GOA.

Q- What do you get when you combine sun, sand and beaches with 4 absolutely excited and peppy 24 something girls?

Ans- A more than awesome time!

It all began on the night of Jan 25th, 2012. 4 girls rushed to the bus stand, panicky and almost sure that this was too good a dream to be true. But destiny had other plans and hence even after being 15 mins late of the scheduled departure time, they had convinced the bus driver (on phone) not to take off without them. The night passed talking and taking short naps in between and before they could even know, it was morning in Goa!

Their first encounters with the taxi drivers had assured them that it was going to be an unfair treatment to their wallets, but who the hell even cared?  They reached their hotel near Calangute Beach, which btw was one of the hotspots here (information courtesy, one of the 4 girls who was visiting the place for the 3rd time now)! It was time to unpack and put on the fashionable attire they had carried with them (some shopped, some borrowed). Pink, blue, green, black and white and wow, they looked like blossoms! The girls were ready to take on the territory.

They reached Baga beach and their faces shone, they strolled, ran, played, laughed (more than usual), sun-bathed, had bhel-poori, got themselves tattooed and finally convinced a restaurant owner to put a special table for them near the sea, although it meant blocking the view for some guests and  driving them away, but again who even cared?  They were here to unwind, they were uninhibited, they were loud, they cracked nasty jokes and they forgot the rest of the world!

The rest of the days, they did some planned sight seeing. One day was spent going to places in North Goa. It started on Coco beach (the name was appealing too!)  with the boat ride to a place where they did manage to see 4 dolphins  swimming their way to glory;  then moving to the Bagator Beach, where they  let themselves loose in the waves and also conquered the Chapora Fort (of the Dil Chahta Hai fame) and needless to say they clicked some really cool pictures. The night was action packed at Titos and Mambo, the 2 best discs around and to flatter the lovely ladies, there were guys desperately wanting to accompany them (no-stag-entry-for-boys victims).

Since 4 days were more than enough, the girls did take a tour of South Goa (known for churches), and went to a suicide point (doesn’t every tourist place essentially have ONE such point?). What  surprised them was a River Cruise in Panaji – simple but very very pleasant. They also had their share of adventure with water sports at the beach. Although, each sport lasted for 2 minutes or so, they were happy and screamed their hearts out! After all, girls will be girls!

The last supper, as decided long back, was at Brittos and was totally worth all the time and money spent. And it was Sunday evening already. The girls packed and made their way to the airport where they waited till next morning to fly back to Bangalore (another lovely place).

The Goa times were over, the girls only wondered where the 4 days had gone!?! Even today, two weeks after their holiday, they smile fondly at the mere mention of the place! Such, is the beauty and the magic of Goa!

For now, the girls are Goa-smitten and plan to stay so for a long time!

True story.

Birthdays and treats!

I am a big fan of birthdays (not even sure if this line makes any sense at all!), but I am

I wait months in advance for my birthday to come, keep shopping, thinking and talking about dresses, treats, cakes and gifts. My birthday interest is  not limited to my birthday alone but extends to that of my friends
Today happens to be Ric’s birthday! So, since yesterday, we have been discussing on her plans and the treat!
A group chat window is open at the moment where we are trying to zero down on the venue! Surprisingly, I have been to very few places in Bangalore (a fact that I sometimes feel bad about), so treats nowadays are also means to explore these never-been-to-before places! And then ofcourse, this is a chance to wear good clothes, dress up, pose for pictures and spend some real good time with friends (I am reminded that I will leave Bangalore soon!) Also, Ric has managed to get 4 cakes till now, so we’ve made her promise to give away one to us, that makes it double the excitement!

Looking forward to a great evening!

The seven wonders of the world!

I attended a Table Topics session (at Toastmasters, Cisco) a few days back. One of my colleagues was asked to speak on “What do you think are the 7 wonders of the world?”. While I was only thinking of monuments and cities, he came up with a very innovative answer. So thought of sharing here.

He emphasised that people and thoughts matter more than any historical or popular structures! The Taj Mahal is beautiful, without a doubt, but more beautiful is the love of a man for his wife, that he could think of dedicating to her such an awe-inspiring Taj Mahal. Also, more “wonder”ful than the real monument are the people behind it, who came up with this piece of beauty!
The pyramids are grand, but then the thoughts, the imagination of those people or maybe even their greed to come up with something that will attract tourists for ages is more “wonder”ful than the pyramids!

