Adios 2010, Hola 2011

If I had to remember 2010 for two reasons that would be, I still remained employed and I visited a place that I was longing to visit for years. Oh no! How could I forget the most incredible thing that happened? Fitness, yes that’s me who is talking about fitness, the same person who totally believed exercising is a punishment (I know it sounds weird). I take this opportunity to thank each and everyone who added value to my life and made a difference.

 It’s time now to rewind and plan for the next year.

(1). Remain Employed: With all the organizational changes, thank god! I still have a job.
(2). Health & Wealth: I did have a bit of both.
(3). Visited Taj Mahal: Yes, finally visited “Taj Mahal”. The most incredible experience!
(4). Tolerance: Thanks to my dearest hubby for tolerating me for 3+ years. We celebrated our third anniversary in Manali.
(5). Gym: Joined a gym and improved my fitness level. I am glad I still love it.
(6). Prized Possession: Of course, it’s my book collections. Got to read a lot of books this year and did add up to my collection.
(7). Addiction: Photography (just started) & Blogging (long way to go!)

2011:

Not a big asks in 2011.I wish for simple things:

(1). Stay with my husband (Bangalore/Delhi/Kolkatta: ?)
(2). Stay healthy and fit (exercise regularly)
(3). Stay connected with the blog (update regularly)
(4). Learn to cook (consistently on my list- hope to execute this year)
(5). Learn to Drive-confidently (It’s of no use if I just have a driving license and not drive. I better pull up my socks this year)
(6). Joy of thanking campaign ( for more details see my next post)

Suuuuuuuuuuuuper!

Movie name: Super
Cast: Upendra,Nayanthara

After a long day of work my crazy brother drags me to watch a movie at PVR. I reluctantly agreed to him as it was Upendra’s “Super” movie. I am not a fan of Upendra and definitely not ready sit through the torture getting killed by his dialogues.
To my surprise, ‘Super’ caught my interest superbly from the beginning itself. The movie has an unusual entry with interesting/funny title cards. We haven’t seen like this in any other sandalwood movies. I am not going to narrate the story here (I am not good at it). This is just my perception of the movie.

Super is a futuristic movie where Upendra takes all of us to 2030. It’s very impressive to see how Bangalore and Mysore would look at 2030. I wish we can witness the same way it’s been projected. The entire movie has references on how British ruled India. Upendra has captivated everyone with his punch dialogues and his antics. The movie also depicts the corrupt political system of Karnataka. It has references to what’s happening currently in Vidhana Soudha. The emotional drama of our beloved chief minister Mr. Yediyurappa gives us a good laugh. Not to forget the Reddy brothers (shown as Chaddi brothers) mining scam is evident in the movie.
The best scene in the movie is when Upendra abuses the common man for silently sitting and watching the political dramas played by our honorable politicians. It’s truly hilarious and done with lot of passion. Every word is so true!

Every shot in the movie is well made and looks like he has spent ample amount of money on it. Your eyes will definitely catch those wonderful bikes and cars. You will not realize how the first-half of the movie goes- It’s in such a fast pace. The movie is crowded with people onscreen (of screen as well). The first ten minutes of the movie is silent and narrated well by Yogaraj Bhatt. Only after Upendra’s entry; comes the bash, loud, style, crowd and grandeur. His dialogues are breathlessly long. Phew!!! I wonder how easy it’s for him to remember all of them. Whenever he was delivering the lengthy dialogues- I was gasping for air.

I guess Upendra has taken a pledge to confuse his audience (movies like A,Upendra). The same continues in this movie as well. With all the twists and turns in the movie it’s slightly difficult to follow.

How can I not talk about his style/costume/hair?
Uffff! You need to have lot of courage to even portray such characters. His costume and hair style is simply terrific. I like his guts and patience (to sit through for those sessions).

“Super” is a high style extravaganza in terms of cinematography, editing and grahics. All three gets a good score. In all my honesty, I didn’t like the music, it was too loud and even difficult to understand.

