Everyday ADventures

When someone asks me what kind of person am I.. I say outrightly, I am an adventurer.. thanks to my everyday adventures in commuting to office..Ever since I started working, I have been commuting through public mode of transport... do not ask me why so, as I would be rather embarrased to give you the reply (secret, I do not know to ride a two-wheeler and cant afford a four wheeler ) and that makes a solid 5 years of everyday travel in a bus, auto rickshaw , share autos , train, cab or by walk (walking in public, isnt it public transport as well ???)
Now I can say I have travelled a lot (giggles)......

All this 5 years have been all funny, crazy, wild and irritating... on the whole..BP raising..

I remember my first days of travel in Bangalore in my office cab, where I have not missed even a single day to remind the driver to pick me up for work... else he would not remember me at all.. afterall I am not one of those who could be forgotten too easily too... but stil he managed too.

Then followed my lovely days in Hyderabad and travelling in shared autos...where in atleast ten adults were flooded all over in a three wheeled vehicle.. along with loud music from the driver's cabin and of course with all the gimmicks arising from there using the rear view mirror.. which may fail to give a clear view of the vehicles behind but not the girls sitting behind..seeing all this, I can never stop myself admiring the poise and the beauty of the auto and the Auto Man [ well, i call the driver of the auto as Auto Man :) ]
You may ask what do the cops do when these autos ply around the city, but they really could not do anything as the public is very much supportive of this cheap, fast and efficient mode of commuting..With late comers like me, these autos are definitely a boon.

Then followed my better days when I could afford for a single auto all for myself , banking on my bargaining skills to make sure I do not pay any extra.. I travelled with ease and thats when I got to know the 'friendliness' of these auto mans..who had all the ears in the world to know about you, your family, your friends, your friend's family, your neighbours and your neighbours family too and they would not get daunted by any number of questions they would have to ask.. they just go on and on and on..until you get down and render the exact change for the fare...and if you did not have the change, then forget the rest of money or wait for an hour or two until he could bring in the balance..as these guys are known for not having any money with them at all..One really wonders what do they do with their entire earnings of the day...

My experiences do include my adventures in other part of the world too.. spain in precise... taking a metro to work... wow,what fun it was!
With trains coming in every five minutes there was no need for me to hurry up but naa, how could I ever let a train going away missing me...hence it was running and catching up almost all the time.. a.k.a DDLJ style (remember the shahrukh stunt).
Inside the train, it was a merry, with different people around.. right from couples getting cozy to beggars asking for alms with their traditional trait of playing music... and yes, a few teens bashing up for some silly reasons... nevertheless it was a treat to travel in these metros..and to hear the announcement for the approaching station which goes on in spanish like " la siguiente estación es ...... "
and thus making my days fun filled adventures...

For all who want to know how I commute these days... I take a bus to work.. the very famous Pallavan now called MTC ( Metropilitan Transport Corporation )....ask me whyI travel by bus now... and I would say, I still cant afford the single auto all for myself and the route to office does not have shared autos too... hence I am left with MTC... which is definitely not a sore anymore... with atlesat 6-7 types of bus services and relevant rate fares... its on a rocking way!

What is your priority, Career or family ?

Having asked this question myself several times, I am now wanting a discussion to know what comes before, your career or your family? especially if you are a woman...
My career was doing great exactly at the juncture when I got married, my long leaves and other familial responsibilities, soon robbed the flying colors of my career cap from me. I was put into a workpool and just when I was about to get myself a lift, I discovered that my hubby wanted to pursue his dream of being an entrepreneur all the more and due to some physical and monetarial constraints, his business had to be pursued from his native small town alone which meant I would have to give up my job in this metro city of mine and I do not want to live a marital life with the pillars of marriage living miles apart, so I will have to relocate...
Anyways, I was not ready to buy this idea of giving up my job at all, not only me but my entire family along with a few from his family were aghast to know this and were ready to support me, I tried hard to convince my hubby in many ways, but his soul and heart was so immersed in his dream, that he would not let it go away and slowly when I started listening to his words, I felt confident about his dream too though skeptical a bit and yet to decide what should I do and when..
Just a few hours ago one of my best work buddies was telling her tale too, she was getting married later this month and had to settle in a foreign city where my company did not have a office to work and she will soon have to quit her job and it was just last week when her boss asked her if she could replace his post as he was getting engaged with some other work... what a timing ??? She had dreamt of such a role through out her life and just before it was getting true, she had break it into pieces with her own hands...as she had to prioritise her family and marital life ahead of her career...
I wonder why it happens in almost every woman's life...I wonder how easily can someone throw up a career for someone else... no matter how close the relation is??

