Stapler...

Tick…tick…clip…clip.. Goes the stapler…. Wondering about this simple yet so useful invention I take a walk down my memory lane. As a kid, in spite of so many warnings and monitoring by parents, I wonder how I managed to clip my fingers rather than the bunch of papers (most of the times it would be just one sheet of paper with endless pins bordering the sheet in different patterns). Initially I would be amazed to see the dangling metal part from the tip of my finger, until the excruciating pain took over my excitement. And then I would run about the whole house creating pandemonium, leaving my parents in jitters.

At that point of time, enters my Hero. My dad would make me sit on his lap and handle my tiny little fingers with utmost care, as if they were The most precious thing in the whole universe, Of course every child is an apple of the eye to their parents. Looking back, now I understand the agony that he would have gone through to see me like that. Very carefully he would try to pluck out the alien element, trying not to shed any of the coloured liquid from me. Yet, the foreign body would leave behind a tiny bead of blood making me burst into tears. This would only worsen the situation for him, to see his princess cry, making him feeling that he was the cause for the pain. How I wish I had cried a little lesser and smiled for it was over….

And today when I see the stapler on my desk, I know I can never go wrong with it again, lesson learnt! But yes, I also see another person in line who could be doing the same in near future….

Stranger becomes friend or foe?

It was on one fine day, or one of those days when I missed my cab again. I got into a Volvo bus, standing, trying to finish my furity-breakfast doing the balancing act, when I over-heard the person standing next to me. He was a middle-aged man, early thirties I think, I’m not very good at guessing game. It was evident from his conversation that he was very much naïve to the city or atleast B’lore traffic. During the peak 10 o’clock office hour’s traffic, he was assuring someone on the phone, that he would reach Whitefield from Domlur in about 10minutes!! My heart leapt out to him and also the other person waiting for him and so I told him that it will not be feasible to reach that soon. He just enquired about the number of stops and roughly how long will it take and I answered his queries politely, all the while finishing the grapes by myself.
Later we just got into a typical introductory conversation of where from, what you do etc,. He was from Goa, not dressed in a bright flowery shirt or straw hat. Not an IT guy, for a change. He started asking me about my work, damn! My roller-coaster career with a shift from Biotechnology to IT industry, the dreadful question and then the job satisfaction part. I ponder over his questions, wondering how life has become, or I had let it happen to me.
Time flew by as we chatted for a little longer and then he popped the popular question of, “Are you on FB?” with my jaw dropped down, I blurt out frankly that I didn’t expect him to be on FB. I gave him my email id unaware of what it got me later. I reached my stop and we parted after exchanging pleasantries and not before providing him sufficient navigator information.
The day after, I see an email with a not so familiar name, but an eye-popping subject, “…from ITPL bus”. Now that was quick. After much dilemma I open the mail to see some phone number and about keeping in touch. Sigh! Bekitha? After having some internal conflicts, I sent a polite reply which doesn’t make a concrete promise of keeping in touch. But then I’m left with so many questions - too many to pen down, too many for me to handle. I feel like a kid refusing to grow up and wish I could go back to my cocoon sheltered by my parents.
But one of the many questions that still keep haunting me till date is - who else got my email id??

Travel hangover!!

