Not only for namesake‼

Call me obsessed, stupid, and useless or whatever but here I am…with yet another blog. It is like somehow I need to give a vent to my thoughts, to what I feel…and being the girl I am, I have to share it with each of my acquaintances and this is the best way I can do it‼

The other day while doing a feature article, I came across this issue of changing the bride’s first name post marriage and how many contemporary females are putting up a stand against it. Previously, it did not seem to be a that big great deal…don’t know why it should be now…but I actually gave some serious thought to it.

This has been done quite often in my family and I did not really seem to mind it…and well…nobody cared also even if I did mind…so it was all normal…

But while answering a certain someone’s query over the issue, it was necessary I look at it from her point of view…as the dearest Ian Thornton (Vasundhara, u know who :P ) had said, put oneself in the other person’s situation and think….

And think I certainly did and had some amazing revelations…

It would be ridiculous if someone tried to did that…I mean hell with Shakespeare for his “what’s in a name” thing…for me, everything is there in it. So much so that I wouldn’t have some special people in my life call me by any other name, than their own modified ‘love names’.

For instance, I would fail to answer if someday my dad or even mom would call me “Vidhi”…it has always been Chinki and it would always be that…even when they would try to do it during PTA meetings, they would sound so phony…as if am not the one they are talking about…some long lost child of theirs…

Imagine! if my brat-as-hell brother were to call me anything apart from what he calls me..(I can’t tell you the name btw,…it is too sweet (read: ridiculous) to be disclosed here… \m/

Amusingly, I have as many names as there are special people in my life…and I hate it when they try to swap names or call me what someone else does…I mean my stupid brother Nishant had taken up this habit of calling me Chi…when all his life he had called me “Chinu”…how much I had ranted at him…and made sure that he gives up calling me Chi…as it is Chinu and Nishu rhyme so well….the moron needed some serious convincing before understanding this simple thing…phew…

And it is not like Chi was his innovation..it was given by my very dear friend…Priyanka Jajodia because she thought Cheena was too long (talk about being stupid‼)….my entire family would make fun of me when this female would shout Chi…Chi at the top of her voice…but then they got used to it (as they have to our various other eccentricities) and the trademark name stuck by…and trust me love…nobody says it better than you do….in fact I don’t let anybody else use it only….<3>

Even PD is so close to heart (Divyanshu..stop grinning :D)…though I swear I would have murdered the innovator back then in 8^th standard for coming up with PD (read: Phoolan Devi). I know, I know…it is simply heartless to call an epitome of amicability by such outrageous epithets…but some people find it difficult to behold someone superior to them :D :D….in fact they need a dose of hard bound history books in order to come by :P :P

Similarly VD (Anurag), Sicko ( Aamod), Vids (Suru), Chinks (Naresh Mama), China (Raj bhai), Behenji (Paresh mama), Chinka (Badi mom), Babes (Shona aka Radhika), Coconut Girl, …the list is endless…I may have forgotten to include a few…sincerest apologies to those special ones who use those special names J

And yes, Jojojojo…Vidhi does sound the best when you say it :D :D…Suru…I also like when you say it in your signature style…Viddddhii :D

Hiral shah, high time you decided on a special name for me…refrain from Vidhu to rhyme it with Hiru…pleaseeeeeeeee….( and ya..i almost forgot it…am sorry again for not writing your blog…am so sorry… :P :P )

Imagine!…I got lost to this extent while coming up with a perfect and pragmatic answer to the query…and I knew it then…the importance of the given and special names…they are a part of a person’s being…a person’s existence…someone just can’t go about changing them like it is his or her property and not someone else’s to whom it actually belongs.…

Trust me if I had my way, I would come up with an entirely new name and secure IPR over it….

Suru also seemed to share in my opinion and said that she will change the name of entire khandaan of the groom instead of changing her name \m/…yo Girl :D

In fact, while I was at it, that is self-introspection, I came up with a classic Epitaph for myself (as it is am nearing the stage at a lightning speed, what with my deteriorating health L)…

death is considered as being born into some another world…so what could my name be there?