Since it’s an “Upendra centric” movie, there is so little for others. Nayanthara (heroine) has performed well. Her screen presence and expressions are elegant. She looks stunning after losing all the excess weight.

Despite having all the plus points, the movie has some weaknesses too:

• India at 2030 is notable but not realistic
• It’s not easy to change our society and our people so easily
• It’s definitely not a cake walk to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
• The guy who is been living in London throughout his life wouldn’t dress up so funnily
• The guy who knows so much about India through books never know the reality

Last but not the least, it's a one time watch movie. If you are a die-hard punch line fans, I bet you'll enjoy this movie. Hope the vision of Upendra to live united and lead a clean life is fulfilled.

Special note for AOLers: It's a treat to watch our AOL office on screen. Our conference rooms. training room, reception, games room look so colorful.

Book-ed!

There are billions of books and so little time to read all of them. I wish I could just hide away from the world and read all those wonderful books. It's sad that I can't do that.
I love books. I love to read and I always try to squeeze in as much as time for that. If you are the one who wants to enjoy your time lazing around with a cup of hot coffee/tea and a good book in hand. Join me for a book review(coming soon). For time being, you can check my “prized possession”.

Chetan Bhagat:

• Five point someone
• The three mistakes of my life 
• 2 states

Dale Carnegie

• How to stop worrying and start living,
•  How to win friends & influence people, 
• How to develop self-confidence and influence people by public speaking

Mitch Albom:

• Tuesdays with Morrie

Dan Brown:

• The DA Vinci Code
• The lost symbol

Stephenie Meyer:

• Twilight

Vikas Swarup:

• Slumdog Millionaire
• Six suspects

Sudha Murthy:

• Dollar Bahu
• How I taught my grandmother to read and other stories
• Wise & Otherwise
• The old man and his god
• Gently falls Bakula

Petru Popescu:

• The Oasis

Khaled Hosseini:

• The kite runner
• A thousand Splendid Suns

Carol Higgins Clark:

• Fleeched,

Beverley Lewis:

• October song

Martha Tod Dudman:

• Augusta Gone

Rashmi Bansal:

• Stay hungry stay foolish,

Shiv Khera:

• You can win

Nicholas Sparks:

• The guardian
• The rescue
• A bend in the road,

Allan + Barbara Pease:

• The definitive book of body language

Paulo Coelho:

• Brida
• The Alchemist,

Spencer Johnson:

• The present
• Who moved my cheese?

Sister Jesme:

• The autobiography of a Nun

Aravind Adiga:

• Between the assassinations
• The white tiger

Erich Segal:

• Love story

Mary Higgins Clark:

• The Anastasia Syndrome
• Weep no more my lady
• Deck the halls
• Loves music loves to dance

John Gray:

• Men are from Mars
• Women are from Venus

David J Schwartz:

• The magic of thinking Big

Steve Fraser:

• Steve Fraser: Every man a speculator ( A history of wall street in American life)

Kaavya Vishwanathan:

• How opal mehta got kissed got wild and got a life.

Robin Sharma:

• The monk who sold his Ferrari
• The greatness Guide 1 &2
• Family wisdom
• Discover your destiny
• Leadership widom
• Who will cry when you die?

Jyoti Sanyal:

• Indlish

O Henry:

• O Henry: Mastermind classics: 100 selected stories

J K Rowling:

• Harry Potter and the order of Phoenix

Jhumpa Lahiri:

• The Namesake
• Interpreter of Maladies

Shobha De :

• Spouse

Dr. Brian Weiss

• Many lives, Many Masters

David Niven:

• Simple Secrets of Love

Subroto Bagchi:

• Go kiss the world

Michael Gates Gill:

• How Starbucks saved my Life 

Tushar Raheja:

• Anything for you maam 

M. K. Gandhi:

• An autobiography- The story of my experiments with truth

N R Narayana Murthy:

• A better India A better world 

Martin Manser:

• A guide to good writing

Elizabeth Gilbert:

• Eat pray Love

Kalil Gibran:

• The broken wings

Jill Churchill:

• Someone to watch over me

Rujeta Diwakar:

