Unloading my think tank...

Sometimes it is just "mind-blasting", like Russell Peters says, to be at work. It is one of those days when it all about doing so much work, too much work, and getting very little done because you always have to wait on someone for something. Of course, if the work is not completed, you are screwed.

Not don't get me wrong, I love my work and all, no Monday morning blues ever experienced, but seriously, somedays, which is very very rare let me add - it gets all overwhelming! I mean come on, there's only so much pressure my dainty, well-sculpted shoulders can take! And if such days have the misfortune to be on Thursdays, then woe is me! I can't even do justice to the best of my ability to put my 100% in! Allow me to explain - that's because I fast (I typed "fat" hehehe) on Thursdays. I eat only fruits, no proper breakfast/lunch. Breakfast is tea, lunch is usually fruits, though I am allowed to eat 'poha'. But the said poha has only jeera tadka (cumin seeds tempering) and green peas - which is not as appetising as the rightly-made version - with kari patta, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and more which I don't want to write for the very-possible possibility of drooling all over my keyboard.

And it so happens that its only on Thursdays, I crave for food! Even if I eat fruits to my stomach's content. You can never eat fruits to your heart's content. Well, it holds true at least for me. I crave for spicy chaat, hot samosas, pakode, Mediterranean, and lasagna - in that order. On other days, when I can eat whatever I wish, I eat biscuits and its back to work. No craving whatsoever. Weird mind huh!

So it happens that today its one of those days I wrote about at the start, plus its a Thursday - so you can imagine my plight. I am craving mad for spicy bhel and pani puris. And its only 4 PM. Another 90 mins before I head home. But you know what? I'm taking an off tomorrow to catch up on sleep (what? its mid-autumn already!) and then hop on a train to London to see a family and some friends. Weekend looks promising.

Now only if I could eat some scrumptious spicy chaat this weekend, it'd be perfect.

Oh wait actually I am! I will be going to Southall and so have already made plans to gorge on chaat till my eyes are bloodshot red and my nose runs like a river during floods! Weekend is definitely going to be promising!

When I moved to UK, I was looking forward to a lot of things. The good thing about having friends in a country you've just moved to are that they help you get adjusted quickly. Needless to say, I made some Indian friends here. I use that term loosely because mind you, there's nothing Indian about some of them apart from their nationality. And no, they aren't even here since long - just 4 years. They take pride in India-bashing. Its like a sport for them - disucssing and cussing India over chai and samosas.
One particular friend, lets call her Monalisa, because she tricks/charms/floors everyone with her nice smile, much like the Monalisa painting.

So Monalisa landed in UK to do her Masters, and she's done it from a ok-ok university. Before that, she was in India working as a lecturer in the same college she studied from, and then worked at a call center for 6 months. Now I believe that if you end up working as a lecturer in the college you studied, chances are that you failed in getting a job outside of your college. Which basically means:

a. not intelligent enough
b. bad communication skills
c. general knowledge is so low that you don't actually know how, where to apply for jobs.

Of course, if you are genuinely interested in teaching as a profession, then all above is null and void. The case with Monalisa was not that - hence I say so.

Coming back to the topic, she claims that she received only Rs. 4000/- as her salary, as against Rs. 12000; the college management kept the Rs. 8000 with them. I say bullocks! No college/university pays a rank newcomer, a salary of Rs. 12000. Heck when I was with one of the top IT companies when I passed out of college, my salary was Rs. 10080 per month! So I don't buy the theory that she was given only 4K instead of 12K. So her reasoing is that she quit after a while, and joined this call center mainly to "make money since I was already admitted to blah-blah university in UK." Fair enough I say. There, she goes on to say, that her manager was really mean. Made her stay after-hours, work extra, never grant her leave when asked, cancel leave that were granted when he was in good mood etc etc. Now I fail to understand where are your balls? Can't you come up with lies and say I need to take leave no matter what? One cannot blame the entire IT/ITES industry's working based on your boss! It is sad and unfortunate that she had such a manager, but no way that can be generalised. i have worked with 4 companies in India, and barring one, all my managers were super nice to me, and my other team mates. She keeps saying to all and sundry in office that work environment in India is very bad and that she would never ever go back there. Well, you needn't go back and work if you've made up your mind to settle down in UK, but don't generalise the work environment when you've hardly worked there at all!

