Some Sizzling Scintillating Speculations

    I wrote this today, in my gratitude journal, as a ‘Thank You’ memory: Thinking back today of Ganesh Chaturthi in Baroda, every year, today being The day this year. Around 5-10 days prior to this day, some of the ‘yuvak mandals’ (Youth congregation / groups) would bring the unpainted Ganesh Idols to their ‘location’ in their block. And, the idols would be painted there itself. A majority would bring the idols 4-wheel carts(larris), or bullock carts or trucks, depending on the size of the idol.   It would be a festive procession for each one, people singing ‘Ganpati Bappa Moriya’, as they went along on the road. We would fold our hands in prayer each time. It would be a fun day, watching each procession passing, and the air of festivity all round. Particularly, when the Ganesha idol on the back side of our Road(HP Yuvak Mandal) would be brought in, there would be a long prayer, and, then the ‘Sthapana’(Installation) of the idols. Memories also, of the ‘collectio...

 Hello, hello, Just thinking.. should I restart my blog? So many pleasant memories. :) Have a great day. 😀

Hello, hello. I've been planning to return to blogging, since quite some time. And somehow today, my instinct says 'go ahead'. So here goes: Topic: Nostalgia: There was a time when, for many of us : -Gluco and Monaco represented biscuits. -Ambassador and Fiat Padmini represented cars -Campwala and Baroda City Bakery represented breads(all maida, and no ill effects..LOL)(Must have been similar in other cities) -Coke and Fanta represented Cold Drinks( and Campa Cola on North side) -DoorDarshan represented the solitary TV channel. All their programs would be ‘by heart’. -Cinema halls represented the only means of watching movies. A visit to a 70 mm cinema was a major life changing experience. (First movie: Star Wars) -Water meant the municipality water, filtered via a ‘chalni’, and poured into an earthen pot(or matka) -In summer, cold water meant going to the nearby area, to buy ice blocks, to keep in an ice box, on  top / sid...

It's been a while since I posted. Too much work pressure last week as well, leading to me spending my spare time either walking or watching Seinfeld or oldie Hindi movies- Shaukeen, Golmaal,etc, to keep the spirits up..and, it works..but naturally. You know how you could tell whether you're tensed? In a silent room, Try turning your neck left and right. Or, try letting it go up-down. Or, rotate in a circle,slowly..if you hear 'crrrk crrk or a tic tic' kind of sound, it means there's some tension.(The more the sound, the more the tension). I've noticed that on Sunday morns, these sounds disappear, coz of the two holidays that give one a chance to unwind..and, as the weekday progresses, it's Thursday that creates the most sound, figuratively speaking.heh heh. Plan to remedy it, of course. Let's list out..and, any nice suggestions from my good friends(you all who read this) are welcome. - Take things at work a bit lightly.  -Stop being a perfectionis...

Hello..been a mite too tied up at work these last few days...will surely be posting in detail in 1-2 days..:) Meanwhile, what's been keeping me in good spirits in those free moments when I could rejuvenate? -YRF Top 50 songs -Hungama -Dhamaal -The Big Bang Theory -Seinfeld -Posts on FB and blogs from my relatively newer blog/FB friends, J Dip, Ms. R(Links in my blogroll- both their blogs are eminently readable), ..and, of course, my regular pals on FB, blogs... Just thinking of these makes me laugh..:) Till the next post, do keep smiling.

Hi all...a bit late in the day but still...here goes an update on how the birthday passed... On 22.02, I was in Doha(not the Gujarati word that means 'old man') Qatar, for a meeting...the day flew by..(maybe a separate post on observations)..returned at 10 at night. Fell asleep, woke up at midnight..(yea..birthday time), courtesy an awesome leg muscle pull that didn't let me stand straight for the first 5 minutes....and then, slowly it became better.have had this prob long back, but it'd vanished..wonder what caused it? ah well...no harm done. Normal routine and then off to work..couldn't find time to breathe that busy day. Reached home in the evening and guess what? Fell asleep at 7...hahahahaha..well, that was a birthday that flew by,na? R gave the right suggestion- have a blast over the weekend to make up.And I followed that advice.(separate post) Next day, checked on Facebook-and,voila- 25 birthday greetings...I didn't really expect that 25 people ...

