Monday, January 27, 2014

The Grammy GIF awards

You may not have woken up way too early to catch an award ceremony that you don't care about too much, but I did, because I care about things I shouldn't care too much about.

However, more than the awards , it was the blink and you miss moments which make it more fun than anything else. So I put together some of the gif s from today morning that the internet is going crazy with.

Don't blink.

You might miss it:

P.S. Who is under those Daft Punk helmets?


" Looks like I am never ever ever ever ever ever ever winning a grammy tonight".




The real contenders of the evening : The Hat vs The Helmets




Kevin Hart clearly not over Beyonce's performance. Obviously he still misses 'single ladies'




It's all in good humour for Pink!



Never a bad time to check if something's stuck in your teeth, Madonna!





And of course, She's got the perfect loser face all ready, after she loses the 'Album of the year'.

That's all for now folks! Do stay tuned for more.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

5 types of drivers on Indian roads


“A man’s true character is measured by the way he drives”- Suroshree Dasgupta


Relax, I have done my research and no one else has come up with this quote yet. So it’s safe to say that it’s mine and I came up with it because past experience has taught me that, it is true.

I like people. They are generally very nice. Except when driving on the road. The road turns everyone into something else. It’s like the blast of a test detonation of a gamma bomb that eventually turns us into monsters. The steering wheel and the driver’s seat transform us into a deadly combination of Jekyll and Frankenstein, waiting to turn into Hulk. Truth be known, the road brings out the Hulk in all of us, waiting to erupt into a hyper-aggressive, brutal, cunning and scheming monster; in the form of the following 5 Drivers (feel free to add to this list):

1. The multi-tasker :
I am going to stereotype this one and just assume that it is mostly women. So, let me get this one straight out of the list. It is extremely important we discuss about the multi-tasker. She may not be particularly angry but, boy, she has a lot of pent up energy, which she chooses to release while driving. So texting someone, calling her boyfriend, combing her hair, changing her display picture, updating the status, setting up meetings, EVERYTHING has to be done while driving. Might as well give her a weapon of mass destruction and call it even.

2. The ‘territorial drivers’:
Includes the bus, trucks, tempos and even SUV drivers. They probably believe that they own the road and in fact the entire city. Surely the ones who suffer from the ‘mere baap ka road hain’ syndrome, they'll gladly take over the whole road as they steamroll forward and marginalize everyone else, including the wrong-way cyclists and the annoying bikers. But three wrongs don't make a right turn.

3. The lane changer:
This guy swerves in and out of lanes, hopping like a metal frog between cars, trying to get in front of everyone. Sometimes they dance from lane to lane without a thought or use of any indicator as if they are in the middle of a video game. So, eventually when you come to a red light and you notice that he has only managed to cut only 3.2 seconds off of his drive time

4. The ‘incessant horn-blowers’:
One species, our country has an excess of and seems like we cannot expect them to be extinct anytime soon either. Their entire machismo depends on their easy access to a pointless, deafening horn. These cannibalistic cretins will beep for no godly reason other than to torture you while reminding themselves and everyone else around that they exist. 

5. The ‘I’ll walk whenever/wherever/however I want to-people’:
Jay running is their passion, which is not the worst thing. But they don't even look around as they do that, too focused on the music they're listening to, the call they are on, or in deep thought about their very important suicide mission. I have no problem at all with their apparent death wish, but do they have to jeopardize everyone else’s life too?



I know the list is endless. There are the wrong-way bike riders, the slow pokes, the perpendicular turn-takers or the random turn-takers and many more, but I’ll save that for another post. For now, I am pretty mad at these 5 drivers I met on my way to work today. I might ram into one of them if they don’t mend their ways, soon.

The road makes me angry.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Drills and drones of a Dentist

What do you HATE about dentists? What part of it bugs you the most?
The drill and drone of dentists
Ask anyone and the following is the response you’ll get:
“Everything!”
If you’re a Dentist Hater, I’m sure you have your reasons, and yet I’ll bet it’s not actually dentists you hate. It’s all the stuff a dentist does that creeps you out like the drilling, filling, and billing parts.
Who can blame you for that? A dental chair can combine the sum of all fears… with pain, needles, doctors, confined-spaces, loud noises.
It’s no big surprise so many people hate going to the dentist. Hating dentists comes naturally to many people. Some people hate dentists because they are Dentists, some think dentists are meant to be hated. A few hate them because others do so. But, an important aspect of this is why people hate the dentist. I have tried to figure it out and I think there are a few genuine reasons for people to hate or be afraid of the dentist.

1.The PAIN!
“Is it going to hurt?” That’s the question on everybody’s mind whenever they sit in a dental chair. It’s obvious why it is easily the most common reason that people hate dentists. You might have never undergone a dental procedure, but hearing all those horror stories of pain can make you hate the dentist. You could also have a previous horror encounter with the dentist and hate them after that.
For me, it’s mostly the horror stories and the mental image.

