The Gang!!

So as I told you in the last post we are Five. Five warriors of the same clan cubicle Of course, being in the same cubicle and to fight for it every day is our habit as our office as Collaborative Working Space concept, which lets you sit any where you want to.

Before I actually write stories, wait. I need to introduce them to all of you. We would start with the oldest member. (!Sorry, Daya!)

1. Daya - The artist in Adlabs Imagica had called her the sister of Sunny Deo because of her broad build, superb height and post delivery weight to some extent. Dare you say, she is a young mother so must be an old school girl. She is faster than me and you in abusing where needed!! She is one of my super close friends.

2. Suleman Behen /Dr. Salunkhe - The nomenclature is quite weird as he bawls like this cricket player - whoever he is. Atleast that is the only explanation we have been given to. He acts like the forensic doctor from the comic serial cum thriller CID. Investigating documents by almost shooting laser guns from his eyes while staring the screen of the laptop.

3.Nano/Wicket Keeper/ DCP Chitrole - This man is the victim of all our pranks. Five minutes we are free and we focus on discussing which of his legs should we pull this time. He looks like DCP from CID, Still 'Nano' in the looks and of course thanks to his faith he has a got a boss to 'Keep'.

4. Johnaa - That is what one of our senior team member calls him for some reason, not too close to his real name. Talk about the name - after spending 27 years on this earth his relatives still argue on the correct pronunciation of his name. Of course he takes things in high spirits. This many-named-person is my perfect partner in crime. Be it taking my side on bets or beating around the bush in the heated discussions inside the group just to make things lighter. He lives on chicken but gets irritated if some one tries to kill even an insects. All street dogs around my now old office and his home know him and get an account at the Tapari wala for some cookies for them every day.

5. Yours truly/ Fedricks - Of course I want to tell you guys, it has nothing to do with the IQ level of this charterer called Fedricks. It is my ability to throw sad and poor jokes all around. I do not want to be a narcissist and praise myself but hey, these guys really love me. Many many cute gifts in the farewell with really sentimentally funny dialogues are proofs.

We the gang of five are Chai Buddies. Our adda is Chai Tapari apart from our own cubicle - rather we have managed in such a fashion that no one else can work from there. We play pranks on the lunch table where the victim would be 'The Wicket Keeper.' We laugh out our lungs and we sprinkle fun all over.

Dont you think we are awesome? I have left this job which had only one positive thing - my gang, but I am still the part and I do not feel the distance thanks to 'Whatsapp'.

:)

Need to talk!

Okay, we need to talk. I need to type. Days I have been blogging and so there are many random things we need to discuss about. Hope you get yourself a cup of (really awesome) Masala tea while I talk share titbits on the blog.

It was an awesome weekend which started on Friday night. My sister (in law who can out law!) came from Mumbai to stay with me have a blast in Pune for some days while Mr.ISB had to be out of town. I was already bored at home as it was more than a week I was all alone, struggling and juggling between my professionally complicated and personally too lonely a life.

So there she came and the cold as well decided to set off, talk about winter. Mix vegetable and paneer pulao with roasted tomato soup. Tick. Tomato crusty cake- first experiment- Tick. Adarakhwali chai- Tick. Alu methi sabji- Tick. Handavo - Tick. Chocolate Banana Peanut butter smoothie - Tick. Awesomeness in kitchen is more awesome when foodies meet.

A friend cum office-mat came to spend some time us with a leaking nose (hope she never finds this blog post). And then there were talks about their (girls sans me) match making with 23435 types of  prospective grooms they have encountered till date. Yours truly found herself immensely lucky as she had by passed the stage where you meet those thousands of guys officially for 'arranged marriage' and get confused when you have to hypothetically assume good things about him in two or three meetings! Poor girls. Well both of them are quite smart, of course finding the right guy would be difficult! The whole how-the-hell-I-say-yes-to-a-guy discussion, we had a brilliant dinner at my favourite restaurant.

The night followed by the dinner was interesting. Chatting, chatting and chatting. When suddenly somebody opened the  main door of my house with a key followed by a series of mini heart attacks in my body. No crime took place. Mr.ISB had peeked into our talk session as always, trying to give a surprise by coming home from his trip. It was a shock for a few second I swear, not the surprise. My lord, please note.