• Don’t lose your mind lose your weight

I still remember

There are certain things which never fades away from our memory. Here is my list of such things which I still remember:

• When “Bangalore” was spelt as “Bangalore” in English and not as“Bengalooru”.
• When circuses still visited Bangalore every year and were a big deal for all the kids.
• When there were no multiplex movie theaters in Bangalore and I still enjoyed watching movies in Plaza, Symphony, Rex and Lido.
• When Popcorn and Pepsi were inexpensive in the theatres and I could buy from my pocket money along with the movie tickets.
• When it was only one TV channel (DD) and yet had lot of programs to watch.
• When I used to wait for the days like Sunday /Wednesday: To watch Rangoli, Giant Robot, Ramayan, Malgudi days and Mahabharth.
• When I used to watch very few movies, yet remember the lyrics of all the songs by heart.
• When I used to bicycle/play in the hot sun for hours together and not cared about getting tanned.
• When I used to relish the ads like “Mile sur mera”, “Ek Titali Anek Titaliya”, “Diary milk”.(I still do!)
• When I used to rent out Video cassettes and VCD/VCR players to watch movies.
• When autorickshaw drivers did not demand one-and-a-half after seven and not make fuss when I call them.
• When I used to go anywhere and everywhere in Bangalore and not getting stuck in the traffic jams.
• When Airport Road (old) did not have a Leela Palace, a Manipal Hospital and Kemp's Fort.
• When Coffee was only known as "Filter Coffee" and served in Darshinis and hotels.
• When Bangalore known only as “Garden City” not the Silicon city or BPO city.

Memorable Wedding

Phew! Finally the most awaited, much talked wedding of Dhivya & Anil is over. Here is a sneak peek of the lavish wedding :

The gorgeous couple got married in “Royal Orchid” on the old airport road. The wedding was in the morning and was followed with a reception in the evening. I decided to attend both (as Dhivya had already threatened me). Thanks to Usha for taking me to the wedding. The place was indeed decked up like a bride. Dhivya (as always) looked stunning in her bridal attire. The green colored saree from Neerus added up charm to her look . She had beautifully chosen her accessories to match with the saree. I was awestruck with one of her neck piece (ruby and emerald). I couldn’t take my eyes off from that. She just looked like a princess. She did not look nervous; she was busy with her usual antics. We had to remind her that it was her wedding day. The only constant question of hers was “Am I looking fat”? We tried to convince her telling that she is not looking fat; she didn’t seem to believe us. She was so restless while waiting for the groom to arrive(he was a little late).

The marriage rituals started immediately. Can you believe the wedding got over in 15 minutes? This is the shortest wedding I’ve attended so far. Even before I could realize what was happening around, they declared the wedding was over. Wow! I simply love “mallu” weddings for this. They exchanged garlands, mangal-sutra/ chains and took blessings from everyone. That’s it!

Then the photo session was held with family and friends. While the photo session was going on, Dhivya wanted to go check on the lunch arrangements. She was not ready to pose for any more pictures. We headed for lunch and we got to explore some typical kerala delicacy. I loved Appam and Stew. There were few other things, I can’t recall the names.

Relishing the food and with all the strict instructions(when to come back) from Dhivya we headed back from Royal Orchid. Dhivya expected me to be there @ 6.30 PM, we reached the venue at 7:30 PM. As we entered the reception hall, we were welcomed by the Bride & Groom. Wow! That was something different. It wasn’t the usual wedding reception where we find the Bride and Groom standing on the stage. The couple looked nice together. Anil was dressed in a Sherwani and Dhivya in a lehanga. I loved everything about Dhivya’s bridal look- from the lehanga, to the jewelry to the hair and makeup! As we entered the hall after wishing the couple, we got to see some real good performances by Russian dancers. Belly dance and some Bollywood numbers kept the guests glued to their seats. Chit-chatting with all the friends I sat and watched some performances. The Bride & Groom was called on the stage and were asked some questions from the event organizer(when they met, how was their first meet etc). Then they were asked to dance. That was sweet! They shaked their legs for some bollywood numbers (munni badnam hui).

