The art of conversation

It was lunch hour and was supposed to be like it had been on any other day... my company for lunch was the audit coordinator.. poor fellow.. he gets tossed around between the management and the auditors...

i did not feel like eating a silent meal.. and didnt want to discuss the boring news on tv there.. and so i asked him whether he listens to music... that conversation opener led to a lively and fun lunch all the way..

I love to talk.. its so fun choosing the right words to express urself.. especially when u r having a fun argument..

there was once an English lesson where the narrator explains that u can open a conversation with a stranger by talking about the climate.. these days with sun frying our brains.. wonder who would be pleased to talk abt the climate... but surely they would talk.. the heat, the sweat, Ranjini's de-hydration and the 3 for 2 AC deal...

the intention of the lunch conversation was to spend the minutes of munching in a relaxed manner.. no work related topics.. as it turned out we did not differ much in the music we preferred... wonder how it would have turned out if we had different tastes... even then.. music always makes a good conversational topic.. definitely everyone would have something to say about it...

as lunch was drawing to its natural end.. the topic shifted to food.. a foodie gorging seafood on tv caused the change...that lead me to share a story of my little trip to a sea shore sea food hotel...and so on and so forth till we left the area..

keeping mum is good.. but a little talking is great.. now my audit coordinator is a dost... that makes my work far more easy...

conversation helps..the more natural it is, the more effective.. conversation connects people... conversation is the purpose Language was found...

Wish to improve...

i am begining today's work by first writing a blog..

yesterday my husband told me that i needed to write something intelligent... my sister said that it was well written yet lacked a punch... it sounded like a diary she said..

hmm... i write blogs cos i love to write... it is the thrill i get from putting together words in sequence that makes sense...

it also serves as a time capsule for me..cos when i return to my blogs days / years later, i read my blogs and wonder how did i manage to write them...


as for the intelligent writing... dono how to do that.. i am a very humourus writer.. i have read the blogs of chutneycase and she is really a gifted writer... u will never fail to laugh reading her posts...

my friend Sangeetha is again a very regular blogger... wonder how she finds something fresh to blog about from her everyday life... nothing much seems to happen in mine...

as u can see.. there is no real point in this blog either.. just my thoughts out loud on why i can't seem to write blogs that are worth the while..

as i try to find my style and foothold in the world of blogging.. i can only try and keep writing.. and someday i maybe able to dish out the intelligent and interesting blogs...

how cool...

thats what i wanted people to say when they sawmy email id.. or for that matter even my blog page...

it all started when i wanted to create my very first mail id... i had seen a girl i knew use an interesting id.. oruvayaadi... so catchy... i was hooked.. i wanted something that funky.. prob was couldn't think of one..

i could have used a good nickname if i had one.. but "blade ganga".. no way.. and definitely not what my mom calls me...or in fact what my sister calls me...

numerology was discovered for e-mail.. face it.. ganga_123.. one of the many alternatives.. ganga1983 will help u calculate my age.. ganga16 will leave u quizzing whether i am sweet 16... but it is so uncool to have 007 to ur id.. i dont like that.. where is the individuality people...

it is also funny when people add a "foru" to their id.. gangaforu.. yuck..

the mysterious ones avoid their name completely..like my fav "oliveoyl" or "aqua21".. lets see.. a cartoon character that i can compare myself to..hmm.. hmm...i love garfield..but its not my style...and the other option..libra16.. too many funny jokes in my mind already..

with all this mumbo jumbo behind it.. the moment of truth had come.. i needed an id.. and i couldnt get the one with just my name.. contrary to MY popular belief, there are many people names Ganga..and even GangaB is common.. so had to think of something original and quick...

so here is it people.. its me... itsgangahere@gmail.com... isn't that catchy?? well now its part of my identity.. and yes i am greatly dependent on gmail now.. and have not visited my ids on yahoo, rediff and even hotmail in a long long long time... long live gmail.. long live my id..

please stop!!!!

Have u ever met someone whom u just hate yet smile and pretend that u r into their conversation???

It has happened to me many times... but twice in this past two weeks.. n i would say it was irritating yet funny... in both cases it was the head accountant sucking up to the auditor(me) and it sucked big time (excuse the foul language as i was really turned off)...