Do you know what I’m talking about? I don’t even know if such a term exists, but I think this is what I’ve been facing since morning. Weekend trip to Hyderabad from Bangalore has made me sleep deprived for almost 3 days in a row now. People say it is just Hyderabad- Bangalore, overnight journey and that you can sleep through it. But then, it is otherwise, at least sometimes.
It all started on Friday evening, rushing from office to make it to the bus stand just in time, only to find myself lost amongst numerous buses. I was running from one end to the other looking for my 20:43 bus. There was 20:25 and 21:04 bus, but not mine. After frantically searching I finally got onto my bus, made all the calls and messages about safely boarding the bus and then I nestled on my seat making myself comfortable. After the tiring day and luggage tugging, I was ready to fall asleep at the drop of a hat in spite of the not-so-good comfort of a bus ride. But then, I was not very lucky as the girl seated next to me seemed to be on a marathon-talking competition. I wanted to politely point out to her that she was on the higher end of permissible decibel level of sound. But then the alien language was explicit enough to reveal her mixed feelings, the excitement of getting a visa and flying to a new place and the pain of parting from the loved ones’. So I chose to toss around for a while until I caught some sleep.
I woke up to the sun rise (if I had fallen asleep) which looked more like an hour glass to me with the sand sliding down faster than ever. One more sun rise in Hyderabad and the next in Bangalore again. Sigh! I’m reminded of the lines, “…..And miles to go before I sleep” (courtesy “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening” – Robert Frost). As the clock ticks away, I decide that sleep can wait, so am on my heels doing all the errands. I was looking forward for the eventful evening as it was my school’s annual day, the primary reason for my trip. It was a wonderful evening to see my teachers’ proud of what I am today and of course to catch up with old friends. Late in the night, I decided to go for a movie with my parents the next day. Though it meant incomplete sleep I chose the first show so that I’ll get done with it and my other plans will still remain undisturbed.
I was glad I had watched the movie with my parents in the big screens of IMAX, 3D. My parents too thoroughly enjoyed themselves. From there, it was the meet up with college friends followed by some souvenirs, Karachi bakery biscuits.
Later in the evening it was back-to-square-one, packing and rushing for the bus (it is genetic I suppose, making it in the last minute) .Boarding the bus again and thinking of the long journey ahead and the day ahead made me sleepy and tired. But insomnia continued to haunt me, in a different version this time. My blanket! I couldn’t believe that it was not enough for a person of a small stature like me too. It seemed more like a table cloth. When I couldn’t get a replacement, I had to dangle my feet out all through the night getting them cold. I was hoping not to fall sick and tried to catch some sleep with the speakers just above my head thumping some loud movie dialogues.
Monday morning blues, I say to myself and reach office hoping the day to pass. With the caffeine kicking and keeping me alive I wait for the sun set so that I can reach home and slip into a deep slumber. The trip has left me happy and contented though it meant going that extra mile.

Random thoughts…

I want to write, but don’t know about what. I feel writing will let out my thoughts, but of no use. I’ve too may thoughts going on in my mind hitting each other, like some meteorites in the space. I can’t pick which one’s to pen down. But thinking about them, makes me feel sad. I feel low, I feel bad, I feel guilty, I feel I’m at fault….I feel I’m the most terrible person. People around me don’t know the real ‘Me’. They would hate me forever if they dare know about me. To them, I’m the happy-go-lucky, cheerful person. But they fail to see that it is only a mask concealing the reality.

My eyes are moist but tears refuse to trickle down. I’ve lost my appetite. I wander about in the streets feeling lost. I’m angry with myself, my life. Why am I like this? I feel I’ve just been a burden so far.

But the positive me defends by saying, “Everything happens for a reason” and so I’m in search of the purpose of my existence…

IT Proposal :D

Wish I could 'ROLLBACK' certain things in my life's DataBase

and that I could 'COMMIT' at a point.

My DataBase does not ‘UPDATE’ by any 'INSERT' as the PRIMARY KEY constraint says, it can take only one value and i.e. "You"

My class neither IMPLEMENTS the interface family nor EXTENDS the class friends as it has been declared class ExtendedFamily FINAL and STATIC.

Happy :) Happier :) :) Happiest :) :) :)

I’m glad that I’m finally in Hyderabad, good old Hyderabad. This place brings back lots of memories, (obviously for a person like me, who has lived here until the past 6 months) and the people associated with them.
It is not like one of those weekend trips where I’m rushing for trains or buses half the time. So I’ve made a note about the people to catch up with and things to do. I see there are lots of people to catch up with and staying for one month gives me all the time, I thought. Now, it has been almost 2 weeks and not even half the list is ticked off.
I still remember the first day I was coming to office, like a kid returning after summer vacation, looking forward to a new class, books, friends etc. But for me, though the excitement was same I was meeting same friends and same place. On the way, I was happy that I could read the hoardings without struggling. Yes, it was all in Telugu, a language I can associate with. But then the harsh words of the people around me, made me sad. It surprised me, how in a minute I could feel so close yet want to be alienated from a language. And strangely I missed the Kannada FM!
Catching up with old friends, taking a trip down the memory lane, reliving those golden days, wishing this was forever! You are never bored of these people. Meeting them over and over only enriches my trip.
I see the roads, buses, people and everything around me are so familiar. It is home-coming for me! I’m nostalgic about everything around me and it gets better with every passing moment. I’m relishing every second being spent here.
P.S: Dedicated to all my friends here in Hyd!!