It’s all about money, honey!

I am the kind of person, who takes life as it comes [I know, cliché, so what?]. Usually, i am the  go-with-the-flow type of person, who really cannot be bothered with anything pretty much.

So when I started working, back in 2004, I was just working! I mean, I was doing what was assigned to me, and then at the end of the month, took home my salary. That's it. 

I wasn't building a career. I didn’t intend to. What’s a career anyway, if you look at life from a higher perspective? 

Moreover, with a crazy mind that I have to put up with, any career choice would go into the back-seat as soon as I get used to it. 

Getting used-to-something is equal to getting-bored-of something.

I know I am losing out of an audience by writing pieces of crap here.  

But what I mean to say is, that if I get used to a certain kind of work – it becomes monotonous and ultimately boring.

Then I need that change. 

Change comes with a lot of sacrifices, a lot of moving-out-of-the-coveted-comfort-zone and a whole lot of crap. 

But you know what, I love the crap. It makes life interesting. 

Sometimes, it’s becomes so interesting (and I am not saying in a good-way) that I wish I could get back The boring.

Okay, It’s just something I wish. I don’t really want it.

As everyone says, change is the only constant. Be it Mr. Change, I love you.

There-there... I am moving out of my original intent of writing this post.

Getting back on track now.

So a few years down the line, in between "having a baby", "taking a hiatus from work” and “joining back to work” I realized, that just doing what was assigned, wasn’t really enough. 

I needed to build a career. I mean any career which could get my prolonged attention.

Software industry was the safe bet.

So, what skill does an IT person need to build a career?

Technical competence, eh?

Over the years, I acquired a few skills. Improved upon the ones I had. 

For me, it was all about doing good work, and meeting interesting people along the way was a plus.

When it came to compensation in monetary terms, I couldn’t care less! 

It just didn’t matter to me how much dough I made. All I cared about is, work culture, company environment, eccentric people, and everything on those lines. 

You know all those fancy ideologies which are fed upon us in those growing years. 

But someday we all have to WAKE UP. The real world is a bit different, a lot different I say.

It’s a man-eats-man out here! Or a man-eats-woman……ummmm…woman-eats-man….awwww… whatever! Somebody is definitely eating out somebody!

So, my wake-up-call came in last year(a bit delayed i must say), and being a go-with-a-flow person, it took me a while to pick up that wake-up-call and really listen to what it has to say.

And it told me, in quite clear terms, “Hey girl, you are living in a dream world.” An imaginary space where everything was just ideal, where everything wasn’t judged on the basis of its net worth.

Where, life wasn’t judged on the basis of…well…ummhh… money! Here, I said it. Yeah, that’s what the wake-up-call said, “F*** your ideology, you need to make dough darling”.

And here I was thinking that work meant – something which I enjoy doing.

The wake-up-call said, it’s NOT!

Work really just meant – MONEY, in bold capital letters.

That’s it, it doesn’t matter what you do, it only matters how much you make?

So, now enriched with this new set of thoughts, I want to move ahead in my career.

There’s a small hitch though, and it does make life slightly skewed. Becoz’ I still have a feeling, deep inside, that “money-isn’t-everything”. 

Money can buy me Versace Sun Glasses, but I can’t buy me a rainbow.

Money can buy me Jimmy Choos, but all I really want is a pair of sneakers to trek through the mountains.

Foolish, these deep thoughts… shhhush shush….

Anyway, let’s keep it simple, let me go-with-the-flow (I am still the same, Gawwd!) with this new found ideology.

We will see how it goes.

  

So, for now….It’s all about money, honey!

Nothing-ness

Winnie The Pooh says "Let's do Nothing all the time".


I say, "Doing nothing" is an absolutely wonderful idea, but only for Winnie the Pooh. I mean, Can i do Nothing?
For me, Nothing is equal to Boredom.

Nothing means "I have got nothing to do". As opposed to, "I want to do Nothing".
Nothing is not a choice. Only Winnie the Pooh can choose to do Nothing.

When i have Nothing to do, i become restless. When i become restless, i do all kinds of stuff i shouldn't be doing. So for me, doing nothing is a really-really bad idea. Because doing nothing leads to a lot of un-doing later. You know what i mean!

Like for instance, i need to un-do a lot of weight that i have put on during those doing-nothing days.
You do get the drift, right? I am the kind of person who loves to eat when i am doing nothing. Are there more like me out there? Eat-while-you-do-nothing types?


People, let me tell you something, this is something you should NOT be proud of.

