Dream -um...Wake -uppam!!!

I saw this very weird dream y'day....can't stop laughing on it ever since morning, so i finally decided to write about it and "take it off my system", if you know what I mean....
So here I was being offered a job from this pretty decently placed company (FMCG), out of campus...somehow, they really wanted me, but equally somehow, it was a temp job! So anyways, I was still mulling over it incomprehensively when I hear my brother egging me on to accept the job (This just raised the Bizzare Quotient of the dream!)...Somehow I got to know that the rest of the family also approves my doing a small stint here....and I remember thinking, "Have they all flipped!? They are encouraging me to take up something which will give me around 10,000 pm and give up lakhs???"  Now where did these figures come from!?....but hey, its a dream! ;)
The scene changes...I am working with this company....I enter the building dreaming (!) of glass cabins, state-of-the-art infrastructure, suits, et al....I am in a black suit...
....and I can see the building has rooms (as in classrooms!) instead of glass cabins, 2-3 people in different rooms in the name of workforce and one (Repeat -- One!) early 2000's model of a computer stationed in one of those fibre computer cabinets!!!
Somehow on seeing me, the guys get down to some serious work...after staying there for a while, I come out of the room and am walking down the alley when I meet -- Lo and Behold -- none other than Aamir Khan!!!!!
(Seriously, Mr. Brain...What!!?...I mean, What!!?)
Anyways, back to the dream...so somehow (again) standing there itself, I become cognizant of the information that Aamir is somehow related to the same project for which I am also there ... Super! Except for the fact that the cat took away my tongue and my eyeballs were ready to pop out and do a Jim Carrey in Mask...
I want to behave in a dignified way...I want to let him know that I appreciate his work ... I want to build a rapport with him...I don't want to be a dork... I don't want to let him know that my tongue has turned into jelly and my stomach into a mixer-grinder... I am supremely confident of behaving myself...
"Er...Sir...I...er...(squeaky voice) I have done MBA from XLRI...(licking my lips)...you are Sir...Aamir Khan Sir.." ...and I realize I am showing my teeth like an absolute idiot -- what I am doing cannot be classified as "grinning" .... Grrrr... From where did the "MBA from XLRI" come!!?? Whatever happened to Mr. Supremely Confident?
I mumble something unintelligible ....and Aamir does what anyone in his place would...he held up a bunch of papers and said, "Er, right...I have some work to do"
And with that, he flashed one of his infectious smiles and walked down the stairs...
And that woke me up...with me feeling the embarrassment in real life, instead of the dream life!

An Obituary...RIP Minu Bhai.

This should not have happened. Well, we always wish things like these to never happen, but this , definitely, should not have happened.
One of my cousin brothers, Rakesh Bhai -- Minu Bhai to us all -- progressed to the higher world on 5th September, 2012. Suddenly, without any foreward, warning, indication, insinuation...
One hears that he came home from office as usual, had dinner and was relaxing when he started feeling very uneasy. He told his younger brother of the same and asked to be taken to a doc. They went to a diagnostic centre (Mohan Clinic) owned (apparently) by their regular doc. He underwent an ECG, which showed he had suffered from a severe heart attack! To their --and now, everybody's -- shock, the centre did not have the life-saver drug to administer! That too, even though they have an ICU!! Now, I am no authority on life-savers in the case of an attack, but hello! They are a diagnostic centre! They should have had something to relieve him! They just expressed their inability to treat him...
Prudence overruled and they went to Woodlands Hospital, where they cites unavailability of bed. Same case in B.M. Birla.
Finally, he was taken to Belle Vue Hospital, but unfortunately, till then, our dear cousin was no more....:'( .
He was a person loved by one and all....no bad habits, no speaking bad about anyone, let alone any untoward deeds...the worst thing was, when he passed away, neither his wife nor his kids were near him...but, in hindsight, I'd also like to say one thing, which not many like to hear...he went away in one of the best possible manner --- no suffering, no pain...no illness stretched unbearably, no trouble to family members to take care of him. He went away like he lived...smoothly, without making a noise. That's how I'd like to go too.
We will miss you Minu Bhai...you were a boon to the family. May the Almighty give rest to your soul. May you smile down upon us from Heaven.
Amen!

Just Thought...

Weird...How some words have the effect of expressing exactly our thoughts while also being such that we can't mention them...the thoughts that I am having now can be exactly expressed by the phrase "The Venomous Nectar" because of the ethereal sweetness of the memories and the bitterness (i) of not being able to live them anymore and (ii) of not wanting/being able to create them again...

However, the same title can be given to any raunchy, bhojpuri-cum-english, porn movie also! "zehreela amrit" Grrrrrr....I'll stick to the first interpretation, obviously!

My Current Muse...

Chill Madi...the post title is just to catch your attention! ...it's "The Immortals of Meluha", by the way :-) ....I can actually call it my current muse, come to think of it...in fact, I can say that for most of the books that I read (I read only good books! Hmph!) ...coz till I have read the book (whichever one I'm reading), I tend to be completely absorbed in it...tend to keep thinking about it even when I'm not with it...look forward to being with it...and completely forget almost everything else when I'm with it...and simply love to completely forget almost everything when I'm with it...and love to hear what it says to me...and feel happy as I keep turning the pages, for I'm going forward, knowing you more...and sad at the same time, coz I have a page less to read...

