my various colors

Your Aura is Blue

Spiritual and calm, you tend to live a quiet but enriching life. You are very giving of yourself. And it's hard for you to let go of relationships. The purpose of your life: showing love to other people Famous blues include: Angelina Jolie, the Dali Lama, Oprah Careers for you to try: Psychic, Peace Corps Volunteer, Counselor

What Color Is Your Aura?

Your Power Color Is Lime Green

At Your Highest: You are adventurous, witty, and a visionary. At Your Lowest: You feel misunderstood, like you don't fit in. In Love: You have a tough exterior, but can be very dedicated. How You're Attractive: Your self-awareness and confidence lights up a room. Your Eternal Question: "What else do I need in my life?"

What's Your Power Color?

Your Heart Is Pink

In relationships, you like to play innocent - even though you aren't. Each time you fall in love, it's like falling for the first time. Your flirting style: Coy Your lucky first date: Picnic in the park Your dream lover: Is both caring and dominant What you bring to relationships: Romance

What Color Heart Do You Have?

Your Mind is Blue

Of all the mind types, yours is the most mellow. You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles. Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Mind?

and i was taught only chameleons had many colors...and come to think of it , white doesn't even appear in the list maybe that why i like it so much, i need more of it ;)

something i wrote some time ago..in memory of a lost friend...

One morning, I was informed that a close friend, who used to live next door, had passed away suddenly during the night. Over the next few blurry moments, I was told that she had been taken to a hospital for an emergency appendicitis surgery, during which she had succumbed.

At 13, death had seemed nothing more than a far fetched reality, something that would happen after at least another 50 years. This perception now shattered as I sat next to her, watching her inconsolable parents, while I myself was completely devoid of any thought or reaction.

Over the next few weeks, as the loss finally sank in, I found my own perspective towards life changing. I realized how precious a gift life truly is and how sudden death can be. How, without even a moment’s notice, everything and everyone we hold dear can be snatched away, while all we can do is look on helplessly, wishing there was something we could do, knowing that there isn’t. I regretted never having told my friend what she had meant to me until it was too late. I regretted all those fights that now seemed insignificant, and the time we wasted being mad at each other.

I subsequently found myself becoming more emotionally expressive, considerate and kind towards everyone around me. I learned that most things are too insignificant to be angry at and complain about and that we can choose to live each day to its fullest, with hope, faith and love. Some where along the way, I subconsciously resolved to live a life of conscious choices and no regrets.

My friend’s face, as she slept peacefully, still bring tears to my eyes as I remember the last words she had written in her dairy,

“…the aim in life is not walk fast but far

In case you are wondering why I have stuck up a photo of a messy table, take a closer look. Its no less than the ENTIRE range of Oriflame's skin care products, each one of which promises to make your skin younger, fresher and healthier. Go on, take a closer look...yes those are 3 BIG bowls of Potato Chips. Fried, spicy junk food that promises to ruin your skin completely. Why are they served on the same table at the same time?? One of those mysteries of women that no one understands.. including me!!!! :P No wonder my male friends quite blatantly put me in the "who girl??!!!" category and no wonder that I have hardly ever made any female friends...women just hate me. But then its not their fault, what do you expect if they invite me to a make up session, promising to give me a make over that would make jaws drop all around me and all I can do in return is scoff at their carefully dressed table and graciously offered chips!!!! :P

Or if I tell them that quitting chocolates would be more effective than any other dieting if they seriously want to lose weight (believe me women like that are not scarce ) ... i mean how can I possibly ask a woman to quit eating chocolates (:OOOO ) to lose weight! Isn't it bad enough that they starve themselves the entire day had hardly have any strength left to walk or even stand. Its nothing short of blasphemy on my part...their looks tell me , and then go on to add "Easy for you to say!! you're not fat, you don't have to worry about what size to buy!"

Its strange, how-so-ever I try, I fail to make this article humorous. I fail to make fun of the poignancy of the current day situation where more n more women are going crazy trying to fit into smaller n smaller size dresses, spending fortunes over crazy skin, hair and diet treatments..while the simple basic everyday common sense seems to have gone missing!

Men-2

This has to be the strangest co-incidence.. though they're not really new to me, but i just realised that exactly 2 years ago, I had written my article on Men

Reading it made me realise that though 2 tremendous years have gone by and the world around me has topsy-turvied [ well, I still stay in the same place, work in the same city, have practically the same wardrobe, hangout with the exact same set of friends, but let's not get into the technicalities.. :P ] ....so as I was saying the world around me has changed a lot. And I have too, with it. Obviously, I have grown wiser [ I like to believe that about me and this is my blog. Who asked you??!!] with time [for women never age ;) ] .

So the confusion must have lessened right??? (Sigh....) If anything, it has gotten worse. Earlier it was just about their behavior, which you can learn to ignore or accept (or do both) over time.

