One of our teams had a major software release last week. These guys had been toiling pretty hard for the last 6 months or so, fighting a hostile customer as well as coping with inter-departmental politics, but finally, the project was successfully completed and everyone was happy. So, the boss of this team decided to throw a party for his 'boys'. I had done some architectural design for this project a few months back, hence I got an invite as well.
To give you some background, this team is comprised mostly of guys fresh out of college or out barely a few months back. And let me tell you, for the new blokes, the first few 'office parties' have a lot of significance. If i try to recollect personal experiences, it used to feel like I have finally become an adult - being able to booze with a boss 15 years my senior, and being treated as an equal, irrespective of their knowledge, standing and years of experience. So, a lot of these guys were pretty excited.
We reached the place. It was a restaurant. A family one. With 4 sitter dining tables. And soft music. And NO BOOZE.
Shit I pitied these guys man! Everyone was roaming around with a dazed expression on their faces. I mean nobody had a clue! It was 7PM and the buffet was laid out. Some optimists refused to believe that there could'nt be no provision for booze, but by 8 everyone was pretty convinced. So, one by one, they shuffled towards the buffet tables and dinner started.
And mingling with them, with a kind, beatific expression of a proud patriarch, was the big boss, asking everyone to enjoy themselves to the fullest, saying that they deserved this 'treat' after the hard work they had put in. And the scream was that, this guy actually believed it himself! And you should have seen the expressions on the guys' faces man!!
Anyway, I had a great time. Set an all time personal record - had food, dessert and coffee for dinner for the first time in my 'adult' life. And being the kindly soul that I am, I have promised these guys that I would take them out next week for a booze-only party.
You guys are invited as well.
Apr 19, 2007
Apr 16, 2007
Thank you Shilpa
What would I do without Shilpa guys? You may have read this post. But today she has given me another chance to write about something important, rather than posting 'delhi jokes' and 'bullshit tags' (according to one of my ex-friend's whom i have disowned because he is the wrong finger type). So here goes..
There is a huge ruckus about Richard Gere necking with Shilpa Shetty yesterday. And why should'nt there be? We are from the land of mughal and victorian slavery. We dont have sex. Some dirty bastards wrote the fucking Kama Sutra. Their bastard cousins sculpted the Khajuraho temples. Our widows shave their heads and eat veg to make themselves unattrative to 'preying males'. Our children fill up forms where there is no space for 'mother's name'. Our father (of the nation) slept with his nieces to prove that he was above the 'weakness of the flesh'. In all his greatness he went on record saying that he failed....
But so what? We are a nation that respects women. Where our country is our mother, where the mother and sister are goddesses, where words like 'behnchod' and 'motherchod' are more reviled than 'uncivilised' or 'uneducated'. But that again is not important..
What is important is that for the last 779 years we have conquered our sexual drive. We are a nation that believes, truly madly and deeply, that sex is BAD!! Our movies show swaying flowers when couples kiss. Our heroines get slapped around by 'manly' heroes and then go home and justify the fact saying that the its the responsibility of the woman in the house to maintain peace and harmony. 2.7665% of our women achieve orgasms, 97.2335% of those who dont, have some 'problem'. We are a country where a guy indulging in a screwing spree is a stud while a girl doing the same is a slut. We are a nation of 'men'.
So Richard..lay off man. Do your shit with the Julias of the world. In our country, even the whores are virgins. If they are not, it because they had been raped by an uncle or an office boss and they have been forced into that world. You can take your charms elsewhere...'it don't impress us much'.
Jai Hind.
There is a huge ruckus about Richard Gere necking with Shilpa Shetty yesterday. And why should'nt there be? We are from the land of mughal and victorian slavery. We dont have sex. Some dirty bastards wrote the fucking Kama Sutra. Their bastard cousins sculpted the Khajuraho temples. Our widows shave their heads and eat veg to make themselves unattrative to 'preying males'. Our children fill up forms where there is no space for 'mother's name'. Our father (of the nation) slept with his nieces to prove that he was above the 'weakness of the flesh'. In all his greatness he went on record saying that he failed....