(My movie review in Filmfare-Feb first issue: click to read more..;)) ------------------------------ Hello, all!!Yes, I've missed posting, and, even more, I've missed going around to my favourite bloggers blogs, reading their fabulous updates and posts..no regrets, though- it's always fun to be busy and having time flying by, and that's what's been happening since I returned to Dxb on Sunday last. ----- Back to Sunday, and my always-interesting time at Abad airport..this time, I had the good sense to keep a mini diary and pen in my pocket, and what you're reading below is, therefore, ad verbatim what was floating around in the air by way of conversation/opinions/thoughts. - At Port Lounge Restaurant at the airport: Man to waiter: Do you complimentary sauce? If you do, we'll take two aloo parathas - Man near boarding gate talking on cellpho ne: "Hoon upar pahunchi gayo. Dubai maa rickshaw maa besyaa pachhi call kareesh"(I reached up...

Observation 1: Have you ever seen a residential building under construction? It's amazing. The worker teams are nothing but families. The man (or men) of the family are the skilled craftsmen/workers- masons, for example. The wife(wives) will be carrying the bricks and stones from their storage space to the place of work, whichever floor they're required on. The kids (Anyone 5 plus) would be doing the cleaning up of the areas, bringing tea, etc. And, the babies would be swaying happily in the jhoola made between two pillars, using a sari/dhoti/lungi.The residences of these families also change constantly based on the sites they're working in. Observation 2: Work stops every hour or so- tea time/beedi time/sitting in squatting position time/chatting time. Work also stops if there's Amavasya. It also stops(for 2-3 months) when it's the harvest season in the fields at their villages. It also stops on Diwali/Dussera/Rakhee/...and any festival they feel they need to...

We're now on the 27th day of 2011...it's so heavenly...srtpping out of bed without any aches/pains/tiredness, thanking the Universe for another good night's sleep, smiling at one's face in the mirror, quick teeth brushing, cuppa tea,etc morning routine. Off then to EME Temple. Greeting everyone with folded hands, meeting the three retired Uncles who have been coming there even before I began going there regularly. Saying prayers and morning chants. Knowing that the day is bound to go off better than the best of them.:) Getting on two-wheeler, stopping for a quick cuppa golden chai at the larri, if it's too cold and a warm-up is needed to begin walking, going to Sayaji Park and walking 4-5 kms. The rest of the day rushes along...lots of fun observations , that make one smile...there's also very less effort needed now to avoid all negatives, that end with n't(i.e. won't, can't, wouldn't, .....)...immediate replacement of these words with pos...

Hi all...am back in my favourite city, and am going to write about my favourite grouse, first, prior to writing on my usual fun flight experiences. So here goes, having experienced it since 3 days: But let's begin with a gem from The Secret, at Thought For The Day: Every single relationship you have is a reflection of how you feel inside about you. You are a magnet attracting to you all things, via the signal you are emitting through your thoughts and feelings. Every relationship you have and every interaction with every person, is a reflection of your own thoughts and feelings in that very moment. ----- On to the post: Who invented the automobile horn? I'm sure it was invented for the purpose of making pedestrians and other menagerie move away so that they don't get hurt when crossing a road incorrectly. So why do people use it for: a.Honking at vehicles ahead, when they know it's a traffic jam and no-one's sitting there in the midst of a busy street wai...

Hi all again..as I said, I'm back (with or without a bang, u decide)...what a day...we had a kick-off meeting for a new project in Oman, I received @ 20 calls, 10 of them I left unanswered since they were obviously from laawaris numbers(Numbers I've never seen before). Had three visitors as well.  Thank heavens for a great lunch..I took a sandwich, with lemon-mint juice. Now, this lemon-mint juice does taste tangy yet strong when taken without sugar, but, believe me, it really keeps one in full form till the end of the day. As such, my observation is- any food that doesn't tickle your taste buds, is good for you. Anything that even lightly tickles them , is not good for you in some way or the other.In Ach Rajneesh's words, from his magazine Osho Times, any food that gets you excited is not good for you.(So, all those who savour paani puris and samosas and alu wadas....think of this...:)) Among other news- New York had it's annual 'no pants day' in ...

Hi all..how've you been? A hectic week's kept me away from my blogging, though I've tried to regularly visit my favourite blogs and see what people are upto.  Well, it's already 10th of Jan..so, let me decide now--I'll post at least twice a week out here. Need not be mega posts...short albeit witty posts should also make their entry now. So how have the first 10 days of the New Year been for you? I'd say 'so far, great, and am sure they'll continue to be great, too'- from having some great weather, to waking up with a smile daily, to ending the day and getting a great nite's sleep, it's been a nice 10 days...True to TS, my guide, all negative words are done away with as much as possible-I am avoiding mentioning them here, in fact..hahaha. I was just thinking--I've become more regular on FB- maybe that's why blogging took a slight backseat for a while-but, it's not permanent- both have a charm of their own-FB gives timely, albe...