Today, at lunch, she was lamenting about how much time she's spending on the phone to get her address changed for all utility bills. She goe son to say that "Thankfully, in this country, I can do all this on phone. If I was in India, I'm sure it would have been much more difficult. I cannot imagine how could I manage with having to go to each office personally to get address changed." What the fuck! People in India buy houses too you know! And its not rocket science, getting address changed! If you have to do it, you have to do it. And she is so stingy that she doesn't even use her own mobile/landline to make those calls, she always uses the co. phone! She is so kanjoos that she re-uses the aluminium foil again and again to bring rotis in to office as many days as she can - till the poor foil is all torn! If someone in office has returned from a trip, he/she brings in some sweets/something special from that place - more often than not its something to eat. She packs some to take home to her family! Cheeeeeeeeeeeeap! She ... OK I'll stop rambling on about her thriftyness, because there is no end to it.

She's all complains about India. Climate, politics, corruption, level of education - on and on and on. Well, no country is perfect. UK has many flaws too. Politicians are corrupt, education is ok-ok in schools. No country is perfect, usse perfect banaana padta hai.

And not to mention her English is really bad. She doesn't know proper grammar, enunciation or even pronounciation. Really stupid and dumb. But like I said at the beginning of this post, she is very good at flattering people and buterring them up - so that she can get something from them. If she doesn't need anything from you, she hardly cares about you - never mind that you are friends. She always invites her rich friends home. Just because I am not here since last 4 years doesn't make me any small - but I don't care. If thats is your critieria for maintaining friendships, then screw you!

I won't let anyone take advantage of me. I will be your friend, help you even at 3 am at night, share my food with you even if I'm starving mad, but I won't take it lying down if you try to use me.

B.I.T.C.H!

Everytime I post something on my blog, I am super excited to do it, and I vow to myself that I'll be at it often. What happens is the opposite :)

So, to fill up, I've moved houses, am gearing up for a charity run, keeping my fitness level up, and been catching on whole lotta movies.

The new house is awesome. The couple is really sweet and tonight I'm going to make custard with apple pie for all of us to sit together and eat. Maybe some for the cat too ;)

The run is few weeks away, and though I am dead sure I won't make it in under 12 minutes, I'l give it my best shot. I go running every tuesday and friday, which is a full blown training session with a colleague, who's got only trialthon and marathon and decalthon t-shirts. Show off! He's super fit and such an inspiration! And of course, I cycle to work everyday, which is a good thing. Today, I didn't bring my lunch. So I ran all the way home, had lunch, and walked back. Felt good! The gym instructor also has a workout plan for me in place - I'll get serious about it soon. He asked me what was I looking to achieve thorugh gymming, I told him in 1 sentence - what I want is, to lose fat from my legs and behind. Thats all I want. Actually, I think thats what all or most girls want. We are never happy about our bodies. I don't think thats wrong. Its good to aspire and work torwards a good body, healthy body - with proper means of course. Not inducing vomit or going on hunger strike or anything like that...

I had a blast during the bank holiday weekend. We'd been to Dover. It was such a relaxing and fun time! I took p-l-e-n-t-y of clothes for me. One each time I stepped outta my room. Hows that?! :D Minis, summer dresses, jeans, tank tops - you name it, you'd find it in my suitcase. I also bought Vogue magazine - the September issue! I'm waiting anxiously for the movie too. Like my fingernails are peeling the skin off my face like I'm a crazy Beatles fan and I'm shrieking in my mind! Well, behind the scenes with Anna Wintour while bringing out the fashion Bible's most important issue - the September Issue! Cannot wait!

I've been watching a lot of movies - Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Yes Man, Gladiator, Alexander, On the waterfront, New York, Kaminey... the list goes on. I also re-re-re-re (say it a million times) watched Andaz Apna Apna. Gem of a movie! Here are some gem dialogues:

Juhi - "Logon ko hamari jodi, kaafi pasand hai" *hand action* :))

Juhi - "Kyu? Jalan ho rahi hai?"
Aamir - "Darrta hoon, mere haathon se kisika khoon na ho jaaye"
Juhi - "O Amar!"

Aamir - "Tumhaari budday hai, tum piyo."

Teja - "Kaleje ko thandak mil gayi."
Teja - "Teja, hoja!"
Teja - "Main tera game kar daloonga re!"
Teja - "Teri jaan chali jaayegi tujhe poochega hi kaun?"
Teja - "Main Teja hu kyuki mera naam bhi Teja hai"
Teja - "Kaise jaata London? Mujhe London nahi dekhna hai kya?"

Robert - "Vasco da Gama ki gun hai"
Teja - "Kiske mama ki gun hai?"

Teja - "Ye firoti ke paise hai ya maiyyat ka chanda?"

So many more! Mind blowing (literally) dialogues, love it!