But so what? We are a nation that respects women. Where our country is our mother, where the mother and sister are goddesses, where words like 'behnchod' and 'motherchod' are more reviled than 'uncivilised' or 'uneducated'. But that again is not important..
What is important is that for the last 779 years we have conquered our sexual drive. We are a nation that believes, truly madly and deeply, that sex is BAD!! Our movies show swaying flowers when couples kiss. Our heroines get slapped around by 'manly' heroes and then go home and justify the fact saying that the its the responsibility of the woman in the house to maintain peace and harmony. 2.7665% of our women achieve orgasms, 97.2335% of those who dont, have some 'problem'. We are a country where a guy indulging in a screwing spree is a stud while a girl doing the same is a slut. We are a nation of 'men'.
So Richard..lay off man. Do your shit with the Julias of the world. In our country, even the whores are virgins. If they are not, it because they had been raped by an uncle or an office boss and they have been forced into that world. You can take your charms elsewhere...'it don't impress us much'.
Jai Hind.
Another tag
| You Are a Pinky |
 You are fiercely independent, and possibly downright weird. A great communicator, you can get along with almost anyone. You are kind and sympathetic. You support all your friends - and love them for who they are. You get along well with: The Ring Finger Stay away from: The Thumb |
Thanks Dravid
Gorged myself on movies this weekend. Here's is the list:
1) Forrest Gump
2) Breakfast at Tiffany's
3) Dumb and Dumber
4) Deer Hunter
5) Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf?
6) My Cousin Vinny
7) Gandhi
8) American Beauty
About 40 oscars all considered.
1) Forrest Gump
2) Breakfast at Tiffany's
3) Dumb and Dumber
4) Deer Hunter
5) Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf?
6) My Cousin Vinny
7) Gandhi
8) American Beauty
About 40 oscars all considered.
A post for Sayantani
Sayantani wants me to write something funny. Being the serious person that I am, I cant think of anything funny at the moment. So I will tell her a small story.
So what happened was that there was this family. Handsome dude, sexy wife and a smart 6 year old son. And they go to the zoo on a nippy Sunday morning and the kid has the time of his life. They come to the elephant enclosure and the father tells them to wait there while he gets something to eat.
The elephant was in heat and was standing there with a gigantic hard on. The boy spots the appendage and tugs at his mother's T shirt and asks her 'mom, mom look!! what's that coming out of the elephant's stomach?'
She looks and gets all red and tells him 'that's nothing. look at the tigers'.
'What nothing?' he asks. 'Look at that. Something is coming out of his stomach!'
'I told you its nothing', she snaps. 'Keep quiet!'
The bewildered kid decides to ask his dad. His father usually talked to him in a language he could understand. So, when the father returns with the chips and sodas, he sidles up to him and whispers 'dad! what's that?'
Dad looks and tells him 'that's the elephant's dick son'.
The kid asks 'then why was mom saying it was nothing?'
Dad says 'son..to your mom, even an elephant's dick is nothing'.
So what happened was that there was this family. Handsome dude, sexy wife and a smart 6 year old son. And they go to the zoo on a nippy Sunday morning and the kid has the time of his life. They come to the elephant enclosure and the father tells them to wait there while he gets something to eat.
The elephant was in heat and was standing there with a gigantic hard on. The boy spots the appendage and tugs at his mother's T shirt and asks her 'mom, mom look!! what's that coming out of the elephant's stomach?'
She looks and gets all red and tells him 'that's nothing. look at the tigers'.
'What nothing?' he asks. 'Look at that. Something is coming out of his stomach!'
'I told you its nothing', she snaps. 'Keep quiet!'
The bewildered kid decides to ask his dad. His father usually talked to him in a language he could understand. So, when the father returns with the chips and sodas, he sidles up to him and whispers 'dad! what's that?'
Dad looks and tells him 'that's the elephant's dick son'.
The kid asks 'then why was mom saying it was nothing?'
Dad says 'son..to your mom, even an elephant's dick is nothing'.
Apr 14, 2007
I tag you
When you are alone in the house and you take a shower, do you keep the bathroom door open?
Please let me know. Its very important.
Please let me know. Its very important.