“O thou invisible spirit of mine,

if thou hast no name to be known by,

let us call thee _______”

I shall fill in the gap, when I breathe my last…and people..Please refrain from doing the needful :D

Almost Married

Ok, as I sit anticipating the results of my blood report, I thought of writing this long overdue blog of mine. Before I get started, my sincerest apologies to Miss Hiral Shah. Hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me. If I manage to survive this cataclysmic ailment of mine, I shall surely write about you :P :P

Disclaimer: …my extra brainy friends…please do not think that this blog is any harbinger for nuptial announcements or my plans to consider matrimony as one of the to-do things in the near future…it was just what I felt like about writing for it does lighten up my rather dull days…

Now coming to the topic at hand, Almost Married. Well, my friends who have read a few of my posts on a recent wedding portal are more than convinced that I have secretly married some jerk or something like that, otherwise I would not have achieved such great insights into the functional dynamics of the most complex relationship on this planet, Marriage.

How I loved writing about Venice and it being an ideal honeymoon destination (insider tale: it was directly borrowed from one of the regency collections of Mills & Boon…a smart Google search assured me that there will be no plagiarism issues :D). How much ever I hated it but I had to make a few modifications here and there until it turned out perfect and I was on board as a regular writing member…cheers‼

The initial topics were not all that great….the two things that drove me to write were the section titled “Real people, real wedding” and the Pay :P

Writing about real weddings was actually so much fun…I had the liberty to even cook up stuff and I actually put my brains to work to come up with perfect wedding ideas for all my friends who are currently in a relationship :D (when your stories get posted, I shall mail you the link… ;) the outrageousness committed in there will surely lead to my extinction as my friends will not take a single moment in poisoning me once they read what has been written ;)

Oh, by the by, I did not even spare some of my relatives and gave nice twists and turns to their nuptial arranged almost a decade ago ;) I also realized as to how monotonous maarwari weddings are…the same rituals, the same order in which they are performed, everything more or less uniform..nothing different at all…and I also realized that there has been not a single case of elopement in my near or distant family‼ oh! What a shame :D

I would always get carried away in spinning love tales when the actual purpose of writing was to highlight the planning aspects…but then who cares ;)

The Next Big Thing

A brand new section was allotted to me and it was Relationship Issues. As such am the most unsuitable person to write on this…because of…well the obvious reasons and I do not state the obvious ;) this was a challenge and I was immensely helped (yet again) by my friends who kept fighting with their beloveds for the most silliest reasons which surprisingly were indeed great Relationship Issues :P :P

all I had to do was consider the most recent problem or reason for fight between my friends and their beaus…and try coming up with probable solutions :D I am not sure whether it would have worked in their case, but my work did get approved on all occasions and am highly grateful to them..You Guys Rock :P

Special thanks (yet again) to Sharad Jain who is my only married friend and to whom I referred all the write-ups to test their validity…must say, he has been there, done that…you are the best ‼ :P and any way, it felt like being virtually married all the while writing these stuff (pun intended ;)

But I must say now am quiet knowledgeable about certain dynamics of this sacred and secular institution called Marriage…so much so that now I have a specific list of Do’s and Don’t’s…for me as well as the unfortunate soul who will…well…u know ;)

Here are a few classic statements made by some of my friends:

Accept it when you are wrong, just keep quiet when you are right…follow this and you will be convinced that you are indeed the most fortunate man on this earth in the most happy relationship that could ever be J J….

I have already compromised on my Ego, I will not give up my self-respect ‘so easily’….rofl… :P :P

We have been dating since 4 years now, why can’t he understand my feelings without my having to express them :P :P (Poor guy…it is not his fault that he is not as psychic as Octopus Paul :D)

And the best one: All the jealousy, insecurity etc etc is just there because ‘I love you….please forgive me this last one time…is it too much to ask for sweets??” :P :P

But what I found most despicable was when my friends would say “you won’t understand because you have not been in a relationship”….OMG…how I felt like throttling them then and there‼

P.S. : Piu, will we ever find the “Yoyo” kind men who will behave like…well a “Yoyo”… ??

