My tryst with public transport

Unlike the rest of Bombay that believes in the power of public transport, I have been cabbing it to work and back for the last one & a half months. This has earned me the tag of a brat. Elitist, snobbish...you name it, I've been called it by colleagues & friends. You'd think at least your friends, who are supposed to know you better than your colleagues, would refrain from making such character judgments about you. Well, think again!

So yesterday I made a valiant attempt to take the bus to work and back, and both my attempts were foiled by guess who! Friends, ofcourse!

I fought the urge to hop into the cab and was waiting patiently at the bus stop in the morning when a friend pulled over in his Ford Ikon. He rolled down his windows and sat inside his nice comfortable air-conditioned car laughing at me. I tried to ignore him at first, then I tried pleading with him to leave but when I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, I decided to hop into his car. Oh well, I could always take the bus back from work. Taking public transport one way would be better than cabbing it both ways.

So I went and stood at the bus stop again in the evening and guess what happened! Two of my colleagues, who give me hell every single day for taking the cab to work, spotted me and pulled over in their cab. They kept yelling at me to hop in, and I was actually standing there yelling back "I can't! I have to take the bus! Go away! I need to take the bus! Can't you see I'm making an effort here?" And these colleagues of mine were laughing their arses off! That was the funniest thing that happened to me all of yesterday & we laughed about it all the way back home!

Today I made another attempt to take the bus to work and I succeded! Seems the Gods have finally decided to help me in my quest to shake off the "brat" tag. I hope tomorrow is another good day. Amen.

Losing my religion...How did R.E.M. come up with these lines?

Oh, life is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight, I'm
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Rise Up

My dream is to fly
Over the rainbow so high
My dream is to fly
Over the rainbow so high
Rise up...dont falling down again
Rise up...long time I broke the chains
I try..to fly..a while..so high
Direction's sky
My dream is to fly
Over the rainbow so high

-Yves Larock

Thank God for nail files & friends!

Just when it looks like it’s shaping up really nicely
Without any interference,
Suddenly it snags on something
and then the whole thing comes apart.
Thank God, for nail files and friends!


"Sometimes it is easier to mess up the good things than to forgive yourself for your flaws and accept that you are deserving of contentment and happiness.”

- Found on a friend's blog. Thanks SB!!

The story of my life....incomplete

She moves, she moves like a breeze
I swear I can't get her out of my dreams
To have her shining here by my side
I'd sacrifice all them tears in my eyes

Aicha Aicha, passing me by
Aicha Aicha, my my my

Slow

Just like fast cars, anything that goes at a very high speed cannot sustain itself for too long & has to crash. At least in the case of driving in the fast lane, if you're lucky you sverve and avoid a crash. Unfortunately, life doesn't always offer us opportunities to save what we have.

Somewhere in the mad rush of fast cars, living in the fast lane, fast track jobs, fast relationships, fast marriages, faster break-ups...we have forgotten what it feels to slow down. We have forgotten what it feels to belong.

Enough said

I remember we were driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

Taking my chances

"Sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves...that even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

These are lines from one of my favorite shows - Grey's Anatomy. I have always believed that each one of us needs to make our own mistakes in life. That is the best & most effective way to learn. For this very reason, I never gave my little sister, and later my cousin sister, any advice on the do's & don'ts of living on their own - when they left home for college. My parents, aunts & uncles urged me to do so on numerous occasions (since I'd already lived on my own for a few years by then & had apparently managed quite well) but I refrained from doing so. Sure, I gave them advice when they asked for it but the final decision was always theirs.

One thing is for sure - we can't live borrowed lives. We have to sculpt our own lives, make our own mistakes, carve our own victories, battle our own failures. The above mentioned quote aptly summarizes this. There are some people who never take chances in life, and some who take their chance but give up the moment they hit rough weather. My point is, sometimes it's not enough to simply take your chance. You need to stick it out as well. Most good things in life require a lot of perseverance, hard work & patience, and we will never get them if we quit at the slightest sign of trouble.

Billy Jean King, a six time Wimbledon winner, says "Champions take chances, and pressue is a privilege".

The future looks bleak from where I'm standing right now - fraught with uncertainties. It's going to be a long-winded difficult journey that would require tons of patience, maturity & emotional restraint, but I'm hopeful & optimistic.I am taking my chance in life & am willing to stick it out...because I believe what I'll get in the end would be worth every bit of effort. At least I stand a chance....because I'm choosing not to walk away.

Of beginnings and ends

I am one of those people who wants to do a lot of different things in life. Thanks to my lack of inertia, it takes me forever to get started on them. Once I start, I take it on with full gusto but somewhere down the line the enthusiasm fades. This is a rule of life I've always tried to fight. It applies to everything....hobbies, new skills I try to acquire, gymming, and more recently, blogging.

Blogging....Ah! That's another story. I took a very long time to start blogging. It it was one of those things I was curious about but never had time for. When I did start, I made sure the ENTIRE world knew I had my own blog site. I was into it completely at first. However, the demands of life and keeping a job slowly caught up, and now I blog as and when I get the time (It's a different matter that no one reads my blogs, but that's okay! I read them over and over again :)

2007 Diaries

Another year has come to an end & a new one has started. A leap year at that! It's been long since we've had a February 29th :-)

I'm trying to look back at the good things I gained over the last year. Professionally, I grew alot - the biggest achievement being that I learnt how to handle a team. What a task it is to be able to divide your limited time & attention among a bunch of people, manage everyone's expectations, and make sure everyone is delivering their best while staying motivated! I feel that leading a team is a quality you either have in you or you don't. Kinda like lycra :-)

At a personal level, it was quite an eventful year as well. I got to travel to Delhi during the winter & spend time with a couple of my closest friends. What a blast we had eating ice-cream at 2 am on a freezing night at India Gate! The year ended on such a high! My sister got married to her love of five years. I learnt to balance my personal & professional lives. I feel I have a clearer idea of what I want to do & in what direction I want my life to be headed both personally & professionally.

2007 was quite a year of self-discovery, and I hope the high continues through 2008.