The month that was OCTOBER!!!

October this year has been a crazy month. But it’s by far the best month that I have seen in a long long time!! It was crazy in terms of get-togethers, getting a job, Achu’s visit, surprise birthday parties and no time to speak of to just sit simply. But mostly Surprise Birthday Parties. Suffice to say, we now to have to rack our brains pretty hard to find ideas to throw surprises now!!

What do you do when 6 of your friends celebrate their birthdays, all in the same month, and one after the other? Well, what you to do is conspire with the rest to throw the birthday boy/gal, a party that would it unforgettable for them!! And also be a lot glad that your birthday did not fall this month! And that it’s nowhere in the near future…. Because it got better and better towards the end. Especially the last couple of birthdays. :P And also because revenge is a contagious thingy!!!

The problem with having surprise parties is that people start expecting the midnight cake-cutting and all the associated celebrations like a default setting on their birthdays. Fair enough… because when you have a big gang of friends, then it’s fun even if you’re just sitting simply and chatting / hanging out!! But then surprises are always fun right… right from the planning stage to the executing stage… And if it is a success, then the satisfaction of a job well done is one of the best feelings ever!! .. :P :P The key is to subject the birthday boy/girl to something that they will not expect.. :-) It’s hard when you have veterans in the field … people who have been planning surprises for ages that they know all the tricks of the trade … We tried!! And I think, we did a pretty good job… our success rate was pretty good ;) ;)

This month’s theme was basically “expect-the-unexpected”… yeah! I know it sounds like one of the taglines of those reality shows like fear factor or big boss or something!! Lol…. However when you have welcomed the already-suspecting soul to a setting of cake, candles, flowers and candle-light all set up in the most prettiest scene ever imaginable, they tend to think the worst is yet to come!! Which was true… so in order not to dash their hopes/fears we had the usual cake smearing, birthday bumps and all that you expect at a birthday, only this time around we also threw in, whipped cream, eggs, durian, castor oil, food coloring etc…

Ah!!! The satisfaction of doing all this!! Priceless!!

By far, this month was awesome… we had some great times, some amazing get-togethers, mehfil sessions, awesome food and all in all a very memorable month… And the best set of friends that make all this possible!! :-) :-)

Here’s to you all!!  :-)

:-) I am EMPLOYED !!! :-)

My rants and raves about not having a job have finally come to an end. I have finally got a good enough job, albeit for a short while, with an investment bank here. And I am one happy gal right now. If you want to know how happy, ask my hubby and friends. It took me a year and a half to get here. A year that was ridden with frustrations, despair, unfulfilled hopes and what not!! And much of it has been written here on this blog and you have been subjected to it. Ok, before I get too melodramatic over it, let me just say that I am very happy right now. It feels awesome to have a reason to get up early each morning and go someplace. It feels on top of the world.

It’s my second week here at my new job. And I love it. I was the happiest when I was working. I still am! It’s nice to have that feeling of no-time-to-spare, deadlines, screwed-up reports, the banter with colleagues, and most of all, I am back doing what I did – working with Excel. :-). I never knew the importance of Excel until I landed in Satyam for my first job. And I knew zilch about it. I used to go blank every time someone asked me to do something in excel. But now I can safely say that’s not the case. :-) Even if I am not an expert, I am at least confident enough now that I can manage to do whatever is being asked of me.

And that confidence is not just related to the reporting / mailing work that I am involved in. But also with respect to knowing what to expect from a job, what I have to do in order to get things done, right from getting access to the various portals to the way to handle / take a query call. I remember back in Satyam, I used to hate making or taking query calls. It was more out of fear that I would not know what to answer if the person asks me something and I would get tongue-tied. This was in the initial few days. Of course I learnt how to handle it in due course of time in Satyam too but for a long while, I would make my list of calls when no one was around me, or take them on my mobile. I guess a few months at the job should help overcome this. I sure did! I still have some of those jittery-nervous feelings – call it performance anxiety!! But I am sure those will be off in no time too…

I love going to work. I am the kind of person who never had those Monday-morning-blues. I love getting up, hurrying about, getting ready and rushing off to work looking all important in my formal dress. I love everything about my job, right from the access cards to the email id with my name in it. It fills me with confidence and makes me feel as if I can do whatever I set my mind to. I love discussing important projects and details with my team, and manager. I love those moments of chitchat with colleagues. I love everything about it. :-)

Okie… I think I am getting super-excited just writing on and on that I love my job. You get the point. :-)

Yes! I am a happy gal!!