An Unusual happening

Now something very unusual happened today. Something which I did not think could have happened. I actually got stranded in Varanasi rains for 40 whole minutes, when my home was hardly 15 minutes away, walking !

It rained cats and dogs today, agreed. But only for an hour! and the entire loveable city of mine has been transformed into one big whole swimming pool with water 3ft in depth. So now just imagine the plight of someone who is barely 5ft…phew!

As such I love rains, but I have just recovered from cough, cold and fever, so could not risk getting drenched and falling sick again. Thanks to my sibling, younger bro (who is a complete brat!) I did not have my humble scooty (though I would not have risked riding it in a pool).

The rickshaw guys..they are classic! I can very well imagine their plight when they have to pull someone of my stature, but they could have shown a little mercy, especially when I was ready to pay thrice the usual charge, but no! It was their day and me, helpless little poor girl was standing by the road and getting drenched in the rain!

One of the classic responses I got, “madam, baarish ho rahi hai”, as if I did not already know that! (but thank god he said “Baarish ho rahi hai”, there are some people who say “Baarish gir rahi hai”, a direct translation from “rain is falling” :P :P)

I stood at the Spencer’s departmental store when my dear brother messaged me saying that he is coming to pick me up and that I was to tell him my exact co-ordinates (imagine!). I obliged and then with the money I had to pay the rickshaw guy, bought myself two chocolates! (btw, I was on my way from gym :P )

I was never more pleased to see Ayush ever than I was today and what a ride it was! The roads had turned into a big pool with whirlpools. Those iconic ditches were overflowing, gurgling happily with water, ready to take anybody in their embrace that chanced to step on them. To add to the scenic beauty the electricity supply was terminated temporally and only light that could be seen was that from shops and automobiles. The perfect picture of a city that prides itself on its rich heritage, but I think we could have fared better with modern roads and a well developed drainage system. or for that matter, Mohenjo-Daro civilization had better drainage system!

An insider trivia: if it remains cloudy two days after the rainfall, without any sunshine, there will be no way the water on the roads would get drained. It is only through the process of vaporization that the city doesn’t come to a standstill after a spell of heavy showers..after all nature is bountiful, it will see us through‼

P.S. hiral shah, please forgive me,,,the next thing would be yours...pacca

An ode to friendship

An ode to friendship

It may be the most clichéd way of doing it, but at this point of time, it is the best way I can do it, express my sincerest heartfelt gratitude to all my friends who have made my life a living nightmare :P :P

Nightmare because they are not normal in the ordinary sense of the word, there is nothing in life that they have ever done which can be called as remotely sane, and the crazy bunch of people I call as friends are just that, CRAZY‼

I don’t know where would have I been had it not been for my bestest friends, the God Almighty, who has made me jinxed in every way possible and grins notoriously whenever I land myself in some or the other puddle; I think the God likes to play the ‘Knight in shining armour’, coming to the rescue of this ‘damsel in distress’, time and again. Thank you…and just let me know your future plans as far as am concerned.

Jojojo is perhaps the dumbest, yet most understanding soul on this earth, who will even deactivate her Facebook Profile if she senses that someone is stalking it. Expect her to say ‘I understand’, in the situations where you know you are clearly at fault, but she will refuse to acknowledge any vice in you just because you are her friend. You rock Jo…I can fool you umpteen number of times, and get away scot free: D :D (guys out there, only I enjoy such liberties…don’t think she is too easy to date :D)

My most selfish and one of the oldest friends, Vasundhara Saraf. Selfish because the female is most of the times busy discussing some or the other economic policies of the government on Google Talk (talk about being pretentious :P :P) But expect a call in the middle of the night when she realizes that you can also be put to some use in this world so full of useless people. You rock Vasundhara…thanks for always being there for me J

It is not easy to render me speechless, but one person has almost become a pro at it and hence all the more despicable (read : admirable). Stop grinning foolishly Divyanshu Srivastava and remember that you will not always have the last word!! (and no one is expecting you to take a humble bow at the compliment but am sure the overdoes of chivalry in you will anyway prompt you to do so)