Oh my god! I forgot something. As the whole focus was on Dhivya and Anil, I forgot to talk about our little princess “Gazelle”. She wore a salwar kameez in the morning and looked exactly like an angel in the evening. When the anchor asked her to sing a song, she went up to the stage and sang a rhyme (twinkle twinkle). That was really sweet!

There were lot of guests in the evening, Anil and Dhivya posed for the pictures with all of them. It was a nice forum to meet up with some old-new friends. After catching up with all of them, it was time for dinner. The food was very delicious and was served outside in the lawns. My heart said to stay back and watch the lovely couple for some more time but my mind said to get back home early. Thanks to Sharu for dropping me home.

All in all the wedding was the best wedding of the year.

Divs and Anil:

Wish you both a happy married life. You both looked lovely together. God bless you with all the joy and happiness in the world.

Yummy Tummy !

I know these are the wrong pictures to be on my blog. My earlier post talks about gym-ming and now I've put up some pictures on this. Not fair right?

Chocolate Donut | Cafe Coffee Day

Aloo Parantha | Venkateshwara sweets

 Black forest | Cafe Coffee Day

Early mornings in Bangalore!

It’s been ages that I saw how Bangalore looked at 5:30 AM. Thanks to Tim Armstrong’s (CEO-AOL) meeting. I got to see a total different world. I guess it’s the same everyday but I got to see in a different perspective.
Bangalore speaks a different story in the early mornings;It looks heavenly, the weather being light and pleasant.
It's good to see the empty roads before they disappear under the crowd and traffic. The atmosphere is free from dust and sound. You don’t see morons honking crazily nor vehicles spitting thick smoke. The dew drops on the grass/plants looks like pearls.The birds chirping is like music to your ears.Dogs half-awake, half-asleep lying cosy in the corner. Not to forget, the morning walks. It's a bliss- enough to keep you refreshed for the rest of the day. I envy those morning walkers who are blessed with a rewarding experience. It was nice to see some sleepy heads yawning to the glory.
The sky was so clear that I was visualizing shape of some animals in the clouds. When I was admiring the sky I saw a bunch of birds flying in the sky. It reminded me of my school days 'March past' (left-right, left-right). The birds were flying in the same rhythm. I wonder who taught them to fly in the same pattern!

Garden city or Crime city?

The crime rate in Bangalore is going up day by day. We hear that every day in the news paper/TV/internet. Bangalore once known as garden city now is becoming a crime city. We do hear about some incidents which makes a big noise and some unheard. Here I am with an incident that needs to be highlighted. I am sharing this incident with you all, so that you in turn can create that awareness amongst the others.

This happened on last Wednesday and the victim is one of my cousins who is “V”. He commutes daily from old Airport road to Mysore road. Most of the time “V” uses the company transport, sometimes he uses the public transport system. On last Wednesday, he missed his company vehicle and a colleague offered to drop him till Devegowda petrol pump which is in south Bangalore. He stood in the bus-stand waiting for the bus. Now a days you get to see a lot of company vehicles (Sumos/Indicas/TT/Mazda) picking up the passengers from the bus stop (after their work hours). Though the company policy does not encourage such things, mostly to make those extra bucks they break the rules. One such “TT” stopped near the bus-stop and one fellow just opened the door and was calling out for people. When “V”asked he said, “This vehicle is going to Toyota Kirloskar on Bidadi, we can drop you till Kengeri”. Since “V” was tired waiting for the bus, he decided to board the vehicle. Along with “V” three other passengers boarded the vehicle. He saw there were two other already seated. The guy, who called him, collected the money from everyone and “V” was waiting to get down near his stop. When "V" was just about to get down, the vehicle did not stop at the point and the driver started speeding up the cab. When “V” revolted against the driver, the fellow passenger held a knife against his neck and asked him to keep quiet. “V” was shocked to see that the fellow passengers were actually from the same gang. The vehicle was speeding up and after a while they asked “V” to hand over the valuables. “V” had about 1500 Rs cash, two gold rings, a chain and a bracelet. He handed over to them and requested to let go of him. When they found debit/credit cards in “V’s” wallet, they stopped the vehicle near an ATM. The ATM was too crowded and they did not enter. They made trips to couple of more ATMS and finally found an empty one. They asked “V” to withdraw money and he had no choice other than doing that. He withdrew 45,000 cash and gave it to them. “V” was so helpless. He was alone against six, couldn't think of fighting. The only thing he could do was to request them to let go of him. He told them that he has old parents waiting for him at home. They did not bother, that really didn’t matter to those guys. They had also taken his watch and mobile phones. So “V” had no clue what time was it? They drove the cab for another 30-40 minutes long and he had no clue where they were heading to. Till then he kept pleading them but these guys heart did not melt for “V’s” request. Finally, at one point it was pitch dark outside and one fellow opened the door and pushed “V” outside the cab. “V” fell down on the road and hurt his shoulders. He was happy that he was set free. His happiness didn’t last longer. After two minutes the cab reversed back. One guy got off the cab,gushing towards "V" with a big sharp rod (long) in his hand. He was about to hit “V” then “V” screamed out begging him not to hurt him. He uttered “I have a kid waiting for me at home, please let go of me. You wanted cash,gold, I gave you everything. Please leave me alone".

