Do Not Call!

Today i got a call from a financial company asking me to take a loan which they were supposedly offering at very lucrative rates.
I had read an article in newspaper about how people do not opt for “DO not call” option, and then get irritated afterwards. I was one of them, till this call came!

I got this call when i was exhausted by giving a full fledged lecture on correlation and it’s application in economics! So i was enjoying my coffee when this girl called. Otherwise if such kin of calls come, i thank the caller and hang up. But surprisingly this one lasted for 3 whole minutes..! it was like this…

The girl from that financial company: Good afternoon ma’am, am i talking to Mr. Vijay Deshpande?
(This annoyed me!)
Me: No, you’re not. And if you’re saying good afternoon ‘ma’am’, then it cannot be Mr. Vijay Deshpande!
Girl: Oh I’m so sorry ma’am, actually this number is registered with this name, that’s why I said so. I’m really sorry for that.
Me: Okay fine. Tell me.
Girl: Ma’am, if I have annoyed you, then I apologize again for the mistake!
Me: I said it’s okay. Come to the point.
Girl: Thank you ma’am. Actually I’m new in this company, and this is the first assignment given to me, that’s why I’m a bit nervous.
(I thought, “Okay girl, no problem. But that has got nothing to do with me. Are you by mistake considering me as a counselor or something??!?!”. But i didn’t say these things, instead….)
Me: Ok. Have you called to tell this?
Girl: On no, no ma’am. Actually I’m calling from **** Financial company. I wanted to brief you about this new personal loan which we’re floating in the market.
Me: Ok. Thank you, but i’m not interested.
Girl: Please ma’am, at least let me tell you about the loan. I’m sure after listening to the benefits which our company is offering, I’m sure you’ll want one.
Me: No please! In that case please don’t! I already have one loan, and i’m in no mood to take up another.
Girl: Oh, if you’re not in a good mood ma’am, I’ll call you sometime later.
(What?!??? is she crazy? Or have i said something like that??)
Me: Look, i think you do not understand. I am saying that i don’t’ need a loan as of now. And if i need any, i’ll surely let you know.
Girl: Oh that’ll be great ma’am! Do you want my number? So that whenever you want it, you can let me know.
(Now i started laughing!)
Me: Well, no, i don’t. But i’ll surely call your office and ask for you. But as of now, please i don’t need any loan.
Girl: Okay ma’am. But in that case, let me just tell you about the offer. So that you can save time later.
Me: Oh, is this offer for lifetime??
Girl: No, this is our special Christmas offer.
Me: In that case, when i need one, that time this offer will be changed.
(There was a pause for a moment. I thought she will give me some reason and will hang up. But again, i was surprised at the reply she gave!)
Girl: No ma’am, I’ll ask my manager to keep this offer especially for you!
(Oh how sweet! And how stupid!! Now i really thought i’ve wasted enough time on this call. So tried to be a l’il adamant.)
Me: That’ll be nice. But i think you’ll need to first check with him whether it’s possible. And i know it is not.
Girl: How do you know that??
Me: (Now really frustrated!) Because, anybody who’s eligible to take loan would know this. (But I should not expect you to understand!!) And because i teach this subject, so don’t even bother.
Girl: Oh okay ma’am. I think I’ll come to you someday to understand these things.
Me: Yeah sure. Bye!

And after this, i started to enquire about “Do not call” option!

Foodie!

Many people will laugh reading this(“kitna kam khati hai tu”, “isliye itni dubli hai”.. no, i am not at all ‘dubli..’:(..)…and when i say that i am a bon vivant, i mean i love eating different kinds of foods.. not in large quantities though!
There are a few people whom i know, say they like home made food, ‘Ghar ka khana’.. of course, everyone likes that! So do i! We don’t have to mention it all the time when we are asked, “What do you like to eat?”! Obviously, we cannot answer a maître d'hôtel when he asks ‘what would you like to have’ with this answer, ‘oh actually i like home made food, but as i’ve already come here, i’d settle for 'paneer bhurjee and a nan'!”
That is why i am keeping that catagory out of the purview of this post! :)

There are so many places we like to go to just because of the distinctive taste of the food which is served there, and not only because of the great ambience.
For example, i just love the ‘bajaj nagar -pani puri’..there is just no other place in nagpur where one could get even a similar one, leave alone better one. I’ve been eating at that point since i actually started to eat out by myself.. and the taste has always been the same! God knows what he puts into that ‘pani’ apart from pudina, hari chatni, chat masala, which makes it so appetizing! And this is one dish which can never be enjoyed in a plush restaurant! You have to stand near that ‘bhaiya’ , holding that bowl made of dried leaves, and control your tears, which are bound to come once you gulp that puri!