Of course, the (read: silent) icing on the cake had arrived and so the 'masti' was doubled in the cheerful pink cold of Pune. Kolhapuri chappals gifted by Mr.ISB only increased the fun. The awesome dinner followed by a pie and a cake- coming back and checking out wedding photos. No weekend can be better than this.

Then the moment came when I realized the Sunday comes only to be followed by Monday. Throat pain also occurs to be followed by cold. Office also starts to be followed by frustration.

Well, the worst at office is not yet over. Keeping my all limbs crossed.

A mindful monkey!

It is amazing how my mind works. The messy mind needs lists, calendars and plans fixed. Impromptu plans upset me for a while. If it is travelling or recreation, it is fun. Otherwise, such incidents upset that little corner of my mind in a horrible fashion.

I have two types of problems. One, I am so very much clear about what I have to do, when and how I need to do. It creates the feeling of being too busy.For example, I make a rough plan in my mind before leaving from my office about rest of the day(?). No rest, please note. The draft would be very much in detail. Like, Going to the basement parking, getting on the vehicle, stopping at a near by 'Sabji wali', stopping for that grocery shopping, parking the vehicle in the colony, Getting into the lift, Start cooking- chai making ,calling both mothers and so on. I do it sub-consciously.

My second problem occurs when I do not know what I have to do. Like, my next job? My next vacation? When should I plan for a visit to my home now? Bla bla. It makes my mind boggle. All the time.

I want to do everything and that too together. Without missing a bit. I know this. The habit of multitasking some times makes you feel blah, far from being satisfied. Rightly said, "You are not Multitasking, you are just task switching!" May be I need to change my mindset to this.

I 'have to' make a to-do-list and I am a sucker for applications which can help me out. My problem is I make lists randomly any where, because I am yet to make the 'system' in which I can use a single diary/application for personal and professional tasks. Sometimes going digital seems the best way out and some times I am back to good old diary lists!! Both never gets in sync!

With my baking - cooking adventures on (Did I tell you, I have started putting Jaggery in oats in the morning, in place of Refinded Sugar?), eating healthy stuff is on priority. Along with other domestic stuff I have to do in the absence of my maid. So,whatever time I get after Maha frustrating office hours, I chase the super long to-do-list.

I keep on revising editing it in my mind or an application or on paper.So my mind jumps around tasks all the time. No doubt focusing on work, which is frustrating, gets more frustrating with time. My mind never decreases the speed of processing. The list never gets sync with my mind, paper list or an applist.

I keep on hovering around ideas to make my to-do-list perfect and then check all the points in the list.

May be a different sort of monkey minded personality I am!
Or
A mindful Monkey?

It really helps. Day dreaming.

Nilofar was coming. I was selfish for a moment. I wanted it to come to Pune at that very moment, so as to get an early compulsory off. (Being human, I don't want it to happen only, I was not a human being at that moment.)

My heart was thumping hard. No nervousness. Frustration. I did not want to go to the meeting which I had managed to avoid for quite some time. Just because it never helped. The saturation point was coming closer, to feel numb, I felt. The office kills my senses every day. Slogging is not challenging, that is what some senior management people told me. Yeah, well. That is what they make us do.

I attended the meeting with the shivering body while the low temperature of the room managed to keep my blood from boiling. The sheer wastage of time, managed to bring evening closer. Just to get roasted in another 'Counselling for career' lecture from another senior. Well, that is life. Talking about work life balance and asking to attend calls at States of America time.

The frustrated body tends to bend towards heavy , junk and irregular meals, like a normal human being. Just to realize they are big mistakes of my life. Having a cup of tea in place of heavy breakfast and grabbing the tasteless lunch, way after lunch timing. That is another story too. Being unhealthy and fat.

Those fat cells accumulated due to lack of exercise dance in the form of Bharatnatyam, Garba and free Bollywood dance shows once I enjoyed till I finished my 10th board. They keeps on increasing and decreasing in numbers. They never leave me alone for a long period of time. Of course my DNA is made up of fat cells if I look at my family,but there are celebrities like family members who manage to stay fit, a way healthier than a kid at an old age. I think, I am out of excuse and will power both.

