Summer of 2005

If I thought John Abraham was the hottest thing this summer, I totally underestimated that shiny golden orb in the big blue sky. And how! The temperature seems to go only one way - up, up, UP! And I hate summers. I'd rather be chilled to the bone than be hot and sticky.

If there's one thing I hate about Bangalore, it's definitely the "May" weather. Am longing for a sudden shower to ease things around here. Right now, I'd sell my soul to the devil to be in June!! The start of the monsoons. Rainy nights, one after the other. June - Such a beautiful month!


Summer Rain
--- Belinda Carlisle

Whispering our goodbyes, waiting for a train
I was dancing with my baby in the summer rain
I can hear him saying nothing will change
Come dance with me baby in the summer rain
I remember the rain on our skin
And his kisses hotter than the Santa Ana winds
Whispering our goodbyes, waiting for a train
I was dancing with my baby in the summer rain

I remember laughing till we almost cried
There at the station that night
I remember looking in his eyes

[CHORUS]
Oh my love it's you that I dream of
Oh my love, since that day
Somewhere in my heart I'm always dancing with you in the summer rain
Doesn't matter what I do now
Doesn't matter what I say
Somewhere in my heart I'm always dancing with you in the summer rain

I can hear the whistle, military train
I was dancing with my baby, in the summer rain
I can hear him saying Ooh love is strange
Come dance with me baby, in the summer rain
I remember the rain pouring down
And we poured our hearts out as the train pulled out
I can see my baby waving from the train
It was the last time that I saw him in the summer rain

[CHORUS]
................ (continued)

Women Rule!!

Read about Gauri Nanda, the second-year graduate student and research associate at MIT, who invented Clocky (an alarm clock for people who have trouble getting out of bed. When the snooze bar is pressed, Clocky rolls off the table and finds a hiding spot, a new one every day and basically keeps pestering you until you wake up) has also developed a smart handbag (called bYOB, build-your-own-bag) for the forgetfuls (like me!). It helps keep you on track on a busy morning. It makes sure you haven't forgetten your wallet or house keys (My lifelong ailment!) and even lights up in the dark to make rummaging through it easier (I so need this!).

And wait, there's more. It even tells you if you've forgotten something you will probably need later in the day. A pen or your dairy, for instance. It can review the weather report and suggest that you grab an umbrella -- or your sunshades. This purse can even upload your favorite songs onto your scarf. It takes a girl to invent the really smart and useful things, haan?

Been a long day!

Its really been a long day..

First, it was the Bangalore International Marathon.. Yeah! I did the the 7 kms 'Celebration Run’ (despite all the cynicism) and lived to tell . We woke up bright and early at 5:30 am (what a Sunday!) and a grumbling TK, Chirpy SP, Sleepy SJ and an excited yours truly reached Kanteerava stadium at around 7 am. The Full Marathon and the Half Marathon were already in progress. And there was a huge turnout.. looked like some 10,000 or so people waiting for the 7 km wala run.. (you will get the actual figures in the newspapers in about a couple of hours)

So, there I was.. looking to run my first marathon and also trying to figure out if my exercising and jogging has had any effect. Well! I completed the run in about 59 mins. That’s a pretty decent time for my standards and even among approx 1000 odd brave guys and gals who had turned up there. And definitely better than T and Nuts who gave up mid way and strolled through the rest of the "Run" :)

My congratulations to Kennedy Chinna “Army” Ramu who upstaged his better-rated rivals from Ethiopia, in the full Marathon for his first win.

After that, I got back home, took a quick shower and dressed (in a sari and the works! And might I add mua looked rather cute) to go to GR's daughter's naming ceremony. Aarna, meaning Laxmi, is a bundle of beauty (thank god she took after her mom). The proud father, looking stunning himself in his new sherwani, was beaming from ear to ear as everyone gooed and gaaed over the neonate. Most of the office crowd had made to the function. We spent the afternoon chatting and bhatting over some scrumptious lunch.

At 4:00 pm, a panicky Nuts called me. "Where are you?” She screeched. "We have to go for the MCIM meet tonight and I don't have a stitch to wear". I kept the phone a few inches away from my ear and asked her what her 2 huge bags, which I had to lug, contained. She chose not to hear me and asked me to come back pronto. So, the afternoon was spent shopping for the perfect dress for Nuts. After much searching and lots of 'trying', we found IT. A joyous Nuts and a tired Sona headed back home.

That was not the end of the day. The Class of MCIM were meeting at the 13th Floor, sharp at 8:00 PM, to give Nutkins a warm welcome... Bangalore style! With Nuts taking hours to dress up and to apply her make-up perfectly, we were terribly late.. I raced through the city, cussing the other (horrible!) drivers. Anyways, when we arrived there at 9:00 PM, we found that we were the early birds!! Pah!! Women!

And then, by 10 pm when the party was in full blast and attendance, the days activities were catching up with me. I was totally exhausted. But then some good food, cool Bangalore breeze and ribbing with ol' classmates (in that order ;) rejuvenated me again. So, here I am at 2 am.. filing this post :) My Scooby also slept off on me. Me heading for bed too.

Chow! Nighty night!!

Nuts is here...

Announcing....