Similarly, 'rolls' is one such food item which is best enjoyed in an open eatery. And i believe be it a ‘paneer roll’ or a ‘cheese & spinach roll’ or a ‘veg roll’, served with extra ‘kanda’, is the menu for a perfect working day dinner, followed by a nice cup of tea or coffee.

Now coffee is one thing which i am not very educated about! Though i enjoy it a lot, i generally prefer it with something sweet, like a cookie or a piece of cake, if the coffee is hot. But talk about tea, and i can go on talking about it right from the flavors to the different methods to prepare it. but let us not go on to beverages! Or else, it’ll make me write about my new found love, red wine! :)) so let us not go into that domain!

Chinese food is one thing which i personally think should not be made at home. It has to be made by that ‘chang’ looking person, in that huge vessel, with all the fire coming out of it every time he puts something into it! But yes, there are many restaurants which are famous for this category of food. You can find a roadside Chinese ‘thela’ serving the best of hakka noodles, which can give a cut – throat competition to ‘China Town’ in pune!

Now there are certain things which have to be enjoyed in a restaurant, like a pizza in “Pizza Hut’, burger and fries in “McDonalds”, icecream ...well, icecream is one thing which really doesn’t need a brand name.. and when a vanilla ice-cream is served with chocolate sauce, then who cares whether it’s Quality walls or Top ‘n town! But yes, Softcell in DP is worth mentioning , specially it's 'Top Notch"! Such softies really make my heart melt!
Samosa at “Preity Corner” is arguably the best in town. Also, sizzlers is one thing which is coming up high in my list. Specially the ones made in spinach!

I have specifically added SOME of those items which i feel are meant to be enjoyed outside home. Because if we start talking about the things prepared at home, then i think the list will be endless. And as a gourmet, this list can never be exhaustive… just some of the favorites.. any more which anybody can think of??

I wish

I wish i could become a little girl for some time.. so that i could cry without any reason.. so that even if i cry, i wouldn’t have to tell the reason to anybody.. or even if i had to, i could give any stupid reason..

I wish i could just pour my heart out to anybody, knowing that he wouldn’t mind it...
I wish i could have no inhibition to tell my people how much i love them.. Where i wouldn’t have to give any reason to do so.. so that people could love me selflessly...

I wish i could meet anybody whenever i want.. Without any special reason…..but I also wish i were not alone on those special days.. on those special occasions..
I wish i could again choose not to make some people part of my life…to take back my days from them.. so that i could hate them no more…

I wish i could become a little girl again for some time.. so that i do not have any reason to write this post…

For a cause

This Diwali was a real fun and a different diwali for me. To start with, i saw two movies in the diwali week!! Both, 'Jab we met' and 'Om shanti Om' were average movies.. so i spent my money and time on something which i never do in diwail season..

Next change was that i didn’t spend much of the money on my clothes or accessories. (Oh god, what is happening to me?!?!) Yes, a very big change…!! Though it is a different story that i spend it year long on these things, but let us concentrate only on diwali spendings..! :))

But the main change this diwali was that i didn’t burst crackers, for a special cause. I’d read an article about how we waste our money literally on something which really is of no use, and this struck me so much so that i decided not to burst crackers. And secondly i’d decided to have a no – pollution diwali, full of lights, which is the essence of this festival. Diwali is celebrated mainly because of the belief that it’ll bring light in our lives and that no one should be in the darkness of shame and hatred.
I was one of those people who used to love and enjoy bursting crackers.. but now, i am happy that i’m contributing to a good cause… to make everyone’s diwali a happy one..

Wait..

Sometimes we wait desperately for some things, some people.. We feel as if the wait is never going to get over.. And as Hindi movies put it, “har lamha ek uumra ki tarha lagta hai..”..!! Very true..
We plan so many things, we plan to wear special cloths, do some special cooking, take out some good movies’ CDs.. We actually plan each and every moment for which we really wait..