This female claims to be not weird, but just limited edition. But Hiral Shah epitomizes irrationality and stupidity as no one ever did. talking of her generous disposition, well don’t be astonished if she sacrifices your belongings on your behalf just because one of her friends expressed a desire for them. And the female has a knack for convincing (read: nagging) people, fuse their minds, to the extent that they either give in to her whims and fancies or curse her thoroughly under their breath :P :P

Miss smart pants who enjoys life to the very core and am not ashamed to say that am through and through jealous of her, Miss Suruchi Bharagawa, who is as cool as the girl next door, still every bit special. Best are the moments when we sit down together and gossip (read: bitch) profusely about common and even remote acquaintances, deriving a quixotic pride at our current status in life. she is one girl who knows how to wear her I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude on her sleeves, without really injuring the fine sensibilities of people and their conceited notions of themselves.

One person whose life I have made a living nightmare is Aamod Potdar. Poor guy has to keep up with all my mood swings, temper tantrums, meanness and a thousand times a day iteration of how being an ISC puts me at a status superior to him. But the guy understands one thing: forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much. Grrrrrr….after so many atrocities, it is tough to extract a single cruel word from him…and then I feel extra miserable, not capable of any kind of sweetness in this world…grrr…thank you for always being there for me…the last one year would have been impossible to survive without your incessant support.

Have you ever heard of stupid moron who falls constantly in one or the other traps, multiply it a hundred times with their own eccentricities and then boasts of his courage in having survived the calamity, if only by an inch! While all this while, his friends lay in constant anxiety of what will become of him, or speculate whether it would be too cruel to guillotine him! yes, Anurag Sharma, in the past 8 months that I have known you, there have very few moments when I have thought of you, without associating you with the hundred thousand problems you invite for yourself. And I still marvel at your courage to brave it all and emerge a survivor. Proud of you my Friend…but you are still every bit miserable.

Don’t curse me or pull at your hair. Your wanting to kill me at this point is only natural, Priyanka Jajodia, because I have still not mentioned anything about you, when I have said nice, gratifying things about so many other people. A through and through shopaholic, she stops only when she runs out of moolah (wonder what prevents her from borrowing money from others and splurge that as well). She surprises me till date with her magnanimous acts of generosity when she is in essence a bitch of the highest order :P :P….I will never let you forget me gal, something feels utterly wrong when I imagine your absence from my life…love ya J

Don’t die of insecurities Harsha Ohri…I cannot take the chance of forgetting you or not writing a few lines about you; only imagine the plight of poor someone who will have to bear through your added and heightened tantrums :P Expect this females to come up with classic problems in life, some never heard before types which will either make you swear at her or laugh at the sheer hilarity of the problems :D but a true sweetheart, one to whom you can turn to in your best times and enjoy life..she will feel truly happy for you…I don’t dare take the chance of burdening her with my problems, lest she should be overwhelmed and their be reversal of intended roles :D :D

There are a lot of things you can't discuss with your friends, for everything else, there is Sharad Jain :P. You truly lighten up my boring hours online and I can virtually talk anything with you without the fear of being condemned, though I do look forward to lots of appreciation :P :P and let me tell you am only living in bold anticipation of the day when you will come to trust me :D….may god give you all that you desire…stay blessed J

To all my friends who have not been named here, let me tell you how privileged you are, for ask them, it is not easy being in the position they are in :D I truly and sincerely cherish our bond of friendship and assure that it will always remain close to my heart….

“my heart aches and a drowsy numbness pains, as if of Hemlock I have drunk….” Like Keats, am slowly succumbing to my predicament which currently is Fever…but do not for one moment think that the words above have been written in delirium…they are the Gospel Truth :P…and please find it in your hearts to appreciate the grandiloquent gesture of mine and return the same in kind…gifts of all kind :D :D

From the diary of a Bookworm

How often do you come across a book that you think is just another tale or love, war or hatred which ultimately threatens to penetrate through the very fabric of your existence, so much so that the process of your transformation had already begun even when you were only halfway through it?