But you know what really completely absolutely baffles me1111 [apart from how I managed to break the shift key on my keyboard] ???
How do men always, I mean always manage to say the wrong thing??!!!!
don't believe me?? here are a few snippets I have gathered from my female friends, "in conversations" with their dates, boyfriends, and/or husbands .. ;)

1) After 3-4 dates :
woman: "With you I just don't realise how time flies. I really enjoy talking to you"
man: "good! "
Good??!! remember the how do you do etiquette? couldn't you even manage a measly "same here"??

2) Major problems at the parental front,
woman(poor worried thing): "who knows if we'll be together tomorrow"
man: "Hmmm...."
wow!! for the woman you love , that's reassuring!

3) Ever heard the definition of beauty as being defined as natural?? Well she thought she'd give it a try...
woman: "So?? How do i look??"
man: "You look a little blank without makeup"
blank???!!! I mean seriously, did he just say BLANK!!!!!!!!! how about NATURE-FRESH!!!

4) I don't even want to give the background for this one
man: "wow! you look really slim in that dress!!!"
and I am not going to tell you what the slap on his face sounded like ;)

5) A worried wife over the phone,
woman: "Please take care, I'm really worried about you"
man: "Oh don't!! Its useless, you can't do anything"
Ouch! that gotta hurt! lucky he was on the phone ;)

6) A wife, getting wistful about her courtship days, wondering...
woman: "you must hate me now that i don't dress up anymore"
man: "I never saw the difference"
wrong answer buddy!! ever heard of the word sensitive?? how about polite?? :P

7) another from a hopeless (ahem i mean metaphorically) romantic ...
woman (humming to herself)
man:"were you just singing??"
woman: "no, just humming..i wish i had the voice and skill to sing well..."
man: "you have a feminine voice..thats enough"
well i understand you are trying to be encouraging..but ever heard of constructive criticism?

8) And this dear reader, is the UNCONTESTED WINNER!!!
(don't ask how I got hold of this information...that's a trade secret ;) )
At the dawn of a steamy , passionate night
woman(smiling): "say something..."
a pregnant pause...
man: "I really respect you as an individual"
hehehehehhahahahahahah...rofl rofl rofl....despite all my sympathies for her endless fears and non stop tears, I could just not stop laughing when she told me this! And don't even get me started on what she described afterwards!!!! ;)

Honestly men... its not so hard. Be honest, just read our minds and know when we want you to be honest and when romantic. And remember when we want you to be romantic, we do still want you to be honest, its just the honesty that we want, not the one that you have!! All you have to do is read our minds and say exactly what we want you to say!! and don't forget, it has to be an honest opinion!!

see that's not so hard ;) ...

relationships are all about honesty, if you can fake it, you're in it!!! ;P ;P ;P

All in a Call

I am a humble IT professional. One of the millions in this country, earning my bread and butter (low-fat mind you!) by making applications that, I doubt hardly anyone uses, I am pretty sure no one needs and I can bet absolutely no one, including me, understands.

But well..you gotta eat!! And as long as some whimsical old man sitting at the other end of the world who thinks he knows what he wants, is willing to pay... whats the harm in shoving down utterly complicated entirely useless applications down the wannabe-Hi-Tech users' throats ;)

and that brings me to the protagonist of this entire drama called, IT service outsourcing...The whimsical old man sitting the other end of the world, who thinks he knows what he wants. For the benefit of the lesser enlightened, this species is called, in our world, The Client.

No, that's not another Jeffrey Archer or Frederick whats-his-name work. The Client is, to say the least, God in our world. We do all we need to, to please him...no..not THAT all!!!! More like managing ensuring the product is in conformance to the ever changing requirements, without losing that sparkling smile. Not that he can see that smile, since most, no , all of the client meetings happen over voice conference calls, but you know what I mean... no noise in the background giving the impression that you are in vacuum, a cheerful active alert voice, even if you just woke upand felt all grumpy..well you get the idea!!

so seeing that my scarce bread and low fat butter would depend upon a perfect call made to God Himself, I would do all in my power to make sure that it went right. Right? Wrong! Me, being the quintessetially lazy bonehead...am bound to differ!!

So on a Friday evening, as I coolly clicked the accept button at a meeting request for Sunday evening, 7:30, (You can't refuse God can you!!) ...I thought , "Oh what the hell!! Its just a half hr call..I'll take it from home. What could possibly go wrong.." and with this, I set an alarm for Sunday evening 7:15, picked up my car keys and headed home for a relatively work free weekend...

Flash forward..Sunday 7:20

7:20 PM
"oh what the hell!! why is this stupid thing (my cell phone alarm) ringing...oh shit!! I have a call in 10 min. I had to prepare the agenda... oh ****(very un-lady-like)!!! ", I jumped out of my bed ( I had been enjoying a heavenly slumber!) and took out my laptop bag, hurriedly switched it on, "oh what! where! wh-oh GOD!!! CRAP!!! I can't believe I left my headphones in the office!! ****(highly un-lady-like)!! Hey! Yo! "(that's how I usually call my sister when I want a quick response),

"WHAT!!!!!" she bellowed back!

7:22 PM
Me: "we had a spare set of headphones didn't we??!! I need it!! I have a call in 8 minutes!!!"
Her: "second drawer study table. Get it yourself!"