The frustration rules my mind after office and I hardly feel my heart willing to beat with increased pace and endorphin rush in my veins. I ignore working out and keep on eating stuff, I should not.

Those sleeveless tops, halter necks and hot pants would never get the privilege to get flaunted by me. Those Reebok shoes in the show room to die for, will never get to see my legs moving faster than my usual speed of brisk walk. Those beautiful silk Sarees will be loved by me immensely with the wave of pain of looking ugly  in them. Those back pains which will play hide and seek all my life just because of my excess weight during PMS.

I can see the saturation point, the point of no return is coming closer in my professional life, affecting my personal life like never before.

I do not have a tunnel vision yet, to sort this for once and all. I have a blurred picture of what I would be doing in coming years, may be like a drenched painting. You thought you would get a finished bright, proper strokes on the canvas, what you got is a bucket full of water falling on it. Also you realize, you don't want to paint anymore.

Beautiful mornings, Sunshine, Chai mugs, Balcony. Jogging, dancing and the blood rush. No wearing formal clothes and no worries regarding how to tie my hair. Vegetables and grocery shopping and a stocked up kitchen. Relishing the food and working on my favorite laptop side by side. Chit chat with family members, photo clicking here and there. Challenges where my passion lies. Spic and Span kitchen and bright curtains. White cotton comfortable bed sheets and sparkling mirrors. Baking, blogging and reading every day. Discussion on geeky things and a few days out of town to enjoy the vacation every year.

Day dreaming relieves me sometimes from the baggage of frustrations I carry.

It really helps!

Frustration, Food, Books!

These three words sums up my life since some days. I would also like to put up a disclaimer that this is a 'Blah' kind of a post!

Last one week has been a roller coaster ride which took a depressive path and it is yet to collide with anything which can stop it. The only positive part of the tenure was the election day in the state and with no right to vote here, I quietly enjoyed the peaceful holiday with Mr.ISB. I am dreading today again, as the ride is going to continue.

Lately my office and my work has been draining my last 1% of peace and energy for nothing. It is no more challenging my urge to take up thing any further. I just feel like escaping from each and every molecule the office is made of. Right from my colleagues , friends and my work. Everything.

Every morning I have to pull myself away from the bed bribing me a cup of my type of tea. I drag myself to pick that laptop which would be lying on my bed as last night I would be working on it,  like a ghost with burning eyes and in between reading my current ongoing book-love. Trade offs are never easy.

The house maid has decided to never (not even a single day) to come on time and thus making me late for the office, every day. I am not sure if I am slowly striding towards inhumanity but I really feel like asking her not to come the next day, as the deal is over. I am yet to implement and it will take forever. No, I can not do that to any one. Freaking expenses these days, they need work too.

In such days, only cooking and reading apart from understanding semi-motivational speeches given by the eternal optimistic Mr.ISB keeps me alive. I have also changed my loyalty from paper books to Kindle App due to my over shooting expenses on books and the need of keeping them with me all the time. Of course the feel and the smell is missing big time but then there has to be a trade off.

When I am in office, I take everything to slow down my metabolism. I do not go for the lunch, I hate the all-women-girls lunch group talks to the core. I do not even go with my guys-group of lunch as well. In short my calls with stake holders affect my mind in such a way that, I throw it on my body. Not acceptable, I know.

When I am at home. I cook (Good or bad!) out of the overwhelming feelings towards food. Seriously, I feel satisfied from within. I guess each and every droplet of my blood celebrates the joy when I cook and feed two souls.

Yummy pancakes!

Masala Tomato rice!

Pithado - Besan ki sabji - Mom's Input!

Kofta - Healthy No fry!

Super healthy Atte ka sheera - With minimum Ghee and Jaggery!

Stuffed Grilled Bell Pepper - Waiting for Oven to make it properly !

I guess the amount of frustration I gather in office every day, safely turns into a unique food dish. Not in my life time I took so much of interest naturally in cooking. Cooking is therapeutic! My cooking adventures are truly supported - guided by her and both moms, in Eklavya style! 

Yesterday, after Repeating cooking-reading-sleeping cycle for three times we managed our asses to move out and as usual we went for a long walk which ended with a dinner and the Crossword visit. 

I was happy, things were soothing out and I realized the working day is knocking on the door! 

Frustration, Food and Books - Here I come again.