"Its all about the liquid Ma'm!"

An hour at a beauty parlour is a good way of expanding one's knowledge on a wide range of topics - Bollywood gossip, latest films, household remedies on infinite problems, train crowds and rush hours, latest numbers of piggy-flu deaths, weekly offs, pollution, diseases, latest on the daily soaps and reality shows, scandalous marriages, children, rains or no rains, senior colleagues who are not present, junior colleagues who are present, rising costs, un-availability of vegetables, problems with in-laws, .... and it goes on! During my last visit, little did I expect that I would learn more about biochemistry!

While getting my hair trimmed, the hair-dresser started commenting on greying hair at early ages. For those of you who know me well will know that I have a lot of white/grey hair ever since the last of my school days. Now, this kind lady was patiently explaining that one should not pull out grey hair. I nodded (to the extent possible to let her know that I was listening) thinking, "Of course not! It would hurt a lot!" But she had a different story to tell.

"People always pull out their white hairs Ma'm. But you know Ma'm, it is not good to do like that. You know, there is a liquid at the hair roots (I beg your pardon?). When you pull out you hair, this liquid spreads to the surrounding areas and goes into the roots of surrounding hair (I was silently crying "Miracle" by this time). And they also become white!" (I couldn't control the hysterical burst of suppressed laughter any longer, so I said aloud, "Really? Incredible science!!"

And I was thinking, why do they not teach this at college-level? Its all about controlling the spread of that stupid liquid! I mean, if science can control spread of harmful rays, water pollutants, virus (up to a certain extent), then why not that damned liquid?!

Friendship Day & more...

Friendship Day calls for celebrations! And thats exactly what we did yesterday. I was hoping to meet at least 5 of my friends, but managed to meet just 2. But this blog is not going to be about my friends. It is going to be about my parents' friends (who also happen to be my friends' parents!)

Our parents met 22 years ago, when we started school, and have come a long way since then. Hats off to them and long live their friendship! Lately, however, they have started acting like teenagers. I have been the sole witness to this event when we were at Saral, a village near Alibaug. And as if squabbling, arguing and chattering like kids was not enough, they have started planning on watching movies. Just yesterday, at the above mentioned Friendship Day celebration get-together, following was the conversation that had me frozen on the spot with the sambar spoon suspended midair.
सं काका: "ऐका जरा...'लव आज कल' ला जायच का? रात्रि चा सर्वात शेवटचा शो? पीव्हीआर ला जाऊ या."
पू मावशी: "ए हो...आम्ही पीव्हीआर ला गेलो होतो दोघे... खूप छान आहे."
सं काका: "कुठला बार पहिला सिनेमा आपण? हा....'कंबक्त इश्क'. धमाल आहे रे सिनेमा...फुल टाइम पास."
बाबा: "हो. मंगळवार बार पडेल."
शि काका: "मला मंगळवार नाही जमणार. शुक्रवार जमेल का?"
सगळे: "हो जमेल की. मग ठरल तर...ह्या शुक्रवारी 'लव आज कल'."
...............
Moving on to other things, I have started reading Atlas Shrugged, again! And there are so many parts that I did not completely understand the first time I read it, that I am glad I started readng it again :) This is a must read book for all who hate to see ability being wasted.
...............
Coming back to the topic of friends, our parents will be celebrating 25 years of friendship 3 years from now. I wonder how many of us will be there for the "event". It does seem strange that the people because of whom they got acquainted may not be present on that day. I hope at least one of us will be able to make it.

CCD

Social networking sites - and Facebook is what I am specifically talking about - have given rise to CCD.
Compulsive Commenting Disorder.
And I have started feeling repulsive about it, so much so, that I sort of like it when nobody comments on my status/quiz updates.

I guess I am just being... well... ME. The not-wanting-to-talk-to-too-many-people-and-not-wanting-too-many-people-to-talk-to-me Maitreyee!

