The Ace of Spades

I called it quits. Yes, you heard me right. Don’t be shocked! My relationship with Nokia came to an end with N95 last month. It was hard to make up my mind. I’ve been a loyal customer with Nokia for more than nine years. My journey began with Nokia 3380 and ended with N 95. It was an incredible journey trying out all the latest models with them. Being a cell phone freak I would try every new launch of Nokia. I think it reached the saturation point in me; After N 95 I just didn’t change my phone. After some humiliation from my friends, I made up my mind. I was confused on which brand to go with. Being an ardent Nokia fan I couldn’t go out of the league. Nevertheless, my fascination for touch phones made me abandon Nokia. I was disappointed that Nokia didn’t have anything eye-catching to offer. Though there were many touch phones, everything was over-priced.

Everyone insisted on Samsung. I was keen on buying a HTC phone. I saw my friend Sowmya’s Galaxy Fit and was totally in awe with it. Finally, after a lot of research realized that Samsung has amazing offers. It has a wide range of smart phones for affordable prices. I was in a state of confusion between Galaxy Fit and Galaxy Ace. I bought Galaxy Ace, as it looked exactly like iPhone. It’s been nearly two months now and I am totally in love with this phone.

If you have seen an iPhone ad on the TV, it says “If you don’t have an iPhone, well you don’t have an iphone”. Now, I can proudly say "If you don’t have an iPhone, well you have a Galaxy Ace". The phone that looks and works very much like an iPhone. Although it has the regular apps like calendar, radio, memos and Gallery features. The browsing, messaging and touch features are super fast with the Android OS. The Android market place has a huge collection of apps. You name it and you get it!
Out of sixteen phones that I have used so far, I would say Galaxy Ace tops the list. The best part about this phone is while I am on the go; I can check my emails, read newspaper, Tweet and update my Facebook statuses. Isn’t it awesome?

If you are at a lookout for new phone, you must try this out.

“If you do anything continuously for 21 days, it becomes a habit”. I remember reading this somewhere.
But I am not sure if that’s true. Well, no harm in trying out. Isn’t it? Well, if you ask me what’s that I want it to be my habit? It’s definitely to write. I want to write to my heart content and till my brain runs out of ideas. This is a small exercise that I would do on my blog. The next 21 days I will write religiously. If I can’t publish on some day, will draft it and publish whenever I can but will try and not break the rule. I really want this to become my habit. Let’s see how well I can keep up with this.

Do you ever forget your password or ATM pin number?

Have you ever blanked out while unlocking your computer/laptop? Or while punching in your pin numbers at an ATM?

I have experienced that fewer times with my laptop, but somehow retrieved with trial and error method. I never had issues forgetting my ATM pin number. Couple of days ago, Niranjan and I went for a movie. As usual, we didn’t book the tickets in advance, instead tried our luck going to the theatre. We both were lucky on that day, we got the tickets. I gave my card to pay, the girl in the counter told me that the machine was not working and asked me to pay by cash. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough cash with me. I told her to block the tickets and rushed to the ATM which was on the other side of the mall. There was a big queue and I had exactly fifteen minutes. I stood in the queue hoping to get the money faster. The queue kept growing and I was frantic on missing out on the beginning of the movie. I stood patiently waiting for my turn. Finally my turn came and I had exactly five minutes. I inserted my debit card and punched in my card number (XXXX). Bang- incorrect pin! I thought it was a fat finger syndrome. I re-entered slowly; it didn’t accept my number. I was apprehensive to try again, thinking about card getting blocked with three invalid attempts. I decided to use a different debit card. Phew- incorrect pin again! I tried to calm down and re-entered, it didn’t help. There were many people standing in the line and staring at me. I called up Niranjan and asked him to come immediately. Luckily he was around; we got the money and collected the tickets. What kept me thinking is, for the first time in many years I forgot my pin number, especially the time when I badly needed the money. I couldn’t believe it myself! How can I forget those four-digit-numbers on two different cards? I went crazy.

After a day, while I was busy doing something at work, I suddenly remembered the numbers. I went to the ATM and punched in the numbers, Voila! It worked!

Note to self: Always keep some money in the wallet; you never know when the emergency comes!