Apr 9, 2007
The showdown
She was absolutely and utterly sick of him. His apathy, his callousness, his insensitivity. Sick of his posturing and his double standards, of his smug belief that she will take all the shit he can dish out, sick of his confidence that ultimately, she was a 'traditional desi girl', who would do anything but walk out on him with the kid and shatter three lives.
Civilised conversations had long since ceased. Any attempt to do so invariably degenerated into mud slinging exercises. But these days the sheer weight of cohabitation was proving to be too much for her. On one of the rear occasions when they had sat down and talked like mature people, they had decided that at least for the sake of the child, they would make a final attempt to coexist. 'Working relationships' they were called, at least according to the hollywood movies that they enjoyed watching separately. But she had never imagined that his sheer presence could be so difficult to handle. Not talking to each other could not prevent her from hearing him talking to others, and in each conversation, all that she detested about him crashed on her eardrums in unforgiving waves, choking her with the bile that welled up inside her till her whole body trembled with disgust, leaving her head throbbing with pure, white hate.
She woke up today knowing that something had changed. After ages she felt calm. She saw things in a totally different light. Nothing could justify this existence, this utter wastage of a life, this pathetic attempt to keep up appearances and in the process making things worse. There was no point in trying to enact something for a 4 year old. Soon he will be old enough to see through the facade. And by then it may be too late. She wanted out. She wanted her life back. She wanted to live for herself.
She heard him turn the key in the lock. She went out to meet him and tell him about her decision. Their eyes locked as they faced each other. He dropped his bag and ran to her and fell on his knees and hugged her waist.
'I cannot live without you. I love you. Lets start again', he said.
Civilised conversations had long since ceased. Any attempt to do so invariably degenerated into mud slinging exercises. But these days the sheer weight of cohabitation was proving to be too much for her. On one of the rear occasions when they had sat down and talked like mature people, they had decided that at least for the sake of the child, they would make a final attempt to coexist. 'Working relationships' they were called, at least according to the hollywood movies that they enjoyed watching separately. But she had never imagined that his sheer presence could be so difficult to handle. Not talking to each other could not prevent her from hearing him talking to others, and in each conversation, all that she detested about him crashed on her eardrums in unforgiving waves, choking her with the bile that welled up inside her till her whole body trembled with disgust, leaving her head throbbing with pure, white hate.
She woke up today knowing that something had changed. After ages she felt calm. She saw things in a totally different light. Nothing could justify this existence, this utter wastage of a life, this pathetic attempt to keep up appearances and in the process making things worse. There was no point in trying to enact something for a 4 year old. Soon he will be old enough to see through the facade. And by then it may be too late. She wanted out. She wanted her life back. She wanted to live for herself.
She heard him turn the key in the lock. She went out to meet him and tell him about her decision. Their eyes locked as they faced each other. He dropped his bag and ran to her and fell on his knees and hugged her waist.
'I cannot live without you. I love you. Lets start again', he said.
Apr 4, 2007
Thoughts on farting
There are 2 types of men in the world - those who can fart in public and those who can't. Farting, I have discovered is the greatest leveller. I have heard many uncles of extremely serious disposition farting along during serious conversations, timing the farts to coincide with the breaks in the conversation. I have heard some of my occidental colleagues in Europe and elsewhere farting to their hearts contents in meetings or in pubs (the only difference being that each fart is followed by a muttered 'excuse me').
So ok I arrived at a theory to explain this. Uncles fart because they are 'socially challenged'. Goras fart because they have confidence in their superiority.
So why can't I?
So ok I arrived at a theory to explain this. Uncles fart because they are 'socially challenged'. Goras fart because they have confidence in their superiority.
So why can't I?
Apr 2, 2007
A love story
B was in love with S. And would do anything to get him. And everyone around knew that as well. And so, bastards that they were, they used to take B for a ride. They would go to B and say "S was wanting to go for the latest Amitabh flick." And B will beg them to ask S to take B along. And they will hem and haw and confer and strategise till B will tell them that there was a big treat waiting for them if they can convince S. And then they would troupe to S and beg him to take B, to somehow sit through the 3 hours for the gastronomical good of the majority. And S would go and not talk to anyone for the next 3 days.