We have a new employee in office and he's such a creep. He's got a single minded passion to make an arse out of himself. He finds it elevating to his personality (doubt if he has any) to tell anyone who's listening how much he loves to drink and how much he can. Or he'll make you listen. Gaaaah! First it was on fridays only - he'd come on his rounds (the nerve!) and ask if anyone'd fancy a pint at a pub. He'd force people who declined. Aree meri marzi hai! And now he's started telling all and sundry how he wants to re-live up his 'bachelor' life... his wife+kids stay a good 5-6 hour drive away from Cambridge. So he meets them only on weekends. And so, he wants to make the most of his 'bachelor' weekdays and 'weeknights'. The fact that he got cute keychains for the whole team from his vacation did redeem him in my eyes, but only for a while. He couldn't bear to have a good reputation I guess. He started off at lunch, "I'm planning to move closer to the city. I'd like to do something in evenings" Drive is of 20 mins for him. I said, "Yea, you can join any sports club, or any social club here and get to meet people." He replies, "Oh no I'm not good at any sports. I just want to have an active night life and go out and (guess what) drink.". I give up! I just smiled and admonished him.

Anyway, such is life.

When Rama took a break to offer namaaz

Muslim priests at 900 year old Shiva temple in Kashmir

Bloody who says Muslims are bad? I challenge you to find one Hindu who hasn't done a bad act, and for every such man found, I'll show you a non-Hindu man who's equally (or more) good. Bloody 2 world wars, ethnic riots in almost every country, Iran-Iraq war, Afghanistan war - and we humans still haven't learn't anything.

We fight (and kill) about skin colour, diamonds (its just a stone!), race (eg. Hutus vs Tutsis), country borders, water sharing, caste - what's left? Anything else the human brain missed? The most evolved of all creatures; and he uses the brain to come up with reasons to fight.

At times I feel its too late to mend anything. But hope prevails.

What I love about living in Cambridge is the cheerfulness in everything. People smile at you, most of them greet you, men graciously step aside if you are waiting to cross on your bike, ladies always end their sentences with 'dear', and men with 'love', and there's the awesome weather thats such a mood perker! The last few days have been all sunny and bright and its a great pleasure to wear something cute/sexy/nice, aka not too many layers of wool/sweater/coats, outfits. What I don't like, (you saw that coming didn't you) however, is the attitude of desis here. By desis I don't mean just Indians, it includes Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis - simply because you cannot differenciate one from another unless you see their passport or ask where they are from. So, the thing that annoys me about them is their smugness. Being sumg in a rude way. When you come across a desi, he/she never smiles at you. Instead, you get a look that says 'Oh you must be from a small town in India... what do you know', usually accompanied by a head to toe eyeing of you. Isn't that nasty?! I mean come on people, you are not the first one to land here, and certainly I'm not the last. Its no big deal that you came to UK on a work permit/student visa/married a British/what have you, cuz again, you are not the only one. And being here for more than 1/2/n number of years doesn't make you a Britisher; hell it wouldn't make you one even if you got your PR. You are still a desi at heart. Admit it. Its not nice to pretend to be someone you're not. Maybe you do know the good places around, where to shop, etc but that kinda homework can be done by even a tourist visiting for sometime. Doesn't mean you are any notch higher than me. I have lived all over India (almost) and I certainly have not had any diffculties in getting groceries, good bargains or making friends here in UK. And I'm not saying this based just on the looks they give me, some desis actually behave like this. Ah get over it and grow up. You're fooling no one.

When I came here, I had a million things I wanted to try. One of them was a brand of shampoo other than Sunsilk. Whilst in India, Head and Shoulders, Pantene (the name is revolting), Garnier - all made my hair really rough and left them with no shine even with conditioners. So I'd always been a fan of the black Sunsilk, super mild shampoo which even my dermatologist recommended. So here in UK, I wanted to try some new brands (not the above mentioned ones). In pursuit of that I recently bought the V02 2 in 1 shampoo+conditioner. And man, was that a bad idea. My hair looks so so dull. No shine, so it seems rough and pointy at the ends too. When you touch it, its not. But I don't like looking at my hair in the mirror. And 2-in-1 shampoo+conditioner is a no-no, because the conditioner doesn't seem to work at all. My hair's all tangled and no shine either. I'm buying Sunsilk again or a new brand pronto.

Note to self: Buy the smallest bottle if its the latter - I'd like to test first.

I hear so many of my colleagues speaking in Spanish, Italian, French etc., that it has re-aroused my interest in learning more languages. But first, I'd like to brush up and master my German first. At linch one day, I told my GM that I speak German (he's one too) and he was so happy to know that. He rattled off few sentences in German and I sheepishly replied, 'Actually, I remember just a little.' Man was that embarassing. And not just that, I'd really like to know some basic (at least) of Spanish, Italian and French lest I'm sent to one of those countries. Yippie just that thought makes me all excited!