Still even after doing so much planning and all the preparations, we feel that so much has to be done.. And the most funniest thing is that even after these things, still so much time is left..

And when finally that moment comes, we forget all the planning and preparations for which we’ve spent so much time..
We just feel the moment…trying to live that moment.. And wish we could get more time.. Wish that time should just stop.. Wish that every moment should actually be as long as eternity..

But it doesn’t happen.. Time passes.. very fast... and after that we feel that we haven’t even done one percent of what we’d planned.. just didn’t get enough time..!!

And again we wait for that moment to come again, and start preparing for it.. again..

Innocence

The other day my small cousin sister asked me, “Why are you applying Kajal?” i said, “i don’t have beautiful eyes like you, that’s why!”
She thought for a moment, then again asked, “ But why?”.
I was a bit confused. I thought she wanted to hear the praise again. So i gave her the same reply.
But she was not satisfied with the answer.
“But why do you have to have good eyes?” Okay.. i thought.. So this was her second question. I thought for a moment, and then told her that everybody wants to look beautiful. And if they don’t have such beautiful looks like hers (again trying to impress her!!), then they’ve to apply things like kajal, lipstick, etc. (Wow, this was fastest i could think of!!)

“But even if you don’t apply all that, i’ll still like you. Then why are you still applying it?” Oh god, i didn’t have to think so much even in an interview!!

And i finally told her that yes, she was correct. And had to stop applying all that till the time she was with me!!

But somewhere she’s right, i thought. How innocently she reminded me of the fact that those people, who really love us, love us for what we are. They take us as we are. And we just don’t have to do anything to make an impression of what we’re not. These are the people who would tell us what suits us and what not. What looks good on us and what not. And most importantly, what is good for us and what not. We don’t have to take any special efforts to let them know how beautiful/good we are.

And as i was thinking about it, my already cute sis was trying to look cuter by applying the same kajal and lipstick which i was using!! :))

Waiting for winter

It’s almost 12 in the night and i am eating a hot “sabudana khichadi”..! It is not the time to eat it, i know. But i didn’t have my dinner today because of some important work (and because i dont have it on friday :) !!). And my mom dearest was thoughtful enough to know what i would like to eat after a come back.

But as i was coming back home, from Civil Lines, which is one of the coldest areas in Nagpur, i realized that winter is already knocking the doors. And this made me so happy! Winter is my favorite season!! And at that very moment i had this urge to have a sizzling cup of “adrak ki chai”!! (And one can have tea anytime!!!)

So, as it is i was about to have sabudana khichadi, i also obliged myself with a cup of tea. And as i have this habit of making some extra tea all the time, i’m so happy that by the time i finish writing this, i’ll (again) enjoy the (remaining) tea..! And as i am planning to wake up a bit late tomorrow morning, the joy is already doubled!

My (second) steaming cup of tea is ready, and the ‘khichidi’ is almost finished… and i am waiting for the winter to show it’s real colors.. to have many such moments.. where i could get more reasons to have tea.. anytime i want..

Quotes!

These are some of my favorite quotes…few of them are from the profiles of people who are in my gtalk list… Sometimes i wish i could find these first and put it in my profile :) !! And of course, the list is not exhaustive, just that cannot remember all of them..

- I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.

- Don't be subjectively pessimist...Be objectively optimist!

- Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away!!!

- It's better to deserve something but not to have it than, to have something but not deserve it.

- Never walk as if you rule the world… walk as if u don’t care who rules the world. That’s called “Attitude”.

- If you tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, he'll believe you. But if you tell him a park bench has just been painted, he has to touch it to be sure...!

- " If the only tool you use is a hammer, all the problems will resemble nails "- Abraham Maslow

- Some joys are better expressed in silence as a smile holds more meaning than words. I was asked if i enjoy having you in my life..I just smiled!
- Many people said that the apples fell....but newton was the one to ask "why?"

- I was thinking of becoming a doctor.I have the handwriting for it.

Intelligent!

I know some people who are very smart! Or at least, this is what they think of themselves..!!

Okay, now let us define smart…clever, intelligent and may be brainy. Fine…but when i think of these people, i cannot help but add one more adjective to it.. Shrewd!!!
Yes, i know this word sounds a bit too harsh, but when i think of these people, i just cannot think of any other word.
No doubt these people are intelligent when it comes to academics. And they’ve proved it time and again. But when it comes to relationships, or should i say, maintaining relationships, these people are the cleverest people you could ever come across!!