Listening to this, the driver of the cab told the fellow guy, “He looks innocent, don’t kill him, let go off him”. The fellow guy was not convinced, he said “What if he goes and identifies in the police station”? “V” promised that he wouldn’t go to the police station. The fellow guy got into the cab half-convinced and the vehicle speeded away.

“V” was left in the middle of the road, it was totally dark and he had no clue what to do. He started walking for a while and then he felt something was poking near his neck. When he put his hand to find out, it was a phone SIM card. He recollected ; when the fellow guy pushed him away from the cab. He opened “V’s” phone and pulled the SIM card, he tried to break it and threw outside. That was stuck near "V's" shirt’s collar. Holding the SIM card in the hand “V” continued walking. He does not remember for how long he walked. Finally he found some building with dim lights. He saw a watchman sleeping infront of the gate. He woke him up and requested to lend his phone. He put his SIM card and called his brother-in-law and asked him to come and pick him up.
While waiting for his brother-in-law, he pondered over the entire episode. The only thing he could utter was “Thank god, I am still alive. I could have waited for the bus.The little longer wait for the bus wouldn’t have given me the struggle like this".

Attention: For those of you who look for a quick and an easy drop better be careful. Think twice before you board the cab.

The "Unknown" side of an auto-driver

How many of us don’t crib/complain about the auto-rickshaw-drivers in Bangalore?

I am sure all of us. Each of us has a story to talk about. Including me, everyone has a problem with them (being rude, over charge, they never come to our destination). We are just living with such a problem every single day. This one incident which happened years ago put asides all the bitter experiences that I have with the auto drivers in Bangalore.

