A Few Good Friends

Friendship Day, unexpectedly, turned out good this year. I have 4 close friends, who have been part of my life, one time or the other. I have some very special memories of them, with them. When I think about special friends, it is them who I remember.

Keeping Memories

A & S: They are my childhood buddies. A has really been one [our dads are also best friends] while S has been a buddy who I have known since childhood. I got close to S after we went separate ways after Class 10^th. With them, I am in a space, where I can pick up my phone and call them up even if I haven’t called them in a while.

S messaged me on Friendship Day, and that really set me into action. I could not talk to her but I let her know that she remains one of my favorite friends.  I always enjoy our easy banter whenever we talk, and god willing, I might meet her this month.

I did manage to call up A before the day ended. I had been guilty of ignoring her calls for a while [not really ignoring but not getting time to call her back]. I admire her a lot. She has literally picked up the pieces of her life and turned things around. She works in a Public Sector Bank now and doing well professionally. Though I often pull her leg about being the khadoos aunty types of Public sector bank, but in my heart I respect her to take up the challenges life threw at her and come out with flying colours.

L & E: They were my room-mates during Graduation. L was my batch mate while E was a year senior. Both are married now and have a daughter each. Both of them are around the place where we studied but not at the same place. 

I messaged E remembering the old times [she had recently spoken to me]. I hadn't spoken to L for about 1.5 years. I don’t know why! I had her number which I wasn't sure was working. I asked E for her number. Luckily she sent me 2 numbers. The first number was switched off but the second number was picked up by the lady herself. It is called destiny. If you are meant to do something, you would. Anyways, we did a quick catch-up on what was happening in our respective lives. It was good to hear her voice.

Although all of them are my close friends, Friendship Day specifically reminds me of L. When we were in hostel together, Friendship Day used to be special. We would always get something for each other – small things but memorable and special. Every year, I would write something for her, which she would get emotional reading. We always made it a point to talk to each other on Friendship Day, after we passed out of college. But life took its course. Things happened in my life and things happened in her life. And we lost touch. But I know, on Friendship Day, she waits for my call as I wait for hers. She has called me up when I was hoping but wasn't expecting; and this year I made it even.

I have written about L here and here.  

I have written about all 4 of them here also.

You may wonder, why I don't have any close guy friends. I don't have any logical explanation. I had only one guy best friend ever, which was during my post graduation. I was wise enough to marry him ;-)

I have written about him here.

So, how was your Friendship Day?

Retrospection [UBC Post 31]

Participating in 'the Ultimate Blog Challenge July 2013' was an amazing and rewarding experience in more ways than one. My thoughts:

Image courtesy: artspace2000.com

• 31 posts in 31 days! In fact, I have written 10 posts in 3 days, and they all are proper posts. That in itself is a feat. Didn't I tell you I am the most productive at the last moment?
• Writing so much was fun. I love writing. I was never skeptical that I will not be able to complete it. It actually made me realize that the more we write, the better writer we become, and more ideas keep flowing. So, need to keep the momentum. I might just take up another Challenge, who knows!
• These Challenges have breathed a new life into this blog. It was neglected for so long. I have been writing here since my MBA days, so I never thought I would abandon it. 
• I found some new, interesting blogs. I am yet to read them properly but they have been added to my reading list. 
• When everyone was writing a post daily (on an average), there was very less time to hop around the blogs. So, that is on my agenda right now.
• This Challenge was much better than the others because everyone was free to write what they wanted. So, I read some very interesting posts. 
• Book reviews are the top priority next month. I need to finish a lot of reviews fast. And I am a little behind in my GoodReads Challenge, so need to get focused on that now. 
• And the best part is that my IndiRank has never been this good. I am at 82, and loving it. 

So, lovely people, thank you for reading. See you around :-)

Note: Special thank yous for Smita and Shilpa. They always pick up the Challenge. I follow.

Tag Here!

I really have no clue about this 'tags' business, nevertheless, since Smita has tagged me, here I go!

A – Available/Single? Happily Married :)

B – Best friend? No single Best Friend, couple of very good Friends

C – Cake or Pie? Cake!!!

D – Drink of choice?Tea! Tea! Tea!

E – Essential item you use every day?Vaseline

F – Favorite colour? Fuchsia, Yellow, Red, Black, Blue..............so many of them

G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? Eeeeeks! Neither

H – Hometown?Jamshedpur

I – Indulgence?Books. Hands down!