Tech update: I upgraded my iPhone 3G with the latest software update from Apple. So now, I have 3.0 which means I can send MMS, record voice, enjoy faster Internet and generally flaunt my iPhone. Which I do anyway ;-)

I love cooking and though I'm not able to experiment as much I'd like - I still enjoy it. I made yummy aloo parathas for dinner last night. And when my Sikh hubby licks his fingers and can't stop waxing eloquent about my cooking, I know I've done it ;) Afterall, whats the point of making aloo parathas if they taste like some South Indian aloo parathas? Authentic is more like it ;-) And if the aloo filling is leftover, I stock it in the fridge and make aloo tikkis for tea next day :D Yummy yummy in my tummy!

I had the busiest weekend you can imagine; it just whizzed by before you could say "whizzed by". Just as I was looking forward to a 11 am breakfast in bed Saturday morning ritual, I was woken up at 6.45 am by my bro, who was at the third rate Bank in India. Bro tells me they can't accept my documents because there's no original to corroborate those. What the fuck?! I'd sent those after a day-long agonising talk with the customer care center (they shouldn't call it that really; 9.9 times out of 10 its not) for a whopping sum of 54£ and way too much stress you cannot put a price on. And now they tell my bro those aren't enough. I said let me speak to them, I'll convince them about my situation - me here in UK, no couier on weekends, last day blah blah. But no phones allowed, get this, inside the bank, so my bro went in again (yes he was made to come out of the bank to make the call) and tried convincing them. He called again and said they are not budging. I really hate it when some ass uses his power only to cause anxiety and grief to others. And you cannot escape such people, mind you. As it happened with me - am in a different continent and still have to put up with their bullshit-ery.

So anyway, it was decided that I should send the original document. Time check - 7.45 am. Brushed teeth, eat cornflakes, get ready. In between, spoke to DHL and found out that they don't collect parcels for shipment on weekends and it would only happen on monday. No can do, I said. The DHL customer care lady says that I can go to the DHL office at Barhill and submit my parcel, if I want it to be shipped today. Groan. Time check - 9.30 am. Left home with hubby and took 2 buses to reach the place. After 2 minor changes in the address, the parcel was shipped for 30£! I explained to her that it must be a mistake, cuz I sent a package few days back for 54£ with assurance that it'll reach in a day. I want the same service and am willing to pay more. She says, "This is the same service; its only lesser because you've walked in to our office to give the parcel rather than having us to come and collect it." (which is what DHL did last time). So, get this straight, it costs about 25£ less if you give the parcel yourself to them. Whatever! As for the silver lining, yes, I did save those 25£.

After a quick ride in the bus, which had wireless Internet connection btw, we reached City Center and repeated our last saturday's menu - jacket potato with toppings. Yummy! After that, I, of course, shopped for a lovely pair of pumps and a white tube top from New Look, and a steal-deal at H&M, where I bought shorts and a lovely white skirt for 8£. This definitely put a smile on my face. After a hard morning, I needed this!

The rest of the saturday, after getting back home, was spent in grooming myself for today. I'd rather not get into details.

Come sunday, I woke up early to make about 30 rotis for 8 people; for we 8 people were going on a picnic to Grantchester. It was a potluck of sorts - everyone brought something to eat/drink. It was accompanied by a lot of merry making and followed by card games and the ever so popular, dumb charades. We go back home just in time to catch the important match between India-England. At the end of 3 hours, felt like Indian side forgot they were playing a 20-20 match - for they looked so relaxed and calm and not in a hurry to reach the target score. R Jadeja's fitness sucks and so did Dhoni's tactics this time. It was disappointing, really. Whuda thought we'd lose this one so badly, without so much as a fight? Certainly not me.

I've got swimming today; I missed last monday for foreseen reasons, and though I'm dead tired, I'd better not miss today! 26£ a month is a lot.

Weekend was awesome. I had a neat hair cut, thankfully. The lady was amazing and did such a superb job I can't stop looking at myself in the mirror and admiring my hair. Then again, when have I? ;-) She trimmed it just the right length, and cut a good length at my hairline, so now hair is on my forehead, short enough to not fit in my band whilst tied. Thats cool. The hubby got a hair cut too, a la Amir Khan in Ghajini (without the lines) or Langda Tyaagi in Omkara. Hubby looks dashing.

The hairdresser's had 2 dogs in the parlour. One, a big labrador called Daisy and another a sweet, all-covered-in-hair breed of dog. Didn't catch its name. The hairy one came to me just as I entered the place and looked so lovingly at me. Later, as I was waiting, the HUGE Daisy came and quietly sat at my legs. I was scared! Sure, they are gentle giants, but hwo's to say if they, God forbid, get so much as a mood swing? The lady quickly beckoned Daisy and off she went into a corner, and slept. I couldn't help but feel a little bad at suspecting the cutie's intentions.