It was a Saturday late evening; I had a team dinner in Mainland China. I usually avoid dinners as I stay very far ( almost the other end of the town) and getting back home is a hassle. I finished my dinner and reached MG road to find an auto. It was almost close to 9’0 clock. I was shit scared to go back home in an auto. Usually I’ll have someone pick me up from home. Unfortunately that evening I was left with no option. So I started looking for an auto, which could drop me home. I stopped at least about 20 of them. No one was willing to come that far. I was even ready to pay them double the meter fare. I reached the auto-stand opposite to Food world on MG road. I went and pleaded almost everyone body in the stand. No one was ready to come. I was cursing each and every one. Finally, one middle aged guy said he would come. I was delighted and joyfully boarded the auto. I am usually on the phone or keep listening to music whenever I am in the auto so that I can avoid unnecessary conversations with them. The auto-driver looked very decent and did not attempt to talk to me. He was in his own world. I accidentally looked his face in the mirror; I saw tears rolling down his cheeks. He tried to wipe his tears and his phone started ringing. He answered the phone and began to sob. I turned off the music and asked him “Sir, is everything fine with you”? He wasn’t expecting that question and he did not respond. When I asked him again, he said “I am fine. It’s a curse to be born as poor”. I know for sure that something was bothering him. He was hesitant to speak and he got couple of more phone calls. From his talks I could pick up few words like kid, hospital and money. I understood what he was going through. I tried to pick up conversations with him. After a while he told me the whole story about how his son met up with an accident. He was admitted in the hospital and was recovery from the injury. He didn't want to keep him in the hospital for long as he had money. In fact, he didn’t have money to even get him out of the hospital. While he was saying all this he cried even more. I was so helpless listening to this. I didn't know how much he needed. I didn't really have a lot of money with me. I tried digging up my wallet to see how much cash I had. I had about 700 Rs. My auto fare was 150 Rs and I had another 550 Rs extra with me. I was sure that was not enough for the hospital bill. With all these questions in my mind, I was almost close to my home. I did not want to get off the rick in front of my house. I was afraid my parents would yell at me for coming home in an auto at that time. I got down on the main road and gave him the auto fare. I empathized with him about his son’s accident and assured him that his son would recover fast. I offered him the extra 550 Rs which I had with me. He was not ready to take the money. After forcing him for a very long time, he took it. He blessed me whole heartedly and left the place.

As the days passed by, I forgot about this incident completely.

Nearly a year after this incident something very unusual happened to me. I was on my way to meet a friend on MG road. I was in an auto-rickshaw and I didn't have change with me, so as the auto-driver. I decided to go into the Food World and buy something and get the change. When I came out of the Food World and was looking for the auto-driver. One middle aged guy came to me with full of smiles. He asked me “Do you remember me”? I said “no”. Then he explained me that he had dropped me to my place a year ago and about his son’s accident. I couldn’t recognize his face but then recollected the incident. He was so happy to see me. He said, “I was looking for you for the past one year, in fact I came looking for you near the place you got down the other evening. I knew I would meet you some day”. I was speechless standing looking at that man. I couldn’t believe that there are still people like him. He immediately pulled out 550 Rs from his pocked and handed over to me. He said “Thanks so much for the money the other day you gave, it really helped me to get my son out of the hospital. I wanted to repay this money to you and I was looking for you every day.I was not ready to take that money back from him but he insisted me so much, that I had to take it.I was so happy with his gesture. It’s so hard to believe that we still have people like him. When we have auto-drivers who are so rude, who overcharge us. It’s hard to find such a person.

Whenever I feel negative about any auto-drivers, this incident refreshes my memory and brings back a smile on my face :-)

Gym-Mania

Fitness is in the air. Stay healthy/Stay fit seems to be the mantra for everyone. I realized the importance of staying fit very recently and from then no looking back. I exercise regularly and do watch out on what I eat. Off late my workout routine has taken a back seat :-( I was feeling guilty about it. All thanks to winters :-( December being cold, I got excuses to miss my gym. Those early-foggy-mornings, who wants to wake up and go to the gym? When your feet needs blanket to cover up. You just feel like cuddling up in the bed. I belong to the same category. Ever since the winter has started, I am skipping the gym regularly, blaming it on the weather. I started getting scared about putting on those extra few kgs which I had knocked off in the last few months. Finally, I decided to use the office gym. With that little hesitation I packed my bag and got ready to sweat out. It was difficult to hit it off because I belong to the category of “tag me along” types. I needed company and didn’t know who to ask for. I convinced myself a little hard and finally caught hold of Rakshith and went with him. The moment I walked inside, I saw many people busy working out. It was a small room, looked very congested. My enthusiasm which was in the sky fell on the floor. My mind said " go back Sowmya" but my heart said "Yes you can do it". I went with my heart and didn't care about people who were around. There were some curious set of eyes looking at me from head to toe. I didn't bother and continued to work out.

To my surprise I really liked the place. Phew! That was lovely I really enjoyed the workout. In-fact, someone even complimented about my running (he just didn’t know that running was my weakness). Whatever it was, it actually made me feel good. I always think that running is not my types and I could never do it. But the truth is, these days I started liking it. Now, I don’t have to worry about not-having a company to the gym. Thanks to Sowmya NS, who volunteered to join me. We have a solid plan now and will surely execute all of them.