I mean, this is like the worst-est thing!

Anyway, isn't there a purpose for which we were born?
A higher meaning to our existence.
I believe that we all are here for some reason. We got to search for that reason. And we got to find it. Many of us just pass through life without really FINDING it. Without knowing why we were born.
Isn't that absurd? It's almost like "Let's do nothing all our LIFE".

Working 8 hrs a day. Going home. Watching TV. Eating. Sleeping. This routine = NOTHING.

What do they mean, when they say, "Get a life"?

I feel, they mean, GO, FIND THE REASON.

Yeah, go, find the reason you were born.

Do not live the nothing-ness. Do not perish before you find the exact reason for which you landed on this Planet.

Be it becoming wanderer for life. Or bringing up your children with your total dedication.
Becoming a writer. Becoming a dancer. Or just smelling the flowers when they bloom.
Going to the mountains. Getting wet in the rain.
Giving a helping hand to those who need. Loving animals, saving them.
Saving trees.

Praying. Loving.

Hell, there's so much that you can do beside doing Nothing.

Do it. Don't just exist.

Just like you, i am searching for my REASON too.

And when i find, i will write it up for you.

"Doing nothing, ahhhh?" Leave it to Pooh, i say!

Love life.
Peace.

Cut the chase, please!

People, i bought a house last year.
And ever since, life has become.....err...ummm....so much more challenging.

This is my story of purchasing a house.... and then chasing...and chasing... a lot of other stuff.

All this began when on one fine day, my younger brother mentioned about his friend booking a house in Bangalore. At that point, i was like kind-of interested in investing on a property.
Please note - Only kind-of interested, not really-really interested.
So out of curiosity i asked about the details of his purchase like how much/which location/which builder and other general details.

Within no time, i had booked an apartment out there. And i was neck-deep in the whole builder-buyer formalities/exchanges.

So far, things were going smooth. I took a construction linked payment plan. For those of you who don't know what it means - It means that i don't have to sell myself and make a full payment to the builder. But I can simply chop off one body part every two months and pay the builder.
Pun intended.

I made the second payment. Smooth.

For the rest of the payments, i decided to apply for a Home Loan.

Getting a Home Loan would be a child's play for me.
As - I am financially independent. I have no liability. Good background. Well educated.
Okay, i am not bragging. That's just how I AM. (wink-wink)

It would be easy peasy for me to get a Loan. Or so i thought!

As it turned out, it was NOT easy. In fact, it was so much more complicated that i almost thought of registering myself into a mental institute.

And those of you who know me, do know how cracked-up i already am!

Just for your benefit, if you ever want to apply for a home loan.
Brace yourself up for a STORM!
And also get yourself updated about :-
CIBIL
Good home loan providers
Dealing-with-unfriendly-to-the-point-of-annoying customer care people
Be ready to fill up so many forms that your brain will take-off from your skull
Be prepared to number-of-f#$@#g-times that you have to sign on a single sheet of paper. I mean, come on, one signature would not mean anything. You are NOT Barack Obama. You got to sign on every corner. This, multiplied by a thousand sheets!!!!!! Arggghhh...

Last but not the least, you also should know how to remain sane even when your insides are shouting "GET ME OUTTA HERE PLEEEEEEEEZZZ"!!!!!!!!!!!!

After all this struggle, my home loan got approved. Let me tell you people, getting a Home Loan approved is a big thing! Okay! You got to have it in you, peeps!!

In between all this, something very unusual, something which never ever happened with anyone. Happened to me.

To get the Home Loan disbursed, i have to provide the bank a Builder-buyer agreement. Its sort of an agreement between the Builder and the buyer. With Builder stating that "You have purchased a house from me and from now on i am going to screw your happiness".

And the Builder has stuck to his words so far.

Anyway, moving on I requested the builder to provide me the agreement. After a lot of e-mailing/calling/harassing, the builder finally dispatched the Property papers, agreement and related documents, through Speed Post.


A couple of days go by, i tracked the status of the parcel through online tracking system. Surprise, surprise - It says delivered!

But where?

Not to my home.

After much ado (my family almost started acting like Sherlock) I got to know - 

The documents did reach the Speed Post office near my Delhi home. The postman did pick it up and instead of delivering it to my home, that damn-fool-lazy-bugger-of-a-man gave the parcel to the guard. Just imagine, my original home agreement lying in the hands of an unreliable, unauthorized guard!!

This guard did an equally stupid thing and kept the parcel on top of the letter boxes of our apartment.
He informed my dad about the parcel. My dad, as forgetful as he is, he totally forgot about it.

