Monkey with a Coconut/Bandar ke haath mein nariyal/Kurangante Kayyil Poomala

A Canon DLSR for H's "official" b'day coming up on May 2. Deals dont wait for birthdays, so its an early one. As is very evident from the first few pics I clicked, I have no clue what ISO stands for or what shutter speed means. H is trying to educate me and I have never felt sorrier for him. For all I care, "resolution" was something you thought of at the end of the year and forgot the day after and "noise reduction" was about closing doors and drawing curtains. "Exposure" used to bring up images of a totally different nature. As for the relationship between Aperture and Focal-length, well.. its called an "f-stop" and I rest my case.

Uncommon Nonsense

"Be what you would seem to be, or if you'd like it put more simply: Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise." - The Duchess

As simple as the Duchess can have you believe that is, its not as easy as a lazy stroll on a soft moonlit night either. To seem anything other than what you really seem to be, needs a lot of seeming than is what is normally considered seeming. On the other hand, being what you seem to be seems to be a much more difficult than it would normally be to be what you dont seem to be. We can't have any of that. No way. Not if I had my way, a way which according to a conversation I had earlier today, is not even really mine. Its always someone else's way, but I am digressing.

Getting back, it would seem that being and seeming to be is very much subject to a question of what is normal and what is not. Someone once said to me that normally the collective human mind has an inherent tendency to "normalize". Seems alarmingly abnormal to me. Why should what seems normal to me seem normal to you ? Or vice versa ? Is it normal for two people to have seemingly the same sense of normalcy? If its not, and normality is really something very individualistic, then how does the sense of normalcy in a society develop ? So now we have more questions than answers.

Its really not as difficult as I would have it seem. Its just different. So it would to imagine yourself as being someone you are not, but would like to seem like is a totally different thing than actually being that someone. Just as imagining yourself to be exactly the same way you are, which is to say the very same way you would want to seem to be, is totally different too. Ah, the wonder that is imagination. If it weren't for imagination, Quixote wouldn't have fought the windmills and I wouldn't have had half the conversations I have had with the moon.Most interesting conversations too. Never mind the other half, for I am digressing again. As for clubbing myself with Quixote, well, now that its a done deed, you might as well move on. I should say that would be the most seemingly wise thing to do under the circumstance.

As for me, now that I have had Lewis Carroll disown his grave and move into his mother-in-law's, I shall rest in peace and turn in for the day. Good night and sleep tight!

Birthday tales...what a joyous day!

It was my Birthday y'day. And Ammu's the day before. And MC celebrates his today. All three of us have grown older by a year, over the span of 3 days.. Hmmm.. not bad, at least I have company. Family and friends called/mailed/sms-ed/scrapped.. Wishes poured in from all parts of the world, from across 4 continents. The other continents are as yet "IT-proof"!

I missed some calls and failed to respond to some pings. Then there were the ones who missed it. And how! Of the lot, MC takes the cake. (He might as well, after all its his birthday today). I get this mail from MC, saying he is sorry about forgetting my birthday. Seems the day before, he had thought of the lunch we had had at Kumarakom, when together MC and I had given the gang a treat. Yet he forgot. I was confused too. After all, it isnt 22nd yet (It was 21st in US when I got the mail). Technically, he can even wish me right back when I call him on 23rd Midnight Dubai time, because it will still be 22nd in US. So he can't really miss it. It turns out that he dreamt it all. He dreamt of the treat at Kumarakom (the treat did happen for real, back in 2006), and that he missed wishing me. He sent me a mail as soon as he woke up, without realizing that it was all a dream. As for me, I think his vacation is long overdue.

We went to Olive Garden in Secaucus for lunch. After lunch, when we were waiting for the check, all the waiters streamed in, bringing me my cake and singing a song in chorus. Just how P managed to sneak the cake in, I dont know. I think I am pretty good at spotting such things, but I admit, this time I was stumped. I didnt quite catch the song they were singing, but later found it on the net. It goes:

“Buena Festa, what a joyous day
Life’s good fortune is sure to come your way.
So come sit back and just relax
We’ll fill your plate the Italian way
We’re so glad you came to celebrate with us today
HEY!”

I am glad we went to Olive Garden too. If not anything else, all that cheese should at least help me improve my BMI!

In Fond Memory Of - O&M

Once upon a time, in a faraway land… that would be about 4.5 years back, in Chennai… I joined Cognizant fresh out of college and had a blast of a time in the 2 months of training at Cognizant Academy. About 200 others joined with me, and the 40 strong MF004 batch was an absolutely delight to be a part of. Some of the friends I made then count among my best. They have been with me through thick and thin, and were always there when I needed them most. I will cherish their friendship forever.

