Meat - a subject that has no reason really, to be popping up in my blog, but hey, in the spirit of MeatFest! So we're the funky department that celebrates meat. Go Meat! I should be saying 'Gross Meat' - wonder how people actually like to chomp on layers of fat and muscle from animals. Some deep-rooted instincts will never leave mankind I guess. Carnivores that we are.
The origins of this awesome festival date way back (~12 years?) to when everyone unanimously hated one of our co-workers, and she being vegetarian, they celebrated her leaving with a big bang! All this meat! I know its uncanny how it all started because of one girl who was vegetarian. But hey, I've been assured by everyone that I am the total opposite of her, and that they all love me. Yay me :)
So we have the banner up, the table all labeled and arranged in a very fine display of meat, and everyone who is in on the secret drops in from all over the company. Haha. Of course, we pulled everyone's leg this year when we brought in this veggie (soy) meatball that tastes and looks exactly like actual meat, and then I ate it. Everyone considered it an 'event' and much ado was made about it. And we're waiting for the right moment to actually break the news to them that we were planning this all along ;) Fun.
10/31/08
10/24/08
Dee and Me.
The author of this here blog hates melodrama, saas-bahu serials, and how people get sucked into them so easily. Damn the slow pace, the 10 minute story drawn over 30 minutes, the music crescendos, the different-angle-same-scene repeats, etc. Damn everything.
Dee believes that life is not as complicated as it seems, and that we're all going to die anyway. She knows that what seems like the worst thing that could happen to you is nothing compared to whats coming next. No, don't mistake her for a pessimist - she's just an optimistic realist. She knows her probability, and her chances. Dee, at a very young age was very wise. She is, of course, not imperturbable. She can get into her 'mood swing' every now and then, but she is resilient. She bounces back enthusiastically after giving herself a little pep talk - something akin to slapping herself as hard as she can and telling her that she is a moron. That achieved, life is back to normal.
A few years ago, 3.803818 to be precise, she decided that life was mundane. She was too sensible for her own good, and hence had to shake things up. She wanted to have the feeling of heated blood coursing through her veins... And whatever else the novels told her about normal folk who could be swept away in a moment of passion and drama. That is when I was born.
Yes, this may read straight out of 'Tell me your dreams'. But that is so lame compared to my story of how I was created for fun. Not to 'repress a shady old past'. Pbbft. Rubbish. Much drama about nothing. So now, I love to add a healthy dose of melodrama to everything. So I said to B - 'Hey you, don't you think we're very sensible people? We should actually start fighting every now and then, and throwing tantrums like normal people do. It will make life more spicy!' B said 'OK'.
Since then, I have been living the good life - (the term 'good life' herein is used in accordance with the widely accepted definition as employed by the Association of Melodrama Queens a.k.a. Lunatics who do Everything but Kill themselves and Those around them) - and enjoying myself. It is such a heady feeling to be throwing tantrums every now and then, blaming everyone but yourself, making B feel bad for something that is actually my fault, and so on and so forth.
But now, Dee, it seems, is getting bored with me. Too bad, I'm here to stay. Maybe I'll tone things down a bit, and let her have the upper hand in whatever she does, and lull her into this false sense of security so she becomes complacent, and THEN I make my move. Aha, the world is soon going to be in my hands! What glee.
Dee believes that life is not as complicated as it seems, and that we're all going to die anyway. She knows that what seems like the worst thing that could happen to you is nothing compared to whats coming next. No, don't mistake her for a pessimist - she's just an optimistic realist. She knows her probability, and her chances. Dee, at a very young age was very wise. She is, of course, not imperturbable. She can get into her 'mood swing' every now and then, but she is resilient. She bounces back enthusiastically after giving herself a little pep talk - something akin to slapping herself as hard as she can and telling her that she is a moron. That achieved, life is back to normal.
A few years ago, 3.803818 to be precise, she decided that life was mundane. She was too sensible for her own good, and hence had to shake things up. She wanted to have the feeling of heated blood coursing through her veins... And whatever else the novels told her about normal folk who could be swept away in a moment of passion and drama. That is when I was born.
Yes, this may read straight out of 'Tell me your dreams'. But that is so lame compared to my story of how I was created for fun. Not to 'repress a shady old past'. Pbbft. Rubbish. Much drama about nothing. So now, I love to add a healthy dose of melodrama to everything. So I said to B - 'Hey you, don't you think we're very sensible people? We should actually start fighting every now and then, and throwing tantrums like normal people do. It will make life more spicy!' B said 'OK'.
