Knife

That thng waz inside me for 2 hrs n 10 kms..c d blood stains!!:-D

Watch

If I were to name a single material possession, I can't live without, it's got to be my wrist watch(es).

My love for watches goes down to my class prep, when I was around 6. Yeah thats when I got my first watch. And not just any other watch. It was a Titan. I was the proud owner of a Titan at the age of six, when most kids of my age were trying to draw clocks in their maths workbook or practicing telling time with their teachers, I sported a Titan wrist watch. That one was gifted to my by Papa because he had promised me that I'll get one if I was able to secure admission in SHS( he still keeps doing that- promising me rewards for significant and insignificant achievements, and he has never failed to keep his promises). I barely managed to do that and got this watch. I remember it clearly, a small, round white dial with green minute and hour hands and a red second hand.

Well that lasted with me till class 8th. I got my 2nd one in class 9th on my 14th birthday- a gift by mom and dad. A maxima "waterproof" with a metallic chain strap and a round dial. Though i never realized it at that point of time, it was a poorly constructed replica of the classic Rolex Oyester perpetual.

The Oyster perpetual still remains my all time favourite. Maybe thats why this replica thing is still my favourite.

My latest is the one I got on my 19th birthday, again by my parents. A timex with a black rectangular dial. A classic piece which i save to be worn on special and formal occasions.

Then there is this Mont Blanc one, gifted by my dear friends on my 21st Birthday.
Big Round white dial, with crocodile print leather strap. I've received quite a few compliments whenever i sport this one, and coming from design faculties in the college, they must be genuine ones.

I have heard people saying, the mobile has omitted the need for the wrist watch. Are people going nuts. I mean, how can a silly mobile phone replace the aura and style associated with a wrist watch. The style that is associated with the act of raising your wrist, pulling back the sleeve and glancing at the watch whenever somebody asks for the time, cant be replaced by the whipping out of a mobile phone.

I just cant step out of home, without my watch. It has been one of my best companions. Glancing at it almost every moment when i had to meet a deadline or constantly staring at the movement of the second hand when waiting for a boring class to get over. I used to count the seconds to while away the time or even set up an imaginary countdown timer in my mind, doing all sort of silly calculations in my mind for the class to get over. I still do that.

Now you know, what would my first salary would be chanalized towards, of course a rolex oyster perpetual, but first, let this time of recession pass away.
I've already set up a virtual countdown timer.....

Diwali 08

My first post directly from my new SE W350i. Cool phone! It has this photo blogging feature. I hope this works. So this pic is more of a "hello....1...2...3.....check" kinda thing.:-D

String Concatanation???

Everybody heard about Brangelina.....Hollywood's most famous couple.....naming it that way was an innovative concept and sounded good.
Then came Abhiash...their bollywood equivalent. Nothing strange about this one, if we can copy movie scripts and songs, this was just a naming concept.
And today i heard Safina! Now, this is getting out of hand Do the celebraties don't even have the right to retain their identity and individuality?
Why does media have the tendency of overdoing everything.......thank god we didnt have to hear and read about Amitya or Shahina....

