Drive to remember

I am not sure if I have mentioned this, but I love driving/riding. It is something I enjoy a LOT. But ever since I started driving the car often, I had actually never taken a nice drive! But it finally happened last week.

It was one of those drives that made me really happy, felt really good. :) Geography is not my best subject and hence I was making the wrong turns, also thanks to people around me who were guiding me badly! On the bright side, it surely helped my U turn and reversing skills. Also I can drive with one hand :P

So I drove around the beach, small streets and what not! Nice chat, playing around, all the way through. Most importantly, at the end of the day, I was smiling, smiling big time :)

Shadiness/weirdness personified

I just came back from Bangalore last night and boy I am sooooo glad I back to singara Chennai. I got a lot of work done and it was a fruitful trip and all but otherwise the trip was only so so. Don’t give me the look; I have good explanation for making such a statement.

My friend Apoorva and I landed in Bangalore at 0400 hours. It was cold and dark, so decided to wait a bit till we proceeded towards where we were staying. Spent one boring hour waiting for the time to go by in the waiting room at the railway station. Finally at around 0500 hours we decided to get a bus. We were clueless as to where the terminus was and when we asked a few people they weren’t too helpful except one kind soul who took us to the bus terminus and told us which bus to board and where to stand et al. While we were doing just that, there was this shady guy staring at us. Here I must add he is probably the shadiest guy I have come across. We gave him the stop looking at us like that you douchebag, did not work. Next we moved away from that place, he followed us there. Meanwhile a bus arrived and the conductor told us it goes to the desired destination.

Happily we got into the bus thinking we lost the shady dude. Sadly we did not. He followed us to the bus too. He did not back off. I was dead scared. So we complained to this uncle later on and it worked.

That was one reason. Next being the buses don’t give you the ticket sometimes, or they take it back at the end of the journey and sell to someone else. Who does that? I was so shocked when I saw this. There was one bus we took where the driver was doing the job of the conductor too. Two in one. Again where does this ever happen? Weird isn’t it?

A lot of people refused to be friendly too. I mean when you ask them for routes, they act like I asked them some part of their property or something. Crazy people I tell you. I am not denying that there were some nice people who did help or at least tried to. There was a cobbler who refused to stitch my friend’s chappal. It got so frustrating so ran down to a store to buy some pin to temporarily fix it. To my surprise no shop had pins. They were telling me to go to a shop 2 streets away for a small pin. Why wouldn’t any normal shop have pins?

Haven’t I given enough reasons to justify my earlier statement?

A New Beginning

One day a few people suggested we do a quiz in QFI and at the beginning I was reluctant, wasn’t sure if I can handle it. Ended up doing the quiz and to my surprise it turned out to be good fun and a lot of people saying it was a really good quiz.

Then I thought its time to take it to the next level so accepted to do a inter school quiz for Sankara school. So today – first ever proper official quiz. It was good fun and also made some cash. People appreciated the quiz, telling us we must come back next year and all. Felt soooooooo good.

The only problem today was I felt a little old. People calling me ‘ma’am’ isn’t exactly fun. Although I am very relieved that they dint call me ‘aunty.’

So quiz mastering is something I am going to do a lot more.

Ugly truth

What’s the one topic that never gets stale for us girls? The obvious answer to it is GUYS!!! Yes we talk about them all the time. Ask us why? We actually don’t know. Life was good when we were kids and guys dint make a difference to us. When we dint have to do things to impress them.

If two or more girls have a conversation for about hour, almost for 45 minutes we discuss guys. Usually it is: Why is he not talking to me? Why is he not coming out? Why is he not asking me out? Why is he so boring? Why did I ever meet him? Why did I add him? Why did I give my number to him? Why is he soooooo cute/hot/good looking? Why is he not replying to a text I sent? Why is he talking to this other girl? Why is he not single? Why is he a psycho path? Why cant he be a man and come over a talk? Why is he so stuck up? why cant he just move on? why cant he leave me alone?

Then after disastrous event(s), we decide to give up on guys and bam within a few days/months we are in the same place and discussing the same things (mentioned above) and only this time it’s a new guy. How complicated all this sounds? It’s just so tough to understand them! You think you are in one place but it turns out to be wrong!