Maid in namma Bengalooru

Transitioning from Eco-space to WTR has drained all the creative juices in me. I don’t have a proper frame of mind to write anything these days. I am trying hard to write from past couple of days and it’s just not happening. I feel so incomplete. Anyways still getting used to the new workplace, currently nothing major has changed in terms of work, except for work culture, policies and facilities. I like their transport policy, where we have fixed people, who travel every day. It’s only three of us in my cab(S S S). The good 3 hours of drive in the cab gives us opportunity to discuss on random topics like life experiences, crib about traffic jams, exchange tips on job searches and also to vent out our frustrations. Today’s hot topic was about someone who is the most required person in everybody’s household, our lives comes to a standstill without them. Take a guess on who is that? Yes, it’s our house maids. Well I got to hear some interesting stories and I thought will share it with you all.

Maid 1:

The mistress went berserk when the maid didn’t turn up. She asked her the next day, “Can’t you inform me that you are not coming?” Maid replies, “Oh, I sent you an SMS saying I no come, didn’t you see my message?”

Wow what an idea Sirji! I am sure the maid is using Idea cellular service.

Maid 2:

The day she came for an interview, she said, “I only work from Monday to Friday. Don’t ask me to work on weekends; I won’t come even if you pay me extra money”.

Totally influenced by the IT culture.

Maid 3:

I need a salary hike because I come to work on my two-wheeler and the petrol price is touching sky.

Utilizing the time to earn more.

Maid 4:

Don’t serve me leftovers, it doesn’t suit my tummy. I have a very sensitive stomach.

Stay healthy and fit.

There is a crazy demand for maids in almost all the cities, especially when both couples are working and they don’t have sufficient time to do the daily chores. Gone are those days when maids had restrictions and were treated badly from their employers. I am very happy to see the transition in them. Today what we see is they are educated, financially independent, work really hard to support their families and fight for their rights. Fair enough, if they do justice to their work, all their demands are certainly fulfilled. The flip side to it is some people misuse the freedom and the trust given to them. We completely rely on them when we are away from home. Just to make some quick bucks they take a wrong route. We have heard and witnessed such stories. Right?

Let me know if you have anything interesting to share.

Image courtesy: Google

Have you ever wondered what happens if Spiderman visits Bangalore? Do you think he will survive? Let’s take a look at the reasons for his non survival:

1. The moment he lands on Bangalore roads in his costume, our stray dogs will bark and chase him away. He can’t jump and fly shooting the web, clinging to buildings since Bangalore doesn’t have many tall buildings. Even if he finds some, he might just get tangled between the electric, telephone, and cable wires or probably be electrocuted by touching the wires.
2. In the effort to rescue someone in a remote area or a village, the only mode of commuting is to huff and puff on a bicycle. He will never be able to reach the destination on time because of Bangalore’s traffic.
3. Imagine the torture of wearing that skin-fitting-hooded costume in Bangalore’s heat, humidity and unexpected rains.
4. He will be disappointed to see the look-alike-costumes/soft-toys selling at National market and on pavements for dirt cheap price.

Even if he survives with his super power and agility, do you think our people will allow him to stay?

1. Kumar swamy and Yeddyurappa will join hands on mission ‘Quit Spiderman movement’. If the mission doesn’t work, our honorable chief minister will allot a residential site in HSR layout and plead him to stay there permanently.
2. Pramod Muthalik might put a pressure on him to change his western costume to a dhoti as it’s against to Hinduism
3. If his costume is officially changed to a dhoti, our censor board will put a ban on that for excessive skin show.
4. Ramgopal Varma will fly down from Mumbai to make a movie on him casting opposite to Maria Susi Raj.
5. Yoga guru baba Ramdev would be threatened and go on yet another hunger strike to shoo him away.
6. Do we have some spider worshippers in India? They will probably protest for insulting Spider’s name.
7. All Bollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood and Sandalwood celebrities will be vexed about their endorsements.
8. TV9 will start an exclusive channel (24/7) to show live telecast of his whereabouts.

Meet the husband!

I have written almost about everyone who are near and dear to me on my blog, but never dedicated any post for my dearest hubby. When I used to write posts for ‘Thank you Fridays’, he used to always ask me “when are you thanking me”? I used to reply, “Why do I have to say it on the blog, don’t you know that? Isn’t it understood?”

Well I don’t think it works that way, instead of assuming, I should express that. How can I not dedicate a post to someone, who has dedicated his entire life to me? Isn’t it totally unfair?