Or how often do you take up a book, based on its popularity and reviews and halfway through it, you have this inkling that ‘yes, this is going to be the monumental one’ but towards the end, it just doesn’t strike the chords with your being?

I don’t know about you, but the former happened with me during my teenage, 16-18 and the latter happens till date! I reflect back and still smile at the thought of reading Pride and Prejudice as a 16 year old, never caring to find the real meaning of the word prejudice even. I remember enjoying the novel thoroughly, especially the way Darcy had proposed to Elizabeth (trust me, it was the most shocking I ever came across)

"In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

and when the schools re-opened, I had timidly asked my English teacher as to how the title stands justified :P :P

But that was the first Victorian classic/Romance I ever read and till date I am in love with Victorian classics. What words, they seem to have a sophistication and authority of their own! I never truly bought myself to reading or appreciating casual novels and books, though I have read many from Sidney Sheldon to Mills & Boons (:P ) to Sophie Kinsella to Chetan Bhagat.

This rendezvous with the classics went on for a year where “A Tale of Two Cities” followed “Pride and Prejudice”. Dickens was a genius or I was a fool…because it took me good one month to finish that book! What patience I had even I marvel at to be reading at the same lines over and over again in order to grasp their meaning!

The first Danielle Steel I ever read turned my life topsy-turvy! No, wait, life was already chaotic then, it bought some order and gave me the courage to withstand it all. Now, all those who are acquainted with what “Long Road Home” is about, please don’t for a second think that I had one-tenth as tumultuous childhood or teenage as the protagonist. But the courage with which she bore it all somehow transpired to me, when as a 17 year old I would compare my modicum of miseries to hers (yes, I was stupid enough to do that) but it worked fine and I was able to pull myself through. And then 3 years later I realised that it takes gumption to read through that book, because my weirdest, bestest and the most courageous friend could not find it in her heart to finish it‼

And then I fell in love with the books by Judith McNaught (thanks to Vasundhara) and there was no stop to the madness. Before you feel the need to Google, I will tell you that Judith McNaught has penned the most romantic and heart rendering love tales, all 500-600 pages and I enjoyed reading them thoroughly. Three works by her in particular I have read thrice over and I still can’t get over them…phew! And its so much fun to discuss about her characters. Reading one day in Oxford, I met this Burkha clad girl who saw the Judith McNaught Title in my hand and very keenly asked “Did Niki Duville get married in this one”? I was like, “hell no, this is about Stephen Westmoreland” and in that very store we stood chatting about Judith Mcnaught characters for like 45 minutes…I don’t remember when I felt so elated last.

Oh, the main purpose behind this blog was I had to pen down my reactions on reading “Gone With the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell, but I gather that I will reserve for my next post. And yes, the direct inspiration to write or discuss reactions to the works of classic came from “Reading Lolita in Teheran”…..lo-lo-lo-li-ta ‼:P :P

Transmuting into a Recluse

I don’t know when it started but I want it to end ASAP.

There was a time when I religiously remembered the birthday of the remotest relative, even my sixth cousin for that matter. Forgetting the birthday of friends was as bad as committing the most hideous sin. But of late, it seems, “birthday hai? Acha thik hai…will put a post on Fb”. At max, will tag the birthday boy or girl…that should be sufficient to make his or her day‼

When did this exactly start happening? I have no clue but yes, this is what is indeed happening. Even before calling or texting my bestest pals, I have to think as to what will I exactly talk? And after two minutes keep my phone aside….chod na..will call after sometime‼

The other day a staff at gym asked me as to why don’t I interact with others or even a single person? Is there nobody I know over here? (this question is a big thing when you are living in a small city like Varanasi….you gotta know at least one out of 10 or 20 people you meet at a gathering such as Talwarkar’s….sorry but I don’t consider other members anything better than this).

