Speaking aloud

Might is right...or is it?

2006-06-16T17:35:00.000+05:30

This girl got in from Borivali station yesterday in the Virar train. Normally, the women in this train do not allow people from the in-between station to get in because the train is crowded by then and in any case, there are plenty of trains leaving from Borival. Anyways, the girl pushed her way through. A chick standing at the door tried to push her off. In retaliation, this Borivali girl, who had by now come in and screamed at her saying that if she says anything she will push her off the train.

The girl at the door got mad and started to beat up the girl who had got in from Borivali. And the women around these two looked on.

I mean, what the heck? Were they enjoying the scene or something? A perfect example of first class passengers behaving like third class human beings. The poor unsuspecting girl was in tears and we barely managed to pull her inside the compartment. And the Borivali woman beater escaped when the train halted at Andheri.

It is a scary thought what travelling frustration can do to an individual. The other chick was lucky that she got away. If I was her victim, I would have scrawled her scrawny ass to the police station. Or even better, I would have just boxed the daylights out of her.

The Tigerpieces Cartoon Network

2006-05-09T11:57:00.000+05:30

The Tigerpieces Cartoon Network

2006-05-09T11:50:00.000+05:30

Life now a days is rather bizarre, especialy with one particular client. So here is an ode to this person who shall hence forth be referred as 'Dick'.

It's a laughing matter!

2006-03-17T15:38:00.000+05:30

I'd just give anything to know what is going on in the minds of these two wicked monkeys who seem to have indeed done or seen something unmentionably funny. Any guesses?

Meme for me

2006-03-10T12:37:00.000+05:30

Monday Meme 39 : 2006-02-27 : Today

1. What is the weather like where you are today?

It rained unexpectedly and there were hail stones too at Virar where i live. The weather is gorgeous.

2. When did you get up today?

6.45 am

3. What is the first thing you did when you got on your computer today?

Copied a file from my pen drive.

4. What do you need/want to get done today?

Gotta get a horrendous client out of my way. Just the thought of this project makes my blood boil.

5. What are you wearing today?

A blue kurta with black pants.

I was the 258th person to take this week's Monday Meme!

A fish eating demon

2006-02-11T16:23:00.000+05:30

Kiara is learning words. She has now begun to string sentences together...though not all of them make any sense to any one...and maybe not to her either...and yet, I think she seems to love the sound of her own voice.

Like for instance, all this time, all food for her was Papa. (I have no clue why should associate her food with her dad). Yesterday she had the fabulous, absolutely yummy fried Bombay Duck. Not that she hasn't had it before...but ever since yesterday, everything for her is Bombil (the local name for the fish).

I said: What did u eat today Beba?
She said: Bombil.

I said: Do you want water?
She said: Bombil.

I screamed: Why did u spill the salt?
She screamed: Bombil!!!

After we had reconciled...
I said: What is your name?
She said: Keekaa (My name for her..Kee = Kiara, Kaa = Karir)

I said: A for...?
She said: Bombil!!!!

I said: B for?
She said: Cuckoo!!!

Her last statement explained my state of mind by day end yesterday. I've taught her C for Cuckoo actually...but at least she was off Bombil for a while.

Cake Smashing Fun

2005-09-10T14:04:00.000+05:30

I love birthdays. Especially mine. There is a ritual in my office that the birthday baby gets cake smashed on the face. Here are some pics of me going through the yucky, sticky ritual.

Yesterday once more

2005-09-09T16:00:00.000+05:30

As I am writing this, its starting to rain once more and as the Mumbai Govenrment likes to put it...we are 'not' to panic. Which means that there is a reason to panic indeed.

Its my birthday today too and I was very wryly reminded by mom that I was no longer young. :(. All this rain just adds to the misery. Here are some pics of the rain in Mumbai just to give you an idea of what exactly is happening right now in town. I don't even wanna remember that horrible Tuesday from July which had the entire city flooded. It was pathetic. So here i am wishing myself a very happy birthday and hoping that I reach home in one piece. Shrunken yes...but in one piece.

Pocket money? Or a salary?