Here I go with this post dedicated to my lovely husband Niranjan- spotless/pure that’s what it means. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I was waiting for an opportunity to dedicate a post for very long time, and now is the appropriate time. This is his home coming gift. It’s been three years that he was away from home. Finally, god has shown some mercy on us.

What can I say about him?

There is so much that I will fall short of words. He is one simple, sweet, patient, humorous, practical, boundlessly energetic, optimist, independent, highly disciplined person. I was impressed with him from the day I first met him! I was always cynical about arranged marriages. I was apprehensive about how the person would be, how I would live my entire life with someone whom I hardly know. My uneasiness was cleared once I met him and had a long discussion about everything under the sun. The very same day we decided that we can take the next step into our relation. After six months of courtship we decided to tie the knot. It’s been four long years and we are happily married. That’s how we met.

Sometimes I marvel about, how are we even together, when we have so many differences.He is a sane person while I am totally insane. He is calm and composed while I am unruly and hot-headed. He has so much patience while I am totally impatient. He has good control on his emotions while I cry at the drop of a hat. He always analyzes the situations while I make decisions in haste. He loves actions movies while I like romantic ones. He is a fitness freak while I consider exercising is punishment. I guess, as per the quantum theory, opposite poles always attract each other. We like & love each other because of the differences we have with each other. I am so grateful to him for everything that he has done to me. I have no words to explain my feelings. All I can say is that my life is incomplete without him.

Niranjan,

I truly, deeply missed you every single day. I can't tell you how I spent these three years without you (I know, it was a struggle for you as well). I am glad that you are back and put the smile on my face.

What I missed the most was your absence on festival days, weekends, trips, lonely nights, and whenever I saw couples together. What I enjoyed the most was bitter-sweet fights, lengthy-late-night phone conversations. What I hated the most was the days when you packed your bags, kissed good-byes and I watched you outside the airport. What I never want to see again is, not to stay away from you and shed anymore tears thinking about you.

When I look back, I know that we have missed quite a lot of things. Nonetheless, what I foresee is the good times ahead of us. The distance between us has helped us to grow our relationship even stronger. I am confident there is something good in store for us.

Love you forever :-)

Forgotten b'day

Neha ran towards the phone hoping its Rahul who is calling to wish her on the birthday. She was slightly disappointed when she saw it was her friend on the phone not the love of her life. After an hour, Rahul called, she was overjoyed looking at his name and picked up the phone. They spoke for about ten minutes and there were no signs of Rahul remembering her birthday. Neha was totally disappointed. She thought he is playing a game with her; maybe he wanted to surprise her later, decided to play along with him. She checked all her emails, there was nothing from Rahul. She logged into Facebook, there were hundreds of birthday wishes but her eyes only searched for Rahul’s. She half-heartedly replied to all the messages. The only thought running in her head was how come he forgot her birthday when they just spoke about it few days ago. It was still noon; she decided to wait till the end of the day. When she went to the office, she had a surprise party arranged by her colleagues. Though she was part of the whole celebrations, her heart only craved for Rahul, she needed to hear only from him. She was alone amongst everyone. In between Rahul did call her couple of times, he had no clue on what was going on. Neha felt like screaming at him but suppressed her anger.

She kept talking in her mind about what could be the reason that he has forgotten her birthday. May be for Rahul it’s just another day but for Neha it’s a special day. Is it such a big ask? How can anyone just forget their loved ones birthday?

Every time her phone beeped she still looked for Rahul’s name. Every five minutes, she refreshed her inbox but nothing from Rahul. She lost all the hopes on Rahul and came to terms that it was not a game and he has forgotten her birthday. It was time for Neha to go home. While she was lost in her thoughts, Rahul called her again informing her that he was going out for dinner with some friend. She was in no mood to talk to him. She hung up telling that she would talk to him the next day. By now, her heart ached by Rahul’s behavior. Her day was totally ruined. Those hundreds of wishes didn’t mean anything for her, she felt stupid. She was about to breakdown; she controlled all her emotions, reached home and locked herself in the room. Her mother asked her why was she upset, she said nothing to her. She couldn’t sleep, after tossing and turning over for a long time, finally she slept. She woke up in the middle of the night, the thoughts rushed back to her, she groped for her phone. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks!