Parental guidance

They say life runs a full circle. First your parents bring you up. And then it's time for you to bring them up. I certainly agree, going by the recent (mostly one-way) conversations that have been taking place between my parents and me.

“Of course you need to put on the seat belt! I don’t care what you did before, here you are putting on the seat belt!”

“I'm sorry I'm late. I’ll try to come home early tomorrow. Then we will go to a nice restaurant for dinner. How does that sound?”

“I’ll be home late from the office. I have a late meeting. Dinner’s in the fridge. Heat it up and have it, okay?”

“Don’t touch the gas, okay? Use the microwave. Come, let me teach you how to use it.”

Me (on the way back from office wondering if Dad would wanna go for a swim)
Dad (already splashing in the pool!)
Me - “Wow! You can swim!” (crazily clicking pictures with phone camera)

"I'll call you from the office. Pick up, otherwise I'll panic.”

“Don’t go too close to the edge of the water!”

“Watch your step, the steps are slippery!”

“Read a book, watch a movie, do some writing. If you get bored, call me, okay?”

“Come out of the pool at the slightest sign of lightning.”

“Here, take this umbrella along.”

“Do you have any money on you?”

"What is my mobile number? Do you remember?"

"Whenever you go out, carry a piece of paper with my address, okay? Always!"

"If you get lost, ask a passer-by for directions, okay? People here are very helpful."

"Are you hungry?"

“Come, I’ll take you to the gym today.”

“Carry a bottle of water along. Don’t buy canned drinks. They are too sweet - bad for your health.”

Me - “You should learn to be independent – learn to take the bus and train by yourself.”
Them - “But you are there na…”
Me - “But I won’t always be there!”

Me - “The computer crashed?? What did you do???”
Dad/Mom - “I didn’t do anything!!!!!!”

Me (to colleague) - "Okay see you tomorrow. Am rushing off. Gotta feed the two kids at home!"
Colleague - "Hehehe... totally understand!"

Me (on phone with Dad) - "Hello, technical support here. How can I help you today?"
Dad - "The movie is not playing. Only the song keeps playing over and over."
Me - "Okay... describe to me exactly what you see on the screen..."

Me - “So what if others are doing it? I said no jay-walking and I mean it. Do you know how dangerous it is?”
Them - "But you do it yourself..."
Me - "Err... because errr.. I'm familiar with the traffic here..."

“Wear comfortable shoes. We’ll be doing a lot of walking today.”

“So did you like the hot air balloon ride?”

“Don’t drop the DVD! Hold it gently. One scratch and it’s useless!"

"No Viv, don't help them! Let them try to switch on the DVD player by themselves."

“I yell at you for your own good.”

“Now you move the mouse and bring the cursor here. Okay. Now click here. No. Try again. No. Again. Okay, good. Very good!”

“So what do you feel like eating today?”

“I am so sorry I have to work late and can’t spend as much time with you as I would like to. I will spend the whole weekend with you, promise.”

“Look at Mrs. X. She can take a bus to the library all by herself! Why can’t you do that?”

“What do you mean you’re scared? How will you learn if you’re scared?”

And finally the most important one, that we could not do without, and they can’t do without either.

“Don’t worry, I'm here.”

They saw, read.

If you thought I’d buried myself underground because my parents now know about my blog, well, you’re kinda right. I’ve also been moonlighting as a Singapore tourist guide and have had no time to drop by the bar at all! Finally, here I am, with the sequel to the last post.

Though Dad uses a computer at work, he's not very good at it (he keeps one finger of his left hand permanently stationed at the shift key, while one finger from his right hand does the actual typing). And, he makes statements like "Your mouse cable is too short. I can't move the cursor from one end of the screen to the other." Also, since he only uses the computer for his office email, he doesn't know very much about the Internet. Mom, on the other hand, is absolutely hopeless with the computer (I taught her how to double-click and it was, as Neil Armstrong once said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for Sayesha's mother.")

Basically, I didn't quite know how to introduce them to the blog without making it such a complex procedure that they give up in despair. So I created a desktop shortcut to the Label ‘Meet the parents’ (nothing involves a reader more than to read about himself!) to start them off, and asked them to read it after I’d gone and hidden my face in my office. I’d also set up a gmail account for Dad and told him he could email me at work. Now Mom's not very expressive (until I ask her "Do you like it or not do you like it or not do you like it or not?" a million times over and she's forced to say that she does, just to shut me up) but Dad does give me his opinion on things, and I was dying to know his reaction to the blog.

So I get the first email from him in the middle of a crazy work day.

“If I email you, won’t it disturb your office work?” He'd written.

Sheesh. So I assured him that it wouldn’t as I’d only attend to his email in between my tasks.

Finally he replied with what I’d been waiting for – his reaction to the blog. “The pieces (he likes to call the posts 'pieces') are very nice and readable!” He wrote. He told me which ones he found hilarious, which ones serious and which ones thought-provoking. And then came the much dreaded question.

"Why didn’t you email them to me earlier??” he wrote.

Errrmmm...

“Uhhh… I couldn’t email them to you, because there’s like 500 of them!” I replied. (Oh wait, that just made it worse, didn't it?)

Anyway, he asked me where the 500 were, and I told him he could read them by clicking on the archives links on the right side of the page.

When I came home that evening, he was still engrossed in reading. I went close to see which one he was reading. To my utter surprise, he was on Iday’s blog! Holy cow, that was fast reading! Had he read all 500 of mine and then gone on to read all the blogs on my blogroll??

So I asked, “Dad, what are you doing?”

“I am reading your archives like you'd asked me to. But you sound very different in this one.”

ROFL!

“Dad, that’s not my blog!! That’s my friend’s blog!!!!”

“Oh!!!!!!! No wonder! I didn’t quite know what you were talking about in this one!”

ROFL!

Over the last few days, they have been going through the archives and thankfully, have not been too shocked or scandalised. It was just a bit difficult to explain to them why I call this place a bar, and what I mean by 'bewdas got fultu talli' after each post. Recently, Dad also gave me detailed comments on how I could improve my writing, just like Mom gave me detailed comments on how I could improve my cooking. Errm, not very happening stuff to listen to, but as parents like to say, "it was all for my own good".

But the best part was when he was going through some of my blog titles and said, "Now that is a wordsmith's work."

Holy cow. :O

You see, the only person my Dad ever uses the term 'wordsmith' for is Bachi Karkaria, the Times Of India columnist. Dad is a huge fan of hers, and even though he likes many other columnists, he says Bachi is the only true 'wordsmith'. I've read her and she's absolutely brilliant. And now he had used "THE WORD" for me! Woohoo! Actually it's WOOHOO!!!!!!!!

Move over, Bachi, cos I'm the real (inhouse) bachi! Muahahaha!

Meet the parents

*peeps into the bar and looks around furtively*

*checks that everyone has only a harmless glass of orange juice each*

*checks that there are no visible give-away signs or incriminating evidence of batli-giri or bhai-giri*

*announces, but in a hushed whisper*

"All right, people, I've decided to do it. I'd been thinking about it since this happened, and now it's finally happening. No mistakes, okay? They're already on their way to the bar. Let's go over it one more time - no bhai talk, no bewda talk, no drunk bar-top dancing. Behave, okay? Keep sipping your orange juice and smiling. Smile a lot. Talk to them, but do not mention anything about the..."

*turns to see them walking in, hurriedly finishes sentence*

"Errm... no mention of the B-A-R, okay?"

*turns to smile at them; they seem amused at the surroundings and the confused-looking people with their huge plastered smiles*

"Mom, Dad, this is everybody. Everybody, these are my parents."

*smiles nervously*

Proud and loud

The Girl from Ipanema has come up with a tag which is simply brillianto - reasons or events that make you proud of yourself. Methinks this will be one popular tag cos rarely does one get an opportunity to be honest and proud and rave about oneself without being called vain (I was tagged what! *innocent look*).

So here I go! Wheee!

• In school days, I always stood (not up on the bench!) first in class.
  
  
• I followed Dad's and Mom's rules like a good girl - no staying up late to study, no cable TV, no pocket money, no speaking in English at home. It taught me the value of money (hey, having 20 pairs of shoes is a totally different issue altogether!), discipline and heritage. When I see kids who can't speak their native language because their parents only spoke to them in English, I feel so proud that I know how to read, write and speak in my language even though I never studied it in school or lived in my state for that matter.
  
  
• I have a passion for my job and that helps me be good at it. I loved my last job. And I love my present job. I was head-hunted by two competitors when I was at my last job, and though I am not against being head-hunted, the reasons were all wrong, and I am glad I did not jump ship just for the money. I have had the best bosses and I'm proud of the training they gave me. And I think I make a decent boss too. Recently, I was so flattered when all of the three new hires wanted to be in my team because they had heard 'good things' about me.
  
  
• I cook a mean meal. My friends and family will vouch for it (without me holding them at knifepoint).
  
  
• When I was a kid, you could make your parents proud only if you became a doctor or an engineer. So an engineer I did become, but who was to say that I had to work as one? Muahahaha! :D So I refused and became an editor. Wasn't easy, considering the first publisher I approached kicked me out for having the 'wrong qualifications and background'. Not convinced by their reasons, I applied to the same company again two weeks later. Last year I completed 4 years in that company. I'm proud that I was so persistent in following my passion. It gave me a foothold in the publishing industry.
  
  
• I volunteer as a waitress at Annalakshmi, and as a henna artist for SVC's Olympic Dream.
  
  
• I'd put on quite a bit of weight in my first year at university. I exercised like hell, and without going on a diet, went and got myself one of those figgah thingies. (It was like getting a car. You have no idea when you're getting one that maintenance is going to be a toughie.)
  
  
• I'd never stayed away from home, but at the age of 18, I packed my bags and decided to take up the scholarship and go and live in a foreign land, of which I knew nothing, for ten years.
  
  
• I did a part-time Master's in Mass Communication course (I could not afford the full-time course) and completed all modules AND my dissertation in record time of 1.5 years. I lived a crazy life back then. I had to get up at 6.30 am to go to work in the east, finish work, then take a bus, a train and another bus to go to class in the west, finish at 9.30 pm, take a bus, a train and another bus home, go to sleep by midnight, and then wake up at 6.30 am for the next cycle all over again. It was like a loooooooong exhausting day that lasted 1.5 years. But I am proud of it, because it was the first time I was paying for my own education and this Wednesday, my parents will be there to see me convocate.
  
  
• I married my best friend.
  

Wheee! I am done and you are tagged!

Be proud. Be loud.

Tag along

Wendelin had tagged me some time ago. Sorry dear, for taking soooooo long, it's been a crazy week!

But here I go!

Here are the rules:
1. Players start with 5 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 5 random facts.
3. Players should tag 5 other people and notify them they have been tagged.
4. Okay I added this rule (to add some specifications to this tag) - You must write the random facts without thinking too much. Just type whatever comes to your mind. Don't think. Just blog.

1. Tomorrow I complete 9 years in Singapore. That is way longer than I have stayed in any city in India. Every practical brain cell of mine is telling me to take up citizenship of Singapore and enjoy the perks, but every emotional heart cell of mine feels that the thought of having to apply for a visa to visit my own country is revolting.

1(a) I am a generally happy person, but every time I speak to a life insurance agent, I feel suicidal. Oh the irony. (If you're wondering why this is numbered as 1 (a), it's because this was added later, and I didn't want to mess up the other numbers as some people have already commented based on the numbers. And I didn't want to add this at the end because it's too negative and morbid a conclusion. I know I know. What a geek! :P)

2. I want to roll up my hypothetical newspaper (Viv calls it my 'weapon of ass destruction') and administer a couple of 'doses' to those who ask me, "So you're an editor? So... like... what exactly do you do? Correct typos?" Sheesh! That's like saying all a banker does is count currency notes and all an engineer does is change batteries whenever something stops working. I was so proud of Viv (he knows how angry that question makes me, especially if the person is asking it seriously) when he recently answered for me, "An editor does much more than correct typos. Remember how in school we had different books on the same subjects, and some books were just better than others? The editor plays the biggest part in making that difference." Wah Viv wah! Shabash!

3. I am such a sucker for punctuality and discipline that I annoy people. In fact, some of my friends have confessed to me that they are actually so afraid to meet me for dinner or a movie that they come up with all sorts of excuses to get out of being there late.

4. Sometimes I wonder who is crazier - my sister or me. The other day baby Aish was generally behaving ultra-hyper and my sister calls me up and says, "Offo! She's driving me nuts! Can I just upload her? Then you can download her and take care of her!" And I actually imagined reaching into my monitor and 'downloading' the hyperactive Aishu into my arms.

5. I believe that you can't take the earphones off before you switch off the ipod because if you do so, the song feels offended.

6. Sometimes I feel so lonely that I want to sit at a bar ("a" bar, not my bar) and talk to a complete stranger until 3 am. I just haven't found that complete stranger yet who can hold that conversation without being creepy.

Yeah, I know I have two extra random facts, but my rule 4 takes care of that. Muahahaha! :D

I tag Janefield, Rebellion, Coco Captive, Gems, Crazy Dhakkan, the Girl Who Sold The World and The Girl From Ipanema.

This conversation is over

Most of us have talked to ourselves at one point in time or the other. But not many would have experienced talking to themselves with 15 people in the CC field. Hi, I’m Sayesha and this is the story of how my plan got sabotaged.

Almost a decade ago, a lost freshie was sitting in the university canteen when she spotted a senior of hers mourning the loss of his mobile phone. They got into a scintillating conversation about lost mobile phones, which somehow led to a great friendship that survived the years.

Recently, the lost freshie heard some breaking news from the senior R and his wife A, and freaked out. The Bhai, on the other hand, was pleased as hell at the possibility of yet another franchise. Anyway, this email was promptly sent out.

Date: 9 July 2007 (Monday)
From: Sayesha
To: Buncha people

Hi people,

As you know, our favourite mallus are leaving sunny Singapore for (dubious?) Dubai. Viv and I are planning a surprise farewell party for them this weekend, most probably on saturday night at our place. We'd like to invite you to bid them farewell in style. I don't have everyone's email ids, so please feel free to invite anyone else whom they're close to.

I'm also planning to do up a slideshow with old photos and sabo-ing captions, so if you have any old (and preferably, ridiculous) photos of the two of them, please send them over asap. Sorry for the late notice, but I found out only this morning to my utter horror that they may be leaving as early as mid-next week!!

I will follow-up with another email as soon as I find whether they're free on saturday or sunday evening (depends on when the movers will be coming to err.. move their stuff.)

Hope everyone can make it! Do let me know, please! :)

And needless to say (but I'll still say it), if you bump into them somewhere before the weekend, shhhhhhhhh! :P

Cheers!
Sayesha

The response to the email (via sms, calls and emails) was tremendous, and her email was forwarded on to more people. And that’s when something happened…

Date: 10 July 2007 (Tuesday)
From: Sayesha
To: Buncha people

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the awesome response to my email. However, the latest is that our two mallus have pulled a fast one on us! Word is that unaware of what's cooking here, they may be trying to arrange a get-together of their own somewhere outside on Friday!!!! *PANIC ATTACK*

In order to avoid a "Hello again! Didn't we just see you like yesterday?" kinda situation for all of us, we have to do something. Is it possible for you guys to stall his get-together to sunday so that we can carry on with saturday's "surprise party" (after which they may choose to have or not have the sunday thingie, depending on how much of us they can take)? I don't know if he has contacted any of you guys or any plans have been made, but do let us all know what's happening.

In the hopeful case of us carrying on with our saturday plans, I'm thinking of getting everyone in by 7.00 pm, and getting them in by 7.30 pm. I think a pot luck party would be fun. But please don't stress too much about what to bring, cos that's immaterial. Just bring anything. If you really can't think of what to bring, get ice-cream or alcohol and juices, or disposable cutlery. But do let me know what you're bringing so that we don't end up with a mountain of plastic spoons and forks and no food to eat with them! :P

Cheers!
Sayesha

Meanwhile, R sent an email out to the very same buncha people asking them to meet for dinner at a mallu place! Needless to say, intervention was needed again.

Date: 11 July 2007 (Wednesday)
From: Sayesha
To: Buncha people

Hi people,

It's me again. (I'd be surprised if you haven't put my name on your junk mail filter by now.) Sorry for the third email in succession, but I thought I should send an email in case you're wondering what to do about R's email about meeting on Friday night. (No wonder there is total silence on that thread, poor guy must be heart-broken by now, thinking no one wants to see him before he leaves.) And now he's brought in the senti mallu food angle too, so we can't go ahead and do the whole "turn-him-down-on-Friday and surprise-him-on-saturday" thingie. Sheesh!

Okay lah, so we just go ahead and meet him on Friday, and if you guys are still keen (or if friday's attendance is not too large), we can continue with saturday's plan.

SIGHHHH!!! :(
Sayesha

After we returned from Friday's dinner, Viv was checking his email and to my horror, since he did not have the emails that were sent to me as a 'Reply' instead of a 'Reply all' to everyone, the thread really looked like I had just been talking to myself. So I figured there had to be a grand finale. An email to say "This conversation is over!"

Date: 13 July 2007 (Friday)
From: Sayesha
To: Buncha people

Hi people,

Continuing the insanity of talking to myself on this thread, it is time to formally announce the cancellation of tomorrow's surprise party, seeing as to how most of the people in this thread already met the mallus tonight. I'm so heart-broken. I'd actually designed a 'How much do you know 'em?' quiz to have at the party, with embarrassing questions from his past which only people who were close to him would know (and win the grand Ferrero Rocher prize). And that's not all. I printed 20 copies of the quiz. May the trees and the office printer forgive me.

