Gift

Its a momentous occasion.

My gift to this space on the eve of 100th post is a new domain name. 

Alright, not completely new, but a modified name :P

Kindly do take note of this fact.

And yeah, a 100th post could have contained some more emotional bakwaas, rant or insightful thinking. But the whole act looks too boring and prudish. 

Though I "plan" to be spontaneous and passionate with writing. I also plan to gain some weight :|

Guess earlier plan is better. I will stick to it.

Till then,

Have fun!! And don't snore while sleeping :P

~nightflier

Gulaal

Anurag Kashyap has many ideas. The man is a bit crazy too. Remember what I said after watching the trailer of Dev D ?

Well, Gulaal is better. It does not loose its grip midway. Everyone in the movie is a pretender. A pretentious scum. It has loads of dirty politics. The fairer sex is equally involved in it. But you still watch it. It also reminds one of movies like Hazaaron khwahishein aisi and Kalyug. The influence of John Lennon and ancient Indian wisdom, may be. But it still is different. I am trying to figure out, exactly what, because the movie in its entirety is a bit weak. I still don't have an answer. (as soon as I find out I will update, I swear.)

The background score is loud and awesome. It makes the movie more powerful. Lyrics like 'bisleri ki bottle pi ke man ban gaye' are cult !! Yeah, like the emotional atyachaar thing. They have also used the famous line from the maha famous song from Pyaasa 'Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai'. DJ's are you listening??

Mahie Gill is too good. Her raw talent is rare.

Though the overall script is a bit weak and confused, Mr. Kashyap is a talented director. He leaves some clues, traces for the audience, thus not relying wholly on them. His frames are so strong and dark, they leave an impact on you. He likes the dark may be. Sometimes I cannot believe this same guy directed Return of Hanuman, which I had watched in a theatre. (Me and my roomie were too excited to watch an Indian animation movie then. It also had some fabulous songs!)

Anurag Kashyap has something in him. And I am ready to wait for it to evolve. Because I know it will be brilliant.

~nightflier

P.S. I know these thoughts are random. Time constraint !!

Recession time stories

So I was talking to this friend after a long time. Almost 4 months, the span in which she got married, changed her city, started a new life and a new job.

Now we both belong to that category of humans, who loved their first jobs (companies more than that). The same category of humans, who take offence if they hear anything bad, critical being said about their corporate Alma mater (ok, I take it more seriously!!).  Yeah, you can brand them as stupid school kids, who are very loyal to their believes. So much that we still follow the news feeds on our respective companies, she after changing her job and me after changing my priorities. 

Inside story, I know which bus routes have changed, from which parking lot the buses leave now, how the new employee center is not as good as the one at Mysore, how many H1-B visas have been issued in a particular unit, what the current hiring trend and rate is, and numerous shitty details. You can call me psychotic, if you wish :P

So we were discussing all these things when she started asking me about my career map. It's a cankerous topic. I go into cribbing mode almost instantly. And the other person is just short of banging his own head onto the wall (long distance calls help!).  And our discussion moved to the more obvious culprit 'recession'.

And we started talking about the phenomenon called 'corporate cost cutting'!!

1. Number of vending machines suddenly start disappearing. A month ago if your floor had 4 different types of coffee machines, now the whole floor sips the same old drab and cheapest coffee of the local vendor.

2. I have heard that some companies had stopped the use of paper towels as a means to cut costs.

3. Some bus routes are often changed or shortened or altogether closed.

4. Employees are encouraged to take meagerly paid sabbatical (!!!!$$$!!!!)

5. Well we all are aware, how performances (in time and out times) start getting monitored, once bad times strike.

6. Hiring rate slows down.

7. No more onsites. For indefinite period at least.

8. Salary hike looks like an illusion.

9. The bench/bay phenomenon increases beyond imagination. You are considered of the highest order if you still have fruitful work. By which I don't mean playing sudoku/solitaire or solving puzzles or reading blogs whole day.

10. All messengers suddenly get banned. How people still find out proxies is a different issue.

11. Dry spell hits the project parties and outings. These are the very in things in corporate world, which suddenly become "out" and waste of time and resources.