Touchwood! :-) 

The magic of Rajinikanth

We watched ‘Endhiran’ yesterday night.

A movie so long awaited. A ‘Thalaivar’ movie.

The bug of ‘Endhiran’ mania had had me in its grip too and it’s been like that for a while now. Say ever since the news of the movie has been in the news. [Okie! That sounds funny!!]

Anyways moving on, I am sure there are scores of reviews been written about the movie. People who have liked it, people who have not liked it. My Facebook page has been filled with ‘Endhiran’ updates for the past few days now. I am not going to give a proper movie review here. That’s been done and dusted with and like I said, I am sure you will find a lot of other good ones about the movie out there.

I will be honest. I liked it. It was entertaining as always to watch Rajini on screen. I would not say it is his best movie till date but it was enjoyable. The special effects, graphics, technical brilliance was all very well done and executed. Had it been a 2 hour flick it would have been even more enjoyable from the story point of view. But it’s a Rajinikanth movie and even if it is a little long you won’t hear many people complaining. I thought Rajini as the villain did an awesome job. It reminded me a lot of his earlier movies where he was the anti-hero. The man still has it! It takes a lot of guts to do something like this when you are 60 years old and you already have a loyal fan base all over the world. For that, hats off to him!

Yes, his movies defy logic. Yes, the story line always revolves around him. Yes, people go crazy over him and his persona and his style. Yes, you will find a lot of puns about Rajinikanth and more importantly his logic-defying moves and stunts. But for me, that’s the whole charm of a Rajini movie. The impossible stunts, the style the guy shows, the punch dialogues, the way he romances women half his age, sometimes maybe even more than that. No one else his age, can get away with stuff he says and does on screen and still manage to pull it off and guarantee a minimum hit. The ‘Thalaivar’ magic is unique.

Lots of other people are out there making movies for serious-minded folks, taking into consideration all the logic, the practicality and sensibility and the realism that people these days crave for. I admit it. I like movies like that too. I enjoy it too. But once in a while when a movie comes along like this, throwing all logic to winds, making sure that all through the movie, the hero and the heroine are always alright, unscathed and guarantees a happy ending all with a dash of the magic of Rajinikanth, it’s a treat to watch. And this is not specific to Endhiran or just one of his movies. It is all his movies, whether it’s Baasha, Padayappa, Sivaji or even some of his gems from the 80’s and 90’s.

I am not as huge a Rajinikanth fan as a lot of others out there. And there are some people who think he is equivalent to God. But I still enjoy his movies. They have made me laugh. They have made me shake my head in amazement and wonder. They have had me at the edge of the seat waiting to watch what happens next. They have made me forget reality for a little while at least and transport me to a place where reason and reality does not exist. And sometimes, that’s a relief too.

And honestly, there is no actor’s antics that I would enjoy more on screen than Rajinikanth. When you watch one of his movies, leave behind, all logic, common sense, practicality etc. Watch it for the magic he shows on screen. Enjoy it for the impossible antics which if anyone else did, they would be a laughing stock. Watch it as you would watch a fantasy movie, for nothing is impossible for him. 

The name, after all, is RAJINIKANTH.

250 posts and way more to come...

Okie this shows how good I am at observing stuff.

“My blog turns 4” was my 250^th post and I did not even realize it until I checked the dashboard after the 251^st post. :-(

Silly me!

Anyways… that’s a lot of blog posts… Yay! Yay! :-)

Here’s to my blog! :-) Cheers!!!