Tag

This is not a revival - but I did feel like doing this tag :D

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
***02. Swam in the actual sea***

03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
***08. Said "I love you" and meant it***
***09. Hugged a tree - I think i have pic of me doing that when i was a kid***
10. Water-skiied
11. Visited Paris (but hopefully will do this soon)
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
***13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise - so many times! K brought out the night owl in me***
14. Seen the Northern Lights
***15. Gone to a huge sports game - Does an IPL match count?***
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa/Qutub Minar - Is climbing up the Qutub Minar it even allowed? If it is I probably did. Although considering that I have no recollection of it, it might have been pretty sad.

***17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables - As a kid, I grew tomatoes, chillies etc (with my great grandma). I remember trying to cut up a potato and burying it in the ground - that didn't turn out well***
18. Touched an iceberg
***19. Slept under the stars - long, long ago during hyderabad summers. Ah antakshari and story telling by starlight***

20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
****22. Watched a meteor shower - when the leonid showers showed up in Hyd when i was in school i think***
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

**** 26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment - So embarrassing and not just for me. I still have to control this tendency. Biting my lip, digging into the palms of my hand, and if nothing else works, reciting psalm 23 ***
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger - Does a stranger asking me out count? What about staring at a stranger and willing him to ask you out?
30. Had a snowball fight - hope to see snow soon
***31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can- yes, concerts/discos or any other location where the noise levels are so high, it doesn't matter how loud you scream ***
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
***34. Ridden a roller coaster - and in the rain. ***
35. Hit a sixer that won the game
*** 36. Danced like a fool and didn't care who was looking - if i cared about how I looked, I wouldn't dance ***

***37. Adopted an accent for an entire day - not for an entire day, but I did bug R once by putting on a hideous English accent ***

***38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment - often. I now take care to recognize these moments and feel happy about feeling happy ***

39. Had two hard drives for your computer

*** 40. Can name all 27 states. ***

***41. Taken care of someone who was drunk ***

***42. Had amazing friends - Had and have. I make amazing friends and then neglect them. But I make new ones again. But someday I should stop neglecting the ones I've made already***

***43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country - a little bit of a cheat here. Danced with a friend of a friend but I didn't know/don't know them very well ***

44. Watched whales

*** 45. Stolen a sign/damaged public property - I stole a second hand book from a roadside vendor once and then lost it before i could read it. Any kleptomaniacal tendencies were nipped after realizing that i'll never get to use the stolen items. Not a moralistic view but it keeps me out of trouble ***

46. Backpacked in Europe - noooo. But I will soon.

***47. Taken a road-trip***

***48. Gone rock climbing - in Lonavla on a church camp thingy. Lot's of fun ***

***49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach - not midnight but late night. But with my parents so not much fun :| ***

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Kashmir.

*** 52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love - So glad those days are history ***

*** 53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them - You try going to an Udipi restaurant at lunch time ***

54. Visited Japan

55. Tried to make a buffalo move when it sat down in front of your car

*** 56. Alphabetized your CDs - Yes. Didn't know what to do with myself after K. Also needed to sort the tons of DVDs i'd burned ***

*** 57. Pretended to be a superhero - Ah. Dad's shirts made lovely capes. Jump off from a height greater than 3 feet (or a chair if you're too scared) and see them billow ***

*** 58. Played 'Antakshari' in a public place and sung really loudly without caring about the onlookers. - Engineering college girls can be loud. Very loud. Also utterly immune to scathing looks ***

***59. Lounged around in bed all day - small joys of life***

***60. Played gully cricket - I had no friends growing up but my lil bro's friends often let me field. No wonder I hate games ***

61. Gone scuba diving

*** 62. Kissed in the rain - hmmm ***

63. Played in the mud

***64. Played in the rain***

65. Gone to a drive-in theatre

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

***68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken***

***69. Toured ancient sites - Mahabalipuram does count :D***

70. Taken a martial arts class

***71. Played a video game for more than 6 hours straight - All super sissy games like Mappy. Although I did finish Contra ***

***72. Gotten married - 3 times buster ***

***73. Been in a movie - yes, DD Hyderabad's telegu educational telefilms back in the 80's. I had 2 tiny dialogues and I had to spend 2 days waiting around. But what the heck - it got me out of school :D ***

74. Crashed a party - hate them so much that crashing one would be akin to "Aa bail mujhe maar"

75. Gotten divorced - Hopefully will never

76. Gone without food for 5 days - Gone without nutritious food for 5 days? Now that's something I can tick off

*** 77. Made chapatis from scratch - It's a pain. Buy them! ***

***78. Won first prize in a costume contest - Yes! My great-grandma made the best fake angel wings ***

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice 

80. Gotten a tattoo - Too chicken. Would have gotten one if i was still single. There's something defiantly "I don't need a guy" about getting a tattoo