This went on for some time. But it seemed that B wanted more. And the fates arranged for a situation where it became suddenly possible for B to have S completely. It so happened that B's parents were going on a 10 day trip to Sikkim and B had the run of the house. And so B called all S's 'friends' for lunch one day, plied them with food and begged them to convince S to spend a night there. B had some contacts in high places and promises of jobs and substantial donations for that year's pujas were hinted at. And so, they took on the love brokerage.
These guys came and it was long hard and bitter battle. S stood his ground, refusing to be pimped around but his friends were up to it. They tried ridicule (can't you handle B for one night you wimp). They tried cajoling (just a night yaar. dont do anything if you dont want to). They tried emotional blackmail (think of T yaar, he will get the job if you do this). They even tried threats (boss if you are so adamant then we have issues about your loyalty towards friends). Whatever factor it was due to, or perhaps because he was so sick of this whole thing and wanted to put an end to it all, S finally agreed.
D day came. S didn't come. A frantic B called up all his friends and asked them to find him and bring him home. B also expressed doubts about the abilty of these guys to organise the next year's pujas. If they cant convince one guy how did they think they are going to convince the people in the neighborhood to part with donations, B was heard muttering. Tempers frayed. Decisions were taken. Everyone bayed for S's blood.
When they reached his place they found a crowd outside. They pushed inside. S was hanging from the ceiling fan.
Drastic you think? You see, B was a man.
This went on for some time. But it seemed that B wanted more. And the fates arranged for a situation where it became suddenly possible for B to have S completely. It so happened that B's parents were going on a 10 day trip to Sikkim and B had the run of the house. And so B called all S's 'friends' for lunch one day, plied them with food and begged them to convince S to spend a night there. B had some contacts in high places and promises of jobs and substantial donations for that year's pujas were hinted at. And so, they took on the love brokerage.
These guys came and it was long hard and bitter battle. S stood his ground, refusing to be pimped around but his friends were up to it. They tried ridicule (can't you handle B for one night you wimp). They tried cajoling (just a night yaar. dont do anything if you dont want to). They tried emotional blackmail (think of T yaar, he will get the job if you do this). They even tried threats (boss if you are so adamant then we have issues about your loyalty towards friends). Whatever factor it was due to, or perhaps because he was so sick of this whole thing and wanted to put an end to it all, S finally agreed.
D day came. S didn't come. A frantic B called up all his friends and asked them to find him and bring him home. B also expressed doubts about the abilty of these guys to organise the next year's pujas. If they cant convince one guy how did they think they are going to convince the people in the neighborhood to part with donations, B was heard muttering. Tempers frayed. Decisions were taken. Everyone bayed for S's blood.
When they reached his place they found a crowd outside. They pushed inside. S was hanging from the ceiling fan.
Drastic you think? You see, B was a man.
What would you rather be?
A jack-of-all-trades or a master of one? Would you rather be able to talk comfortably on issues ranging from the effect of a failed crop in Ukraine on the Dow Jones index (whatever that means) to the finer differences in guitaring styles of Jeff Beck and Peter Green? Or would you rather only participate in conversations where you know everything that is to be known on the topic so much so that when you open your mouth there is a hushed silence and everyone listens?
Let me know. Its been a dilemma for some time.
Let me know. Its been a dilemma for some time.
Slithering
Tried to look up the word on the net but failed to find what I was looking for. What it was supposed to mean was that you are supposed to bungee jump into a river. Went to Corbett National Park for an adventure sports outing last weekend. Stayed in tents, swam in a fast and furious river, trekked in the forest..but slithering took the cake.
There was this creaking swaying suspension bridge (that looked about a 100 years old) where we were fitted with harnesses and ropes. Then you are supposed to lean back over the water while someone holds the rope and then lets go. After a free fall of about 3 seconds you crash into the river and go under.
Absolutely amazing experience man! Try it if you get the chance.
There was this creaking swaying suspension bridge (that looked about a 100 years old) where we were fitted with harnesses and ropes. Then you are supposed to lean back over the water while someone holds the rope and then lets go. After a free fall of about 3 seconds you crash into the river and go under.
Absolutely amazing experience man! Try it if you get the chance.
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