Can someone help me on this one?

Shopping Mall Surprise

How does it feel to catch upon a friend after years ? Feels awesomely great !! and how does it feel to catch upon a real good buddy after years in your newly wedded life along with your husband besides...feels great even now but with cautions in head like something of " Beware" , if he is from different sex. Well, this is a feeling experienced by those traditionally inclined Indian Woman alone.
Not before 24 hours , I happened to meet one of my good buddy accidently in a shopping mall. Having been in two different ends of the world until last few months, we could not catch up for quite a long time and that was not going to make any difference in our meet up but yes, with me having stepped into the marital affair , was definitely going to make an impact especially because my hubby doesnt not know much about this friend.
Well, I was meeting Sheik after almost 4 years or so[Info: my hubby is called Sheik too...just a spelling difference he is Sheik Shadullah and my friend is Sheik Abdullah]. It was an accidental meeting in a crowded garment section of the shopping mall but that was not going to stop me to think or pause and decide to how to greet him. I saw him from a distance of 20 metres or so and and he was standing facing his back and talking on a mobile phone, looks could have been deceptive but not his voice, I identified him in a jiffy and there I was..I slowly stalked him from behind and for all his surprised shock, I waved very close to his eyes with my burqa cladded hands... hope he did not have a nightmare last night after this shock of mine.. :-)
He was still on phone, an important call, I guess, and I was just waiting him to finish it off meanwhile I informed my hubby that the person in picture is my old college mate called Sheik and was trying to keep myself busy until he was done with the call. There he came with a resilent " Assalaam Alaikum and a ever lovely smile of his ", We greeted him back and my mouth was open 32 wide teethed. I introduced the two first timers as " Sheik meets Sheik " with a giggle. After expressing our happiness, we soon started up with a much needed conversation of his where abouts and stuff and my hubby had to do nothing there but to listen to us poorly... I was feeling a little awkward but could not help much. After about a 1/3rd of an hour, our conversation ended up as he had to leave, to catch up with his roomies who were searching for him.
He was still the same with jus a few kilos added onto his body mass but I was much different both in looks and personality all along with a hijab and burqa which would have made him all the more awestruck but not surprised.
A meet of around 20 mins but the experience priceless rekindling the vivid past of college years, the fun and frills , the stupidity shared and what not.. Well, here is a truth, I was so obsessed with this friend of my college, that one of the strongest reason for me to say an yes to my hubby for a marriage was because he shared the same name.
Now, you very well know how stupid I am :-)

Transformations !

Everyone knows life changes and slowly we get transformed into a new soul with every new step in our life... Seldom, and very few realise how it changes you thoroughly... I was one among them, I could see my life changing drastically and I had nothing to stop but had to just watch it changing and hoping that it would bring me good...
Born in a moderately urbanised family and having roamed around a few places in the world made me less orthodox and more modern in my lifestyle... to me... everything is just and fine until or unless it hurts anyone badly...well, this is how I was as a spinster, as I young girl..

Nevertheless, After a frantic groom hunt for more than 2-3 years my dad did land up with an alliance from a small town and with a family much in contrast to mine.... Everything was dependent on my final word... the YES.... How could I actually say a Yes without knowing the person or his family and with not less than a world of whirls and thrills, I took a sweet 8 months to say the YES, forcibly though.... thanks to my circumstances and situations itching me at that time...
And what now.. ? I was married within 2 months in the wonderful month of November,2008 and hoping that I made a educated choice... I was happy to get into the marital bliss with lots of turmoils in my brain and heart coming up a free package along with my marital bliss....
It wasnt even a month and I could see how he(My hubby) took charge of my life... My ideas and lifestyle now changed from moderatley urbanised to orthodoxly rural mindframe... I was draped in a Burqa all over I went. I stopped talking and hearing to strangers which I used to love just a few months ago... I kept away from my friends who have been my life for around 6-7 years now...My phone bill now started to appear in 3 digits rather than the usual 4 digit figures.....Threw up all my tights, jeans, tank tops and started learning to adore the 5 yards saree...Had to ask " Can I? " or "Should I ? " before doing anything different from the routine. The complete independent metropolitan girl now started transcending into a interdependent rural woman..My free time was now utilised in tidying up the kitchen and house much in contrast to my beauty parlor visits before a few months.
Why did I let this happen to me ?? I am wondering still but may be I did this because HE likes it and it helped me to keep away the tugs and quarrels at home due to our incompatibility.. I knew someone had to compromise and I chose to be the one... being a ever complacent goody girl.
Now, I ask myself " Is marriage a boon or a bane ? " and wondering what could the answer be, may be I should ask him before I can answer that...