81. White water rafted - Too scary to even contemplate :S

82. Been on a television news program as an "expert"

83. Gotten flowers for no reason - R: nudge nudge wink wink

***84. Performed on stage - So many dorky childhood group dances***

85. Been to all states in India

86. Recorded your own music - No. But I did sigh into a mike trying to capture *just* the right amount of sorrow

87. Eaten shark and preferred roadside 'bandi' food -
 
88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents - shiver :S

93. Been on a cruise ship

***94. Spoken more than one language fluently***

95. Performed in the National Day Parade in New Delhi/your city

96. Raised children

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

***98. Passed out cold - So embarrassing. One of those things you have to do, if for nothing else, to tick off lists like this ***

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country - Do not know how to ride a bicycle :S

***100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over - Yes. Although it's more like moved back to your home city to start over ***

101. Walked the Howrah bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car 

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived

***105. Wrote articles for a large publication - yayy mcx :D***

106. Lost over 10 kgs

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Touched a stingray

***110. Broken someone's heart - Not very pleasant. Being blunt is helpful even though it sounds counter intuitive***

111. Helped an animal give birth

***112. Won money on a TV game show - well we won a trip to europe on a show that was televised within the company :D ***

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears

***116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol - Yes. Same Lonavla camp. Yayy for camps ***

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

***118. Ridden a horse - Yayy for exhibitions. Also rode a camel and an elephant. Not on the same day. ***

119. Had major surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet

***121. Spent the night at a railway station - Ah Velankanni.***

***122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period - I'm not proud. Maybe just a little. Hey I've also had 3 hours of sleep out of 48. Things balance.***

123. Spent the better part of your life outside India

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

***128. Had your picture in the newspaper - God bless an overseas summer internship***
 
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

***132. Touched a cockroach - Too many at home ***
 
133. Eaten fried ice cream

***134. Read 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey' - We had them in middle school. Abridged of course. ***

***135. Selected one 'important' author who you missed in school, and read - JD Salinger ***

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

137. Skipped all your school reunions

***138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language - Yes! Hands gestures rock.***

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

***141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream - very very rarely***

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair - Does Henna count?
 
147. been a dj

148. Shaved your head

149. Caused a car accident
 
150. Saved someone's life

Dear Diary,

Life is.... good in parts, not so in others. But overall quite nice.
Work's hectic with insanely long hours. Add a 4 hour commute to it and my weekdays are a blur.
Weekends are spent either trudging up to the city to watch a movie, to church or generally chilling at home. McVeggies have become part of staple food ever since one opened close to home. Haven't watched any of the movies carefully downloaded from K. Did watch pirated Jaane Tu. (Couldn't get tickets) Awesome stuff. The Dark Knight was everything I'd wanted and hoped it would be. Dark and deep without sacrificing any masala. Incredibly satisfying. I could watch it again. Although I do think Batman was completely overshadowed by the Joker. The Hindu's review today read like a eulogy to Heath Ledger which I dismissed. But looking back, he did have more compelling screen time. Blood curdling.

Appropos of nothing: Being an adult is tough. Sigh. And being an adult who overanalyses and is over-educated and pseudo-intellectualized is worse to boot. It's energy-sapping. Sometimes I wish I was like most of the world is - bigoted, biased and concerned with just oneself. I'm actually not surprised that most people become that sooner or later. I honestly admire the ones who aren't. There's no such thing as playing fair. I don't know what's making me say this. Nothing of the sort has happened recently. Bah.

Anyway. Tu Bole from Jaane Tu is incredible. Hindi Jazz! That and Kahin To. It's like listening to old, old english songs.

Status update

Dear Diary,

I quit. 2 weeks into the new job and i quit.
Will be joining old job from monday.
So after the last month and a half of intense drama, things will be back to how they were supposed to be. Sigh.

Calm pond. Big stone. Big splash. Many ripples. Calm Pond.

Sigh.

I feel awful. Lonely. Manipulated. Ridden rough-shod over. Tired. Drained. Defeated. Sad. Bewildered. Scared. More than anything else, Worn out.

I feel honor bound to add that it had nothing to do with the job or the firm. Both were very nice.

Induction Day 1

In the gurgaon office now. Induction. Boring.
Miss R. Miss being part of a big induction group.
Nobody in the same age group as I.
Either really young or really old!!

Sigh.

Lets see how things go.

Status Update

Well, I do have a job after all. :D

Sunday evening I'll be catching a flight to Gurgaon for training that should last about a week.
Not looking forward to it much but hopefully the excitement of going to a new place will kick in soon. I'll miss R. :( But hopefully it'll only be for a week and not get extended. Although I am going to pack for 2 weeks.

The last 3 days have been so much fun. Lots of shopping, eating and celebrating. Mom and Dad seem to have adjusted well to R. So has bro. Things have worked out much better than I expected. Yay.

I hope my training goes off well. Fingers crossed. I'll get to check out Shamshabad airport. But it's a travesty to leave 4 hours before time for a 2 hour flight. Gah. Still, hope the airport's worth it. Wonder what the office looks like, how the people are etc. Nervous. Wish I was going to Deloitte, atleast I'd have company. Sigh.

