Well..well..apparently I am a popular person..
Come the birthday and we are all awaiting those calls from friends who take the pain to stay up till 12 in the night. It does make you feel good that there are at least a few people in the world who make the effort…

But then my popularity seems to have reached new heights this year..

Lawrence & Mayo thinks its a good time for me to see better with new glasses..
ICICI direct believes this is going to be my year to take the Sensex to new heights…

And my Citiphone voice wishes me a belated Happy B’day..

Oh..I am indeed popular….

I hope to God that they dont invent devices which will make calls to friends with upcoming birthdays on your orkut or facebook accounts…

My igoogle has this quote for today:

You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.
- Olin Miller

Indeed..I think the world runs on presumptuous self-importance. If I really knew how unimportant I was in the scheme of things, I would never really probably find the motivation to do anything whatsoever. I think when people are talking about how important you are to the organization, I think a part of us wants to believe that is true. Therefore while I would like to think I am changing the way the nation is moving to the world stage…the truth is that 1200000000+ people dont really care about what I think…

Jerry Seinfeld knew the answer long ago…a classic one:

…What would the world be like if people said whatever they were thinking, all the time, whenever it came to them? How long would a blind date last? About 13 seconds, I think. “Oh, sorry, your rear end is too big.” “That’s ok, your breath stinks anyway. See you later.”

Amen to that!!

He: Ok! Let’s do it then
She: What? Don’t patronize me
He: You wanted me to do it
She: Yes. But I want you to want it
He: Why would I want to do it?
She: No point talking to you

Later,
He: Actually, I think it’s a great idea
She: I don’t care anymore

Just a pointless post…
Its that time of the year when it seems like people are only getting married…..

The thing about people getting married is that for starters, its one person less for doing all the pointless things in life…but the really big pain is having to think of the right gift for each person… After all, the gift cannot look like it was hastily thought about…it needs to be classy enough…and of course, if not completely original, at least not a dessert set… why dont people just register for a wish list as in the US….saves some grey cells…

Yet another good friend in office gets hitched soon…and it’s slightly amusing to see him go through the motions of deciding who should he invite in office….would a soft copy card do? or does it have to be a soft copy + phone/personal invite for the managers? Of course, it is highly possible that only 2.34% of the invited population turns up for the wedding…yet the expectation is there…

Then the crazy shopping binge….every single day in Commercial St or in Forum or such other locales….and the bills keep getting bigger…. and of course the long-distance phone call if the partner is in another city….all the decisions on whether the sherwani colour will go well with the bride’s dress.. i learnt that ‘mauve’ is also a colour in one of these sessions that I had to tag along for… so i guess its not all bad…

No wonder then that the Big Fat Indian Wedding is a 88,000 Cr. industry!!!

This post sucks…i should really start doing something that I am more capable of… hmm…

Note to large readership group of 2: No smart aleck comments!!

Everytime I catch up with a batchmate of mine after a long time, the dreaded question comes up inevitably. So ‘how is your work going?’ question……..

Of course, one of the basic tenets of a B-school education is that you can never be found to be doing anything less than rocket science, more so if you are from the IIMs. So it is possible that the only thing you may have graduated to doing in the 4-5 years is now you are allowed to give the ‘print’ command rather than going and picking up the paper from the printer yourself for the boss.

But then when you talk to a batchmate, you are always creating strategy and laying the roadmap for a multi-billion dollar business all on your own….. So you have the Assistant VPs in finance firms, Program Mgrs in IT firms and any other esoteric sounding titles….But of course people are also smart enough to ask the relevant questions, all in the quest for finding whether I am doing better than him….

So here’s a thought…’If the work you do was so amazingly great, why are so many of the folks jumping firms?’

1. All the passengers with kids (0 – 48 months) will always be in the vicinity of your own seat

• a. At least one of the kids will decide that is the day for a shouting contest
  b. Infants will not have a ticket in their name but will stake claim to 70% of the seat and you are supposed to say that is so cute too*
  c. That will be the day you are trying to read a Milan Kundera

2. If you took solace thinking it is not too long a journey, the seat that you will get will be near the smelly toilet
3. The day you are reading an interesting book, all your co-passengers will want to retire for the night at 8.30 itself
4. A lower berth by definition is not for the ‘able’ people since there will invariably be someone else (old lady, woman with child etc) who wants you to move up or sideways and of course you are a jerk if you did not move
5. The pretty girl is always in the next coach and the coaches are not connected
6. If part of your reserved journey is during the day, anyone can come in and request you to kindly ‘adjust maadi’
7. When you need to drink a tea, you will find a complete procession of coffee vendors only in the train
8. The more ridiculous the time of the night the train reaches the destination, farther the platform will be from the exit
9. When travelling in Delhi during the winter on a Sleeper Class, NEVER be found short of a blanket (this had to be a separate one after that experience…)

*- Out of frustration from my last journey when I had 3 couples with 4 kids in my coupe. To say the least, I did not have a peaceful night…

She and the Girls
She: What say?
Best friend: He is quite interesting…and he does respect women……but…..
She: What do I do?
Best friend: This is what you should do…

He and the Guys
He: What say?
Best Friend: She is Hot!!!
He: What do I do?
Best Friend: Go for it, man…

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