Annnyway, after the hair cut, we went to City Center. Heaven for shoppers n eaters. With the help of this magical thing called 'Google Maps' on another magical thing called 'iPhone', we made our way to Zara. Now, its really difficult to find dresses my size. I'm size 6 (UK), petite section pls. So even if its 8 petite, it doesn't fit. So I went in praying they'd have clothes my size. And have they did! Lovely summery tops and dresses! I chose 5, and stepped in the trail room. Loved how each one of them looked on me. Then looked at the prize! Way too expensive for worth! The prettiest of all, a flowery printed smocked top, was 39£! And trust me, when I see a good one, I know it. This one, though oodles on cuteness scale, just didn't make the cut for me. The rest of them followed suit.

But not the one to give up easily, I vowed to shop. But after lunch break. Lunch was very "English". Jacket potatoes with cheese, beans and ratatouille as toppings. Hubby had the same with chicken curry, sweetcorn and beef chilli toppings. Mine was a hit, his, not so much.

Tummy full, we went shopping around. Bought a nice scarf from a Punjabi lady (they are everywhere!). She narrated her history to both of us, while I was checking out other stuff she had in her shop. Bad I know, but I'm not interested please! Nice to have met you, nice to see another Indian in Cambridge, but not interested in knowing that some relative of yours died in a freak electric fence accident! And of course not when you refused to give me a discount on the scarf!

Then we hopped to a chic store, and not just because they had a "50% Sale!". Their stuff really kicked arse! Very urban, very chic, very modern. Very me. So I bought 3 tops. Lovely lovely lovely! 2 bright and summery ones, one for club wear! The kid who owned the shop asked me, "Are you Indian?" I said, "Yea; so are you giving me a discount on these now?". The guy, God bless him, says, "Yes!". And he meant it! So he minussed 3£ (lousy I know, but the kid said he couldn't go any lower than that) from the total bill.

I was elated! My hair looks great, the tops are sexy and I feel good! Today, at work, I have nothing much to do. Tomorrow onwards, will be a busy day!

Thank your stars, ye faithful reader(s), for here I am, blogging away again!

You guessed it right. This time you have 2 people to thank (or curse) for my post. Emma and Mr.PhD (I shall refrain from taking names on my blog from now on; too dangerous.) I'm, yet again, waiting on information from above mentioned people and they are busy. Never mind. Its 5 pm on a Friday evening and they are excused.

So we had a team meeting that lasted 2 hours this morning. Great, I love meetings! I've always wanted to know and be a part of meetings where actually something substantial is discussed and a productive outcome is realised, and thats what happened. It was a meeting with a simple agenda actually - each member had to say what work (s)he's been doing and intends to do, for about 10-15 mins. Cool. I had it all pictured in my mind:

Boss: Blah blah... So who wants to go first?
Me (excitedly): Me please! I've been unemployed for 4 months and even when I was employed before that, I have never attended meetings. Only heard about them. So, I'd like to go first please!
All: Such a smart, intelligent, and brave girl! Just what we needed for our co.

What actually happened was:

Boss: OK, so I'l go first. And then we'll go round the table.

Which made me the 2nd after Boss to speak. So much for my enthusiasm! Anyway, I did my bit and spoke about what I've done and will do. All is well. Boss wants me to let another guy in on a project I'm working on so wants me to have an introductory session with him. I know you can handle it, he says, but I need a backup if you go on a holiday. Fair enough. He also asks me to prepare a presentation and co-present another. I'm excited! I love being all geek in the 8 hours that I'm in office.

People in my office are real nice. And I like to shock them. Hehe allow me to explain:

A colleague, one day: So how are you liking working for ?
Me: I'm enjoying it. I don't know what Monday blues are!
Colleague: Oh thats good to know. And how do you think the work is? Are you able to cope up with it?
Me: Oh yes. I love all things network-y and telecom-y.
Colleague: Haha. Is this your first job?
Me: No, I've been working on this from almost 6 years now.
[Shock # 1] Colleague stops dead in his/her tracks. Says: Really? I thought you just graduated.
Me: *proud+sheepish smile* (don't know how I manage that)
Colleague: How do you like Cambridge? Do you live close to work?
Me: Mmm hmm. I cycle to work everyday; it takes me 10 mins.
Colleague: Wow, so where exactly do you stay?
Me: (I tell them the street name where I live)
Colleague: Oh thats good!
Me: Yea I recently moved here from London along with my husband and we both absolutely love it!
[Shock # 2] Colleague: You are married too?! Since how long?
Me: Yes *blushing* 2 years and 7 months now.
[Shock # 3] Colleague: Oh I totally didn't see that coming!