Of Times Gone By

Ever wondered about the first page of a history book? Has anyone ever read it? May be time has! It must have even lived the first page of history. And is sure to live long enough to tell the real story about everything. Only if it had a tongue!

Some of the things I would like to know from Time:-

1. How exactly was the first living cell formed? And how/when did it replicate?
2. Was Nature so pleased with herself that she went on indefinitely replicating cells, so much so, that they formed dinasours?
3. How did the Harrapan people sound like? I mean, their voice. How was it?
4. Who invented the fire and who invented the wheel? Were they proudly smug about it?
5. Did Marie Antoinette really say, "Then let them eat cakes, instead"?
6. Who was the one who thought that observing stars could lead to something? Did he/she have any idea what a lot of science as well as a lot of crap it was going to lead to? (No, I don't think he did!)
7. Before the Big Bang that led to the formation of the current universe, was there life anywhere at all?
8. Did गणपती really exist?
9. When Australia and New Zealand broke apart from the main land and sort of started drifting away, did the people and/or animals notice it? Did they jump from this part of the land to the other and then back when the two land masses were close enough?
10. And where did Jesus Christ breath his last?

Only if time had a tongue...

Mail's Here!

I love getting mails. I mean, the conventional, postal mail. Though these days, it has reduced to bank statements, cell phone bills and the likes of it, I still love seeing an envelope with my name on it. It gives me a feeling of belonging to a place though I am physically not there! (Not cell phone bills!). Too bad we never got anything from school/college send to us by post. Though I got my felicitation invitation through post, I sort of knew it was on its way, so I don't like to count that. It was a photocopied letter, anyway.

I also love writing letters and occassionally posting greeting cards. They are much better than the stupid flash e-cards that are available. Its just that these things are more personalised. They convey the 'real you'. I agree this form of communication is extremely slow than the ones used today, but I never feel elated in the true sense when I get an e-mail. Hand written letters, even if they are short, always rock!

The hand of the writer moves along as he/she writes the letter...one can never get such a feeling with an e-mail (Fingers of the person punched certain keys? Ew..I don't think so!)
Reminds me of a book, "The Walled Garden" by Catherine Dunne. A major chunk of that book is in the form of letters written by a mother to her children. Also, I could truely connect with Snape's feelings when he found Lilly's letter. So true. My eyes stung reading that bit. Because I myself have a few letters written to me by my grandparents and cousins that I treasure a lot.
On the whole, its better to pen down one's thoughts than to type them out. Is it hypocricy on my part that I am blogging about 'pen-ing down thoughts'? I wonder.

_ _ _

Indian people DON'T understand the terms 'office' and 'colleagues' !! Or at least the ones in my office don't. Certainly don't.

About 2 months back, there was this girl who joined office. Lets call her 'A' for the time being. She used to call me दीदी. And not the entire दीदी; used to be just दी. Ewww ............. And she called a few other guys (more or less my age) भईया !! (Can't write that properly. Something wrong with the Devnagri font tab). Its an Office, for crying out loud!!

And since this week, another girl 'D' has joined। All that she has told me about her is that her name is 'D' and she is from some small town in Maharashtra. And she is so country !! And why am I expected to give her parental guidance?

Why? Why does this happen to me? Why do I end up meeting "absolutely country people" where ever I go? This is positively disgusting!

P.S. The reason this post is not titled is because I am too irritated to think of a suitable title for such irritating events in office!

Weather - Nice and Sunny!

I have been observing the weather for the past week. Bright sunshine, clear skies with an isolated white cloud. Slight breeze, enough to keep one from sweating, but not enough to get a nice cool feeling. Well-defined shadows of people, cars and cattle on the concrete roads. All this reminded me of Maldives :)
And suddenly, I could smell the salty sea. Continued to smell it even while I was stuck in traffic...and even now as I sit in my air-conditioned office at the end of the day, typing this and thinking about the abnormally long 'To Do' list that is starring at me from my table.
But whatever...And the rains will be here soon!!