Amen.
Sayesha

Okay fine, so surprises don’t hit twice. And even though I think that “It’s the thought that counts” is a crappy concept introduced by lazy procrastinators who can’t put together a half-decent party or a gift, I’ll say something just as crappy.

At least I tried.

Farewell, my friends, and do the Bhai proud in the land of legal tax evasion!

Sash in wonderland

Apun ka dost Circuit from Denmark has tagged me to pick three destinations from the (unofficial) list of the new wonders of the world that I would like to visit, and also list the ones I have visited so far.

Wonders I have visited

The Statue of Liberty




















I still remember how cold and windy it was on the day I went to see the statue of Liberty. It was in May last year. I'd gone to see the newborn baby Aish. My hands were numb with the cold as I took this picture. I was so amazed to find out that the statue wasn't originally green, but got its colour over the years due to oxidation. More pictures here.


The Angkor Wat















It was one of the best holidays of my life. I may not have climbed the Everest, but I am proud to proclaim that I, with a bunch of other nutcases, have climbed the Angkor Wat. Without any climbing equipment except my bare hands. Here's a picture my friend took of me just outside the Wat. More here.


Wonders I would like to visit

The Pyramids at Giza















Image courtesy: http://www.hotelmanagement-network.com

Once when I was all of six, my sister was reading 'Target' (the hottest children's magazine in those days), and burst out laughing. "This joke is so funny!" She said and read it out to me.

Q: What was written on the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh?

A: Toot and come in! (Tutankhamen)

I gave her my classic 'what-is-so-funny-about-it' look. Years later, I came across the joke and laughed my ass off. We were learning about Egypt in History at school then, and I was fascinated with the world of ancient Egyptians, the pharaohs, pyramids, mummies, and the fascinating hairstyles of Egyptian queens. Egypt is definitely amongst the top of my to-see list.

The Great Wall of China















Image courtesy: http://www.hci-international.org

A man-made structure that's visible from the moon! Actually, it'd be kinda cool to see it from the moon, but errm... I think China is closer and cheaper to travel to.


And last but not the least... *drumroll*

The Taj Mahal














Image courtesy: http://saanga_blogger.home.comcast.net

*gulp*
I'm ashamed to say that I have not visited the Taj.
*gulp*

*takes her hypothetical rolled up newspaper and thwacks her head with it*

Actually, I don't want to visit it because it's supposed to be "romantic" and stuff. I don't really find cutting off the arms of the labourers who built your gift to your dead wife romantic at all (if the story is true). I want to visit it because it's one of the things that I have seen pictures of in random places, but I've not seen the real thing. It annoys me to see it being used by random blokes whenever they want to throw in a dash of India - in restaurants, shops, tea packets, matchboxes and what not. I want to take my hypothetical rolled-up newspaper and thwack some other heads, muttering the words, "India not equal to Taj Mahal. India not equal to elephant. India not equal to Kathakali mask." Sheesh.

Inshallah I will visit the Taj very soon. I want to see the real thing before acid rain turns it completely grey. Amazing how natural factors can beautify the statue of Liberty, but ugly-fy our Taj. Even the chemicals in the air are partial to Americans, sheesh!

Speaking of the Taj, there are in fact, a lot of places in India I want to see, prominent among which are Jaipur (I'm trying to bribe a friend to get married in Jaipur so I can visit it. I'm least bothered about whom he ends up marrying, as long as the venue is Jaipur), the northeastern states (I've been fascinated with them since primary school Geography when we had to mug up the capitals of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Meghalaya and what not), Kerala (to take a raft out on the backwaters, live in a tree-house and visit the clifftop bar somewhere in Kerala that a friend of mine described to me). And oh, Ladakh and Kashmir (sigh!). Oh man, there are way too many places to see in India itself!

Like SashBhai says, "India nahin dekha toh GHANTA duniya dekha!"

("If you ain't seen India, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.")

Girl

1986
Girl, 6, had a "best friend". They lived in the same building and preferred each other's mother's cooking. They studied in different schools but played hopscotch and Barbie-Barbie and ghar-ghar and teacher-teacher every evening.

1990
Girl, 10, had a "best friend" who was in the same class as her. This one was different. She spoke of (and to) boys too much. She was not very popular with Girl's mother. Girl had a few guy friends in the neighbourhood who taught her how to fly a kite, climb a tree and spin a top.

