Few reasons why I hate Monday( in no particular order).
1. Saturday and Sunday, by virtue of being weekend days, are good days. Monday follows Sunday and naturally, is not welcome to show its face.
2.The whole world, it seems, enjoys the weekend & hates Monday….Its not just me. The whole world, it seems, takes the frustration out in the form of errant driving and road rage .What this means is unexplainable traffic jams and equally unexplainable human behaviour if you happen to deal with one while driving to work on Monday morning.
3.My boss & colleagues at work are not untouched by all these Monday blues . Hence, they all come to office with a sullen face. Very rarely, do I see people beaming with happiness because they have got the chance to come to work after two full days. The customary greetings and smiles are exchanged but it seems, they are thrown more in an attempt to motivate oneself to have a good (or at least normal) morning and less to actually wish the other person.
4.There is trouble brewing in the kitchen as well. The office chef, after all, is equally human and hates to put together Monday menu. As expected, the food is usually boring and unpalatable.
5.I believe in God and for quite some time now, have been making this futile attempt of making God hear me and believe in me. I do this in a lot of subtle ways that are not worth mentioning here. But, the most explicit attempt is made by observing a FAST on Monday and choosing to eat only one complete meal in the day. Needless to say, before the day ends, I feel deprived as I miss bingeing on mid-morning and evening snacks .Even 4 above does not help me feel not so deprived.
6.Friday is usually the best day of the work week. Which means, a lot of work gets shelved off to be taken care of on the next working day – which happens to be Monday ! So Monday brings with it not only its own worries but also the ones which belonged to Friday -unanswered emails, postponed conference calls, pending documentation and what not.
7.Monday leads to Tuesday, which brings with it the realisation that the new week has indeed arrived and is here to stay and that pending workload needs to be attacked before it spills over to the next Monday.
8.Last but not the least, Monday is exactly 5 days away from the day when I would be able to sleep in till late and have a leisurely stroll in the warm winter sunshine that we have very few days left of in this year.
...What an irony ..Despite being a harbinger for the next weekend, Monday is still the most dreaded day of the week for me.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The love of my life!
Research proves it and people all over the world vouch for it – there is something about the mighty Chocolate that makes people fall head over heels in love. And, I am proud to record here that I love it with every fibre of my being
When I was a young kid and this love story was in its nascent stages, I used to keep looking for ways of extracting money from my parents so that I could run to the nearby shop and put the money to chocolaty use. I had many cousins who were partners in crime and together, we would always manage to squeeze in a bar or two of 5-star almost every day. Life was heavenly, I say.
As I grew up a bit and money started flowing regularly in the form of monthly allowance, my love for chocolate grew manifold and it also became easy to express the feelings. To my horror, my cousins who used to stay in the same house, also got love struck in a similar fashion .And now that we had all grown up and become more aware of our rights, the camaraderie and sharing spirit of kiddo days was gone and chocolates stored in the fridge became a big reason for sibling rivalry. Parents tried to discipline, other elders tried to solve disputes amicably, family doctors tried to enlighten on the evil effects of the object of our affection but nothing could succeed in weaning me away.
School days over, I entered college and monthly allowance gained unexplainable proportions due to the endless demands of commuting, text books, clothes (parents understood the peer pressure) and all other necessities of a young college going girl. So, money supply ceased to be a consideration in buying the choicest of chocolates. In addition, that was also the era of software boom and sundry cousins and uncles and aunts travelling abroad in the name of providing those Americans and English, the much needed IT help. Needless to say, it was an unwritten rule for them to get back some of the “firangi maal” to impress those who were still living in the Neanderthal age in their own small town jungles. The love flourished and matured to embrace the exotic and the dark varieties that were hitherto inaccessible. It was a heaven on earth and a bigger and better one this time.
College and studies over, I joined the yuppie bandwagon of the earning professionals and nothing could come between me and my love now. By this time, parents had given up, cousins had found their own love in life, family doctors were no longer part of family and the empirical world also, it seems, was conspiring with the universe to create a whole new loveosphere for the lovely choc-O-late. Americans researched and found that it has got immense curative properties – good for warding off depression, better than aspirin for headache and works like wonder on heartache !Voila, suddenly my love got the redemption that it had been seeking all these years . The work trips abroad , own and those of colleagues, ensured the supply never ceases and taste buds keep getting developed to absorb more and more of the gooey sticky stuff which also came in finer versions that were less gooey and less sticky but equally sinful.