2005-09-08T14:35:00.000+05:30

Till the time I was in college, my dad would give me Rs. 10 as pocket money per day which included my bus fare and one vada pav. For an occassional cold drink, I had to save up. And in case I was a bit more greedy, I had to earn my own pocket money. Which is what I did since the time i was 16. Gone are those days. These days, you have to pay your kids a salary if you want them to call you their parents. Check out this piece of news article which came in the Mumbai Mirror.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=2&articleid=9720052571415972005255215

Hello, big spender!

A study says that the average British 15-year-old sports Rs 34,000 worth of brands and accessories. What about our local heroes, then? Sachin Rao dissects some Mumbai Gen-Xers, buck by buck

I deal with those a**holes in America, I live like them too," says 19-year-old BPO exec Yogesh Rautela, 10 months into the job. His credit cards are stretched, his money is spent on “boozing, partying, discos”, he doesn't believe in saving. Somewhere, an FMCG or apparel-maker's Marketing Manager is jumping for joy.

Colleges, coffee shops or the local McD's, you can't miss today's teens. But what happened to the idealistic, penniless teen, strumming a Beatles song under the trees? Hasn't hangin' out, the perennial pastime of pre-20s everywhere, never been costlier? Well, it hasn’t, but no worries, nowadays it fits the rest of the bill just right.

A recent study in the UK concluded that the average British 15-year-old sports branded clothing, shoes and accessories worth £450 (Rs 34,000). A matching Impact study found that their Indian counterparts are no less bedecked—in fact, throw in the cost of a two-wheeler and we're many a notch higher. The Brits tend to do more part-time work, but BPO-boom Indians are fast catching up on this front—Rautela is a blazing example. But "all the stuff I'm wearing, I bought it with my own money," he says with pride.

Stuti Ahuja, in her first year of college and all of 17, worked for a year at a call-centre in her native Pune. Now, being away from her family and on a set budget, she does her quota of flea-market shopping, but still gives in to the occasional splurge. Her wardrobe includes her favourite Levi's Lowrise jeans, Rs 2,200 a pair. "Mumbai is just so expensive, I usually end up broke midway through the month," she confides.

Tot up a passing teenybopper's total brand-worth —medical student Priyanka Parekh, 19, adds up to Rs 11,250 (with her Nokia 2600, Ray-Bans and Levi's contributing generously)—and you begin to get an idea of the importance of this segment to advertisers and manufacturers.

And this is the basic end of the scale; Anisha Chopra, 18, daughter of a businessman, thinks nothing of having a mobile phone worth Rs 20,000, a pair of Tommy sandals costing Rs 3,500, or Gucci shades with a Rs 8,500 price tag. Whatever is daddy dearest for?

Logo-watching, card-flashing, large-living... Johnny Teenager is indeed the dude of the moment. Tell him he's keeping the New Economy going, and he'll flash you an amiable grin and a thumbs-up, and go back to playing games on his Nokia Ngage QD. Brand-new, of course.

YOGESH RAUTELA, 19 BPO executive TOTAL BRANDWORTH: Rs 75,000
Shades: Fast Track, Rs 1,495
Jewellery: Coral on silver chain, Rs 1,660
Shirt: 2FFU, Westside, Rs 399
Helmet: Aerostar, Rs 1,400
watch: Timex, Rs 1,995
Credit cards: 3
Mobile: Nokia 3200, Rs 6,000
Wheels: Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTSi, Rs 60,000
Trousers: Unbranded, Rs 300
Shoes: Woodland, Rs 1,995

"When my dad sees me sitting around at home looking frustrated, he gives me Rs 5,000-10,000"

STUTI AHUJA, 17 I yr, Wilson College TOTAL BRANDWORTH: Rs 65,000
Mobile: Nokia 6600, Rs 18,000
Coloured hair: Rs 1,500
Tube-top: Inxs store, Phoenix, Rs 700
Top: Goan flea market, Rs 80
Shades: unbranded, Rs 150
Handbag: e2, Rs 100
Debit cards: 6 (only one account has cash, though!)
Tattoo: Greek motif, done in Pune, Rs 2,500
Jeans: Trinity, Bandra, Rs 1,700

"I get Rs 8,000 at the beginning of the month, but usually I run out by the 15th and have to ask for 5,000 more"