Now the whole parcel was missing.

Can you believe it? After going through so much trouble, i still did not have the agreement. My next payment due date crossed. My home loan not disbursed.

Oh-those-ultimate-upsetting-angry-days!!! Almost a month passed by, with no sign of the parcel.

My begging/e-mailing/requesting/demanding the builder to nullify the current agreement and preparing the fresh one, went on and on. And there seemed no end to it.

I even tried to lodge a police complaint about the loss of documents. But police just acted like police, and refused to lodge a complaint saying, "How can you lose something which you didn't recieved at the first place?"

Awww, they were right. I lost something i dint recieve!

So when nothing seemed to work. My aunty asked me to visit a temple in Haridwar.
Its a temple where people wish and tie a thread on a tree. And when their wishes come true, they have to go back and open a thread.
I had visited it 8 yrs back and i had tied a thread. Being a lazy bum, i never bothered to open it once my wish was fulfilled.

So this was the time!

I went there. I prayed. I opened a thread.

Came back home.

Voila!

The very next day, the agreement papers were lying on the top of the letter boxes.

My kid and one of his friend found it, and my kid saw my photo on the agreement.
He said, "She looks like my mommmeeee"!
They got the agreement back home and asked me if it was mine. 

And i was like..... WHAAAAAAAAAAT THE F$@KKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

Now, i believe in MIRACLES.
I believe in GOD.

I believe that someone much more powerful than me and you is there.

Loving us, protecting us.

Now i have deposited the agreement to the bank.

The process is still going on!

Hopefully it will go on a bit more smoothly. I am tired.

I don't want the chasing.

Cut the chase, God. Make things easy for me.

Love life. Too much.
Peace.

Rapism

Rapism is not any latest fad. It's a culture. And it's nothing new. Nothing extra-ordinary. In fact, it’s not even something which will make-you-turn-your-head-and-look-again!
Women are being raped since ages. By rape, I don’t just mean in the sexual context. Rape as in discrimination, injustice, inhumanity, inequality, and sexual exploitation of Women.  
Rapism, the way of living, the culture is being practiced since the dawn-of-the-dinosaurs.
And it will keep on going till women don't change!
Yes, you read it right, till WOMEN don't change. All women. Every woman. Each and every young little girl born, changes.
Weren’t Men supposed to change? They are the obvious choice for change, coz' they are the perpetrators of crime against woman, Right? But, I still say, Woman has to change.
Starting from the Nurse, who, after assisting a delivery, runs out to announce "Mithai baaton, beta hua hai"!!! ("Distribute sweets, the woman just delivered a son"!!!) I mean, will the same woman rush out like that, had it been a girl?
Then comes the Mother, who gives birth to a son. Who is proud to be a mother of a son, and let me tell you she won’t keep that feeling-of-proud-ness to herself. She will make sure, that everyone in-the-whole-bloody-hospital knows that she just gave birth to a son. Son! You know what, a Son! As if she is the only woman on the planet to endeavor such an extra-ordinary feat!
Then, this mother, goes on to make that Son the center of her existence. Ignoring the poor daughter who loves her mother, who craved for her attention. But this mother will go on to make sure that her Son is the Rajnikanth of her life, and the daughter is, you know, just a daughter!! This Son grows up knowing that whatever he does, is right. Or, will be set right by his ever-devoted Mother.
And when he steps out of his house, he knows that he is better than any woman on-this-fucking-solar-system. Come on, His Mother said so. Are you trying to question his mother’s sensibilities? You got to be kidding!
So if this particular Son-of-a-gun, teases a girl on the streets, molests a woman on a public transport, sexually exploits a female colleague at the office. He knows without the care of the world, that he-did-no-wrong. His Mother said so. How can her son do wrong? Are you like, again questioning her sensibilities??!
Then, this Son, gets married. Mother becomes a Mother-in-law. But will she change? Are-you-like-kidding-me!!!!? Her Son is still the Rajnikanth, daughter-in-law is, you know, just a daughter-in-law.  Again, whatever her Son does, is right. He beats her, all fine. He treats her like a servant, all fine. In fact, this Mother-in-law will happily join in the harassment.
This daughter-in-law gives birth to a daughter. Then a son, and well, well, well, the cycle continues.
What is left out here, is, to teach the Son to love and respect the sister.
To teach him to nurture the relationship with the women in the household.
To teach him that whatever he does, is not right.
And well, most important of all, teach him that he is not Rajnikanth! (I know, sometimes I can be a bitch!!But hell, better than being a rapist!!)
All the responsibility of teaching, falls on whose capable shoulders?
The mother.
Ain't it?
So if a woman on the street or the bus or the office gets harassed, who's fault it is?
You guessed alright!!