Cut to the present day, I got bitten by the cooking and baking bug and I discovered that I can be more self reliant now in my lovemaking. Life was never so easy …Got a sudden craving and the refrigerator seems to have none. No problem! Mix sugar, milk, cocoa and dish up my own stuff.
Now, my time is ticking and teeth are decaying, knees are wobbling and flab is sickening .However, the love for chocolate, I must say, is never ending and ever increasing!!
Research proves it and people all over the world vouch for it – there is something about the mighty Chocolate that makes people fall head over heels in love. And, I am proud to record here that I love it with every fibre of my being
When I was a young kid and this love story was in its nascent stages, I used to keep looking for ways of extracting money from my parents so that I could run to the nearby shop and put the money to chocolaty use. I had many cousins who were partners in crime and together, we would always manage to squeeze in a bar or two of 5-star almost every day. Life was heavenly, I say.
As I grew up a bit and money started flowing regularly in the form of monthly allowance, my love for chocolate grew manifold and it also became easy to express the feelings. To my horror, my cousins who used to stay in the same house, also got love struck in a similar fashion .And now that we had all grown up and become more aware of our rights, the camaraderie and sharing spirit of kiddo days was gone and chocolates stored in the fridge became a big reason for sibling rivalry. Parents tried to discipline, other elders tried to solve disputes amicably, family doctors tried to enlighten on the evil effects of the object of our affection but nothing could succeed in weaning me away.
School days over, I entered college and monthly allowance gained unexplainable proportions due to the endless demands of commuting, text books, clothes (parents understood the peer pressure) and all other necessities of a young college going girl. So, money supply ceased to be a consideration in buying the choicest of chocolates. In addition, that was also the era of software boom and sundry cousins and uncles and aunts travelling abroad in the name of providing those Americans and English, the much needed IT help. Needless to say, it was an unwritten rule for them to get back some of the “firangi maal” to impress those who were still living in the Neanderthal age in their own small town jungles. The love flourished and matured to embrace the exotic and the dark varieties that were hitherto inaccessible. It was a heaven on earth and a bigger and better one this time.
College and studies over, I joined the yuppie bandwagon of the earning professionals and nothing could come between me and my love now. By this time, parents had given up, cousins had found their own love in life, family doctors were no longer part of family and the empirical world also, it seems, was conspiring with the universe to create a whole new loveosphere for the lovely choc-O-late. Americans researched and found that it has got immense curative properties – good for warding off depression, better than aspirin for headache and works like wonder on heartache !Voila, suddenly my love got the redemption that it had been seeking all these years . The work trips abroad , own and those of colleagues, ensured the supply never ceases and taste buds keep getting developed to absorb more and more of the gooey sticky stuff which also came in finer versions that were less gooey and less sticky but equally sinful.
Cut to the present day, I got bitten by the cooking and baking bug and I discovered that I can be more self reliant now in my lovemaking. Life was never so easy …Got a sudden craving and the refrigerator seems to have none. No problem! Mix sugar, milk, cocoa and dish up my own stuff.
Now, my time is ticking and teeth are decaying, knees are wobbling and flab is sickening .However, the love for chocolate, I must say, is never ending and ever increasing!!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Where are you?
I woke up this morning rather dull and disoriented. It took me a couple of minutes of logical reasoning and fighting inner demons to drag myself out of bed .I think the whole night I did not sleep well and kept thinking on the lines of my purpose in this life and why God sent me on this earth, which are good lines of thought for occasional introspection but not so welcome when one is struggling with impending deadlines at work and need a good night’s sleep to be able to attack work with fresh vigour the next day.