J – January or February? January :) Hubby's Birth month

K – Kids & their names?What Kids? None

L – Life is incomplete without? Love

M – Marriage date? 3rd December

N – Number of siblings? 1 Big Brother

O – Oranges or Apples? I have equal dislike for both

P – Phobias/Fears? All kinds of insects, all kinds of birds and animals...ya, that includes human beings too

Q – Quote for today? My Quote for everyday: ‘I Know but one Freedom, that is Freedom of the Mind.’

R – Reason to smile? Love, Family, Friends….Life!

S – Season? Panchvan mausam pyaar ka………………..

T – Tag 3 People? Well, let’s see

U – Unknown fact about me? That I'm a cleanliness freak, everything has to be in place, picture-perfect all-the time!

V – Vegetable you don't like? Karela, Lauki

W – Worst habit? That I'm a cleanliness freak, everything has to be in place, picture-perfect all-the time!

X – X-rays you've had? I don't have any X-ray

Y – Your favorite food? Indian home-cooked food

Z – Zodiac sign? Taurus: the Bull

And here's the Award for successfully completing this Tag:

So now, you too have a chance to be a Proud Member of the 'International Bloggers Community'. Here are the Rules:

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Copy the image above, the rules and the questionnaire in this post.
3. Post this in one or all of your blogs.
4. Answer the four questions following these Rules.
5. Recruit at least seven (7) friends on your Blog Roll by sharing this with them.
6. Come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR (PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS LINK) at http://bloggistame.blogspot.com and leave the URL of your Post in order for you/your Blog to be added to the Master List.
7. Have Fun!

Questions & Your Answers:
1. The person who tagged you: Smita
2. His/her site's title and url: Books, Life and More; URL: http://books-life-n-more.blogspot.com
3. Date when you were tagged: 24th July '09
4. Persons you tagged:

Life...

Writing Unofficially Official

Embellishing my Thought Process

Varun's Digital Diary

Knowin' Life

Candid Talk

Wilson's Blog

Finally, done.... (some formatting has gone for a Toss though)

A wonderful life is an Award, and I have many people to Thank..........

I thank God for……..

- Not listening to me everytime I prayed for something, and did only what was right for me. Had it been my way, I would have become a scientist-cum-air-hostess-cum-architect-cum-chartered accountant-cum-fashion designer-cum-journalist-cum-copy-writer.
- For saving me everytime I take risks while driving or short-cuts that I take
- For never letting me down, on absolutely everything



I thank my Parents for………..

- Bringing me up the way they did; which I never believed in but I’m thankful that they did.
- Always giving in to my whims and fancies during childhood (actually I’m quite embarrassed about it right now to have been such a cry-baby). But it is their magnanimity that they gave me everything that I asked for
- Making the right choices for me; and sometimes giving in to my choices
- Inculcating right values in me
- Always letting me do what I wanted to do
- Always being there for me
- Everything that I have today and for the person I have become



I thank my Brother for…….


- Being my big brother, my mentor, my guide, my idol, my friend
- Always standing by me, in all my decisions
- Believing in me more than even I ever believed in myself
- All the fun we had when we were kids, for all the stories he always has to tell
- The son he is to my parents
- Just being there always


I thank my husband for…………


- Always letting me be myself
- Treating me like an equal

- Makingme get over my prejudices
- Standing true to his words, when he promised he would take care of me.... always
- Taking me by surprise everytime – whether it is cooking a complete dinner, or just a morning tea, whether it is a trip on our anniversary or several small small gifts which mean he cares
- Understanding me more than I do myself
- Always keeping his cool when I lose mine
- The way he makes my life complete



I thank all my friends for

- So many moments of happiness and little joys which I have shared with them
- How they make everything sound so simple and uncomplicated
- Just being there, no matter whether we talk that often or not; for when I need to talk, I know which number to dial
- Giving window-shopping a whole new meaning
- Really caring
- Sharing my joys and sorrows
- Being able to discuss absolutely everything with such ease

- For always being there to support my choices


In life, there are really so many people to thank for all they do and what they mean to you.

Happy Friendship Day!

I remember back in college, FRIENDSHIP DAY used to be quite an occasion in our hostel. I shared room with 5 other girls and all of us were quite close. One was my batch-mate but in science stream and one was a year senior in a different stream. Those were the days when I really understood the meaning of friendship. Till school days, I never dwelt on anything serious with any of my friends at that time. We were too guarded to discuss our fears and insecurities. I was not too sure whether the other person is worth our trust.

