To the Women

Who I call my friends (family not included else the post will grow too long)…
Its women’s day on the 8th of March so I thought I shall just post a few lines about my female friends here (Sorry guys, I shall post good things about you another time).
(As always I shall not post your names – just initials – so as to not give you a chance to sue me).
So gals, here is what I admire about you (in alphabetical order)–

AH! – your smiley face!
AN – your enthusiasm
Bhai – your imagination
Chan – your sense of humour, our tireless plans of doing everything under the sun
DG – Attention to details, thoughtfulness
HM – your independence of thoughts, innocence
KK – your attitude towards life
ManWa – the host of topics that we can talk about
MT- your chatter
Risha – refreshing. how nobody can ever get bored with you.
SD – how u always have office news (gossip)
Silin – your lively spirit, demeanour
Smiley – your stories and experiences
SZ - your poise
UK – your cheerful demeanour
VS – your ideas and laughter

You gals are special and mean a lot to me, even though I may not say so frequently!
I shall not say thanks, coz that’s a very small word. Nonetheless I wanted to let you know what I feel about you.
(If you want to know what I don’t like about you, I shall tell each of you separately :) )

Made by me Monday - Big Ben Westminster

A friend wanted some icon of London to be made for him. So I made this Big Ben & Westminster for him. The paper I used had a ribbed texture(you cant see it in the picture) so the vertical lines added a construction(architecture) kind of feel to the cutout.
I was going to mount this on grey but my sister suggested this blue background which had some shades so I used that instead and am happy that I went with my sister's suggestion!

What a start …

…of the day, week, month!
I came in to office today realising on my way that I forgot my cell phone at home… I thought its alright I don’t get too many calls anyway and besides my cell was switched off over the weekend so another day would not matter much.

After reaching my desk, I realised that my chair was missing so I went hunting for a comfortable chair. I was looking at chairs in the bay next to mine which is practically empty these days.
So here I was testing the chairs and deciding which one I should pick. The first one was not to my liking so I tried the one next to it. There I sat and I fell down, backwards! Didn’t realize it was broken. To me that one second when I fell was a long time. I felt like I almost floated down. Luckily there were no sharp edges around there as I had pulled the chair into the open before trying and I wasn’t hurt. Thankfully not many people had come in then and I could get up on my own. No scratches, no bruises, no pain. It was almost hilarious!
Can you believe while I was falling I could only think of
‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall…
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall…’
Can’t stop laughing now!

And the Oscar goes to…

Slumdog Millionaire ...
Slumdog Millionaire ...
Slumdog Millionaire ...
Well ok!
The whole day the news channels here are running news of how this is India’s victory, how this opens doors for Indians at the Academy etc.!
All the channels – radio and TV and repeatedly playing Jai Ho.
We hear – “The success of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars had made India proud”.
Has it? Really?
I disagree. I, proudly Indian, disagree. No, I did not make a grammatical error there. I intend to say “proudly” and not “proud”.
I fail to understand why has this made people so happy? Is it the need to identify with anything successful that has remotely something to do with India? (I have similar views on associating Kalpana Chawla with India but that is another post.) This movie is not Indian. Neither a complete representation of India for that matter. India could be this but it is much more.
I have to admit that I have not yet watched the film. The initial reviews of the movie did that to me. From what I heard, India is not shown in good light. Yet, people rejoice!
I see a silver lining though. A.R. Rehman is truly a sensational musician and his getting the award makes me happy.
Other than that, even though the cast is from India, this movie is not.
I cant help but think, where does this leave Indians(or India), as slumdogs or millionaires?

Made by me Monday - flowers

This one is for another friend - now delivered so I can safely post pics here!

The picture is from a cell phone camera so please excuse the perspective lines!

Made by Me Monday - Guardian Angel

Another angel. This is for a friend and since it is now handed over, I can safely post it.

She thought something was missing in this though but could not quite point out what. Could somebody help? Am hoping there is a chance to enhance this someway!

Where is the buzz?

The clock is nearing 4.00 pm on a seemingly normal working day. Usually this is the time when you can hear murmuring and there is a spike in activity. People get up from their workstations to take a 10 minute break, head to the tea/coffee machine or a quick bite.
Why is it so quiet then, of late? Where is the usual drone? Where are the people?
There have been talks of a slowdown for a good over 6 months now. We frequently hear the news of layoffs in Organization ‘A’, shutdown of Org ‘B’. Till now, these are ‘news’ for me, terms that I have heard a few years earlier as well.
Suddenly people from around my work area go missing…
People who you travel with to work, who you chat with everyday and sometimes just wave or smile at are not to be seen at the office.
This is when reality strikes – and badly at that.
Maybe this is one disadvantage of globalization, or maybe not. The economies of the world are now so inter-related that some downfall in one part of the world has ripple effect across!
Not that I understand finance or economy in the slightest, these are just my thoughts. So rather than state some incorrect ideas, it will do best if I restrain my ponderings and leave this at that…
Some questions still do bother me though. How long before life gets back to normal here at the office?