1992
Girl, 12, moved to a different city as her father got a transfer. Girl had a "best friend" who was the class nerd. Girl tried to turn her into less of a nerd, but ended up becoming a nerd herself. She was very popular with Girl's parents.

1994
Girl, 14, moved to yet another city. Girl had a "best friend" whom she took the school bus with. They reserved seats for each other on the bus, reminded each other of homework, and shared stories about their secret crushes on the senior guys in the school. Their mothers were so fond of each other's daughters that they almost wanted to swap them.

1996
Girl, 16, discovered guys as a great alternative. They judged less, complained less, didn't care about how they looked all the time, and were much more fun to hang out with. And the best part was - Girl's mother approved of all of them.

1998
Girl, 18, moved to a whole new country for her university education. Girl discovered that the guys really talked nasty stuff when girls were not around. Girls, on the other hand, had suddenly turned into complete bimbos, and were too busy with (or trying to get) boyfriends. Girl could not identify with any of the girls in her class.

2004
Girl, 24, had graduated and been working for two years. She had a few not-very-close friends. Until they got attached or married. Then poof, they disappeared. The guys disappeared too, because they were either attached, or married, to these girls. Girl suddenly realised she had very few friends who lived in the same city. Girl also realised suddenly that she didn't live in India anymore. She lived in a country where you're lucky if you get to meet your friends' parents.

2006
Girl, 26, realised that guys may be really great, but there is nothing like having a female "best friend". Girl still had some online female friends - some from school days, some who had just moved away, and some she had never seen, but over time she realised she couldn't identify with many of them anymore. Girl is losing faith in the notion of "Dosti kee nahin jaati, ho jaati hai" and "We don't find "best friends", we grow to become "best friends". Girl never lived long enough in a place to "grow" that much.

2007
Girl, 27, seeks like-minded female "best friend" - someone who lives in Singapore, someone feminine and yet, sporty, health-conscious but not bimbotic, has a sense of style but is about the same hotness level as Girl (definitely not too much hotter than Girl!), someone who cherishes life and its joys, has a sense of humour, is not grumpy on Mondays (or other days), someone who would actually be available to regularly meet up with Girl, and not ditch Girl for boyfriend/husband and expect Girl to "understand" like it's the most natural thing to happen, someone who would share make-up tips and career tips with the same honesty, play badminton, bitch but not too much, and willingly be dragged to watch Aap Ka Surooooorrrr.

Hmmm... Tall order?

Random

My sms to Dad - "You know, Viv and I were at a party and they had a lucky draw after we left. My ticket was picked. Lost a few hundred dollars. :((((((("

Dad's sms to me - "But how did your pocket get picked????????"

***




















I saw the first double rainbow of my life a couple of days ago when I was in the bus. For the first time, I did not dismiss camera-phones as useless and intrusive objects. Click on the picture to see a bigger version.

***

The new Whisper ad is really beginning to piss me off. Yeah sure, today women are CEOs and top scientists all because of Whisper. Tell you what, even if we stayed at home those five days, we'd still be kicking guys' asses at productivity.

***

Talking of annoying ads, what's with the KFC ad where the "working mom" orders KFC for dinner, plays with her kid in the rain, and the tagline appears "Nothing beats a happy mom."? Oh come on! A happy mom is one who works and orders KFC for dinner?? KFC?? Oh puh-leez.

***

Me - Give her the phone.
My sis - Okay.
Me - Hi, baby Aish!
Baby Aish - (pressing some buttons on the phone)
Me - Haha, what is she pressing?
My sis - 911. Oh my god, she's calling the police!
Me - Apun ki niece-ich apun ko andar karwayegi! :/

***

Met an old acquaintance from university days while I was waitressing on sunday. He asked me where Viv was working, did not ask me where I worked. You know how much that irks me. Guess he just preferred to make an assumption. Usually one would want to make it known that they don't just work, they volunteer too. I have to make it known that I don't just volunteer, I work too? Dammit. :/

***

I need more shoes.

***

Help Vinay if you can. [Hat tip: Iday]

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The SBS 'Ride and redeem' ad is moronic and senseless on so many levels that I don't even know where to begin. The copy reads: "Wow! It's that simple? Just ride $1 more for only a week and I can redeem a soya milk worth $1.30?" [sic] Sheesh. That's right. 'Sic' is what it makes me. :/

***

Okay fine I admit it. I want to watch Aap ka surrroooorrr the movieeeee - the real luv storieeeeeeeeeeeee. You would too if your Bollywood literary idol Raja Sen supported the movie. :D