Since then, I have been living the good life - (the term 'good life' herein is used in accordance with the widely accepted definition as employed by the Association of Melodrama Queens a.k.a. Lunatics who do Everything but Kill themselves and Those around them) - and enjoying myself. It is such a heady feeling to be throwing tantrums every now and then, blaming everyone but yourself, making B feel bad for something that is actually my fault, and so on and so forth.
But now, Dee, it seems, is getting bored with me. Too bad, I'm here to stay. Maybe I'll tone things down a bit, and let her have the upper hand in whatever she does, and lull her into this false sense of security so she becomes complacent, and THEN I make my move. Aha, the world is soon going to be in my hands! What glee.
10/19/08
Customs, etc.
And there was the whole Karva Chauth debacle :) Being the naive new bride, who finds all sorts of mushy stuff interesting, I decided I was going to do it this year! Never mind the tall tales of saving your husband from Yama to cursing the crocodile, to everything else in between.. somehow, it just strikes a chord with you. Disbelief notwithstanding, there is something so "deep" about fasting from sunrise through sunset just so you can be sure that your husband lives a long and prosperous life, wouldn't you agree? My voracious Googling gave me details of the 'rituals' to be performed - none of which I was able to carry out to the T, being a South Indian with no access to some of the stuff, and better yet, no idea of what some words meant - aipun, chonp, roli, WHAT!?
I'm not a North Indian, and so, the whole deal of Karva Chauth cropped up only after all the Yash Chopra and Karan Johar exposure I got in college. I know, I know.. it isn't THAT romantic when you wait (in vain, might I add) for the moon to actually be seen.. Especially when you live on the first floor of a mid-rise with all high(er)-rises around you, and also on a very cloudy day to boot! But I stayed the trooper I was. Did the sindoor-mangalsutra-bangles routine in the morning, and came home and did a little puja of sorts. But in the end, all was well - was pretty proud of having given up my 'one-most-important-thing-to-get-me-through-any-day'. FOOD!
Poor B, running around, trying to make sure I wasn't going to keel over :) I'm stronger than I'm given credit for, at times! In retrospect, why is it that even to this day, people BELIEVE in the tradition of Karva Chauth?
Is fasting for a day going to really truly ensure that your husband doesn't die early? Or is it just a conviction that ups your faith-ante? Younger generations these days, people say, are more 'ritualistic' than 'spiritual'. I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree. But I doubt we're ritualistic because we don't want to take the chance of scoffing at long established tradition, as they claim..
Speaking for myself, having been displaced from the comfortable Indian-milieu, I'd rather perform some of these rituals to keep myself grounded to my roots, I think. In the process, I learn something more about other cultures even from other parts of my own country; and whether I tend to agree with the reasoning behind certain customs or not, I've learnt something new at the end of the day! I also do my share of baking a mean green-bean-casserole for Thanksgiving, going to Durga Puja functions with my Bong friends, setting up a Christmas tree every December, going to the temple for Tamil New Years, celebrating St.Patrick's day with gusto ;), etc.
I'm not a North Indian, and so, the whole deal of Karva Chauth cropped up only after all the Yash Chopra and Karan Johar exposure I got in college. I know, I know.. it isn't THAT romantic when you wait (in vain, might I add) for the moon to actually be seen.. Especially when you live on the first floor of a mid-rise with all high(er)-rises around you, and also on a very cloudy day to boot! But I stayed the trooper I was. Did the sindoor-mangalsutra-bangles routine in the morning, and came home and did a little puja of sorts. But in the end, all was well - was pretty proud of having given up my 'one-most-important-thing-to-get-me-through-any-day'. FOOD!
Poor B, running around, trying to make sure I wasn't going to keel over :) I'm stronger than I'm given credit for, at times! In retrospect, why is it that even to this day, people BELIEVE in the tradition of Karva Chauth?
Is fasting for a day going to really truly ensure that your husband doesn't die early? Or is it just a conviction that ups your faith-ante? Younger generations these days, people say, are more 'ritualistic' than 'spiritual'. I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree. But I doubt we're ritualistic because we don't want to take the chance of scoffing at long established tradition, as they claim..
Speaking for myself, having been displaced from the comfortable Indian-milieu, I'd rather perform some of these rituals to keep myself grounded to my roots, I think. In the process, I learn something more about other cultures even from other parts of my own country; and whether I tend to agree with the reasoning behind certain customs or not, I've learnt something new at the end of the day! I also do my share of baking a mean green-bean-casserole for Thanksgiving, going to Durga Puja functions with my Bong friends, setting up a Christmas tree every December, going to the temple for Tamil New Years, celebrating St.Patrick's day with gusto ;), etc.