It was out of its resting and plugged in before you can say flash! I was all set, (whew!) oh no wait! "wh---now what!!!! why is this net not working?! HEYY!!! "
"WHAT??????"
"The net isn't working"
"Well what am I supposed to do!! give it a minute, not your office leased line high speed connection!!!"
(sigh)...."And for GOD's sakestop tapping your feet and drumming your fingers on the table!! Im trying to study!"

7:25 PM
By now I was furiously battling the net wire and modem..
"Stop! STop! STOP!!! you'll break the bloddy modem!! ...try connecting to the desktop maybe some settings problem with your laptop "
Ah! my sister could be such heaven-sent at times!!

I plugged in the desktop, the headphones and pressed the boot button..

7:28 PM
"3 minutes!! this freaky machine takes 3 mintues to boot!!" I was on the verge of screaming out
"Di!!! its a 8 yr old machine..have mercy on the poor thing for God's sake!"
..."I dont know why she always has to wait till the last minute to get things done"...I ignored her muttering

7:30 PM
finally, the machine started, the net got connected and I was plugged in to the headphones, just in the nick of time

(incoming call)..
"Hello!"
"Hello! Hi Shipra..you there??"
"Hi Yes. I am..Hi"
"Hello! Hi Shipra..you there??"
"HELLO!! HELLLLLO!! yes I am...oh what now!!---"

and my heaven-sent sister walked back in.. "Hey Di!! By the way, did I tell you the mic socket doesn't work in the Desktop"

I looked at her, then at the desktop and then inwardly screamed ...**************************************** (completely unimmaginably un-lady-like ) I then realised I had always underestimated my verbal abusing powers....

7:35 PM
(my cell phone rings, international number)..
"Hello!" , I said, trying to sound as calm and cheerful as I could under the storm
"Hello! Hi Shipra..you there??"
"Hello Yes. Hi ..I am sorry, a bit of a trouble, my mic doesn't seem to be working",
"Oh. Ok, let's just have a quick chat over the phone allright?"
"Sure"...

8:00 PM
the call was going on with no plans of ending in near future...
"Hey Shipra..do you think you want to retry your mic"
(Oh GODD!!!) "Well actually, I did..but..."
"Oh ok"
(blip!) I couldn't believe this!! my sturdy Nokida handset with a talktime of 2 days (my usage) was going low on battery
"blah blah blah..."
Blip! Blip! "pfffffffffffff. now what!!"
"Shipra!! Are you listening???"
"Yes Yes...sorry, I am really sorry, my cell seems to be dying...can I call you back?"
"Oh ok. No, if you don't mind, is there a landline number I can call you on? "
"Ofcourse! Sure! umm its..." ,(how stupid can I be! I hate this cell phone culture!)
"Dad!!", I hissed, "whats our landline number?"
(To client): "Umm, Hi, sorry, its ********"
landline rings...
"Hi!! I am sorry abt this...just seem to be having a...hello?? hello!!"
"HELLO!! SHIPRA I AM SORRY, BUT THERE'S TOO MUCH DI"...(beep beep beep)

8:10 PM
cell phone again...
"Hello"
"Hello! Shipra there was too much disturbance in the line. I could nt hear you. Is there any other number?"
(and for the first time in my life I thanked God that my dad is such a phone freak!)
"ofcourse!!"
"Dad!!", I hissed again, "Whats our other number?" (Man I need to spend more time at home!!)
'Hi , its *******"

8:18 PM

landline 2 rings...
"Hello"
"Hello. Hi, yes this is much better"
....
8:30 PM

"blah blah blah...."
"(OH GoDD!!!!!!!!!) I dont belive this...now my laptop is dying. How can this stupid thing....oh shit! I forgot to charge it last night when I was surfing...pfffffff" "HEY!!!", I let out a stifled scream to my heaven-sent sister, "get my laptop charger!"
Poor girl, she let the opportunity to torment me further pass by and tried to plug my charger in
"ok?"
"blah blah blah..."
"no it isn't charging, try the other socket", ----" nothing!! try the extension" --- the entire electrical machinery in my house seemed to be breaking down suddenly,
"blah blah blah..."
"the sockets are fine..its your laptop charger, its broken!!"
....and with these final words the full intensity of Murphy's law started to sink in...
"Shipra you still there?"
"Yes Yes!! ofc-----"
"Oh Thank God!! I thought I lost you again"...
I tried to laugh.."No no, I am here. Though there do---."
"Oh good, because we really need to finish this today!"
I had spent 1 hour on a call that had been scheduled for half an hr, and still we hadn't covered 1 sheet of the 11 sheet document, I was so close to tears I didn't know what to do except pray.. so pray I did
"blah blah blah...."
promising God I'd never be this careless again...
and suddenly, I heard a magical voice ringing in the background...
"honey, we are getting late for dinner" , that was my client's wife..I had never felt this happy on hearing another woman's voice in my life!

"Shipra..I am sorry, but can we continue tomorrow"
"Ofcourse! no problem!! whatever suits you!"

I f***** up God's own call!! I think I better start looking elsewhere for my noodles..err..I mean ...bread and no-butter-at-all