Butterflies in stomach cure

Writing this coz I'm anxious.

Remember the non-R cause of happiness I was talking about? Well the reason behind that was my getting into another company. One that gives free food. Well I was very happy at that point of time.
Not all that happy now though. For some reason it has lost its shine :(

Part of the reason might be because it'll mean me moving to city in hated north India. Part of it is coz certain placecom members have told me that I'm being paid too little as compared to people in the same post. But the biggest part of it is that I keep getting this recurring feeling that they'll withdraw the offer. Now I was happy with my earlier company. Life would have been, personally speaking, pretty perfect. The people there were pretty awesome. So now that I've rejected it, I feel intensely guilty. It's like ditching someone at the altar. Yes, its better than a divorce but it's still pretty awful. And because of this, I feel that I've accumulated a lot of bad karma and that will result in me being left high and dry with no offer whatsoever. Esp coz I've no realized that I have no proof of actually having gotten this new job. I received the intimation email and then I wrote back declining the offer coz I wanted a job in my hometown. Then I went to meet them to formally decline it and then they offered me a temp posting in my hometown, so I said yes. But since then, I've not had any written communication from them! I've had calls asking me for my choice of username and enquiries about when I'd be free for training and all. But considering that I've formally declined my other offer today, I'm feeling kinda creeped out that the other offer was just a dream and that I'm currently jobless! That feeling has only been reinforced by the fact that I called the HR today and she isn't picking up! Do you think you can sue a company for standing you up? Gah! I wish work would start soon so that I wouldn't have the time to worry about stuff like this!

Talking about time, I've been crazy busy since yesterday. R's in town (yay!) so I went and picked him up, helped him set up his place and then brought him back to my place to "Meet the Parents". The meeting went off pretty well. Atleast there wasn't any bloodshed or raised voices. Today we went to visit his future workplace and met Ag. It was awesome fun and it made me question my decision a little bit. Sigh. I just hope this decision doesn't come and bite me in the ass. Why should we be forced to make decisions anyway! There's much to be said for a choiceless existence. Having a choice only makes sense if you have the ability to make a good decision. Something which I seriously doubt I have! But anyway, the decision has been made. Now let's see how things go.

All things said, I'm so glad that R's finally here. The way I pictured our meeting was no where like it actually happened. First up, I had to wait at the station for an hour before the train turned up! Then when the train actually pulled up and I boarded the train to look for him and help him get his luggage out, I found him sitting in his seat, calmly gazing out of the window. I was expecting a more lover-like jump-out-of-the-train-and-run-towards-me-with-arms-open-wide meeting. What surprised me most was the first few minutes of actually seeing each other. After more than 2 months of not laying eyes on each other, we actually looked different I guess. His first words were "you've grown taller!" and mine were "you look absurdly young!". Both ofcourse were impossible, but I think I'd forgotten how boyish R looks! The first few minutes were so odd! He looked different. Despite blowing up huge phone bills and knowing what the other had done in the most excruciating details, there was still this tiny amount of constraint, this feeling of alienation and of being in the presence of someone new. It was weird to say the least. A body-snatcher moment! I think he felt it too because he kept staring at me, and I kept staring at him. Of course I was also grinning like a half-wit, coz despite everything, I was ridiculously glad to have him back. But after the first hour or so, after the taxi-ride and showing him his new apartment, the constraint sort of just dissolved and through extremely goofy antics (read: weird sign language) we had proof that no body snatching was involved.

It's been fun since then although it is odd to not have him 3 floors below me, the transition isn't all that hard after being apart for so long. But today after the trip from the city (which was a lot like our auto-trips at K) it was so difficult having to drop him off at his place and then come back alone to mine. Gah! I wish we didn't have to wait for atleast a year before getting married. After being so close for a year, it feels so stupid to be apart now.

Still, things could have been much worse! I could have ended up in a different city or our parents could have forbidden us from seeing each other! Happily nothing of that sort has happened and I'm looking forward to spending the next few months showing R around Hyd. Much fun shall be had.

Touch Wood.

Unbulleted

My being very happy and extremely satisfied with life has resulted in me ferreting out unhappy people and dousing them with overpoweringly large quantities of advice. A side effect of I'm-so-happy-so-everyone-else-too-has-to-be-happy syndrome. After much advising, I feel thoroughly useful. I want to be Oprah.

Talking of Oprah, I miss watching her on Star World at 10 and 2. I do not like Ellen. And I miss Nate Berkus. Star World no longer has soapy afternoons. What a pity!

I'm reading the Princess Diaries. They're lovely!

I think I'm going through delayed adolescence. That would explain both my reading habits and the fact that I can't talk to my mom without being nasty. I'm such a bitch sometimes.

Last week before work starts. :( Not looking forward to living by the clock. But it would be nice to have a plump bank account.