A woman is behind every harassment of a woman.

And then we cry out loud about Woman Rights.
That Right, my dear woman, will start from our homes.
It will start from that home, where the little girls and boys are treated equally.
Where the little girls and boys are taught to respect the opposite genders.
Where there is Love between opposites sexes. And not comparisons, not inequalities, not who-is-better-than-the-other!!

Thence, I plead to all the mothers, let’s not cultivate Rapism.
Let’s cultivate “Love for Humanity as a whole”.
Not Man Vs Woman.
Not even Man Vs Wild.
Okay, I better sign-off.
Or else, who knows my mom might come after me!!!!!

You brought me up just right, mom. I am what I am, and it’s not your fault. Tee hee!       

OH MY GOD

Disclaimer : The views expressed in this blog are totally the writer's own. I request the Moral Police or Real Police to not arrest me for expressing my views.
By the way, I live in a Democratic country and it is my bloody fundamental right - Freedom to speech and expression!!!!!!!


Okay, let me get on with the blog (The above outburst was due to the recent arrests/questioning of Indian citizens over their Facebook statuses). Does this almost sounds like i am living under Taliban's rule?!!!!! Hail Malala!!

Okay, GET ON now.


Last week, i watched a movie "Oh My God".
Its a story about a man who files a court case against God, The Almighty!!
The reason behind the case was: Due to an earthquake, his Shop was guttered. And the insurance company couldn't approve his insurance claim because the earthquake is an act of God, for which the shop was not insured of.
So this gentleman, files a case asking 'God' to repay for his loss.
He then sends notices across all 'big' 'famous' temple in India, coz' he feels that those are the offices through which 'God conducts his business'.
To get more information, please watch the movie. This blog is not written to be a movie review/story.
This blog is intended for the writer of the blog to express her opinion on 'God/temples/preachers of Godliness'.

I was never much of a believer. I mean, i believe there is God but He is definitely not inside a temple/church/mosque or wherever humans believe him to be. At most, a place of worship can be something where one can peacefully go and Thank God for his blessings.
And that should just begin and end with a 'Thank You dear God'. Period.

But it obviously doesn't end there, instead, millions of tonnes of milk/water/turmeric/oil/ghee/rice/fruits/vegetables etc etc gets wasted, to please the Gods, who DOESN'T CARE what 'abhishekam'(i dont know which english word stands for abhishekam, hmmmm, may be offerings??!) one does for Him.

Not only the food items get wasted, even the environment suffers. Pollution caused by agarbatti's, aarti's(Pls dont ask english words for these now!!), and what all we Indians BURN to make Gods happy!!! I mean, Do God want it?
Not only burning things, we even pollute the rivers and oceans by immersing idols of Gods in them.
I mean, like who started all this??!!!!And why???! For God's sake!!!!!

What, i say, what can be worse than polluting nature which gives us so much?

Nature, our surroundings, our mother EARTH is The God which we should Thank to, sing praises to. 


And if at all there is God, He is inside us. We carry Him everywhere. We make Him happy with each good deed that we do. We praise Him by saying, 'Its God who made me do good'.

AND NOT by burning things inside a place of worship or by breaking coconuts in temples or by lighting candles in churches!

I have seen family members abusing each other at home. And then going to a temple to pray. A visit to a temple ensures that they are GOOD human beings! Those (like me) who are not big on idol worshiping are not so Good.

Then there are people who leave their families behind in search of God. Millions of people leave their family members alone and travel to far away places to visit God.
I mean, God wouldn't want someone to leave his family for Him. Wouldn't God want these people to spend precious time and efforts for their families, instead of Him. Is God so selfish to want this?

NO, i am sure he is NOT.

Then there are preachers of God, Swami ji's and Baba ji's. BOGUS. FAKE. I will not indulge them by mentioning them in my precious little post.

I dint conclude. I dont wish to. You do it for me.

DO GOOD. BE GOOD. LOVE GOD. BELIEVE ME, YOU! :)

Coz' i cant change

Been long since I blogged. Was longing to write!
Lots been going in my mind and in my life.
Need to channelize all of it. Need to make some plans. Need to make life work!

People in my life want me to CHANGE! I totally totally love all the people who give me the right advice. They mean good.