10/17/08
2nd Innings
And voila. A fresh chapter.
I decided that it was time for me to update the 'look and feel' of my blog. I'm done with the grey-and-green. Time for a fresh outlook. And hence the minimalistic approach. Never did realize that white could look this neat! Threw in a dash of my current colors - pink and orange. Spruced up the header too..
Come to think of it, it is my 'second innings' in life afterall :)
I decided that it was time for me to update the 'look and feel' of my blog. I'm done with the grey-and-green. Time for a fresh outlook. And hence the minimalistic approach. Never did realize that white could look this neat! Threw in a dash of my current colors - pink and orange. Spruced up the header too..
Come to think of it, it is my 'second innings' in life afterall :)
10/13/08
Another year, another final..
Sigh. It always happens, doesn't it? Such an anti-climax.
We were doing good, then not so bad, then good again, and finally, we lost. I was pissed, as always. One would think that 4 years of the same scenario repeating itself in different stages should prep you for this. But it always comes as a huge let-down. You feel so 'cheated'.. But hey, there's always next year. Look at the Cubs, plodding along even after a 100 years!
Sometimes it is true.. Happiness is the pleasant feeling arising from contemplating the misery of another individual :)
Isn't the worst always yet to come ;)
We were doing good, then not so bad, then good again, and finally, we lost. I was pissed, as always. One would think that 4 years of the same scenario repeating itself in different stages should prep you for this. But it always comes as a huge let-down. You feel so 'cheated'.. But hey, there's always next year. Look at the Cubs, plodding along even after a 100 years!
Sometimes it is true.. Happiness is the pleasant feeling arising from contemplating the misery of another individual :)
Isn't the worst always yet to come ;)
10/7/08
Semi-finals..
I'm increasingly beginning to believe that I am a little too wired into the whole 'flow of the universe' thingie. I'm not saying I'm clairvoyant or can see dead people, or that I can predict when exactly you are going to get that call from (xyz) that you have (achieved your xyz dream). No, that I cannot do, nor do I want to. Its just that, sometimes, I get this feeling about something, and it turns out to be perfectly true.
I said that I would get my driver's license only in B's car, and thereby set in motion a chain of events that lead me to finally get it only in his car! Then there have been times when I've predicted so many things in the cricket matches over the weekends. There was alsot hat day as I sat getting my pedicure that for some obscure reason I would get a ticket that day… and the minute I walked out, I saw the orange envelope on my windshield. Little things like these. Call it karu naaku, or freaky shit, or whatever.
So, on Saturday.. Here I am, miserable from all the cleaning from Friday (oh, on a side note, I finished cleaning up the entire house as of 3am Friday, Oct 3rd!) and sorry to drag my ass out of bed on Saturday morning to go and watch the semi-finals in the cold. But being the trooper that I am (more kicked out of superstition, rather) I stood in the shower hoping the steam would clear my brain. And while I was doing that, I suddenly knew. Okay, it wasn't the whole Holy Choir Of Angels Singing Halleluyah moment.But, I just KNEW - that we were going to finally win the Finals this year. It was as simple as that.
I was grinning when I called out to B and told him that. I told him 'You guys are going to win the semis AND the finals this year, however surprising the end result may come about, it will be unbelievable, but you guys will lift the trophy'. They have been trying for a while this season to get me to say it, but I couldn't say it just for the sake of saying it! It had to be true, right? I wouldn't blame them either - given the fact that every game I didn’t go to this season, they lost!
And with that good optimistic belief in my 'prediction', if you will, we set out. And we played tremedously well. Then came the fun part - they played tremedously well too. But in the end, we did it!!! And here we are, second year in a row, in the Finals.. I'm eyeing the championship this time. Woohoo.
I said that I would get my driver's license only in B's car, and thereby set in motion a chain of events that lead me to finally get it only in his car! Then there have been times when I've predicted so many things in the cricket matches over the weekends. There was alsot hat day as I sat getting my pedicure that for some obscure reason I would get a ticket that day… and the minute I walked out, I saw the orange envelope on my windshield. Little things like these. Call it karu naaku, or freaky shit, or whatever.