Hahaha so has happened with about 3-4 people in office. Of course, I take it as a compliment that I look young. Who doesn't like it? *grin*

I'm kicked about tomorrow because of:

1. I'm going for a hair-cut. Finally. Finally mustered up courage for it. My Sikh** in-laws won't be pleased one bit. I don't want to disappoint them either, but I'd like to trim the ends just a bit so that it looks neat. I also booked an appointment for the hubby, since he's got hair growing all over the place and has been lamenting about getting a hair cut, but never actually did so in the past 3 months (hehehe). So I am kicked about getting an uber-cool look after the hair cut, and I hope I love it. Its always so risky letting someone cut your hair. Of course, its more risky if I cut my own hair; what I meant was letting someone new cut your hair. As the hair dresser discusses the style that looks good on me, length, layers, fringe etc... I'm all okay. When (s)he actually stars spraying the water and put the section pins in place, and gets ready with scissors to chop my hair, I get nervous. I feel I should rather close my eyes, but that won't make it better would it? If anything, it makes me more nervous because I can't even tell her if I'm liking it or not. And if the lady is too touchy, then she might just snap and ask me to mind my own business while she does hers. Its a risk I tell you. And if, God forbid, at the end of it, if you don't like it, then you

1a. can't do anything about it because its already too short, or some such point of no return.
or,
1b. won't do anything about it because the damn hairdresser has already screwed it up and you don't want her to do anything to it now.

But tomorrow, I'm going to (try and) keep all my inhibitions aside and leave my silky black long tresses in the hairdressers hands. (Uh oh.)

2. Strawberry Fair at Midsummer Common - Honestly I don't even know what that means, simply because I haven't been to one. I'm guessing it means varieties of English strawberries and items to grow your own strawberries on sale. I guess. Should be good. Also, there's going to be music and stuff like that. I'd do like to go and have a dekko, but the weatherman says it might rain and thats not cool. Oh we'll cross the bridge when we come to it.

Its 5.36 pm now. Why am I still at work? Adios!

This post comes because I'm waiting for a colleague, the lovely Emma, to get free so that I can discuss something with her and then continue with my work. Until then, I'm stuck with nothing to do. So if you want to thank someone for bringing me from my oft-self-induced break from blogging (for today, at least), you've got Emma to thank!

Lets start with a cliche... life's been pretty hectic. Its been crazy the past 1.5 months. It was crazier after Dec 08 and up until April 09, but I'd rather forget that. The work I do here is awesome, I work with some of the best minds in telecom industry and my profile absolutely kicks ass arse (now that I'm in England... ) There are such humble people in my office; almost all are armed with PhD (in khatarnaak subjects like high speed data transfer using helium technology etc.). I'd rather not get started on them actually... it will be an un-ending post then. (Not really, but you get the drift.)

I didn't get paid for the month of April, since the Finance lady was on leave and hence couldn't get my papers through to the payroll. But I wasn't complaining then. I did get a lot of stares and "are you sure? absolutely?" questions when asked if I wanted an advance on my salary and I'd refused. Salary advance after a 4-month hiatus from work and I refused, why, you ask? Allow me to explain.

I wanted a fat increase in my bank balance, suddenly. You see, because I opted for April+May salaries to be credited to my account at end of May, I have a cool amount of money in my bank. OK, to hell with modesty, its in £££ (GBP)! Groovy baby *like Austin Powers says* Just the thrill of having 2 months salaries at once was super ... err thrilling :D

And what did I do with it? If you thinking it, whack yourself. I'm a girl and in such times, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. S-h-o-p-p-i-n-g! And in UK! But before that, we had dinner at Rainbow Cafe. Uber cool place if you are a vegetarian and don't want to ask the waiter what's in the dish everytime you order something in this meat-loving-country-with-so-few-veg-choices.

So shop I did, including an ultra-sexy pair of Red Nike shoes (pic coming up soon). I also bought a cool cycle: Dunlop Mountain Bike - shock absorbers, disc brakes and 18 gears!

Yes, I ride my cycle to work everyday! Reminds me of school days, but only I'm now wearing formal clothes and big sunglasses while riding them, as against a dork in school dress and 2 plaits *going back in time and imagining me then* (yep, that would be me from 95-98 when I used to ride a cycle to school.) Ah, bad memories. No not all of my school years were bad, but most of it was. I was bullied real bad and I didn't have the courage to stand up against it. Can't blame me; you see, the bullying came from the teachers. Notorious, most of them. And I don't remember my 11th and 12th at all. Yes, AT ALL. Wierd huh? I nod my head in agreement. The other time I was talking to my friend, who lives in Reading. I remarked that I haven't remembered having spoken so much to her during our 4 years of engg (she was in Civil while I was in Comp Science) as much as we have since I moved to UK 4 months back. She goes, "What are you saying? We were together for 6 years. 11th, 12th and 4 years of engineering after that. And in 11th and 12th, we were in the same class, except for Statistics and Comp Science." Huh, really? I'm completely blank about those 2 years of my life. Like written with a marker and wiped as and when a day passed. You can imagine how much fun I would've had in my 11th and 12th. As for the awkward moment with my friend, I acknowledged being a silly goose and not remembering those 2 years.