For all of you who are still making up your minds to start: You should buck up. Exercise regularly to stay healthy.

Bankathon

When people complain/crib about getting any documents from the bank, I always wonder why?

Today I realized why people hate so much about interactions with nationalized banks. Every service with them is just horrible- be it personal loan, housing loan, credit cards. They would be just behind you if it’s a late payment or non-payment but when you need something from them it’s so difficult to catch them. Even if you do, they will give you such a run around that you’ll repent taking a loan from them. Here I am with such an experience. Recently I took a housing loan from this X bank (in my opinion it’s the “best bank”). They were more than happy to release my loan amount after giving them about zillion documents. I was happy that it happened very fast. In fact, I was proud of it. Yeah! The reason I was proud of it because, for most of my friends either they didn’t get the loan or they had to run around for a really long time to get one.
I was beaming in this happiness for 6 months. The only thing I (we) did was to pay the EMI promptly. All the proudness about the “best bank” didn’t last longer. I was asked to collect a provisional certificate for the income tax exemption from the bank. I conveniently assumed that it’s the “best bank” in the world and I’ll get it right away. I picked up my phone and sweetly called the “Bank manager” requesting for the certificate on a Monday. He refused to give it to me saying he will have to go through my records and it would take a day. I politely said, “Oh no problem Sir, take your time”. But I was actually thinking about how much time it takes for him to pull up my account and find out what's the loan amount and the interest rate.

Well on Tuesday, I called him thinking that he had enough time to go through the records and hoping he would have kept my letter ready. For my surprise he said “Oh I am so sorry Sowmya! It totally skipped out of my head I couldn’t do it. Do one thing, give me a call at four in the evening and remind me once again”. I was aghast! Firstly he did not do it; secondly he is asking me to remind him again. I needed that letter so badly that I called him up and reminded him.

On Wednesday morning when I called him he said “I am really sorry Sowmya! we have some problems in our building and the power line is cut. Since there is no power, I can't take the print out. As soon as the power comes I’ll keep it ready". He did not even let me speak further and hung up the phone. I was looking at my phone receiver with a big disappointment.

Well on Thursday I decided to go to the bank without calling him. When I went there he was sitting in his lavish cabin. He gave me a fake smile and told me to wait for five minutes. I waited for fifteen minutes, by then I had already finished reading stuff on their notice board and everything that was hung on their walls. Now I am totally educated with interest rate on gold loan, fixed deposits and senior citizen fixed deposits. He didn’t seem to bother about me waiting there. Occasionally he kept looking at me and pretending to be busy on the phone. I could hear him talking about probably his son/daughter about why he/she did not brush his/her teeth and drank milk. This went on for the next 30 minutes. So, totally it was forty-five minutes. I finally gave up. Totally frustrated I headed towards his cabin telling him “Sorry, I am getting late for my cab. Can I get my letter”? May be I sounded too determined and he was left with no option.He immediately pulled the bank’s letter head and started writing something. I was clueless still sitting and waiting for my piece of paper. I thought someone would come and give me (he might have given a print). He was still busy writing and trying to convince me to take the car loan. I confidently denied the offer, didn't want to make so many visits again. I waited for fifteen more minutes, still no clue of anyone coming inside the room. By then, he finished writing and tore the page from the letter head, started looking for some rubber stamps and put the seal on it. He found an empty envelope and put the letter in the envelope and handed over to me.

Yes, I finally got my provisional certificate which was a hand written note, which talked about the loan and interest amount. That’s it. For this two liner document, I had to wait for 4 long days. If he had to just give me this hand-written document, he could have done it on Monday itself. Why all that stories about no power, can’t get a printout blah blah blah….. I still can’t believe.

I was so confused about the whole episode that I walked out speechless.

Hence I conclude that my so called “The best bank in the world” is not the best anymore.