2.The DRILL!
The drill instills fear in everyone. Suddenly you start picturing yourself in a gory movie like SAW or something. The sheer sound of it is something similar to a drill machine and letting someone put that thing in your mouth is not in your comfort zone. This weapon of destruction with all the noise vibration and spray becomes a focus for their anxiety. When we hear that sound, their sweat starts to pour.

3.The Clinic!
I honestly feel there are shortcomings with the clinic itself. I don’t like the look of it, or the sight of dental chair/instruments makes them feel nervous. A few people say they hate the smell of the dentist’s office. With any measure of anxiety or fear, your senses are put on high-alert. You become hyper-aware of sights, sounds and smells.

4.It’s INVASIVE!
Dentistry is invasive. They’re right inside our mouth performing some heavy gum-gardening and tooth-carpentry.  This can definitely feel like an invasion of your personal space. Surely feels for me!

5.The LECTURES!
Last but certainly not the least, it’s the lecturing.  If you already feel guilty or embarrassed about your situation, the last thing you want is reasons to feel worse. You don’t need to be scolded into submission, admonished like you’re a helpless child or assaulted by irrelevant factoids until your eyes glaze over.

Going to the dentist is stressful enough without the people who are supposed to help you piling on more guilt and blame. Who needs that? Why pay good money and be made to feel like crap?


Regardless, it is something we can’t avoid and if we do, we can forget about making friends. The bad oral hygiene is going to keep them away forever. So, hate Dentists or love Dentists, you just can’t ignore Dentists.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

What's in the bag?

As all ladies know, we must have a purse to put in our "stuff."

It’s amazing how much those small things can fit!
The amount of “stuff” needed depends on the individual, but all of us need something to carry it in, whether large or small. There was a time when I used to think that I didn't need a purse. I could get by just fine with keys and a cell phone, I declared.  But I was wrong. I needed things at home and things at work, and what if I was not at either place or needed something both at home and work? You can see the problem.

Most of my friends will tell you I’m not a girly girl. I hardly comb my hair. I hardly wear makeup. I don’t plan outfits way in advance. I hardly ever wear earrings because I keep losing them anyway. And I can easily walk out the house without looking in the mirror. But the one thing I do share with most women the world over is the tendency to put a tonne of “stuff” in my handbag or purse, whatever you may call it.

I used to be one of those women who’d only buy those ridiculously large tote bags, because well they could fit anything. Then after my mum kept telling me to clean up the mess my bag was always in, and every bag meeting its demise due to busted straps caused by too much weight, I told myself, “Really, you don’t need most of the things in there”, and I switched to clutches. Problem is, I stuff those too. It’s amazing how much those small things can fit!

Seriously though, women compulsively like to put totally unnecessary items in their bag, things that we think is ‘important’ to us. But do we really need to keep two bottles of nail polish of the same colour in our bag? I’m not sure. The word important is subjective in itself, so if a puppet of Sponge Bob is important to me, it goes in. See, what goes into a woman’s handbag is dictated by what said woman thinks is important for her to carry around. So each woman’s needs differ based on her lifestyle. If she drives, her shoes might not go in her bag, because they can go in the car. If she’s into her looks, she’ll definitely have a tonne of make-up items. You get the drift, right?

But, honestly, I think most of us end up filling up our bags just so it won’t look empty. A big, empty bag is not fashionable. I’m no fashionista but even I know this. A woman’s handbag is a fashion statement. It’s an extension of her personality and sense of style. Regardless, she knows that some spaces must be filled, because it’s not necessarily about functionality. Stuffing your bag is about completing ‘the look’. It’s not that we plan to have all that stuff. Honest. Some of us just never clean out our bags, so stuff builds up over time. I’m guilty of this and I have no qualms in saying that I’m one of the messiest women you’ll ever meet.


If you really want to get an idea of how a woman’s mind works, all you have to do is look inside her handbag.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

We need to talk

In any relationship between two people, when one of them demands to have “the talk”, you know there’s trouble in paradise.  Whether it’s your father who wants to sit you down and have “the talk” about the opposite sex or your boss who wants to have “the talk” about how he wants to fire you or your girlfriend who wants to have “the talk”, when she pretty much wants to dump your a**, you know YOU DO NOT WANT to have THE TALK. Unfortunately though, it is that time in my life too, that I need to have the much dreaded “talk”. This time with my true companion on the road and my only friend that I need on every journey I embark upon.

My Car.

If I ever had a high maintenance girlfriend like most boys who complain, I’m pretty certain she would be a lot easier to handle than my companion on four wheels. So, I decided that I have “The Talk”.