The scene at the place where I live (with 2 Zimbabweans, 3 Polish, 2 Nigerians and 2 British toddlers, apart from me and hubby) is, not as you must've imagined after looking at the number and diversity of people living, i.e in chaos, but actually quite ice and relaxed, thank you very much. The Zimbabwean lady goes - "how do you have your hair so long? Do you have extensions?". She says the other day - "I got my indefinite right to live in UK granted today, so I'm gonna wear a bikini and go to the beach with my cousins. My baby can stay with my husband. I'm gonna come back at night and go clubbing with my friends and sisters. I'm gonna get piss drunk and completely sloshed. I told my husband I'm not breast feeding my baby for a day or two." Wierd people in this country man! Celebrate, no one forbids you, but why drink and forego breast feeding to your 8 month old? Drinking is a huge problem in this country. Smoking too. I see kids as young as 8-10 hanging outside pubs and looking for half burnt cigarette butts, so that they can have a go at smoking. Parents are not allowed to raise their voices or even beat the kids, so kids (most, not all) turn into bad habits to very young age. Whack them I say, if they steer towards anything bad. My mom used to, very often I must add. Hehehe I was a naughty kid!

OK, Emma is still busy. I'll go and see if I can disturb her again. Adios!

I'm writing this whilst on train back home, using my iPhone :D

C'mon, lets sing like no one's watching!



An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice..."
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic...don't you think
A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think...

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

*take a bow*

The other day we went to the bank to open an account for ourselves. Such a good experience! We walked upto the bank, passed a lovely green park on the way. The roads are so clean, there's lane discipline, people are courteous. So at the bank, and there were so many people from different nationalities in the bank. There was us, then the banker was from Nigeria, 3-4 other Indians/Pakistanis/Bangladeshis (they all look alike I wonder why we fight), the lady behind the counter had a name that sounded very East-European. And, in the long queue after we opened the acct, there were Turkish, Malaysians, and so many other people. This is such a nice place to come to. The policies are such that they welcome people from different countries and give them a chance to build/re-build their lives here. Or just move to a better country.

There's one lady I know; she is from Sri Lanka. She tells me her family (which included 2 kids) ran from country to country before finally coming and settling down here in UK. Which was to escape the unrest in their own country. She says the UN helped them move to UK and helped them get jobs and home to live in. Isn't that amazing?

I love India, I miss my country, my food, my people; but UK is beautiful :) Its like a chhoti si duniya (a small world) in itself.

It was so huge!

PS: No time to label them. Move mouse over/click to see what the pic is about.

PPS: If time permits, I'll label n explain them myself.

PPPS: But can't say when.

These are consolidated. Bear with me...

Chennai mein it doesn't snow :P it doesn't even have a winter season! So we were quite excited when we saw frost outside the house one day!








On Jan 3rd, we went to meet Teji. Saw Big Ben, London Eye - all those touristy places. Was -3 deg C cold!






Then one day we went to Greenwich Meridian. It shows the imaginary line diving the world into east and west. It also has a time museum and has displays of ancient clock, first quartz clocks, stories abt how the scientists read the time by observing the moon and stars etc. I found out that earlier they had 20-hour clocks (as opposed to 24 hour clock system now)... so the dial had only 1 to 10, not 1 to 12. Quite fascinating.

















We also went to Museum of Natural History; pics coming up in next post.

I landed here on Dec 26th 2008 and fell in love with the place! Heathrow airport was so clean and so few people!

When we met Jeejaji outside, I was surprised to see such few people even on the roads. Lane discipline, smooth roads bowled me over. And, no one was honking! :D

To cut a long story short, I am having a lovely time with family here, and I want to start work soon :) Wish me luck!

Most weekends I go out with hubby, and I have lots of pics coming up, in the next post.

We'd booked our tickets 2 months in advance. When the ticket rates were slashed, they didn't even offer refund. Cheapos.

When we checked in our luggage, we paid extra. The flight was almost empty! They could've waived that charge. Cheapos.

Inside the flight, as we took our seats, I didn't have a complete kit - some items like toothpaste and brush, socks and headphones were missing. Uh oh, someone in my seat in the earlier flight took it with him/her. So the crew hadn't even cleaned up properly. Cheapos.