Dhivya

Just two weeks away from my dearest friend’s wedding. I’m totally excited about her wedding!
Yes, it’s Dhivya alias RDX alias Bomb who is getting married.For those of you who are wondering who  Dhivya is, Let me introduce to you all.


Looking at her nick names you can easily guess how vibrant she is. She is a wonderful girl with full of life. She has an amazing dressing sense. She is so friendly by nature that any stranger can strike a conversation with her easily. She will never go unnoticed with her 1000 watts smile. She is always there for everyone and would never say “No” for anyone. She is good-hearted human being. She treats everyone with care and affection.

Dhivya is a doting mother to her little princess- “Gazelle”.  I just love the way she has brought up her little girl. I’ve never seen such a well-behaved child. The best part is she does not look like a mother of a five year old girl. Isn’t that amazing? (Now you’ll know why we call her bomb).

I am very much thankful to god that she is getting the best of everything. She found the love of her life and a like-minded companion. I wish her all the best for her future.

Divs,

Thanks so much for coming into my life. It’s great knowing you and Gazelle. Hope this friendship remains the same way (u better be the same). I pray to god that you get everything what you ask for...(definately no extra money for your shopping).

Is this normal?

How often do you talk to yourself? Is this normal? Does it happen to everyone?
I do this quite a lot these days. I wonder if it’s normal with everyone? Or is it just happening with me? I am so preoccupied with my talks, that most of the time I don’t realize what’s happening in and around me. This goes on from the time I wake up in the morning till I doze off in the night.
I ask questions to myself and then answer all of them. Isn't it weird? It could be anything like what I need to wear to work? What do I eat for breakfast? blah blah blah.. I keep talking to myself about my whole day activities. Luckily I am not loud, if not people would have thought I was mad.

Guzaarish

Looks like Bollywood film makers are inclined towards making movies which creates awareness among people about some ailments. Let’s take a quick look about such movies in the past:

• Black: Amitabh is affected with Alzheimers
• Taare Zameen Par: Amir Khan portrayed problems of Dyslexic children
• Gajini: Amir suffers with short-term memory loss
• PAA: Amitabh is affected with Progeria
• My name is Khan: Sharukh suffers from Asperger disease
• Karthik calling Karthik: Farhan Akhtar is a Schizophrenic

Likewise Guzarish is also a movie where Hrithik is a quadriplegic and is partially paralyzed. A very well made movie by Sanjay Leela Bansali. I am a fan of Bansali’s movies. I like all his movies (except for Saawariya which was a total disaster). I decided to go watch this movie for two things. Firstly it’s Sanjay Leela Bansali’s movie and secondly it’s Hrithik-Aishwary pairing. I was impressed with the movie reviews in the paper. I would have anyways gone even if the reviews were bad. My initial response after watching the movie was “Oh my god, what a movie!”
Guzaarish is a special movie in its own way. Everything is good about the movie including the story, performances, camera work and the direction. It’s an intense and a serious topic. This is a movie about Euthanasia/mercy killing. Euthanasia itself is such complex term and it’s still not legalized in India. I am not going to tell you the story. It can only be narrated by a story teller who has the art of telling stories most convincingly. I know I am not good at that, will leave it to you guys to go and watch.
Personally I feel this is one of Bhansali’s best works so far. It has strong performances and there are several scenes, which genuinely move you. You get carried away with the character so much that you need some time to come back to reality.
All in all, if you are bored with all the love stories and family sentimental movies, take a break and watch this movie.
Do let me know your thoughts.

I love Bangalore!

What a day in Bangalore!!!

Bangalore is blessed with a lovely climate. It's such a lovely day today, I bet anyone can fall in love with this city(17 degrees in the day time).Feels like a hill station. Woow! what a perfect weather to stay home with a cup of hot coffee and a good book in hand. Unfortunately, I am sitting in the office updating my blog :-(
The best part of Bangalore weather is it's neither too hot nor too cold. It has a balanced weather. If the days are hot, nights automatically cools down. I bet you won't find this anywhere else. Of all the places that I visited so far, I feel this is the best city to live.

I love my Bangalore :-)