I enjoy the benefits of being a girl.. u get treated nicely.. or atleast better than boys would get.. but sometimes i just cant stand the patronising.. this accountant felt it was his duty to host me to lunch.. as if i am a poor little girl who has never eaten out and i need his complimentary lunch to appease my hunger.. excuse me..

it was irritating that he literally arm wrestled me into lunch.. for a person who was trying to lose 10kilos LUNCH at HOTEL was not melodic.. it rather rang alarm bells "CALORIES CALORIES CALORIES"....

i can understand if he could not read the dis-interest in my face.. but surprised that he couldn't get the message when i had my lunch box on my table and straight refused for lunch.. yet.. i was the one who was courteous and obliged cos i didnt want to create a scene.. useless fellow.. he offered to treat me to lunch the following day.. and i had to blame it on a doctor saying he advised me off outside food...

the reaction that i got next was the icing on the cake.. with a big "OH" sound and look on his face.. the genius that he is he thought he knew why... and cast a meaningful look at my tummy... disgusting.. buffoon.. if i were pregnant i would say so instead of beating around the bush.. thank god i had to be at that audit for 3 days only.. and yes.. being the great host that he was.. he arranged a complimentary drop at my door step...

frankly i hated being treated special that day.. i refused to accept the ride.. then once again to avoid a scene i obliged.. wonder where his HOSPITALITY / GENEROSITY went when i travelled back n forth the previous few days.. and whether it went on a hike when he made me walk in the sun to go that restaurant where he was dying to treat us... OMG!!!!!

the second story is not so long..happened today.. lasted 10mins.. but equally bugging.. i mean have u met anyone who is SO PROUD cos ONLY THEY seem to have the things that others can only crave for? meet accountant no.2.. he has 2 daughters.. i was really dying to know that piece of information.. and both are CAs.. CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS.. note the pride in his voice.. hello i am a CA too duffer...

they had articled at PWC.. ya how prestigious..sathyam goofers... he goes on associating big firm/ company names to their job profile.. i was wondering what was the point anyway.. his idea of small talk only revealed how petty he was... thank god it only lasted 10mins.. trying to act too smart..

bottom line.. u can never trust anyone who seems to lick ur shoes without warrant.. and u can never like someone whom u dont trust.. and if u r doing any of the above.. stop.. please!!!!

Lost Footwear!!!

It was fun seeing this news on TV.. kalmadi being hit by a slipper... it was the most important news item the whole day..

This guy walks from behind kalamdi in the court premises and no one notices that he is holding a slipper in his hand.. and a huge number of people were actually escorting kalmadi into the courthouse... and yet this guy had enough opportunity to mark his target.. take aim and throw his chappal with full might...

Wonder what people were doing when this was happening... cameras were running.. people were walking behind the slipper wielding attacker... and some were even just standing and watching him make his move...
Guess everyone wanted to take a swig at him but couldn’t and just let the guy have his moment and they all smiled pleased inside their minds..
But bottom-line... kalmadi got hit (or didn’t even get hit) by the chappal only once... but it has been shown on television over 10 dozen times... Kapil Thakur has upped his chances of entering the House of BIG BOSS soon..

Stuck for what to say...

SO many small small things happened last week.. but am unable to pin point and write something abt as they were not really big events... nothing much happens when u r sitting idle at home.. but here is a jist...

1. Thank you...thats what my boss said when i agreed to do an assignment for him during my long holiday... but i should have been the one saying it.. after all i am going to get good money at the end of the day...

2. Bleed Blue... too much of cricket.. i enjoyed the world cup... saw every match Team India played.. but IPL??? so soon after the WC... i am sick of it.. and yes the Rs.1Crore per head award to WC team highlighted the irony of poverty in India once again.. i hated that...

3. Indigo.. felt proud to have cast my vote.. better than any shade of nail polish ever worn.. my fore finger looks royal these days.. i was clueless whom to vote for.. did not even know who the candidates were.. waited an whole hour to exercise my franchise and it was worth it..

4.Calories.. something that i have become very conscious abt these days.. trying to stay withing the limits of my 1200 C strict chart.. not very difficult to maintain.. and seems like a very healthy way to be..

5. Sleep.. that always seems to appeal when i start to read the Agatha Christie book i had borrowed..reminds me of good old days when i used to study for exams..the books used to always bring deep sleep.. same effect... came to know that this one was a deviation from her usual style... well thank you for the sweet dreams..

Sunday actually is the begining of a new week.. looking forward to this one...

Serial BP...

I have a very normal level of Blood Pressure.. but then it rises and peaks between 8pm to 10pm on all weekdays... and i have no choice.. "Why LORD WHY????", I may question, but the answer never arrives... what arrives is the next serial...

I HATE SERIALS...

After all the whole days slogging and the tiring travel..end of the day u wish to relax.. but then u have to worry whether SELVAM will get money for sister's wedding.. Whether GANGA's problem with her husband will solve.. Whether TULASI will have the sense to see CHARU's real character.. Whether Chellama's twin will be born safely...

Kodumai... On one such days i believe my heart is going to burst...