So it was a very pleasant surprise when O pinged me the other day. O was not part of MF004, though a very dear friend all the same. He is married to M, and been in NJ for quite some time now. Its been more than 3 years since I met him, though we were in touch through the occasional scrap. He insisted I meet up with them the very next day. They were going to this Mallu family’s for a get-together. I was not so keen because I just had a very tiring Saturday, out shopping at the Garden State Plaza. Anyone who has been there will totally empathize with me. But not O. And I was smitten by his enthusiasm about driving all the way up to Hackensack from Jersey City to pick me up. I tell H I don’t feel so good about barging into homes of total strangers. H is more practical, and suggests it would be nice to make some new friends and get some good food in the bargain. At the cost of seeming most seedy, I admit it’s the thought of good mallu food that clinched the deal. H sure knows me well.

O picks me up sharp at 2.30 pm. There’s M and a friend of theirs, I forgot his name. We chit-chat all the way to Jersey City, where we pick up another friend of theirs. Must be quite a party, and I ask M if we oughtn’t to get a gift for the hosts. M says gifts are not necessary. And so we arrive at Woodbridge, and meet this lovely couple, K&D, and their cute little daughter. I discover P lives in the same Apartment Complex. (No, P is not famous. I just called him up to tell him I am in Woodbridge, and we discover I am at his place. A different door number though. He says he is in NY. I am not sure if he was in NY or he just chickened out at the thought of opening the front door to welcome me in).

People kept pouring in, and the house became a bit crowded, to say the least. K&D have the home theatre set up, along with a white board and markers. I brace myself for a game of Pictionary and a movie after dinner. Just that I couldn’t smell the dinner yet. And people were is groups of 4-5, whispering among themselves. Have they made the teams already? And then, K&D walk up, and call out for attention. They give a nice little speech, thanking everyone for coming and explaining that their business is doing really good. It is spread across 4 countries and they are planning to expand to Kerala in India. Wow, I thought, I would love to see their business plan. As if on cue, they pull up this presentation on DVD. Welcome to Q*, a network marketing company. I see red and alarm bells in a variety of frequencies are set off.

Just about everything falls into place. The enthusiasm to pick me up, the quite unlikely friends that O made (of the 2 guys he brought to the meeting today - he met one of them at Wal-Mart, the other at the Railway Station), the mutterings, K&D “expanding” business to India through their parents in Kerala and above all the mystery of the missing aroma of the non-existent dinner. The only thing that I still don’t quite comprehend – how could O do this to me?

I sat through the marketing gimmick of following my dreams and being “financially free” in a couple of years. I started off with smart aleck answers, which soon degraded into downright frosty stares and on-the-face sarcasm. I guess the speaker was smarter than I would like to give him credit for, because he soon stopped trying to get me involved in the session. Snacks were served. Q* products of breakfast bars and energy drinks. If only P was home, I would have given them a piece of my mind and walked out. O had to drop me back, so I had to sit through the rest of it too, even after the other newbies left after the "feast".

Once only the believers (and me) were remaining, the real picture was unveiled. The strategy of frequenting department stores and railway stations, of making friends with other Indians simply by starting off a conversation and getting their phone numbers, making use of social networking sites to get hold of “downlines”.. of using as much of their own products by themselves. There was this nutritionist who was selling vitamin supplements, a software engineer who was selling fuel additives, an investment banker who was selling breakfast bars. All in the name of “financial freedom” and “residual income”.

I reach back home by 10.30 pm, and just as I get out of the car, O&M ask me not to speak to H about the “business” yet. I spent half a day with them, and they expect me not to share it with my husband? How can they decide what I should share with my husband and what I shouldn’t? Not that I understand the logic behind that particular request, but it was the last nail on the coffin. Goodbye, O&M.

Its a girl !!!

Akka gave birth to a baby girl today morning. Alhamdulillah..!!!
I am in seventh heaven.. and its been snowing since morning, as Nature celebrates with me.

- Proud aunt of 2 nephews and 2 nieces, all nicely evened out !

FT Global MBA Rankings, 2009 - ISB rocks !!!

The Financial times, London , announced its annual global ranking of business schools today and Indian School of Business is ranked 15! Jumped 5 places ahead from last year's 20...
http://rankings.ft.com/global-mba-rankings

And pray, why am I so excited ??!!!

Here's to the new year...

Despite the worst of starts, I am hoping this one will be the most fulfilling so far. Come to think of it, it promises to be a year filled with dreams come true. As I look over the threshold, I see the comforting familiarity of yesterday making way for an uncertain tomorrow. And I am ready to take it on, armed with faith, courage and perseverence, patience to the levels I am not familiar or comfortable with. But above all, I cling to a gentle but constant hope - to be able to fight against all odds, to push myself to give the best every time, to hold on to the very last thread of inner strength and move on, to believe that its not the end till it ends well.
At the beginning of another year, here's to Happies Endings !!