As soon as the flight took off, they served parathas and yummy aloo sabzi. At 5 AM!??!?! Who would eat it?! Actually, we did. We were famished. But they had no choice! Only 1 thing for veggies, and 1 for non-veggies. I had the veg dish, and hubby ate chicken. But on the website, when we were checking in, they listed a variety of dishes, including special gluten-free food for vegans, and many cuisines. Ah cheapos.

Poeple started grabbing the 3-seaters to stretch and sleep, the flight was that empty! And later on, in the 10-hr flight, we had to ask for, like actually, ask for, food to eat. Buggers man! And what did we get? A bun, with some cheese on it and orange juice or tea. Cheapos.

And when I went to freshen up, I saw the crew eating apple pie and strawberry dessert, and they happily waved at me :I Oh, the hubby asks to add that they didn't serve liqour either. Cheapos, he adds.

But wait, not everything on the flight was bad. They had an awesome in-flight entertainment system! Movies, TV sitcoms, music! And they had so much variety in each. Like for movies, they had recent movies, classics (Gone with the Wind, Agatha Christie mysteries), hits, award winning (Forrest Gump etc), action movies, animation movies for kids (WALL-E, Ice Age, Madagascar, Harry Potter series), and so much else! In TV sitcoms, they had Family Guy, Friends, Will and Grace and so on. Music they had soul, country, rock, pop, ballads, opera, classics and even Hindi music! Oh so much! I had a ball with the entertainment thing.

Oh I saved the best for last. They had this cool map thing, which you can use to see where you are currently. I mean, which country/sea are you flying over. We were flying at 45000 feet high, and the temp outside was -30 deg C! Not that we felt it, of course; the captain told us. Anyway, I saw that we flew over New Delhi, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, France, Denmark, Holland, Germany and so many more countries! I'd made a mental note of all the places, but now I don't remember them all. It was so much fun!

Moral - Please ditch BA flights unless its the only option. Hubby adds, "Be smart and choose Emirates."

WB has so many nice memories that it brings along with it. My in-laws are there; and they are like my 2nd set of parents. Love them. And being married to a Sikh household, it gives me immense pleasure to - EAT! Eat eat and eat is their motto. Err no, its eat, dance, work hard and enjoy. So before we reached my mil promised makki di roti (pancakes made of corn flour) and sarson da saag (green leaves of mustard in thick gravy), with adrak da achaar (ginger pickle). Oh balle balle mazaa aa gaya. So I learnt how to make them as well (posts coming up on my now-defunct cookery blog). I visited so many relatives; and had makki di roti etc at their houses as well :D

Hubby got the computer fixed, the speakers fixed, and bought a new mic and webcam. Created an account on Skype, under my mil's name. She's so Internet-savvy! We chatted with massiji in Amritsar and with the sis here in London. Such fun!

And also, also also also, I had pani puris! Loads of them! I think I had 3 plates, super-spicy ones :D Mmmmm... then I also ate dahi pani puri, ragda and bhel - ALL from the streetside guy! And they were so cheap; just 5 rs for 10 pani puris! It was 45 in Chennai for 5 badly-made pani puris :(

Anyway, I also bought some more essential stuff (which I'm not using here :I )

And the excitement was so palpable, I was looking forward to my first inernational flight! When we went to Calcutta, we checked into a hotel. Slept a while, ate some cakes, had tea. And then we got ready to leave. At the airport, we went in and got our baggage weighed. Paid bloody extra for it. The Immigration Officer asked for our marriage certificate. You see, I haven't changed my name or surname after wedding, and neither have I got my address in the passport changed to reflect hubby's. The Officer probably thought we are not married. Another reason could be that since I look so young *ahem* and hubby *ahem*doesn't*ahem*++ , he wanted to take a look. Since the luggage was already checked in, hubby went with some luggage guy and brought the certificate. Phew, the Officer smiles.

Then, we went back to where parents were waiting. Since it was already 2 AM, hubby asked them to go back to the hotel and rest before the journey back to sleepy calm town. As we were saying byes, and promises to call as soon as we reached, promised to be good kids etc etc., it hit me hard that for the first time, I'm leaving my mom and going so far. So far that I can't just book a ticket n go visit her... I started crying :( So did my mom, and my fil. Saying bye is really a heartburn. Hubby coerced them to leave for the hotel, and when we turned back to go to the airport lounge, I couldn't stop crying. I wish they all stay forever forever happy and healthy.

Waiting time in the lounge was killing me. So guess what did I do. Watched SATC movie! For the umpteeth time :D I hated the series, but somehow loved the movie. But Big is irritating as ever. My fav, Samantha, is as smashing and diva-like as ever!


++ - He is err... not old, is what I can say ;)

I'm 28 and in London :D

More to come...

Happy new year to you! xoxo