I HATE SERIALS...

but i am forced to watch.. 3rd degree torture.. and if u listen to even a single dialogue, you would feel like pulling your hair out for the Stupidity of it all..

I end with a prayer.. "LORD SAVE ME FROM SERIALS"

Happened to see Neeya Naana discussion today and felt like writing this...

My Article Days...

Just read a blog of a friend from where i had done my articles and reading hers let me on to think about the fun side of my article days...

I never attended regular college.. so my article days and article friends are my one and only college memories and i never missed an actual campus experience becos of them..

My life as an article and as a paid assistant thereafter spanned a period of 4 years... July 2002 to Dec 2006... rich expeience.. had met so many people in that time.. my peers.. seniors and almost 3 batches of juniors...

It was purely by chance i had joined SNB.. I was blank as to where to join and heard coaching classes head recommend some student SNB's name.. cos there would be a lot of TRAVEL... That word sounded like magically spoken for me and i hopped in on the opportunity and applied.. Balki had interviewed me and i was selected... Nandu had asked if I'd be ok with meat.. Hell yeah if i am going to be traveling.. there started my journey...or at least not after a whole 9 months in the same audit...

My first outstation audit was Varkala.. beautiful locale.. had a Cold Coffee shake every day... and gained 5kilos in 15days...by the end of the audit my team lead wanted to throw me off the train... yeah he hated me so... i did do MANY newbie mistakes... but he grew rather impressed after i made a presentation at a training programe and displayed in depth knowledge of the work i had done... I was unofficial bible to reliance audit then..

My most memorable audits thereafter were CALICUT..been there 3 consecutive years.. the first trip me n my friend salted our team leads coffee... and we and few other articles in audits in Cochin, planned and made a visit to Kumarakoam... a once in a lifetime vacation.. banana boat rides and fresh toddy for the drunks and live crabs for the meat eaters..

The next time to Calicut was a team of 4.. we had a WHALE of a time.. playing.. pranks mostly.. and buying KARUVADU for a friend.. visit to Wayanadu...throwing water balloons... the best ever... we also ended up missing our return journey and travelled in without... thats an interesting story altogether.. Three of us from that team headed to another audit where the office seemed like it was underground.. left to work in a conference room by ourselves... we could only thank the gods that they did not have cameras and mikes in there... FUN FUN FUN all the way and a report with some decent points in it...

The 3rd visit was with Sangeetha, whose blog inspired to write this.. as the team leader.. i delegated all my work.. and did the royal OB.. it was fun.. (for me mostly).. visited Guruvayoor.. it was a wonderful experience.. and got one ladoo maari audit point and opathified with that...

There was also one memorable trip to Ooty and Connoor in the peak of Dec winter.. 2004.. the year when Tsunami hit.. The accounts office was warm and cosy.. and the walks to our rooms thereafter BONE CHILLING.. the wooden floors of the dining hall would creak each time u walk.. a beautiful British experience.. Oh ya we stayed in a makeshift room in the Kids play room with loads of toys...

Coorg..another beautiful experience...i had oodles of fun.. it was still very early in my artciles..feb 2004.. being young, reckless, carefree and loud... we were a total riot me n suganya.. everyone else in the 6member team were entertained by our antis thoroughly.. and yes friends for life...

its tough to put 4 amazing years into few lines.. my article days were spread with fun.. fun.. travel... exams.. exam leave... and yes a little bit of WORK..

the memories are so vivid.. and the years that have passed since seem to have vanished in thin air.. btw my connection with SNB still continues.. but then this chapter is based out of Bangalore... been there since Sep'09... More memories in the making..

Patience and Courage...

The size of the audience was huge and the speaker was yet to arrive. He was a noted spiritual guru and the people in the hall were all waiting to hear his words of wisdom. With all seats taken, the late comers had to be satisfied with standing up against the walls and many others had to stand out-side in the open braving the morning sun.

He was late.

The hours passed by and still there was no sign of him. The crowd started moving. Slowly people started moving out, mumbling unrecognisable words. By noon the crowd had dwindled to half. Only time passed and the spiritual guru was nowhere to be seen.

The sun had set and it was almost 9 o'clock. That is when a Drunk stumbled into the hall. Screaming few obscenities, he moved towards the dias. He flirted with the ladies in the front rows and overcome with intoxication, fell to the ground.

The remaining crowd too left. A handful few, faithfully waited for the guru to turn up.

The drunkard now straightened himself up. With no sign of liquor in his blood, he walked briskly to the mike. It was the spiritual guru himself.

He addressed the now seated group and said "The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter."

(By Paulo Coehlo in Veronika decides to Die)

In every step in life, from the day i read these words i have understood and applied them consciously... and i know that this is one lesson for life