12. Insecurity creeps in the lives of many. Back up plans become a necessity.

And thus goes on the corporate saga. I am happy for all of them who have jobs and work. And for those who are having a tough time, hang in there people. Patience normally gets paid with the greatest of rewards. :)

~nightflier!

He's back !!

For long (2 years may be, since I became mail savvy) he was an essential part of my daily existence. Lately he was into hiding.

But I am glad to announce that he's back. Not on popular demand or anything, but on his own will. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the bugger is back to spam your mailboxes. Muhahahaha !!!!!

On a good girl note, I hope you find your treasure !!

Cheers to the cheer and crappiness,

~nightflier!

This is me...

I am flawed.

I have my weak moments, when I run away, I hide and I emerge back.

I get angry too. (and often sulk if it remains unexpressed or unhandled)

So in short I am the imperfect, ordinary human being. And if you still regard me as your friend, then kindly accept me as I am. With my flaws, my weaknesses and thus in my entirety.
Else, we will tell ourselves that we did not know and understand each other that well and hence were not 'true' friends (at least I will tell that to myself, you can choose a different way).

But kindly try to accept me for being myself. It will save a friendship and a good relationship. And it will be a great (full of drama and emotion, juicy and spicy) story to tell our grand kids !! :)

~nightflier!

GREEN day

Oh no, its not about the "band" !! Am I that obvious ?

For days, I had heard about the St. Patrick's day celebration, and when the chance came upon me, I had no plans. My roommate was equally excited, but St. Paddy's needs crowd and not company!!

Last minute plans (this also included 3 females getting ready in record 30 minutes, on a Sunday morning) were hatched and we (a crowd of four) headed to the South side of the city. It is supposedly the best and most famous parade of the city.

Never ever I have seen people involved in merrymaking, especially in the US. My notion of Americans is, that they are reserved kind of people. May be I am too presumptuous.

Anyways..

The train was full of boisterous crowds singing, dancing, drinking (beer, even though its not allowed :|) and having fun. There was a group at the entrance of our car, who made everyone going out and coming in dance. They were all dressed up in bright shades of green with funny hats, matching beaded necklaces, nail enamels, head bands, scarves, eye shadows, wrist bands, shamrock necklaces, and even green footwear. Oh well, we were also carrying teeny weeny bits of green with us.

As soon as we reached the parade venue, we were caught into the frenzy. I eagerly started looking for shops selling shamrock head bands. Luckily I found a lady selling those and bought myself nice springy shamrock green head band. I was also a part of the crowd now. So contagious was the merry feeling. 

The parade was about Irish culture, their traditions. It consisted of the most graphic and sonorous Irish bagpiper bands. If you think men cannot carry off skirts, think again! I think the way Irish men looked changed that for me, as they were looking more manly in those skirts. And the bagpipers, oooohhh.. The sounds are still ringing in my head (ears is it ? :|). There were other bands too, with drums and heavy beats. They somehow reminded me of a lazy Saturday morning and school grounds. We all have gone through those PT days.

There were groups of kids doing the famous Irish dance (I want to learn!!!!). There were leprechuan masked people, circus folks, Irish sheriffs. Irish traditional cops, on horses and ponies were also there. The best were the Irish wolfhounds. They looked so adorable and really tall. I could not touch or cuddle any, though :|

There were people distributing free beaded necklaces, candies (I got em all :D), balls. The ladies in front of us were really nice, who helped us get all this stuff. 

Our day ended on a dry note. Earlier it was decided that we would go to an Irish pub to see more merrymaking (yeah just to see). But hungry and growling stomachs came in our way. We dispersed without mentioning this.

But it was a nice change. Seeing green all over the place. The color of spring, may be :)

I was already missing holi. But the music, the color (though just one :)) made me feel good. I am going to add more green to my wardrobe now. And going to attend St. Paddy's day parades as long as I am in US (or countries where its celebrated). So what, even if I am not an Irish ?

~nightflier :)

Quarantined !!!