If I change myself, will no one miss the me in me???!! God that will be one hell of a sad thing! Right? It almost means, NO ONE WILL MISS ME ONCE I TURN INTO SOMEONE ELSE!!!!
But, Can I turn into someone else? Now that’s the bigger question!
All I can say is, I’ll try! Which is like the most half-hearted expression in the whole damn world.
It almost means that I am just pleasing you but in the end it’s my life and my rules!
Actually I am not even going to try! Because if God wanted me to be any different, he would have MADE ME SO! Why would he bother to make a messy and complicated person like me, if there were no ulterior motives!!!!!!!!! Tell me why?
He has plans for me people, I just don’t know them yet!!!





I love giving motivational advices to people who need it. Love telling the women in my life to not take crap!! To respect oneself. To love oneself. Which I so religiously do!
There are times when life tests you, stops you, crops your wings, colors your mind.
That's when the roads become blurred; the destination seems too far for you to reach.
But lose hope Not!
Sure enough one day, the roads will be solid again. The destination will be crossed. And new ambitions and newer destinations will be found!
One should never let their spirit die. As my favorite saying “There is nothing like the sight of an amputated spirit. There are no prosthetic for that.”.

Don’t change Yourself. Change the damn roads, change the bloody destination. Live and love and more! Keep up the spirits.

P.S.-
Sorry people, Coz' i cant change.

Anna Hazare

With Anna Hazare breaking his fast, a sense of relief just sets in. Past 12-13 days zipped by and its unbelievable that all I watched all these days was NEWS. I wouldn’t have watched this much news in my entire life, the amount I watched in the last 13 days. Phew… Its tiresome watching 4-5 people speak so much simultaneously!

Even an ever engrossing bitchy saas-bahu serial would not have entertained me so much as Team Anna and govt. did.

It was almost like watching a racy thrilling movie with loads of twists and turns. With back-tracking to break-down, with no-talks to open-talks to accusing!

Just like a pendulum hanging from the sky with the wind blowing on either side.

What a ride!

I was almost obsessed over the theatrics of Team Anna and the members of the parliament. You can even say like a woman possessed!

And I tried hard to remember all that which was taught at the Social Studies class at school. That time I gave a rat’s ass to this subject!

But in the last few days, I honestly regretted for not being serious about learning the constitution of India, the supremacy of the parliament. I remembered the process of mugging up all the chapters and then vomiting it on the exam paper, without really understanding it. It’s like hearing from the left ear and taking it out from the right one, without touching any bloody neurons in the brain!

Anyway it’s never too late. And It’s good that Team Anna’s movement has brought all this up, especially with the Youth, which has the opportunity to not miss-out on learning about it. In fact, they must be intrigued about it.

Team Anna’s movement has definitely raised a lot of interest in me to watch the parliamentarians more closely. To watch the processions going inside the Lok Sabha. To learn the nuances of politics and politicians who are running my country.

This, I feel is the greatest victory for Team Anna. And I am thankful to them.

As far as the LokPal bill goes, we are yet to see how the implementation takes place.

We are rejoicing the victory for Team Anna. But out here, I am happy that a 74 yr old man broke his fast before his body lost the battle. And I am surprised to see myself and those (people of India) whom so far I thought of as a callous set, out for an individual and standing up with him despite sun and rain!

Too many judgments have been passed on this man’s methodology and credentials, even people have urged him to stand in election before he opens his mouth. A lot of intellectual people have disregarded the movement and referred it as un-democratic.

But some wars are not won by mere intellect, some wars are won by heart and trust and motivation.

“Anna is India, India is Anna” cannot be more wrong. India has a vast majority of people which doesn’t work by heart.

They just exist, for making a living, for making a comfort zone in their own cocooned life. Trying to provide for themselves, for their children a secured and comfortable life. All running to earn more money, more comforts, or just 2 meals a day. Me too.

And then there comes someone like Anna.

A man who left his 2 meals for something he positively believed in.

How can I not support him? Winning or losing was not on my mind. Not even on how far his belief will fight corruption.

I was just amazed at the conviction this man had. Just amazed that he was actually ready to sacrifice his life for something he will never be able to get benefited of!

Now can any of us do it? I cannot even think on those lines! Walking on it will happen in the next lifetime only!

Anyway, right now Corruption is brought center-stage. The perpetrators of bribery and corruption will have to think twice before the money changed their hands.

Anna has brought moral character in the people of India, which in itself is a great achievement.

If or not the Lokpal bill does something good technically, but morally this movement has transformed me and many like me.

Jai Hind.

Peace out.