But once I moved out of home for my Graduation, I was on my own. There was nobody to turn to but in a way, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. There are a lot of things which you can share only with your friends, who are at the same wavelength as you. You are close to your family, but friends have a different place altogether. I made my first real friends in hostel. With my best friend, who was also my room-mate, we shared so many wonderful moments, which I cherish till date and will continue to do so forever. I told her every single thing about me, my insecurities, my failings, my nightmares and my fears; without any fear of being judged. And she never judged me. Somehow she always made me appear right, at the time, under the circumstances. I would always love her for that. That was the time when I understood that nobody has perfect lives, and it is quite OK to have insecurities. That was when I found a new confidence in myself and my abilities – confidence to stand up for anything I wanted and got it. I remember how she used to wait for me to take lunch, and in return I used to do same when she used to be late because of her classes. We used to have long chats on our lives. I have cried a lot on her shoulders. She was very compassionate yet a very naïve girl, almost gauche.

I always remember a very funny incident. We were studying for our exams, during our Final Year. We were sleeping and studying alternatively throughout the night. When I woke up sometime around 3 am, I saw her very tensed and searching for something. She said she has lost her spectacles, and the irony was she was not able to find it without spectacles. What we had done was, we had put one of the beds on another bed to make space in the room (most of the girls had gone home and only we were there for exams). We used to study on top of the higher bed sometimes; she had been doing the same, and slept while studying. When she got up she could not find her spectacles. She was almost into tears imagining all sorts of things – how would she write the exam with her “eyes”! Then I searched around the bed, and found it lying there. We were really into splits on that because she had gone completely overboard imagining all sorts of things she would do to write the exam.
I spoke to her yesterday after 7-8 month. She thinks I have forgotten her but I have not. How can I? I even wrote a poem on her, quoted on one of my earlier posts.

There was another friend, a year senior to me, but our wavelengths matched so much that we were quite close. She was also room-mate. I have kept in touch with her since then. She has had an inter-religion marriage and it all happened before my eyes. It was so weird how her love story started. If It is not fate then what is it? It is common knowledge that girls’ hostels are flooded with random calls from anonymous guys. Some girls used to pick up calls during night just to have fun, without knowledge of warden of course. One of our room-mates was quite a pro in talking to such calls – giving tit for tat to the foul speaking guys. During one of such calls, the guy who called was quite nice and spoke well to her. She passed on the phone to my friend also for a chat. She also took it to have fun. She used a pseudo-identity and gave him a false name. The guy called up again later, asking for the pseudo-name; somehow the call would always reach my friend. So the story started and after years of hardships and struggle, they were finally able to marry about a year and half back. Now she is expecting her baby this September. She is happy with him but keeps cribbing about how she has no career. But I love talking to her. She is quite talkative and warm, so even if you have some work, you really can’t put her off and keep the phone down.

I am also close to two of my school buddies, actually we have been friends since Kinder Garten but the friendship really grew stronger after college. All three of us are in different facets of life, lost touch a couple of times, getting busy with our respective lives, but now somehow fate brought us together and even if we do not talk on daily basis, we always reach out to each other when we need to talk about something. Knowing each other’s families and growing up together, there have been a lot of things in common and there is a lot of understanding; so we are on same wavelengths.

So to all FRIENDS, who have shared some wonderful and some crucial moments of my life, this day is a celebration of a beautiful relationship we share; and that you are my pillars of strength. I don’t know if they will read this or not, but nevertheless I cannot not acknowledge this.

Tuning in to the Idiot Box

I saw 2 episodes of Khatron ke Khiladi on the new channel Colors. After reading so much about the reality behind Reality shows, I still have my doubts whether the stunts shown are for real. Everyday there is some natak on each and every show. Come on, suddenly everyone started showing their tantrums and arguing on camera.

Coming back to the show, yesterday they showed girls putting their hands in three jars containing some kind of earth worms, cockroaches and frogs respectively. They had to find keys in each jar to open three locks. I had been particularly impressed by Yana Gupta so far considering she did not even wince so far in any of the stunts, whether going up the ladder to as high as 12 floors and moving across the building on an extremely narrow support; or to let 5 crabs hover around her head. She did show hesitation in putting her hand in the jars containing cockroaches, etc, but over all she was commendable.

I read somewhere that Nethra has won this season, but I don’t know how true is that. Anyways, the reality shows are not so alluring any more. There are so many of them and you don’t know which one to watch and all of them have the same TV actors either dancing or enacting something or performing some stunt. Come on, we already get a huge dose of these people in daily soap. Who wants to see them again in rest of the time.