These thoughts (or may be dreams, I am not sure!) kept me almost awake the whole night and I think it was only in the wee hours of morning that I managed to catch a wink. And then soon enough, it was time for cleaning and cooking maids and car cleaners to start pouring in and I had to get up to let them in. I made myself a hot cuppa of chai, which in normal circumstances, is enough to pep me up but today even that failed to work any magic. I tried to read the “What’s Hot” section of the newspaper to get some mojo back but it seemed in this winter, nothing is hot enough!
I finally gave up trying to feel good and convinced myself to work on an auto pilot mode – do what needs to be done.
So, I got ready for work, gulped down some breakfast and then drove like a maniac to reach office in time to be able to say that I did not take the first half off! I hoped fervently that the routine of office and scheduled meetings would put me back on track and I would be able to complete my work for the day. But nothing works as expected when the powers above conspire to not let it work. And so it happened that one by one, all the scheduled meetings got cancelled and I am now struggling with lot of unplanned time and plenty of work to finish. Not a good combination on a day when I am just not inspired to live, let alone work! Add to that, a “missing Boss” and “weekend mode “and it just gets as difficult as it could.
I hope, before the day finishes, I get a good enough reason or motivation to finish off my assignments for the day or else, I would spend my entire weekend moping under the guilt of missed deadlines and feeling miserable in general. And a weekend ill spent does not really spell well for the coming week .So, dear Goddess of Inspiration/Motivation, please be kind and don’t leave me in a lurch like this!
**Inspiration, inspiration ....where are you? Come back honey, I need you!**
I woke up this morning rather dull and disoriented. It took me a couple of minutes of logical reasoning and fighting inner demons to drag myself out of bed .I think the whole night I did not sleep well and kept thinking on the lines of my purpose in this life and why God sent me on this earth, which are good lines of thought for occasional introspection but not so welcome when one is struggling with impending deadlines at work and need a good night’s sleep to be able to attack work with fresh vigour the next day.
These thoughts (or may be dreams, I am not sure!) kept me almost awake the whole night and I think it was only in the wee hours of morning that I managed to catch a wink. And then soon enough, it was time for cleaning and cooking maids and car cleaners to start pouring in and I had to get up to let them in. I made myself a hot cuppa of chai, which in normal circumstances, is enough to pep me up but today even that failed to work any magic. I tried to read the “What’s Hot” section of the newspaper to get some mojo back but it seemed in this winter, nothing is hot enough!
I finally gave up trying to feel good and convinced myself to work on an auto pilot mode – do what needs to be done.
So, I got ready for work, gulped down some breakfast and then drove like a maniac to reach office in time to be able to say that I did not take the first half off! I hoped fervently that the routine of office and scheduled meetings would put me back on track and I would be able to complete my work for the day. But nothing works as expected when the powers above conspire to not let it work. And so it happened that one by one, all the scheduled meetings got cancelled and I am now struggling with lot of unplanned time and plenty of work to finish. Not a good combination on a day when I am just not inspired to live, let alone work! Add to that, a “missing Boss” and “weekend mode “and it just gets as difficult as it could.
I hope, before the day finishes, I get a good enough reason or motivation to finish off my assignments for the day or else, I would spend my entire weekend moping under the guilt of missed deadlines and feeling miserable in general. And a weekend ill spent does not really spell well for the coming week .So, dear Goddess of Inspiration/Motivation, please be kind and don’t leave me in a lurch like this!
**Inspiration, inspiration ....where are you? Come back honey, I need you!**
Thursday, February 09, 2012
The couple in the train !
Train journeys have always fascinated me. Not so much for the comfort over road journeys as for the opportunity they offer in terms of uninterrupted time for doing some of my favourite things like reading a book and occasional people watching! I love observing my co-passengers in the train though I must say , I’d much rather nobody observe me .But I think the trick lies in just observing very, very discreetly ,without making it too obvious. Which is something which I have mastered over the years, thanks to the umpteen train journeys, albeit short ones.
So, last weekend I happened to be on the train home and even though it was just a 2 hour long journey, I was fully equipped with my book and my snack pack and butterflies in my stomach. Strange as it sounds, I always have those butterflies fluttering whenever I am excited about anything, be it something as plain and simple as a train journey that I must have undertaken at least 100 times till date. I had a reservation for one of the side berths in an AC 3 tier sleeper coach. I went and sat quietly in one corner of the lower berth and adjusted my belongings as best as I could(read: plopped up my duffel bag against the seat back so that I could rest my head and read my book until I get anything more interesting to engage myself with! ).