Just because you are a Calcuttan...

1. Just because you are a Calcuttan doesn't mean that you have to protest against any and all rules...so SWITCH OFF your mobile phones in the aircraft when they tell you to...!

2. Just because you are a Calcuttan and used to rushing to get onto buses doesn't mean that you have to do the same while boarding an aircraft...unlike buses, the aircraft will not start moving away just as you are about to board! So Chillax, dada!

3. Just because you are a Calcuttan and used to talking loudly anywhere you go, doesn't mean that you do the same even on aircrafts...SHUT UP! Or talk softly at least.... (Ok...that goes for a fair share of Gujjus and Punjus too!)

4.Just because you are a Calcuttan doesn't also mean that you exclaim loudly on seeing the menu prices on aircrafts...Pay OR Shut Up!

5. Just because you are a Calcuttan doesn't mean that you take your "show-your-ticket" experience everywhere...you show your ticket to the bus conductor before getting down...OK. You show it to the movie guy with the torch...OK. But the airhostesses are NOT conductors! You just ask them to guide you to your seat in case you can't find it...that's all!

6. Just because you are a Calcuttan and used to travelling in trains always...and used to constantly check if your baggage is still intact, doesn't mean that you triple-check your baggage before the plane takes off! It'll be there only, where you put it! Duh!

7. Just because you are a Calcuttan and take great pride on finding a seat in a bus doesn't mean that you do your typical, irritating thing of exhaling loudly through your mouth everytime you find a seat on that bus which takes you to your aircraft! Your act of literally breathing down my neck is NOT appreciated...#^%& !!

8. And please stop using all those funny sounding names in public....Mampa, Tumpa, Babai, Shona, Bubai...Please, for heaven's sake, learn to name (and call) your children by proper names in public!!!!

Rain Man, dude...

Found this in the archives somewhere...but since it was written, didn't wanna waste it ;-)

-Saw the movie "MyNameIsKhan" the other day...cant help but write a few words on it..firstly, that the whole concept is a little unbelievable...if one observes a little carefully, the only emotion Khan is not able to feel/express is sadness. He is shown to be autistic but able to feel/express happiness, compassion, anger, ambition, determination, pride in oneself, fear, hatred et al, but he can't cry! That emotion, he takes it in a 'matter-of-fact' way! KJo has been very clever with the whole autism funda...like all his other movies, there is no place for sadness here too!

Another thing which I noticed...that its easier for women to say 'I want you to go' in a fit of emotions than it is for men...more emotions make them stronger to bear heartbreak too?? Weird...

I say Business, U say 'Ahhh'...

Just thought - the 'Indian spirituality industry' in India seems to be/is all set to be the next porn industry of the world...giving orgasmic pleasure to those who 'practise' and 'practice' it, as well as providing the necessary 'practical' (read: financial) platform needed to practise 'philosophy' (read: heart-warming bull-shit) to those who preach it...

Today, I saw sane people talking about spirituality and its influence in practical life in a manner not expected out of business people...they were talking about a certain gentleman's way of teaching ' How-to-lead-a-fruitful,disciplined,successful,blah blah-Life' and how it helps them do better in business...all this talk in office, while wasting precious business time!! What they didn't realize is that the preacher's business is to preach...and he doesn't talk anything except his buiness during his 'business hours'!!

Humbug and Blah Blah!

Have taken to reading books again, after a long time…I guess one tends to rebound to books after any major “gear-shift” in one’s life…now I’m not going to go into the details of the clutch and which gear, etc. Just be happy with the books I’m recommending! J

In the last 6 months, I must have gobbled, what, 6-7 books…all of them, awesome! Since I am a late follower, I think most of you reading this would have already finished them off too…

The first one I got my hands on (after “The White Tiger”, I think) was ‘The Kite Runner’ – a very famous title and an absolute must-read for someone who can remain engaged to a book. The most striking thing I noticed about it was the honesty with which the author describes his journey – the honesty with which he realizes his cowardice, selfishness, courage, indecision…and all the negativity which any normal you-and-me probably don’t have the guts to admit even behind closed doors.

Went on to read “The Six Suspects” by Vikas Swarup (the gentlemen who wrote ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’) – simply amazing. One must congratulate Vikas for managing to hold the rein so tightly over the six different life stories and the ploy to bring them together under one roof. The agility with which he can slip into different styles of writing for each character speaks a lot about his abilities as a writer (considering this is only his second book) and instills that much more life into them.

I was going through that sad phase after completing a very good book…had almost started to name the extra time in my life as “incompleteness”, when I bumped into “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyers. I’d seen the movie and thought oh well! What the heck…

The addiction to the book was such that I immediately went on to complete the prequel (yeah, I’d started reading from the 3^rd book in a 4 part series!) “New Moon” and the sequel “Breaking Dawn” (and in between, caught up with the new movie as well ;) ). Now the only one left is the first book, which I’ll complete asap!

Am currently reading “The New Collected Short Stories” by Jeffery Archer and oh! What a refreshing change…Jeffery Archer is truly a magician when it comes to story-telling!