Is it being snobbish? Well, that’s what some people thought of me in the MBA classes I had joined for like two months last year…but things were really different then…but somehow was the beginning of the current situation. They thought I was a snob because I came five minutes before the class started and left immediately and interacted with nobody (contrast this with the fact I am still in touch with my friends from 10^th and 12^th standard classes). I’ll tell you a secret..you know half the time I did not interact because somewhere I had this feeling that whatever I will say or want to say, they wouldn’t understand that, I mean my thoughts, ideas and opinions….hmmm…was I being snobbish in this?

Another adjective to describe my condition that comes to my mind is “parochial” or “clannish”. But I can bet on this that I was never clannish or parochial else I wouldn’t have had such diversity of friends or friends from such diverse situations, backgrounds, streams or whatever. My being clannish is also not possible because I have never been compatible with people of my own clan :P :P

Now coming to being recluse…well I know its a temporary phenomenon and happens when people start going their own ways or have little time to share or little things to talk about. But its like in my case it has been kind of prolonged and please do not relate it with my being at home or something. I have kind of enough to keep me pre-occupied and enough time at hand to talk to friends or even socialise…but don’t feel at all up to it. (I know a certain segment of people are gonna ridicule this because of the flurry of activities and going out involved in till a week back but trust me that was also more or less made fun and exciting by presence of Harsh, Harsha’s cute and Shinchan-kind brother :P :P)

Well, I just wrote this all too randomly, without paying a single thought to what I am writing. Do comment if you connect with my condition at some point. Avoid reading it if you are bored with the first paragraph itself…

Analysing People

The simple philosophy of my life has been to accept people, the way they are and not to analyse their actions or the reason behind their behaviour. But here I am, analysing people’s handwriting and telling them, perhaps what they already know‼ Aamod, a friend of mine calls me a show-off and wanting to hog the limelight when I sit down to analyse people’s handwriting and telling them anything with which they will obviously agree :P:P

This I have been doing for around two to three years now and nothing great about that, except that I have made some really good and great friends, who were complete strangers to me at the time of the analysis. Anyhow, needless to mention that I did hit the bull’s eye at every point and thus impressed these nice, curious souls and did manage to grab a few favours, like a lunch date =>. Thank you, thank you and I just reconfirmed my status to be a, sycophant..right Anurag? :P :P

But off late I have taken up compatibility analysis, which Divyanshu very fondly calls as “Jodi Milana” and also insists on sharing the bounty, that what I get in return for fooling people, only that I don’t fool them but tell them the truth. Handwriting can seriously speak volumes about someone’s character, someone’s life, someone’s mental stability, decision making power, and love for family, even how passionately one kisses!

But what I find completely strange and rather disheartening is that the very people who ridicule it as being totally nonsensical, some way or the other insist on getting an analysis done! This has happened a lot of times and I kinda feel disillusioned as well.

But then there are some true admirers of my skill, if I may call it so. First is Kinjal, who agreed to be my manager, lol. Next is Sharad, who today confessed to having read my analysis at least three times in past four months and who also blogged about it. Then Raja Bhaiya, who gets nice people’s handwriting for me to analyse. I consider them nice because they pay me for analysis..yeah :P :P

But whatever it is, something that has started has a hobby has become a part of my life, seriously. Very few people know that I had taken up reading books on analysis, because we did not have faculty for UNIX in the third semester and our UNIX classes would be free. And the best is while Ahmed would read Vijay Mukhi’s book on UNIX, I would be reading P. Hollander’s book on graphology…lol…all in the name of IT education. The real boost came from Riki, who literally opened my “dukaan” in the canteen and had a BBI people queue up for the analysis :P :P Those were the days indeed…miss you guys…big time…

But this analysis has been profitable as well given the scores of fruit and nuts, roasted almonds, rochers, Bourneville and BR ice-creams I have already coerced from people :D

Well, this isn’t some publicity stunt..as I lay on my bed tending my swollen heels, I decided to pen down some of it….but seriously there is no need for you to analyse people and their actions, life is too short for this…just be with them, live with your cherished ones and at any time you feel skeptic about them or any of their actions, just for a moment put yourself in their place and decide how would you have acted/reacted….you will indeed get your answer  