So that is why I choose to watch Star World or Zee Café or any of the English movie channels. I found that they are running Who’s the Boss? on Zee Café. So if I’m home early, I catch up with this childhood favourite on Zee Café. Then it is one hour of FRIENDS - first half hour on Star World then on Zee Café. I really don’t know why I keep watching them when I have seen all of them at least a million times.

Moving on to something completely unrelated. I am shocked to learn that Mahesh Bhatt wants to re-make Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi with Himesh Reshammiya. I am aghast. I loved that movie. Also, read somewhere that Aamir is planning to produce the re-make of Andaz Apna Apna with Salman Khan. I am game for any Aamir movie. I trust his creative sensibilities. He cannot not make a good movie.

Orkut – the Social Networking Phenomena

You may hate it, you may love it, but you can not ignore it – I’m talking about Orkut. God, everyone’s on it. If you are looking for an old pal, a former neighbour, even a pen-pal—just about everyone is there. When I was first introduced to it, including my friends, we just lapped it up like anything. There were “Hi’s” and “Hello’s” to all the old and new friends, and then there was a lull for a considerable time, because you didn’t know what to do now. Besides, there was always the question of just how much information one should be posting on a Social Networking Site because there were several cases of misuse and abuse. But, most of us have just gone ahead and used this site to share our life with friends

After so many years of surfing internet, it still continues to amaze me. With a click of mouse, I am taken to a world of possibilities. Of course, now there is problem of too much information and one gets lost in that, but still you have an option. Coming back to Orkut, it has really become a rage. Of course, now there are other, more refined versions of Networking sites but still Orkut truly pioneered the trend.

I'll be there for you!!!

Well, as Joey says –How you doin’? I don’t know whether how many of you have been fan of this show but if you have seen it, the chances are you have fallen for it. My own friends would vouch for the fact that I have become obsessed with FRIENDS!

I discovered F*R*I*E*N*D*S quite recently. By the time I saw the first episode of FRIENDS, the curtain had already drawn on the Grand Finale of the Tenth Season; and the lovable cast had moved on with their lives.

By now, I have seen almost all the Seasons, laughed at Chandler’s one-liners, smiled at Ross’ sweetness, empathized with Monica’s idiosyncrasies, stumped by Phoebe’s matter-of-factness and bowled over by the sheer charm of Rachel and Joey. Basically, they are all cute and independently very good. In fact, I loved them so much that I tried looking for bits and pieces beyond the episodes—how this sitcom was put together, how the cast stuck to each other through anonymity to fame, how they created a history of sorts by striking deals as a group; moving from 30,000 $ per episode to 2.5 million $ per episode for each of them. Everything about FRIENDS is now a case study in itself. It is said that after the phenomenal and unexpected success of FRIENDS, many such sitcoms sprung up; but what works for one may not work for others. Look at our own “Ram Gopal Verma ki Sholay / Aag”.

I just bought this Coffee table book on Friends titled “Friends 'Til the End: The Official Celebration of All Ten Years” by David Wild. Yeah, I bought a coffee table book! So what? Haven’t I already established that I am obsessed with all kinds of books! And come on, it was only for 399 bucks. I think it was a great deal. After all, FRIENDS TV show is one among the Hall of Fame now, and one should know about the making of such all time great comedy. It has so many pictures of the moments from all the Seasons and some behind the camera moments that I could not stop myself from having it. I still cannot stop wondering what really does it take to create a genius like that. Of course, the fact that it was taken off air when it was still popular, is part of the reason why we still drool over it. Just look at our band of K-serials and how they keep on having generation leaps and disturbing twists and turns to the original story. Can you imagine, what this lovely Sitcom would have become, had they given in to the popularity of the show? There is definitely a learning from here. Even when something is working, you should know when to stop. Nothing is sacrosanct. If you do not bow out, you would be kicked out. It takes a lot of wisdom to identify the right moment and a lot of heart to take that decision.

I remember, even when I had not heard about Friends, I had known Jennifer Aniston as a Hollywood actress and had vaguely heard about Courtney Cox. But I had no clue about the rest of the cast. Look at me now, I eat and drink Friends now. If I am home, I would either be reading the Friends book or you would catch me watching one of the Seasons. In the FRIENDS book, they talk about when they realize that FRIENDS had become a phenomenon. Look at me, I come from a small place in Jharkhand; and I totally freak out on FRIENDS. Do I need to say any more what popularity this lovable sitcom has achieved?