The Bucket List (Just for the New Year)

What does a new year bring in?
More than anything, a long list of resolutions which would inevitably fade off before the end of first quarter. With the holiday season just passing by, and new year ushering in, there’s likely to be more shopping panic attacks than anything else.
Pessimistic?? I call myself prudent and practical. Anyway, what's in a name? :P

So, Stop worrying and laugh a bit with what I think would top on any woman’s wish list.

1. I am hitting the gym from the New Year (Not right now. Just waiting to pile up all those calories from the Christmas and New Year cakes)

2. I am not going to nag anymore (To the hubby: See?? At least am trying to do something… what about you?? You don’t even put your pen on the paper too )

3. I am going to organize my closets even better (Yeah, so where did I keep my passport? Also, I don’t seem to find my matching pink socks!!)

4. I am going to be calmer(Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)

5. I am going to call my parents more often (Do I have to listen to the do's and dont's even now??)

6. I am going to yell less at my kids(Now, keep it down, you guyssssss)

7. I am going to say sorry to one of my ex-friends(Aah, well, some words are best left unsaid)

8. I am going to bitch less about my MIL (Gosh, this one is tough..I need more protein to gulp this down)

9. I am going to cook more home-cooked meals, rather than dine-outs and take-aways (Are you kidding me? I earn so that I can eat out…Who’s going to miss those lovely pizzas and brownies??)

10. I am going to be more proactive and procrastinate lesser (Aaah, that can wait until next year)

Keep laughing and usher in the new year.

Aim for Lesser resolutions, more actions!!

Happy New Year 2011

(Do I have to really do the whole list above? Anyway, the world would end in 2012..lol)

Men will be Men

Men will be men!!

Sharing a roof with three others (my hub and two sons) has never made me realize this. Coz I have the sweetest of the lot.

However, coming out of my shelter and exploring the world through the corporate jungle has made me totally realize that men will be, after all, men.
Let me relate a totally hilarious incident which happened in my early days with my present company I work with.

Our company has a lot of competition within ourselves, atleast for the places !! People literally are asked to work from home for 3 days a week due to the constraint in space.

With our team being newly formed for an innovation hub built exclusively for Standard Chartered in the ground floor of our campus, it felt convenient for our team to sit in the huge work place right next to the hub, instead of crawling ourselves to those crammed upper floors.
All was well except for one thing that the place where we sat was named “Library”. Maybe there were plans of getting techie books and enlightening people or to set it up as an internet café, I really don’t know the actual reason for this space to be christened as “Library”.

Trouble started brewing when people would actually walk into my work place and ask me for books, assuming that I was the new librarian. I had to explain that it was not indeed a library, but was used as AWS ( Alternate work space, and not Awesomeness). This did not deter the men in my company. They would still come and ask if there were any books available. My explanations got dried up and I used to give them a blank, long stare. Such long was the stare that it had the Martians scurrying back to their places.

Enough is enough. I told my boss about this predicament and requested him to remove the sign “Library”, which was solely responsible for so many interruptions in my work.He grinned and promptly got it removed.

Did my troubles end there? They actually started !!

The very next day, one decidedly-smart fellow came into the non-existing library and asked me politely, “Excuse me, are there any books here?”
I was flabbergasted. I burst into peals of laughter. He must have thought that I was getting hysterical with sitting all alone in the library and he threw his hands in air with an end-note “What kind of a library without books??”

Men will be men?? Yes, forever !!

So long ...what now??

Q: What happened to Shanthi’s blogging?
A : As soon as she started working, she stopped blogging.

Isnt this crossing across all your minds?

Frankly and honestly, the answer is a simple “yes”.

I have become busy.
Wait, that’s an understatement.
I have become crazily busy.

Sometimes, and yeah, am a human, sometimes I want to already quit. But the goal is “Take a break..but never quit”… Yes, that’s the golden rule I want to follow for a long time in my life now.

I have always wanted to do something else than being home. What is it? Well, despite being technically adept and academically sound, my soul never took off towards the mundane routine of a 9-6 job.

But here I am, happily stuck in a 9.30-whenever the boss says yes- time.
Yes, the great Indian effect.

People wake up after afternoon (not literally..but onto their PCs..yes)..and have the addictive chais and coffees to ward off the still-persistent lethargy and then get to work at that time, when the rest of the world is almost wrapping up for the day.
It’s not the time difference here..it’s the culture difference.

Ok..stop being cynical.. I shout to myself. I can’t go on like this.

Like what? Like the inevitable waiting time for my boss to approve a single liner.

I have learnt.. and how !
I tell him “ciao” over the local chat at exactly 5.45 pm, while he stares at the watch.
I look back at him and smile sweetly while thinking “What?? It’s 6 in the evening..i have kids”…
He gives a sad smiley over the chat box, while still giving the “going early than your boss” glares on the outside…
I smile even sweeter, say quick byes to everyone and head off to pick my babies, who are happily flirting with the little girls in their day-care.

So, rewinding the day, how does a typical day start for me?

Simple, at the horrible alarm going off at 5.30 am.
I give atleast 10 mins for the alarm to persistently wake me up. The first thing which comes to my mind is my mom, who has been my alarm for the first 20 years of my life.. and what a perfect clock she was.

More on my mom later… now, it’s the mom in me which has to wake, cook, clean, get the kids ready, get myself ready and get out in the hot sun, wrapped up like an Al-quaeda terrorist (a black shawl and two white gloves to ward off both the solar and the polar effects) And of course, not to forget feeding the fish.

Duh !! The first 10 mins of my morning are spent in absolute delirium, almost everyday getting tempted to go back to bed and tuck in with all the 3 men in my life. But, I refrain. Food is essential. And so is my work.

I draw the curtains… I feed the fish… I splash water on my face. I look intently at my image. I see nothing..maybe am still asleep. I wish !! and fervently wait for Friday nights.
Did someone wish for “2 days to work and 5 days to sleep?”
I am with you.. whoever it is.

After the usual cooking routine, I outsource the dabba-packing to the most reliable vendor, the husband. The kids wake up to follow the routine, and after a couple of hours of bathing, uniforms, bags and nature calls (not necessarily in the same order) .. I gladly wave goodbyes to my babies who are no longer babies, ofcourse, but who are busy eyeing pretty Anushkas and Nanditas in their own arenas. Huh..time flies??

Office is fun. Did I mention that? Ok..I have to admit this. I am enjoying the work. Creative days, lull days, furore days… there might be classifications..but yes, am happy to go to my work place, get a lot of stares from the unknown-testosterone zones, do a great deal of writing, presenting and munching on with my colleagues.

The day quickly ends, with work and chais alternately pouring in, and pings from my hubby on the local chat to remind that life is still there ( yes, we work for the same organization..thank god, not the same floor) … People would wonder..what would a real-life couple chat on the office chat windows?
For us.. it’s
“When’s lunch?”
“Are you busy”
“I hate you”
and more importantly “Who’s picking the kids??” …

So long for now, we alternately manage kids whenever there’s a crisis on the day-care or their health front. We know the weekdays have this inevitable routine..but no one’s complaining.

Weekends are spent happily munching popcorn and endless rounds of balcony coffees with smoke (only him) and gorging on HBO and Star Movies.

Q : So, what took so long for Shanthi to blog again?
A : Work, dearies, Work.