I really liked this thought process! Definitely, there is more to things than meets the eye!

The Aloo Paratha Chronicles!

1> Ric and Ru, standing at the aloo paratha counter at the cafeteria. Now parathas here are huge and thick, Ric barely finishes one! A guy right before them in queue takes four (yes 4) parathas, Ru’s eyes pop out in surprise, Ric takes a notice (of the eyes) and bursts out laughing! The 4 paratha guy probably takes offence and explains to Ric “These are for 2 people”. Ric is very embarrassed. Poor her, was not even laughing at him!

2>Ric, Ru and I are eating our north indian thaalis at the cafeteria. A young, tall and fair guy asks us if the 4th chair on our table is free, we nod, he happily sits with his plate (which btw had a chocolate pastry). I chuckle for no reason and Ric notices again and this time laughs uncontrollably, tries really hard to cover up by talking random things but her laughter is visible and AUDIBLE. The pastry guy (most likely embarrassed and amused) doesn’t look up at all, quickly finishes his pastry and leaves. We are still laughing when another guy comes and asks if he can take that vacant chair. What more, we laugh at him too.

Laughter is contagious and many a time the reason for embarrassment, but no doubt it signifies good times, times we’ll always cherish! Here’s to our lunch table at Cisco! Cheers!

 

Another year and life goes on!

Here is to 2011, hoping 2012 will be even better and more meaningful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuFUcfY4SBM

The ‘Big’ger Picture!

Out of the many good things I did in 2011, a very significant one was watching all the 6 seasons of ‘Sex and the City’! While this may sound a little gross or oh-no-how kinds to many, but to the few who have followed the show, it will be good-that-you-did!

As girly as it can get, I have the tendency of falling in love with the ‘heroes’. Mr.Big it was this time! He must not even be knowing that he swept not only Carrie Bradshaw off her feet, but also so many female fans like me! The ironies of life indeed! Carrie had 2 lovers (and many shoes ofcourse)! Aidan would have done all that she ever wanted a guy to do for her, Big would deny almost all of that. But Carrie doesn’t mind cheating on Aidan to please Big and his fancies! I, as a loyal viewer, considered myself an integral part of Carrie’s emotional journey and I felt her loyalties and even disloyalties were fully justified. My friend Neha aptly puts it as: Big was the ‘twinkle eyed forbidden fruit’, sigh!

Is it true? In my case it is, I have the tendency to chase targets that I know will be out of my reach, I will usually ignore what (or even who) is at hand. This has caused damage to me and me alone. Uncountable sleepless nights, tears, thoughts and even blogs like these…..like they say in the ‘sex and the city’, are we simply romantically challenged? Haha! 2011 was a lot about loving Big, I did with all my heart, only to realize now, as the year ends, that I was so wrong! Maybe 2012 will be dedicated to my search for Aidan

Lesson learnt: Bigs will come and Bigs will go, Aidan will last forever! (if only I can find one)

PS: This post is entirely a work of fiction and has *no* bearing whatsoever on my real life! This is just a summing up of the various discussions and debates and situations that we spun around this topic.

Of Jagiyas and Anandis..

I have been watching Balika Vadhu for a week now (because I am at home and TV runs 24*7). Without a doubt, Indian television is so very entertaining and most of the times mindless. But the ongoing story of the show did manage to disturb me.

Ok, our dear Jagiya who had this gudda-gudiya like wedding with Anandi and who was so much like the best husband, best friend, is now a grown up who rides a bike, speaks fluent english, goes to town to become a doctor and OFCOURSE falls for another girl and marries her! Such a twist in the tale was actually expected, how else will the show manage a full house? The show does show a very modern perspective and it is commendable how Anandi’s in-laws have disowned their son. These days the entire focus of the show is to make Jagiya and his new wife Gauri realise the mistake they have committed, applause! But then, there was too much stressing on Gauri’s character, her mistakes, her doing this and her doing that….she has actually cried her heart out in the past all episodes. While I am not going to defend her here, my only and only issue was “why” was Jagiya spared of all the lectures and character assassinations? Was he not wrong in the first place to be doing this? Why does our society have this tendency to jump immediately at the girl? Gauri atleast married the only guy she loved, but Jagiya? How often does his love fluctuate, how many muses does he need and have? Shouldn’t we be checking him for wronging not one but two girls?

