a doctorate in magna summa laude. Surprisingly, I did not know there was such a study optio...

Residents of Gurgaon would definitely know about the electricity woes here, summers being a nightmare at times. Good old days of the city being quiet and simple are gone. It is now touted as the 'Millennium City' and the 'City of Malls'. Millennium City because it still faces the problems only heard of in Millennium B.C. and City of Malls because that is probably the only weekend getaway people can have. Anyway, coming to the point. With a recently changed electricity meter (it literally burnt up in flames) and a jugaad fixed transformer, our woes were alleviated to a small extent. And then it happened. Of all the things, the house bell stopped working. Of course we can do without a bell for some time and trust me we did too. Mom's patience with our lack of interest to get it fixed was running out. She kept saying that she would shut the door at the stairs (we live on first floor) and if anyone comes, he will go back as we would not be able to hear him! We laze ar...

The new job saw me going to Hyderabad for a fortnight's training. It also gave me a chance to visit some good old friends of mine who have been working there. It used to be a refreshing change at the weekends after a week's training sessions and being unknown to the city.  After the regular Buddha  statue visit at Hussain Sagar  lake which everyone who visits Hyderabad, I was shown around the impressive building which my friends call their office. And as we were sitting in the cafeteria talking of times new and old, a very interesting piece of discussion ensued. My little chubby and cute friend from college asked out of the blue -  Do you all know that Dosa  is actually Dosai?   Rest of us just gave our eyebrows a little tilt in our minds and one of us said - Yea well, it is how people prefer to call it in this part of the world. What about it? My little friend being adamant to prove her point explained us with words and action something that kep...

I can never get tired of writing on Delhi and my love for it. An impending trip is on cards and here is a list of activities I have already figured out for myself: 1. Have to do a very important 'communication' task. More about it when it is done! :D 2. Must visit my school - The Mother's International School. You got to see it and be there to believe it. 3. Visit Time Out Store - Ambiance Mall. It is one of the most rocking new book store in the town. 4. Enjoy the chill. Sick of hot days and cool evenings in Pune. Need full blown winters! 5. Meet friends. Enjoy with them! 6. Go to Chandni Chowk/Chawri Bazaar/Connaught Place/Khan Market/South Campus/North Campus and many more places with... 7. Metro Ride! Just for the heck of it. 8. Eat lot of home food - Paranthas, Makka ki Roti aur Saag and all the winter snacks like gur aur moongfali ki chakli . 9. Enjoy home and New Year! 10. Visit the malls - why not? 11. Photography - lots of it! 12. Go to Big Chill Cafe ...

Found this image at imgur. Liked it, so sharing here. Poor Piggy!

Found this interesting pic. Here is how customers can irritate you if you do the same to them! Take care marketers - deliver what you promise or learn your mathematics well, what else?!

I didn't know ever that someday I'll do this, Write a poem on a survey, so that the deadline of my project I do not miss Here I am then, talking about a simple little survey Will need only 3 mins, at your computers screens for you to stay! Here I post the link : http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDJyRGdHTEZRdV9UNXVDTjZoN2l4aWc6MA Oh, it is long, but all you need is for your mouse to click, And the sweet little survey will be in front of your eyes in a flick! Please help this soul, entertaining you here with all sorts of things, God! What all a marketer has to do, yeah, it isn't just being loaded with bling!

Goes without saying, you need to read The Inspiration before you start on this. You may find it here . I was feeling very cranky here as it was about time to go home. It always happens this way. Nothing then is visible to me. It is just Home sweet home! So, I ended up going home a week before I actually had to. Meeting friends and family was but obvious which was apart from the main reason for going home. That meant quite a few trips to my old office where I can safely say-I have made friends for life. They are true friends and not just ex-colleagues. As it happens always, I eventually become the reason for a get together since all of them are busy with their typical IT jobs - different projects, different bays, different buildings. Anyways, a grand plan was made by about seven of us to go to Delhi [my ex-office and residence are in Gurgaon] and have some fun after their office. I was game, as always. As it turned out, recession can make ever-ready good-for-nothing ready-to-party off...

Like it is always It still is... Once upon a time There was a shark named Klein . Klein was cool And he was smart Everyone feared him They had to after all Coz he was a Shark! Klein was proud Immaculate fur texture Eyes filled with spite Teeth triangular clean sparkling white. Fishes ran amok Shops shuttered down When long horns blew Hide! Klein is in town! But things wouldn't remain Coz they are never the same That day changed Klein's life The day his eyes fell on his future wife! She waded through waters Around her a strange sound warp Until he observed the source She was playing a harp. His eyes met hers Her eyes met his This was love at first sight Not a month long fizz. They smiled at each other Donna was her name Little did he know She would be the reason For his claim to musical fame. Bemused, Klein was with the harp Donna was more than happy To please Klein's friends With a song party. He learnt the chords Spent days in attic To master the notes So they etch...