The Great Indian Fairness Obsession

“Wanted fair and beautiful bride”- these unique matrimonial ads can be found nowhere but the Indian dailies. Why in India being beautiful is nearly always associated with being fair. What is it with Indians and fairness?Well there’s nothing new about the phenomenon, even the god’s seem to be lamenting about their darker skin tone-“Radha kyuon gori, main kyun hun kala”. Then what prompted me to write about this. Well it was this comment from my youngest cousin (I have 12 first cousins on my paternal side!). Now this girl is barely 8 years old, I was taking her to buy her some chocolates and it being June the sun in the northern plains is at its scorching best during the daytime. As soon as we leave the cool confines of home, pat comes the comment from missy –“Bhaiyya sham ko challenge, abhi main kali ho jaungi”
This cousin of mine has special affection for people who have a lighter tone to their skin color. Every time I have seen Katrina dancing to the tunes of “Kiss Me , Love Me” or “Welcome”, I’ve heard her remark “She looks so beautiful because she is so fair”.
That’s generation Z (or has the time come to move on to a new series, AA shall we say?) for you.
Indian’s obsession with fairness is not limited to a particular age or income group, religion, geographical region or educational background. My compeers at college feel the same way, and so does my maid. The phenomenon is equally spread across the lower, middle and the upper class. Be it Bengalis, Gujratis, Marathis, Tamilians, Kannadas or the Punjabis the thought is the same-“Fair is Lovely”.
And fairness is not only associated with the “fairer sex”. Even men are supposed to be fair. No wonder there has been a recent flood of “for men” fairness creams in the market. Now what happened to the good old adage - “Tall Dark and Handsome”?
What is with Indians and fairness? Was it the two centuries of servitude under the Imperial crown that imprinted us with belief that fair is superior? Fairness, in India today is associated necessarily with success, power, influence and superiority.
Another reason can be the flooding of the cosmetics market by the so called skin lightening products.
Fairness cream manufacturers have exploited, and reinforced, this preference for fair skin, portraying it as a necessary prerequisite for success, and promoted the use of their products as a means of achieving that ideal. Monetary gains have been made notwithstanding the negative impact these products have engendered in terms of social consciousness and strengthening of stereotypes. The fairness cream segment comprises 40 % of the total Indian cosmetics market amounting to $318 million.
And the market is steadily growing, with the new area of focus being men’s fairness creams.
However much we may like to deny it, the fair do enjoy advantage in certain industries- hospitality, showbiz, and aviation. Apartheid, at its subtle best, we may say.
Don’t think we’ll have to wait much longer before the darker ones start asking for reservation-another one of nation’s obsession.

List of New Year Resolutions 2008

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20. No New Year Resoltions from now on...... fayda kya hai yaar?????

Old Habits Die Hard

Among the very short list of "good habits" that I think I have is this one habit of reading. I have been a voracious reader ever since I can remember. I remember the times when I used to be scolded by my parents for getting late for school because I wouldn’t buzz without having a good look at the newspaper. I remember those early morning arguments among the three of us (my granddad, my father and me) for who'll get to read the newspaper first. Being the youngest, I usually had to forfeit my right. That's when they started getting three newspapers in the house.

I've always preferred reading books to playing computer games or watching TV. I remember bunking school to finish my copy of the latest Harry Potter. For fear of being scolded I used to hide novels and magazines between my course books and read them, though I was never a big comics fan. I suppose it would have been me who used to get the highest no. of novels issued from the school library, and I never returned a book unread. I even have a small personal library of my own.

But looking back over the past two years, I suppose my reading habit has moved into a state of dormancy (I won’t say that it has become extinct, because I can’t afford to let that happen). I have read only a few books over the past two years. Though I have a readymade excuse for that- I didn’t get time, but then there never used to be time earlier too, and how is it that I can find time for movies, chatting, orkutting and all other velapanti. I don’t read magazines now, though I have a genuine excuse for this one, being a student I can’t spend money on magazines, I have other pressing expenditures like movie tickets, chocolates, coffees at Barista. And then I am not too eager to “read” the newspaper these days, (though it still remains the very first thing I do every morning) just a casual flip does the job for me.

What really troubles me is that all this is happening at a time when I really should be reading. Keeping in mind the fact that I am a management aspirant, reading is the heart and soul of my preparations, I just can’t make it without reading. Life is really ironic, now my father almost daily asks me whether I have read the newspaper or not and what book am I currently reading.
And all this lack of reading has started showing its effects. My general knowledge is getting poor by the day, and my vocabulary has almost become stagnant.

I have to do something about this And this time I WILL do it. I’ve already started taking measures and I think I am improving. Starting these vacations I am reading the newspaper almost 45 min daily. I have already finished two books-something I had been trying to do for the past 10 months, over the past 7 days, and that too both of them non-fiction….Yippee!!!

I suppose I am back on the right track again. After all old habits do die hard.