Guys these days are also not doing their role I must say! Like the good old days, why cant they e the one asking us women out? Must ban all these movies, shows and articles that showcase girls asking guys out. Seriously it’s affecting our lives!

Guys are idiots, it’s so difficult to understand them, and they don’t understand us very well. Some are also stupid and gutless. Even if they like you, they don’t do anything about it. Some are even scared and nervous around girls. Some fear talking in public. Some make inappropriate comments and some lie… I can go and on and on.. But I must accept this, no matter what they say or do! We end up liking them! That my friend is the ugly truth.

Confessions of a shopaholic

Finally, I am going to come out and accept this, I am a shopaholic. Think I have always known this, but accepting it only know. I only decided to accept it when I went shopping yesterday and saw me already own many of the tops in the display. The store assistant then came by and asked me if I need some help and was showing me some stuff and my answer to most of it was, "Oh I already have it."

Also I have a huge wardrobe yet I stuff some clothes into my dads, since he is a very kind soul who wont retort to anything I say or do. Also because he wont notice. After all this, when I open my wardrobe, many clothes fall out due to lack of space.

Two months back, I used to go shopping almost everyday. Boredom lead to go to all the malls, seeing some really pretty stuff and end up swiping the card and coming back home so happily. When people at home asked, I had this convenient excuse, "Its for UK" (which btw I dint end up going also) Then when I got the job it was, "Need new clothes for work" I have even shopped for my little nieces birthday, parents birthday and parents anniversary. So now you know what I mean. I am a SHOPAHOLIC!

Thankfully I work now and I pay my own bills which makes me a little conscious. Not like I have time to go shopping anymore. Packed schedule that I have!

Maniacal pricing!

CASE 1
So I decide I will go for a movie, Check how much money I have in my wallet. I have about 200 bucks. Decide I can go ahead with the movie plan.

Ticket - 120 bucks
Snacks - 50-60 bucks
Parking - 10 - 20 bucks

You see with the 200 Bucks I could watch a movie quite comfortably.

CASE 2
So I decide I will go for a movie, Check how much money i have in my wallet. I have about 200 bucks. OOPS, that wouldnt do since I wanted to watch at Escape

At Escape:
Ticket - 120 bucks
Snacks - 100-120 bucks
Parking - 60 bucks

See its impossible with 200 Bucks.

A samosa is priced at 60 bucks. Ok i am willing to let go of the prices of the snacks, but the parking is just ridiculous. Why should I pay half the price of the ticket for just parking? Something must be done about this stupidity. I am not going to be blaming Escape for this, its the Express Avenue mall in which the theater is situated. The price I am talking about is only the two wheeler pricing on weekdays. Its more expensive on weekends. Double almost(i think)

So if you are watching a movie on a weekend and you go by car, there is a good chance you pay more for parking than the ticket itself!

If you are a Journalist...

1. Must wear a smile ALL the time. Most times you dont know the people you are smiling at.
2. Must like coffee. So your doing a story and meeting a few people for that, enter their office and give you a cup of coffee. You like it or not it comes to you, so must drink it.
3. You meet some of the most interesting people and gather some of the most interesting information.
4. Get to see things before the world does. Eg: I went for this event and saw the new ad of Hyundai i10, which is still not released.
5. Hear to some of the most boring lectures ever. Even when you know your not going to publish it, you cant get out coz it would be rude and also theres some yummy food waiting.
6. You work at odd hours before production.
7. The 'press ID card' you hold makes you feel very important.

Thats all i think of right now, will keep updating :)

A perfect man!

This post is dedicated to S.Viswanathan- Editor of Industrial Economist!At the age of 73, he is one of the most active people I know. At his age, you don't see a person going to work everyday and heading a magazine, which is a very pressurizing job by itself. He goes for events, runs around and doe all his work with so much enthusiasm. Sometimes I wonder if hes 73 or just a little youngster on his first job.

Hes been a journalist for more than 40 years and has started this magazine 43 years ago. He is the most ethical journalist I know, never ever fears to report the truth, even if he knows it might land him in some trouble. He also works for public causes and does not care about what credit he would get but what the society would.