The age-old question lingers even today…Are we a male-dominated society? I am scared to answer.

King Khan <3 <3

My parents used to tell me that in a cinema hall you get to see the movie on a “parda”, I would look curiously at the curtain on the window and think, this parda, really? how?

And finally the mystery got solved when we went to see “Bazigar” to a theatre called Novelty. The movie has ofcourse been special, my first in a theatre and also the beginning of an eternal love story with SRK! I have seen countless SRK movies in theatres and now multiplexes, even on television, laptop etc. My college friend Geetima is a huge huge fan of SRK, she (according to her and only her) reserves *every* right on SRK…but little does she know that there are several other dreamers like me!

I am not a blind fan though, I have loathed his works like KANK and now Ra.one (though I didn’t watch it after its reviews), but when it comes to his Rahul and Raj roles, I am totally bowled over! I have so many times closed my room and danced to “Mere Khwabon mein jo aaye..” and spent hours learning and reciting “aisa pehli baar hua hai…andekha anjana koi aane laga khayalon mein..” No points for guessing that I was dreaming of the footballer, the back bencher, the madly-in-love-with-kiran, the strict hockey coach, the ‘Swades’i, the gentleman…the ah-so-charming SRK!

When I see him as Veer, my belief in love and sacrifice becomes stronger (although I understand that the concept is purely filmy and nowhere close to reality), I have to admit that the casting song of Veer Zara still makes my heart skip a beat, I even tweeted about it to HIM (sadly he didn’t reply :’( )

Then there was this movie My Name is Khan, which apparently gave a headache to many of my friends, but to me, the movie had a meaning very deep and it did move me. The latest in the series is ofcourse Don 2, I have seen Don 1 too and frankly didn’t like it much, but this one just rocks! Farhan Akhtar’s direction is excellent. The locations, background score, dialogues, action sequences, plot are very very gripping. And more than anything else, SRK with his wicked smile, confidence, merciless yet that subtle attitude (yes, I am talking about his confrontations with Roma!), is a clear cut winner!

He manages to win my heart almost every time! He is THE star!

PS: A very mindless post, not expected from a 25 yr old atleast! But I have a lot of time to pass plus I do like SRK a little too much!

A Christmas Wish…

Carol was lying on her bed, staring out of the window, she really had a lot of time to kill. Needless to say, she had useless thoughts and ideas. She thought and spoke of things that made no sense…wait, no sense to others but to her these were the things controlling her life at the moment.

The world was preparing to celebrate Christmas, she was lost, still thinking about last Christmas. She knew that time would never run backwards, it was gone, never to come back again, but she chose to live in denial. This year had been perfect, things had finally fallen into place the way she had wanted. Why was something missing still? She would never be able to bear last year’s heartbreaks again, she was glad they were a thing of the past now, but there was still something about last year that she refused to let go, something that she wanted to cling on forever…

The year was gone, the people and events gone will never return now,  all that Carol had now was the year ahead, luckily it promised a lot of good things, her old dreams were in line to materialise now…but why did she still have one last wish, that one yearning….why couldn’t she have it all?

Girls will be girls!

*Ric pinged me on chat and congratulated that Aish had a baby girl, like both of us had wanted.

*I joined an FB group “Girly Chambers” and maximum girls there discussed how they plan to lose weight and also what all they should shop and from where.

*I mailed a link of Beckham’s daughter’s wardrobe to G and she replied “omggg..she is so chubby and cute”.

*Ru and I had exactly the same thoughts on how another of our friends was talking a bit too much to her flatmate and not us!

*Kk called us on a video chat urgently to give some news, the news then went on to FB as a cryptic status message, but the very next morning, Ric pinged me with the correct decryption!

*I visited N in her highly geeky (supposedly) campus and she offered me imli and said “only girls can understand and value this gift”, what more, she packed some of it with me!

*Ric puts status messages which have often figured in SATC and we both enjoy discussing them so so much!

*I see SATC and relate so very well with Carrie and the way she reacts to situations in her life. Infact, every girl I talk to does!

-And then I realise that across all ages, educational,professional and geographical backgrounds, all of us girls share some  traits that are so peculiar to our gender and these are the traits that make us girls what we are! Girls will be girls!