The Soap Opera... starring GGand the Idiot!

I lost my ATM card yesterday. Well, to be more honest, I kind of forgot to take it out of the damned ATM machine. You can imagine the fright I got some three hours later when I realised what I had done. I went back to the ATM machine to check whether some honest soul had given it over to the security guard. But obviously, the guard had changed in the past three hours and the new guard had no clue.

I called up the Citibank help-line.

Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Hullo. I am Girish. How may I help you?
Me (Totally psyched out.): Hi. This is so and so. I just lost my ATM card.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Yes Ma’am. How did that happen and in what branch?
Me (Slightly embarrassed): Uh! Actually I lost it in the machine.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): In the machine?
Me: Yes. I kind of forgot to take it.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Forgot to take it?
Me (Defensive and irritated with his parroting): Yes. Forgot. So anyone could have taken all the money from my account. (Suddenly I realised the gravity of it. My salary has just been credited to the account) Oh please please help me out.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Of course Ma’am. Do you have your Debit card number?
Me (sadly): Uh. No.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Bank Account number?
Me (almost in tears): Nooooooo.
Girish (Obviously used to hysterical women): Do you have a transaction slip?
Me (brightening up): Yes. I gave him my bank account number.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Am I speaking to Ms. so and so
Me (Duh! That’s the first thing I had told him. My name!): Yes. Yes.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Ma’am I have cancelled your card.
Me: Thank you. Please please tell me if there is any money in my account.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): I am sorry Ma’am we are not in a position to give out that information.
Me: What do you mean you are not in a position to give out that information? It’s my account. I need to know.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): I am sorry Ma’am.
Me: Cummon. You can’t do this. Tell me something. Anything.
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Ma’am your last transaction was for Rs x.
Me: What was the transaction before that?
Girish(in a sickeningly pleasant voice): I am sorry Ma’am. We are not in a position to give out that information.
Me: What do you mean you are not in a position to give out that information? It’s my account. I need to know.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): I am sorry Ma’am. If it helps that is the only transaction today.

What a first class idiot! Couldn’t he have told me that in the first place?!!

I miss Tutu Singh :o(

I wonder what is it about dogs that fascinates me and makes me want to smother them with hugs and kisses? Be it my own little tootsie, others’ doggies or even the street dogs! Is it the shape of their snout, the turn of their lips, the whiskers that tickle when they lick your face and their floppy ears that seem to have a life of its own? Or it is because of the way they rub against my legs, the way their eyes talk; or their sloppy kisses.

When I was 4 or 5, my Dad told me he knew Tarzan very well and that he used to often visit him in the jungle, which was on the way to his office. Of course, I believed him and when he said that Tarzan would give me any animal from the jungle that my heart desired, I asked for a puppy. Every evening when Dad came home from work, I would demand to know where the puppy was. And every day Dad had a new excuse for not being able to meet Tarzan. This went on for a long time till I finally lost interest or grew up, whichever came first. I think it was the latter because the craving for the puppy refused to go away!

We did get Tootsie (a lasa apso) many years later. Tootsie won me over instantly with his big brown eyes and sloppy kisses. He was my best friend and every evening we would sit in the garden watching the stars as I gave him a "lowdown" on the day's happenings. He would listen intendly and nuzzle or lick me at appropriate intervals to indicate that he understood (every word!).

Its been almost sixteen years since Tootsie came into our lives. Even though Tootsie can no longer see very well, his big brown eyes are still captivating. They continue to warm my heart each time I gaze into them. I miss Tutu Singh :o(

Doggies bring out a love in me that I didn’t know I was capable of. Give me a dog and I will forgo all other human relationships.

An Ant-i Attack!

Ants have made themselves at home inside my keyboard. I type, and they keep on creeping out! It is quite disturbing, and more than a little amusing. I have tried blowing hard between the keys to chase them out, and also poking them out with a pin, but all these measures have had but little effect. And I'm too scared to take the keys out and clean the keyboard properly - I just do not have enough faith in my ability to put the keys back together properly. What if I break something? Aaargh.

OMG there are three that I can see right now, creeping out from between the arrow keys. Holy flying pig - it's teaming with ants now!! Eeeeks!