Its a girl !!!!

Here I am writing something after a long long time, not that I was really busy to write something, but I was real lazy to write something :)

It was early in the morning and I suddenly started getting numerous messages on my mobile...hurriedly I came to my room to pick my mobile hoping that it does not bring any awful news... and started reading the message sent by my sister, as I was reading through it ,I could feel the glitter glowin on my face... The news was something really sweet and it was from home which is 100 of kms away, it said I became an aunt, my cousin sister who is of my age too had given birth to a girl baby.
Though the news was something I had anticipated since months so I thought it would not bother me much but on contrary to what I thought, it did make a difference to me, I was so delighted that I literally started jumping with joy, so much that I even forgot that I had failed in my MBA exams the day before.This feeling of 'aunthood ' mustbe as good as motherhood and I can confirm it only after I experienced the later. It was a feeling only one can understand when one faces it, sounds similiar to the one which people say when it comes to love :) ?
Um, Afterall it was a feeling I had encountered the first time in my 23 years. I did not want that feeling to erode away so easily I wanted to celebrate it a simple way I could,hence I gave alms to the needy and bought some sweets to distribute to my friends.
It did create the rays of joy,excitement and somewhere deep there was an anxiety too. Initially I could not comprehend the anxiety in me at all, well, it was not wholly anxiety but something similiar, may be the woman in me had started raising questions,may be it wanted to ask will I go through the same motherhood as my sister did ? If yes, then how and when ? I somehow felt a feeling of envy and I still dont know why .
I know this would sound silly and stupid but I am sure every girl must have faced it sometime or the other especially if the news is from someone very close and dear to you.

Getting to know myself better

It was not long before when I really thought freaking out and howling around the city late nights is quite an exciting thing to do. Felt like that is the life an youngster should live in order to call him or herself "Kwel". I was not very different from many of my friends in thinking so. I felt like this is one thing which my parents cannot understand and they would never allow me to do. I used to cry around telling that I do not have the freedom to do what I want !!!! Was thinking that given a chance of living alone in any other place away from home along with my friends I would use my FREEDOM to do these kinda things.
And I did get a chance too, I got to live alone with my friends away from home. And know what? I took me almost two long years to even think of using my so called FREEDOM. I felt I was more engaged with other spheres of life and never felt inclined to all that which I always wanted to do at back home.Just a few days back, one of my good friends got a car and now our gals group had the easy liberty to stay late outside. Come weekends, we gals were charged up to do some full time masti and we would not have asked for a better occasion to start with, than our Company's annual fest.Though the fest turned out to be a major flop, we did enjoy in our own way, thanks to the food caterers there who served an early dinner and that was more than enough to leave the place early. We had lots of time in hand and did not wanna go back home soon, this City not being a bad place, had served us a wide platter of hangouts,and in less than 30 minutes we were at a lovely hangout(which everyone keeps talking about) and only after waiting for an hour we got a place to sit. It was already 11 pm and we were kinda sure that the joint would get closed down soon and we would be thrown out but naah, gotto know that it stays open til 4 am in the morning. So we were at ease now, to start with the crowd over there looked good and decent, a few families were there too at that hour of the day, but as time passed, got to see some real " namunas" or "peculiar" kinda people like Guys dressed up like gals with long hair, skimpy clothes and what not, gals were not better too, I started getting a little uncomfortable then , started pondering that, was this something I called fun ?? An hour later the place was getting too obnoxious for us to stay there and we moved away from there speeding towards home, slept for the day and the next day I spent thinking and recalling what all had happened, I wondered why I did not like all this which I always thought I would love.......I could hear an answer somewhere but I was not ready to hear it, so let it get echoed away...................

Soon after a couple of weekends, got to dine out in another "Kwel " place , people called it the most happening place in Hyderabad, the moment I got into it I was welcomed by a splendid aroma or should I call a stink ????? later found that its the smell out of Cigarettes and that made me detest the place, we got a corner table comfortable enough for 4 girls.Ordered some good food and were waiting to hog it down, just then a photographer of a daily clicked a picture of ours and I hoped the least for the pic to come out in the paper next day, soon after we were all set to start enjoying,little did I know am gonna get a major pang of my head because of the smoky atmosphere out there, rushed back to home earlier than expected. That day I did realise a little better about myself that these things are actually nothing to me, this is not something I can call as freedom, this is all scrap, things which most people of a lesser sense and more insecure feel do, who wanna show themselves to the gallery, I am not for it at all. Its not that I cant do all that but jus I do not wanna do it ! So guys lets understand the 'kwel things in life' is not all about hanging around and enjoying haywire, its a lot different and most of us do not realise it until we experience it ourselves.