They become best of your friends, or at least pretend to be. But they fail to understand that best friends are not there to cause trouble. They are there to help you get out of it. And if they are the ones who are the reason behind it, then should happily step aside..! At least after they know about it!!

But no, as i said earlier, they ‘fail’ to realize this fact, coz they are intelligent, not sensible. And when finally you’ve to take the bad side and tell them the truth, these people blame you for everything!! Strange!! After some time, they forget everything and AGAIN pretend that nothing has happened…and feel that everything will fall in place like before.

i guess that is why these people are called as ‘intelligent’! Because they know exactly how to make use of people, and when they don’t need you, they throw you out of their lives.
And people like us, who fail to recognize these creatures, are the ones who get hurt!

After sometime, we also become smart, and recognize these people…but we also become sensible from their mistakes, and go ahead.. and observe how these people achieve almost everything in their lives, but fail to build credibility..!
"Zindagi ki yahi reet hai, Haar ke baad hi jeet hai..”

Tune of the week..!

There’s been a sort of a pattern in which i listen to songs.. and many a times, i stick to a couple of songs, which i listen almost 5-6 times daily. The reason is different all the time.. sometime it is the lyrics of the songs, or the tune of the song, or my mood, or the general ambience, anything… although i can’t make out the exact one!!

Since past couple of days, there are three songs, which i;ve played almost 50 times till now…

1st is “Scientist” by Coldplay: this is may be because of the tune of the song…

2nd is “Tumse Milke” from Parinda: Because of the lyrics and the tune and the intensity with which it is sung…

and 3rd is “Sacrifice” by Elton John.. purely because of the lyrics…

"It's a human sign
When things go wrong
When the scent of her lingers
And temptation's strong

Into the boundary
Of each married man
Sweet deceit comes calling
And negativity lands
Cold cold heart
Hard done by you
Some things look better baby
Just passing through

And it's no sacrifice
Just a simple word
It's two hearts living
In two separate worlds
But it's no sacrifice ...It's no sacrifice ....at all"

Tapri..!

This in one word which has fascinated me from a long time..! Many of my ‘male’ friends have been talking about it so much, that i actually had an urge to go there at least once! Especially the famous shankar nagar tapri..where they’ve spent many nights…eating ‘poha’ (with tarri) and ‘chaha’..! but then, they’d also told me that it’s not a girls’ place… too bad..i used to comment!

Last week, my driving license got stolen. And as i didn’t have time to go through the procedure by myself, i gave the documents to my agent. Now these agents are real funny characters. They do your job very easily and on time, but it is very difficult for you to find them on time! So i was waiting for him outside the RTO, where i saw many Tapris lined up.

And out of those, there were two which caught my attention. The one, which was a bit far than the other one, had few customers; a couple, a man & a small child and two middle aged men. This Tapri was serving ‘Chai’ as well as ‘pakode’, which all of them were relishing.
The second one had 4-5 clientele, all college going boys. And they were having their ‘chai and sutta’ combination and discussing about CAT, GMAT, GRE and Placements!
What hit me was, that on both these joints, apart from chai, one thing was common; nobody was paying attention to the kind of material was being used to prepare these things, or what that tapriwala is doing to keep the glasses and plates clean. Plus, he was again frying those pakodas in the oil which was taken out of the most tainted container you could see, and serving them as fresh ones. i always knew that these tapris are not as per the standards of Food development authority of India, but still would’ve at least some hygienic state. But this thing was shocking.

Obviously, the couple didn’t have time to pay attention to this thing, and others were busy discussing issues like fate of congress, Indian cricket team’s defeat, girls and of course, CAT..!

i think what makes these tapris more popular is the environment it provides for discussing some things, which are important, but are not much thought of. Or, may be it is the cheapest joint one could ask for. because i've even seen people in formal suit and tie, standing at a tapri and sipping their "cutting" chai and discussing about their project and cursing their manager or PL..!

But all in all, after seeing this, i no more have an urge to visit a tapri, leave alone having a chai there… over to you, guys!