...The arrival of Jet Airways flight number blah blah blah from Mumbai! Or so screeched the not-so-melodious voice of whoever it is who makes these announcements at the Bangalore airport. So, the flight finally arrives! I had spent about 50 agonising minutes waiting out in the heat, listening to two women unintelligently talk about airports and different airlines. One of the dumb women actually was trying very hard to show off that she is oh-so-well-travelled! Anyways, am saving that annoying exchange for some other day.....

I crept out of the barricade into the aisle, craning my neck to catch a glimpse of the familiar form that I had played hookey from work to come pick up. After five minutes of severe craning of neck, I spotted her. Her being Nuts aka Sandy Nuts aka SJ - My bestest friend from college days. Sunglasses raised on top of her head, a top that seemed new or mine or both and a big, big grin covering her face, she emerged pushing her trolley, which was loaded to capacity with two huge bags, which also seemed like it would burst at its seams! She stops three feet away from me and shrieks, "sooooooooonnnnaaaa! What's with this dowdy look? Why no make-up? What's with the dark circles? Have I taught you nothing?!" And as I roll my eyes heavenwards and the whole airport turns to look at us, she bounds towards me, trolley forgotten, and gives me a huge hug!

She rants on, "So when can we start shopping? I am only here for 3 days (I eye her 2 huge bags, "Only three days?") I leave on Tuesday, so we should start today. And now that I see you, I think I need to go through your stuff and see what I need to throw and the we need to get you new stuff...." By now I have given up. I shrug helplessly and start to pile her luggage into my car as she screeches with approval at my newly pierced ears and ear rings! Ah, she approves of something! My life has new meaning now! *grin*

Welcome back to Bangalore, Nuts! I know that by the time you head back to Bombay, you'd have taken me to the cleaners! And we'd have to get you a new bag to carry all your new stuff... and that I'll also have a lot of stuff missing from my wardrobe.... *grin* And I would have listened to your constant nagging for the next 3 days but I am so so so glad you are here!

Marathon: Get, Set, Go...

I signed up for the Bangalore Marathon on May 15th. Yes I know. It was pretty brave of me. I'm the girl who never fails to feel giddy half-way through a trek, who blacks out if food is delayed by an more than a hour and a half, and blocks out if its too sunny, and sometimes blacks out without reason. But its done now. I will be running the marathon and so will TK, SP and Nutkins (after much cajolling).

well!! hmmm.. 42.2 kms is a long way to go. Nahi? Ok, we haven't signed on for the full marathon, but the 7 kms 'Celebration Run'. That does seem daunting too but haven't SP and me been going for a 5-km run? This is just a shade longer and so what if we ran 6 months back.. Running is like cycling. One never forgets :-)

But why attempt the unthinkable? Because it'll make me feel good about myself and it'll be a tale I wanna live to tell my grandkids! ;o)

Are you sure? What if you black out and faint again? Nope, I'm pretty sure I won't. Been working on my fitness level (one teensy weensy bit) When? Everyday.. Have stopped using the elevator at home and in the office and instead am using the stairs. Climbing strengthens the legs and for heaven's sake, you out there stop laughing so hard. I'll show you...

Another earworm..

I wake up with a song in my head every morning. And it's surprising how my brain finds out the most obscure song to wake me up to...possibly something I haven't listened to in months. I lie in bed, inevitably with the chorus of the song playing and what's most striking is that I hear each and every single note, guitar strum or voice modulation like it were playing out of a CD.

Yesterday was the Hindi Jungle Book jingle. I was humming it all day yesterday and being such a catchy thing, it was playing in my head till I fell asleep.
Jungle jungle baat chali hain (2)
Pata chala hain
Chaddi pahan ke phool khila hain, phool khila hain...

Today's earworm is the Maggi's jingle. Maggi - the wonderful, wonderful food from Nestle! I am calling it 'food' and not whatever it is technically called because for thousands of hostellers, singletons and such Maggi is often the staple diet! There are a few Maggi-meals that I remember especially fondly.

The first one was in first year college during prep leave. (Sandy) Nuts and I, being nocturnal creatures, were studying late in the night when almost everyone on our floor in the hostel was fast asleep. It was around 2 am or something when hunger pangs gripped us. The little kitchen that students could use was already shut and so cooking anything there was clearly not an option. We desperately looked in every corridor to see if any of the people who usually stocked food (and we called them the Pantry) were up and about. But as luck would have it, they weren't. By the time we had finished the rounds of the three hostel corridors, it was already 2:30 am and we were hungry enough to eat a horse and then some. Nuts suddenly realised that she had a packet of Maggi in her room. Now that was hardly going to be any help given that the student kitchen was closed and you simply can't have uncooked Maggi. Uncooked Wai-Wai is good but not uncooked Maggi!!!

That's when I came up with this brilliant idea! *smug grin* I usually am full of bright ideas! *an even more smug grin* I remembered that I had hot water in my flask and Sandy had the fattest ever scented candle. So, we cut open the pack of Maggi, added the masala and poured in the hot water and help the sauce pan containing all of that over the scented candle. We kept moving the pan over the candle for over 20 minutes (and not 2!) and finally the Maggi was all done! So, at around 3 am or so, SN and I gobbled down the candle-flame Maggi. And boy, was it the most delicious thing we ever ate!!!

Mummy bhook lagi hain...
Bas do minute
Maggi Maggi Maggi....

Long live Maggi!!! :) And Nuts, welcome to Bangalore. Can't wait for Saturday to come fast enough....