Hi,all..how was your day? The first day of the New Year? Mine went absolutely as I wanted it to...from the time of waking up with a smile, to walking to shopping a bit to getting things done... Tomorrow dawn's another day- the first New Year day at work...more updates coming up.:) As I wrote on my FB page: "Waking up feeling refreshed. Good 1 hr morning walk..only positive thoughts in mind till now...and, 10 hrs of 2011 are already gone...I'm sure the same joy will prevail for the rest of the year...for me, for everyone I know and admire-each person unique in his or her own way. Wishing all a delightful, abundant 2011. All your dreams WILL come true.:)(Let's recap on 01.01.12)" Cheerio and have a rocking 2011...hope to see loads of posts from all my favourite writers.:)

Hi all. Where and how’ve you been, these last few days of 2010? (Puhlease- don’t use the ole nursery rhyme and say’ I’ve been to London to look at the Queen’). I’ve had a hectic week, and we’re finally at it’s end. Last day today..and, the last working day of the year, as well. On Sunday, when we return to work, it’ll be a brand new year bringing goodwill and cheer.(Note: I’m not saying ‘I hope’…I know it’ll be good for everyone, specially us followers of The Secret):) Returning to two posts back, I’d asked’What do you do?’ So, here’s what I do: Currently (and in my prev. Co): The job: I buy. I buy everything for MEP(Mechanical, Elect, Plumbing) services for our Co. From helmets to safety shoes to coveralls, from pipes to valves to air conditioning equipment, from drain pipes to WCs to washbasins to bidets to towel rails to rainshowers, from cables to switchgear, from swimming pools to Jacuzzis, from fire extinguishers to fire hose reels to water mist systems, from LPG systems...

Thought for the day: Imagination is everything-it is the preview of life's coming attractions I know I promised a post on ‘What do I do’ this time, but, need time to sit and write the two main fields I’ve worked in, in the past two decades. Meantime, people who read the post and commented-Arunima, Shreya, Purba/those did not comment(haha), please treat this as a tag and tell me/us what you do. I’m sure it’ll be interesting. So, here’s an interim post till I pen that one. Enjoy! Have you noticed? From being mega, everything these days seems to be giga-gigga these days. Be it hard discs, RAMS , scams, or anything. Where scams are concerned, of course, one gigga= 1 crore…hence, no scam can be less than a few giggas, be it the telecom one or cow’s fodder or the CW games. Somehow, giga always reminds me of giggles- the kind people (usually the ladies?)contort their face into when they’re laughing- as we read so often in Enid Blyton’s books…and, the word giggles always brings a kin...

 Thought for the day: You're as lucky as you feel you are...(No one coined that, I did)                                                                    (Guess what this job is?) What do you do? No, it's not an error. I was not typing 'How do you do?' and wrote 'What' by mistake. I'm really asking what you do. Do you find yourself looking down at some people's jobs? Like, the street sweeper, the waiter, the office receptionist, ...do you feel you're superior to them and deride them if you can? Well, I observe this so many times. People feel that they've been blessed, and, this blessing enables them to make fun of those who're where they are, for no fault of theirs. Isn't that totally wrong? I mean, you think someone's a sweeper because he likes it? Or, someone's a peon ringing a school bell because he lik...

Thought for the day: It's nice to be important, it's more important to be nice...from Everybody Loves Raymond. I put this quote up on my FB page as well. Think- how many people(including you?ahaaa) do you know, that have an attitude about something or the other, or rather, about everything? Just 2 days back, at the breakfast tables, I observed this guy in  a suit. Reeking of attitude...hands in pockets, he gestures by head, to one of the waiter/servers...polite people that they are, he went..and, guess what, the guy wants him to open to lids of each item on the buffet table so that he can see what's in it...For God's sake, man, can't you remove your hands from your pockets and see them yourself? After checking all of them, he coolly says' Ok, thanks...actually, my wife asked me to see what's for breakfast, so I came down. We'll come back later'....wonder how the waiter/server kept his cool. Maybe he has/had no choice...as is the case in the ho...