Soon, the train started chugging along but my seatmates were nowhere to be seen. I was slightly disappointed but then happy also at the prospect of being able to spread myself on the entire seat and read my book which I had been reading for the last two months (gasp!) and it was only then that it had reached an interesting point. But, alas, happiness was short lived!
Very soon, I was joined by a young couple and together they occupied a greater part of the berth and just like I had, adjusted their luggage here, there and everywhere. I could see from the way the girl was dressed that the couple was a newly married one. I was a little disappointed to be sharing my seat with two people who were in some way, one! I have nothing against couples travelling in trains but if I have to share a seat with them, I get a little uneasy as the dynamics and display of coupledom sometimes become so prominent and loud that they create a difficult situation for others around.Hence, I thought it best to bury myself in my book in this particular train journey.
But it seems the book was not interesting enough! As it often happens when we are with a group of people, this couple also tended to act as if they were in some sort of a quasi-private setting that gave them freedom to act and speak the way they wanted .They soon engaged themselves in their own conversation, totally oblivious of the people around them. Not to say that it was a bad thing to do but just to mention that the conversation soon became so loud that I could not help overhearing.And before I knew it, I found myself enjoying it too! They seemed to be talking about planning their future together. I tried my best to tear myself away from them but such was the power and freshness of their dreams for a happy future, that I got drawn into it more and more.
They spoke of their individual & collective dreams, their expectations from each other, how they thought marriage would change their lives, what adjustments they would need to make and how they would work towards making it a success for both of them. At one point, the girl expressed her desire to go on regular short vacations as she felt such breaks from routine would help strengthen their bond but the guy expressed his inability to take frequent leave from office, especially because it was a new job and he wanted to work hard to earn more for both of them. The girl, at first, could not understand his view point and this resulted in them bickering about it but soon they realised the futility of it and came to a conclusion to cross the bridge when they came to it. Then again, I heard them arguing over something and forgetting about it soon and entering into an agreement that whenever both of them are angry and fighting, one of them would make an explicit effort to end the argument even if they have not reached a solution.
Their conflict resolution logic seemed to be perfect, though slightly straight out of some “marriage counselling book “.It made me wonder at their sweet innocence, the faith they had in their bond at that point in time and how they trusted life to bring nothing that they would not be able to manage with love and patience for each other. Like all others at the beginning of a new journey, they seemed to be fully prepared to tackle it and enjoy it too and really did not have a plan for any contingency. Not even the alarmingly increasing divorce statistics in the country seemed to have had any power to arise any apprehensions in their minds as to the future of their marriage.
I must say I thoroughly enjoyed overhearing the bits of conversation from the couple in the train and it was one train journey which I will always remember for the power and magic of dreams that it reinforced. And also the fact that if one finds someone to share these dreams in the journey of life, the power becomes almost invincible!
Train journeys have always fascinated me. Not so much for the comfort over road journeys as for the opportunity they offer in terms of uninterrupted time for doing some of my favourite things like reading a book and occasional people watching! I love observing my co-passengers in the train though I must say , I’d much rather nobody observe me .But I think the trick lies in just observing very, very discreetly ,without making it too obvious. Which is something which I have mastered over the years, thanks to the umpteen train journeys, albeit short ones.
So, last weekend I happened to be on the train home and even though it was just a 2 hour long journey, I was fully equipped with my book and my snack pack and butterflies in my stomach. Strange as it sounds, I always have those butterflies fluttering whenever I am excited about anything, be it something as plain and simple as a train journey that I must have undertaken at least 100 times till date. I had a reservation for one of the side berths in an AC 3 tier sleeper coach. I went and sat quietly in one corner of the lower berth and adjusted my belongings as best as I could(read: plopped up my duffel bag against the seat back so that I could rest my head and read my book until I get anything more interesting to engage myself with! ).