He is also a wonderful human being, treats all his employees like family, cares for not just us but our family. He truly is a great soul and man from whom one can learn hell a lot!

My little vacation!

My family decided to take a little trip to Pondy thanks to my cousin and sister in law coming down. So the plan was we would go to Pondy, have some fun and visit our native temple which is a little past cuddalore. Everything was going as per plan. On saturday we went to the beach and the Aashram and had a good time. it was decided that would leave from Pondy at 6 to go to the temple. Again things went as per plan and when we almost reached the place, there occurred this chaotic situation. The worst traffic i have seen.

From inquiring from others close by, we learnt it was a 'muhurtha naal' and hence the mad rush. I swear there must have been more 300 people just walking and many many cars, vans, cycles, autos, buses. It was just crazy. There was no order what so ever. the police finally arrived so i thought there would be some relief. Man was i wrong. The situation only got worst. I really had the urge to go tell the cop that hes doing a horrible job. (But i dint)

So we decided to walk to the temple since werent too far from it. So with great difficulty, we walked in some little spaces left for people to walk. when we were like a kilometer away from the temple, we saw around thousand people standing. we were astonished. we visit this place every year and have never ever seen this kind of crowd actually not even 1/3rd of the crowd. All this because of a few marriages?
Its just unbelievable. I think it was a few hundred marriages.

So we finally gave up and had the most difficult walk back to the car and managed to get back to Pondy without visiting the temple, sadly :( What a waste of time and getting up so early on a Sunday morning!

A description of my Job!

Its been almost 3 weeks since I started working and I must say it is a lot of fun. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be a business correspondent. But here I am doing just that. I meet some of the tallest business men and some really interesting people. I learn a lot from these people.

I work for a relatively small organization and interact with the editor all the time which I am pretty sure, not many do.

Apart from this I edit articles, attend event, write articles etc etc.. the best part of it all is all these events usually happen in some 5 star hotel, which means i get free food. Now what more can I ask for? tell me!

Highlights of 20- the age!

Its been a day since i turned 21 and when i look back at the past year, there are a so many things i recall. Here are the highlights in no particular order!

1. I graduated! I am Nandita - Journalist :D
2. I started quizzing, which to my surprise was awesome. :D
3. There can never be a year that goes by without my health giving me some issues. this time it was rib injury which put me in bed for 3 weeks.
4. I was awarded the Best Outgoing Student in college. It was one of the most happiest moments in my life, considering that i was never been able to achieve anything this big academically all through my school life. I made my mark by getting this award. =)
5. I met some people who play a very important part in my life, just cant imagine life without them.
6. I also managed to start driving the car just before 21 :D

LIfe After MOP

Its been more than 3 months since I passed out of MOP and i have really done nothing at all. I got a job which i did not take up. I applied For UK and got in to a few Universities,now i don't know if I want to go. I have never been so confused in my life. I am just not able to make a decision. As much as i have always wanted to go abroad and study,t his is just the toughest decision i ever has to make.

I never thought I would have to say this but here it goes, how I wish I was still in college. Things were way simpler back in those days :(

Good timesss

Sticky, Smelly, Sweaty, people pushing, dancing, yelling... Everyone must be thinking i am describing a really horrible feeling, but your wrong. I am talking about a IPL match I attended recently between Rajastan Royals and Super Kings. Although it was all sticky and all that, it was just awesome. I have watched test matches and ODI matches but nothing came close to the excitement of this match. It was just madness. I was sitting directly under the sun, which made it even more difficult. But end of the day, it was a really good feeling, Chennai won and i got to see the match Live paying a large amount for the ticket. it was just worth it. Century by our very own Vijay and over 500 rns scored. I considered myself lucky. It was a treat i would say!

And Finally .....

I was just sitting and watching TV while i happened to hear that the 26/11 Ajmal Kasab's trial is finally over and he Judgment comes out only on 3 May 2010. I must say this is awesome news. around 600 people were examined during this trial and its a relief its actually over.