Do post your comments on this, the best comment of the blog gets a nite out party :-)

My downfalls again ...................

After my downfall during my fifth grade, I never tried much again until I was given the chance to choose my college for my graduation. Having passed out with a pretty decent score of 95 plus. I felt like I had many many options in front of me and felt I can pursue my higher studies in any part of the world. But naah, things are not so easy as they seem to be, I tried my luck in a few colleges in Bangalore like St.Johns Medical college , Islamiah College etc only to know that they had closed their admissions for other states' students ( and this is what they call National Integrity and democracy ). I had to settle down with a college in my hometown which was definitely not a bad place but only that my dream could not get fulfilled. As I was nearing the last days of my engineering study, I made up mind that whatsoever, I would definitely land up with a great IT job in Bangalore, afterall it is the ' Silicon Valley of India '. I planned to prepare to my fullest and sat for several On-campus tests held by the IT majors and finally made through with two companies, one which was into ITES and another with IT. I would have always taken up IT as my career rather than handling calls for some U.S geeks and thanks to my lady luck again, as the IT company I chose had recruited me for their Hyderabad or Chennai location only and the ITES company which I did not choose had its operations in Bangalore, But I was not going to take up defeat and having the liberty in hand of leaving a ITES job without any restrictions, I took up my ITES job to try my luck in Bangalore . But God was not sleeping, how could he allow me to rest in peace in Bangalore??? He made me fail in my final accent training (Accent which means we gotto mime those US jerks as much as we can) inspite of excelling the training class(Miming Class) all the time. I meanwhile even tried my luck in another IT major and passed the inerviews too but alas again I never got my job call still now, and I am still waiting :-).So I had to get back to my preselected and predestined IT job in Hyderabad with ' no looking back' and with a hope that I can always request for a relocation to Bangalore from Hyderabad once when I am done with my initial trainings and let me tell you, its almost two years since the trainings got over and I am still trying, not that I did not get even a single chance for relocation, I did get 17 chances and I and my destiny failed in all of them. You might call it as my locus of control but 17 times is rather too much,makes me remind of history acclaim of Mohammed Ghazini for his 17 attempts too. Every single person who did not wanna go there was made to go but not me, I understood this is called destiny. Can you believe that a city which has more than 10 lakhs IT employees cant accomodate a single soul of mine? I sometimes think it is this craze and craving for the city which keeps me away but I must admit my craving just does not lessens anyday and having my most loved ones in the city which includes my family and my special friend :-0 ) I just cant stop looking back and forward for any chance of my relocation to Bangalore.

Now I have redefined my dreams a little more, Now I plan to marry a guy who is a Bangalorean and I am hoping to settle in there atleast that way. Mom and Dad , are you listening????..................:-) :-)

Bangalore---What is that which connects me so much wit that place???

Everything I Do, I do it for you !, This is how the famous song of Byran Adams goes for his lady love and mine goes the same way for my love of Bangalore(aka Bengalooru), India's most fashionable and happening city.Just coz its "happening" and "cool" it does not make me say thats a lovely city but I have my own reasons for it.You would not believe how happy and crazy I go, when I am in Bangalore and you would not believe that my love for that city is far beyond the limits. Given a chance to leave my job (a Software Engineer in one the most reputed MNC of Hyderabad) I would run and get back to MY WORLD !

Here goes my story...............I first cried on 24th January 1983 in SDA hospital,Bangalore.I guess I would have first opened my eyes on my granny's lap as she was the first 'mom' to me. My association with Bangalore started right from then. I went on to spend almost two years there in my Grandma's place and finally had to move to my paternal city of Coimbatore for my ' living ', I am sure I would have brought the heavens down that day. Life rolled on like that until I was doing my fifth grade (circa 1993) when I first felt that my nativity yearned to belong from Bangalore rather than Coimbatore where I was brought up and lived most of my life.My little brain then decided to make a big hue and cry during the summer holidays and propose my "BIG time PLAN" to pursue my rest of schooling from Bangalore and I cried as much I could to make my parents take an initiative towards my stubborn ideas and know what??? I succeeded in my deed too, my parents had to admit, that my staying there would not be a bad idea.It was all decided and done and I was supposed to start my sixth grade in another two days, I was really excited and happy thinking how enjoyable life would be living with a lienent grandma rather than a strict mom but alas,my happy days were not for too long as my paternal ancestors did not like the funda of me growing up in a "spoilt and rash" place like Bangalore and I had to get back to Coimbatore. So this was the first downfall for me and my idea to stay in bangalore.

Will tell you more in my next blog,next week until then keep waiting and pray that I get back to Bangalore soon :-) :-)