Dear Car (that actually belongs to my mother),

I am sorry for doing it but you had left me with no choice and I needed to set things straight. So, here we are having “the talk”.  I tried to avoid it but I couldn’t hold it in any longer and you needed to know, because we were both in this together.
You can’t move without me and I can’t depend on anyone else other than you. However, lately it started to seem like a more one-sided relationship. I was giving more than I could get.  Trying to satisfy your insatiable appetite for the very expensive petrol was getting too difficult for me to handle and unfortunately I had nothing to show for keeping your tank full except for a few kilometers on the road. Life was starting to be measured from one trip to the petrol pump to the next.
It’s like you’ve figured out my weakness. Even when I want to give you a silent treatment, I cannot because I simply cannot do without you. So, sometimes you take advantage of that. For example, even when there is nothing wrong with you, you have to go in for service. Even a girl like me, doesn’t visit the parlour unless there is something she really needs to do. And, you would think that with modern technology they could figure out a way for cars not to need maintenance when nothing is wrong.
All you want to do is make me spend my money on you. I am always trying to fix something. Its either the brakes are too squeaky or something quits pumping or something falls loose. There is never an end to it and the best I can do is hope that you will continue to run like you first promised, if I keep giving you what you want.
With time I have also noticed that you have stopped trying to reinvent yourself and that spark is just missing. I see too many of you on the road and it bothers me that each of them are like clones of you. Nothing sets you apart any longer.
Also, I may have never told you this, but infidelity is a big issue that I live in the fear of, constantly. I am always worried that someone might steal you away from me at night or even in broad daylight and there might not be anything I’ll be able to do. I have tried to lock you down in many ways but it’s something I hate doing.  I get the feeling that you won’t even hesitate when someone would just sweep you away. Isn’t that right now?
So, tell me what should one do? What choice am I left with but to let you go? Each minute of my life is spent worrying about you. You occupy a big chunk of my salary and there is nothing I save. How is this relationship going to last if one us has a constant worry on their minds?

Maybe it’s best we part ways. You need to find someone else who is going to take care of your needs because I sure as hell cannot do it anymore.

Love,
S

Friday, January 3, 2014

Am I smarter than my smartphone?

Dear Diary,

I lost my phone today. . . again. I think maybe I am not smart enough to have a smart phone. I am a loser. I always put it in my pocket so it will be handy if it rings. I dug and dug in my rucksack, but it wasn't there. I was not too worried. I must have left it at home. Damn it! No checking email at lunch today or stalking my friends on Facebook, the whole day (It was an aggravation, but I would survive).

As soon as I got home after work, I looked in the pockets of the jacket I wore the day before. No phone. Well, maybe I left it in my pants pockets. I searched them and all the other pants in my closet, just in case. No luck.

Call the phone! It will ring and I can find it (I said to myself). I called it but it was switched off! What could it mean? I was panicking and sweat started to trickle down my forehead. Either the battery was dead or someone had turned it off. My heart sank. However, some of these phones have this fancy app on them called ‘Find Phone’. It picks up the phone's signal and tells you the location of your phone. I clicked Find my Phone but it only found my iPad, the one in my hands.

Apparently, ‘Find Phone’ only works if the phone is turned on (wrong time to discover that). Last time I lost the phone, the app located it in the car. The car? That's an idea. I went outside and searched the car. It wasn't there. This time I had really lost it. Maybe someone would find it and return it? Yeah, right, someone will turn in my really expensive phone? Why did I have to buy a smart phone?

I'm not smart enough to have a smart phone. That’s it!! If it is lost, I am going to do without a phone. (I know I am telling a lie, but it makes me feel better).

Sometimes phones turn up later. We found my last phone behind the bed a month after it was lost. The bed? Did I look behind the bed? I looked again, also under the bed, and under the blankets, sheets and pillows.

I was starting to panic. "I lost my phone," I told my mother.

"Is it in your bag?"
"No"
"Did you look in your coat pockets?"
"Yes"
"How about the car?"
"Yes"

She continued naming off all the places I had already looked. Sometimes something turns up where you have already looked, so I looked again. How often have I found my lost debit card in my wallet, right where it was the entire time it was lost?

In desperation I looked everywhere, under the sofa cushions, under my desk and even in the refrigerator. No use, I'm a loser. It's gone!

So, I did what I always tell my friends and family to do. "Sit down and think back to every place you've been since you had it." I looked in the bathroom where I made a pit stop, in my sister’s room where I sat for a few minutes and talked to her. Then I had changed clothes into something more comfortable - wait a minute. Where are those clothes?

I searched the dirty laundry, no phone. But no dirty sweat pants either. That's odd! I've lost my pants too? How could I lose my pants? If I can find my pants, I can find my phone, I'll bet. Then I remembered the hook on the back of the bathroom door where I hung them when I took a shower. I ran to check.

Yes, the phone was in the pocket. I found it!

The phone was dead as the proverbial door nail. When I put it to the charge, the alarm sounded to tell me it was found, as if I didn't know.

And that's the story of how I outsmarted my smart phone. . . at least this time.


Until the next.