David Headley, the Lashkar-e-Taiba operative currently in a US jail, had mentioned the names of some high ranking people in Pakistan in the Mumbai terror attacks. On the basis of this and other evidences recorded before the special court, besides Kasab's statements, we were able to conclude that the LeT and Pakistan Army officials were linked to the attacks. Although nothing is certain till a the verdict comes out, it seems like enough evidence has been produced for a good judgment proving Kasab guilty.

When You look back and see Ajmal Kasab's life, he comes from a poor huge family and he could not even afford most things which angered him. One fine day, he along with a friend were in Rawalpindi trying to buy weapons when they encountered members of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of LeT, distributing pamphlets. After a brief chat, they decide to sign up for training with the Lashkar-e-Taiba,. this is really sad that poverty lead him do such a huge crime. POverty seems to be the root of all evil everywhere.

The judgment day is not far away and what is to be appreciated here is the trial of such a complicated case involving other countries has got over so quickly. one must appreciate the efficiency of every person involved in this particular case. it sure will go down in the history books as a landmark case.

Life at MOP

I always cribbed that College sucks and its boring. But now that it has come to an end i thought its high time i said some good stuff about MOP.

So here i go
1. MOP is a place where i learned a lot of things about people and how to handle them all.
2. It is also the place where i did really well academically, which is a new high for me :)
3. One of the main reason is joined Journalism is because i thought i would be good in front of a camera and i can do something in broadcast. but after a year in the course i realise i can actually write well. During my internship i wrote articles that actually published. I really have to credit MOP for this.
4. I made some friends who, i am sure, are going to be with me for a very long time.
5. I also leaned a lot about life. one can say i am a more mature person that before for sure.
6. Like I said in my earlier post, i found what i like, Quizzing.
7. I also developed a lot of confidence in myself. I finally found what i am good at and excelled in it.

I guess I have to thanks MOP and for the first time i actually think i may Miss the place :)

A discovery!

After school I stopped playing Basket ball, i never thought i will find something to do apart from studying and stuff like that. i spent almost 2 full years of college no t knowing what is that one thing i may actually be interested in. I finally found it and much to the surprise of many and myself it happens to be quizzing. I was astonished when i actually enjoyed the first quiz i ever went to. I actually did go just to fill in a space and be supportive to a friend. But it turns out I actually had this whole misconception about Quizzing.

It is actually a lot of fun and also I learn a lot. it would be even more fun if i win but i guess i am okay with not winning either. I also have made new friends there and the only thing is everyone is smarter than me.

Apart from these good things about quizzing, it has its dark side too. Apoorva and me happen to be one of the very few girl quizzers in the city. Not like thats a problem but at times its weird. I mean the whole room is filled with guys and no one there talks to us. i think it is a little stupid that people dont talk considering the fact that see us so often. Most of them have their own friends circle and refuse to be more friendly which is pathetic and kind of leave us all alone.

Like any other place there are exceptions. A few people talk, keep us company which is a big relief.

All said and done, Quizzing rocks \m/

The stupidity of Indian selectors

So the First test match against South Africa is over and after close observation I have decided that the selectors are more stupid than i thought they were. when I saw the team on day one i was astonished Saha is getting to make his debut. undeserving is an under statement, i mean after many many years Badrinath gets a game and Saha found a place too along with him. Now the match is over and I still don't get why he was brought in, is it because he is a good batsmen or wicketkeeper then Karthcik? The former cant be possible considering that Karthick has proved himself plenty of times. the latter maybe possible but if that was the case why dint he wicket keep?
these are some questions that needs to be answered. Selectors were definitely a culprit.

The next problem is Harbhajan Singh. i really wonder why he is never ever dropped even after his horrible performances. Ohja can be given more chances and groomed. Harbhajan is like one of the most experienced spinners and his performance is really disheartening.

Just an hour back i looked at the news to see some changes in the "team". Funny story, the main change is Sreesanth comes back in which was expected. the other two changes being Raina and kartchick comoing back in. this makes complete sense. But what doesn't make sense to me is why are they back in place of Mitun and tyagi who dint even play the game? Why were they selected in the squad for just one match. this is just atrocious. the only reason i can think of they dint do a good job bringing stuff to the players!

Why can any Indian selectors be more responsible? this is a something that i have been wondering for many many years now. Never found an answer though!