So, on Saturday.. Here I am, miserable from all the cleaning from Friday (oh, on a side note, I finished cleaning up the entire house as of 3am Friday, Oct 3rd!) and sorry to drag my ass out of bed on Saturday morning to go and watch the semi-finals in the cold. But being the trooper that I am (more kicked out of superstition, rather) I stood in the shower hoping the steam would clear my brain. And while I was doing that, I suddenly knew. Okay, it wasn't the whole Holy Choir Of Angels Singing Halleluyah moment.But, I just KNEW - that we were going to finally win the Finals this year. It was as simple as that.
I was grinning when I called out to B and told him that. I told him 'You guys are going to win the semis AND the finals this year, however surprising the end result may come about, it will be unbelievable, but you guys will lift the trophy'. They have been trying for a while this season to get me to say it, but I couldn't say it just for the sake of saying it! It had to be true, right? I wouldn't blame them either - given the fact that every game I didn’t go to this season, they lost!
And with that good optimistic belief in my 'prediction', if you will, we set out. And we played tremedously well. Then came the fun part - they played tremedously well too. But in the end, we did it!!! And here we are, second year in a row, in the Finals.. I'm eyeing the championship this time. Woohoo.
10/3/08
Antsy.
I am feeling squirmy. My house looks like a war-zone. Any minute now, the FBI is going to knock on my door and ask if they can use my space for target pratice and as a make-shift obstacle course since they're booked for weeks at Quantico's!
B is moving in, ghar jamaai (ha!) style, which explains why I wasn't the one shedding tears after my wedding :) Not that he was either, in his defense. And he has quite a bit of stuff too. AND this turns out to be the week where both of us are knee-deep in shit at work. Him more like neck-deep, since his is the THE project the company is talking about right now! So, we're heaping loads of crap and neglect at the same time on the poor little house.
Clothes in the dryer, clothes on the bed in the guest room, clothes in the trash, clothes in the suitcases. CLOTHES everywhere. Why God, why. Whatever happened to the good old Fig leaf? And all the kitchen items to be consolidated, the electronics to be plugged in, the wires to be tucked out of sight, the pictures that are waiting to be put up on the wall, the dreary guest bedroom that cannot take any more, the wedding gifts that have to be stowed in safe places, the dressers that have to get organized, the miscellaneous lotions and potions that have to find their way to the bathroom.. Endless to-do list.
I was always proud of my moving skills. And now, life is taking a dump.. on my chest (Thanks Austin Powers, for that lovely melodramatic phrase!). But hey, it isn't as bad as it looks. I've reached the point where my pressure bubble is going to burst, and I'll get into this frenzy where I'll finish everything in a couple of hours. I'm always like that, I seem to work best under pressure :) So much so, I went home for lunch today, and actually finished the kitchen. Yep, now my kitchen is all shiny and clean, and not a thing out of place! Hurrah. I don't know when we'll get to regular cooking in this kitchen, I've atleast made a start.
So, hopefully, by mid next week, I'm going to have finished the entire house (and next week, B is going to get dragged into this full force!). And then we start living large. Who said I'm antsy?
B is moving in, ghar jamaai (ha!) style, which explains why I wasn't the one shedding tears after my wedding :) Not that he was either, in his defense. And he has quite a bit of stuff too. AND this turns out to be the week where both of us are knee-deep in shit at work. Him more like neck-deep, since his is the THE project the company is talking about right now! So, we're heaping loads of crap and neglect at the same time on the poor little house.
Clothes in the dryer, clothes on the bed in the guest room, clothes in the trash, clothes in the suitcases. CLOTHES everywhere. Why God, why. Whatever happened to the good old Fig leaf? And all the kitchen items to be consolidated, the electronics to be plugged in, the wires to be tucked out of sight, the pictures that are waiting to be put up on the wall, the dreary guest bedroom that cannot take any more, the wedding gifts that have to be stowed in safe places, the dressers that have to get organized, the miscellaneous lotions and potions that have to find their way to the bathroom.. Endless to-do list.
I was always proud of my moving skills. And now, life is taking a dump.. on my chest (Thanks Austin Powers, for that lovely melodramatic phrase!). But hey, it isn't as bad as it looks. I've reached the point where my pressure bubble is going to burst, and I'll get into this frenzy where I'll finish everything in a couple of hours. I'm always like that, I seem to work best under pressure :) So much so, I went home for lunch today, and actually finished the kitchen. Yep, now my kitchen is all shiny and clean, and not a thing out of place! Hurrah. I don't know when we'll get to regular cooking in this kitchen, I've atleast made a start.
So, hopefully, by mid next week, I'm going to have finished the entire house (and next week, B is going to get dragged into this full force!). And then we start living large. Who said I'm antsy?
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