Soon, the train started chugging along but my seatmates were nowhere to be seen. I was slightly disappointed but then happy also at the prospect of being able to spread myself on the entire seat and read my book which I had been reading for the last two months (gasp!) and it was only then that it had reached an interesting point. But, alas, happiness was short lived!
Very soon, I was joined by a young couple and together they occupied a greater part of the berth and just like I had, adjusted their luggage here, there and everywhere. I could see from the way the girl was dressed that the couple was a newly married one. I was a little disappointed to be sharing my seat with two people who were in some way, one! I have nothing against couples travelling in trains but if I have to share a seat with them, I get a little uneasy as the dynamics and display of coupledom sometimes become so prominent and loud that they create a difficult situation for others around.Hence, I thought it best to bury myself in my book in this particular train journey.
But it seems the book was not interesting enough! As it often happens when we are with a group of people, this couple also tended to act as if they were in some sort of a quasi-private setting that gave them freedom to act and speak the way they wanted .They soon engaged themselves in their own conversation, totally oblivious of the people around them. Not to say that it was a bad thing to do but just to mention that the conversation soon became so loud that I could not help overhearing.And before I knew it, I found myself enjoying it too! They seemed to be talking about planning their future together. I tried my best to tear myself away from them but such was the power and freshness of their dreams for a happy future, that I got drawn into it more and more.
They spoke of their individual & collective dreams, their expectations from each other, how they thought marriage would change their lives, what adjustments they would need to make and how they would work towards making it a success for both of them. At one point, the girl expressed her desire to go on regular short vacations as she felt such breaks from routine would help strengthen their bond but the guy expressed his inability to take frequent leave from office, especially because it was a new job and he wanted to work hard to earn more for both of them. The girl, at first, could not understand his view point and this resulted in them bickering about it but soon they realised the futility of it and came to a conclusion to cross the bridge when they came to it. Then again, I heard them arguing over something and forgetting about it soon and entering into an agreement that whenever both of them are angry and fighting, one of them would make an explicit effort to end the argument even if they have not reached a solution.
Their conflict resolution logic seemed to be perfect, though slightly straight out of some “marriage counselling book “.It made me wonder at their sweet innocence, the faith they had in their bond at that point in time and how they trusted life to bring nothing that they would not be able to manage with love and patience for each other. Like all others at the beginning of a new journey, they seemed to be fully prepared to tackle it and enjoy it too and really did not have a plan for any contingency. Not even the alarmingly increasing divorce statistics in the country seemed to have had any power to arise any apprehensions in their minds as to the future of their marriage.
I must say I thoroughly enjoyed overhearing the bits of conversation from the couple in the train and it was one train journey which I will always remember for the power and magic of dreams that it reinforced. And also the fact that if one finds someone to share these dreams in the journey of life, the power becomes almost invincible!
Monday, February 06, 2012
Not getting time for blogging !
Why does it always happen like this ?Whenever I decide to take up a personal goal or pursue something ( even if it is a few minutes of writing) , I get swamped with work so much so that I am working even after I am back home from office.
Anyways..this has to change .I have decided I will not have a lopsided existence and will make time to do everything that I want to do at any point of time.So yes, better time management it will be ! Also,I will probably provide for this in my work estimates and project plans :-)).
But right now its time to catch the ever elusive sound sleep.So , I will now switch off my laptop and try to get some shut-eye.
Hope tomorrow is a better day - which means, amongst other things , a bright and sunny morning, less traffic on the highway and a happy frame of mind(elusive again..I know!).
Why does it always happen like this ?Whenever I decide to take up a personal goal or pursue something ( even if it is a few minutes of writing) , I get swamped with work so much so that I am working even after I am back home from office.
Anyways..this has to change .I have decided I will not have a lopsided existence and will make time to do everything that I want to do at any point of time.So yes, better time management it will be ! Also,I will probably provide for this in my work estimates and project plans :-)).
But right now its time to catch the ever elusive sound sleep.So , I will now switch off my laptop and try to get some shut-eye.
Hope tomorrow is a better day - which means, amongst other things , a bright and sunny morning, less traffic on the highway and a happy frame of mind(elusive again..I know!).
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