“Garavaa”

Today we’d gone to a musical program organized by a cultural group, ‘Saptak’. And the theme was “Paus” (rains)..! And to add to the already exciting theme, the main singer was Milind Ingle..!! It is because of his album “Gaarva” that I started looking at marathi non-film albums seriously.
So there he was, singing from the great album, which I am very sure everybody (who has listened to) is in love with! The jam packed Vasantrao Deshpande Auditorium was a perfect instance to see that love!!

And on top of it, the comparing was done by non other than ‘Saumitra’, the one who has penned the songs in this album. He has also given his voice in the album for some beautiful poems, again marked by him. Today also he did the same thing, made a background for the songs from Gaarva.

Milind Ingle started with his patent and the most popular song from the album, title song Gaarva..and the audience went nuts!! No exaggeration at all!! And on that very song, he got a ‘once – more’ which was very much deserving. And thus, one after another, he made audience drenched… in the music..!

The only drawback of the show was there were no musicians with him. He’d brought the music tracks with him, which made the show a little less lively. Though he tried his best to make the show sparkling by his small dance and entry in the audience, the actual singing performance was restricted because of the tracks.
Because with tracks, there is no scope of variations. Plus, the gap between two stanzas is also filled by the musicians’ presence. What he could have done was maybe put up some scenes or dances by the professionals in between, which would have made it livelier.
Nevertheless the show was pleasing because of the flawless singing by Milind Ingle and excellent commentary by Saumitra.
And the icing on the cake was the rains, which we encountered outside…while going back…

Peace Rally

Today we had a ‘peace rally’ to mark the World peace day. It basically had two purposes. The first and primary motive was to promote the annual cultural event which our college organizes every year, called as ‘Crescendo’. The theme for this year’s fest is ‘Heaven and Hell’..!

And as the name suggests, we’d to plan something related to good and bad, peace and chaos. And what better occasion could we get than the World Peace Day to spread the message..!

So our bright and creative students came up with an idea of this rally, which was made successful by almost 100 students actually taking part in it. Everybody was dressed in white and/or black, as per the theme. And as per our second purpose, which was to promote peace and harmony through the rally, we held candles and banners with peace messages, as a symbol of love and harmony. We started from Law College square and ended at Shankar Nagar square. But all of my students didn’t utter a single word out of frustration of walking that long!! It was truly a good spirit, which is very rare in students’ community, especially at such occasions. (and no, we'd not made it compulsory!!! )
Yes, they were aptly guided and assisted by the local police, which was a good sight!! They were clearing road for rally and even offering them all the help which they could.

And surprisingly, nobody shouted any slogans, not even the people on the road..! not out of the fear of cops, but out of curiosity AND the initiative and the messages which were distributed in the forms of pamphlets by our students.
It truly was a peace rally..and i’m glad to be a part of it. Just a small contribution to World Peace day from my side..!

“i…”

It is not by mistake that i’ve used small “i” instead of “I” everywhere. It’s been really long since i passed out of school, but i still remember my English teacher, Mr. Ubgade scolding me all the time when i used “i” in any letter or an essay, instead of “I”. “What difference would it really make?”, used to be my standard question, and “this is the standard method” used to be the reply. All the time!!

After some years, a famous and the most circulating news paper made it mandatory that all its reporters and columnists shall use “i” instead of “I” in their articles!! And the reason given was so very parallel to what my reason was!! Obviously, as a school going, naïve child, most of the people do things which fascinate them, rather than really understand in first place. And i was not an exception to it. So i continued this habit of mine much to the displeasure of my teacher.
But later on, as my social group got further evolved, i met so many people who were in their own special way so fascinating, it gave me a direction to sit back and think about what am i really doing..!! There people had achieved so many things in their lives in such a short span. Still they were always hungry for some or the other thing which was still a distant probability for me. Have i lost so much of time? Am i in such a pathetic situation that it cannot be recovered? These were some the questions which were haunting me. But thanks to few close friends of mine, i got the encouragement to do some things which i really like, or i could do in a better manner. (Yes, one more remarkable quality of my dear friends). And like many theories, the reality was always there, but reasoning came later. May be somewhat similar to my case..!!
i am on my way, yes. But no, i have not yet had any whopping glory to boost about (glories, yes, a lot of them.. neither of them fascinates me anymore), nor i am that big a personality whom people can look up to. Yes, there are few (poor) souls who admire me, may be because of my profession. But the time has yet to come, to really consider me as a person, who can be given as an example.
And when that happens, i will use “I” in all my letters and posts and articles…!