2007 To Do List

The days around New Year’s Eve can be called as the ‘Resolution Season’. Almost everyone around is talking about resolutions and looking out for things that they want to do in the New Year. I decided to give this a thought and came up with a list of things that I would like to do in 2007. ‘Resolutions’ is too big a word for me, so I’ll call them it as a to do list.

Here’s the list of things that I want to do in 2007:

1. Get back to my habit of reading.
2. Start my MBA prep.
3. Get back to sports – badminton atleast.
4. Maintain atleast 90% attendance at the gym.
5. Read a business magazine regularly.
6. Take formal dance lessons for atleast one dance form

P.S. I once read somewhere that in order to achieve something you plan, the first step is to jot them down and say to yourself that you want to do it. I don’t know how much I believe in this, but I’m going to find out soon.

With The Kids @ NDA

There were two main reasons why I had volunteered for accompanying a few kids from an orphanage to the NDA, the first being that I had been thinking of taking up some sort of a social activity for a long time and secondly due to the fact that till not so long ago, I wanted to be a part of the academy myself. So, even before the visit got underway I knew that I was not going to regret the early morning start I would have to give myself to make it on time for visit.

We were about six colleagues and we were at the pick up point at 0830 hrs sharp. The moment the kids got inside the bus, the excitement amongst the kids brought a smile on our faces. While interacting with the kids, the first thing that hits you, is their street smartness! They sure do know how to find a way for themselves. The kids were surprisingly well mannered. They would thank us every time we gave them biscuits or a soft drink or every time we did something for them. I remember as a kid, my mother would have to remind me in front of strangers to thank them. The kids here had learnt their lessons well and they did not need anyone to remind them of their matters in front of strangers.

Something in common amongst all the kids was their fascination for the camera. My photographer colleague was in high demand with all the requests of 'One photo please!'. Suprisingly quite a few of the kids were very well aware of the latest handsets and the their features. Something that I must admit, is not the case with me.

They were all disciplined. Be it the fear of their care taker around or the efforts to put on a good show in front of the outsiders, I thought the kids were a lot easy to manage than the kids from other schools that were also present there. This being a first of its kind trip for me, I had a lot of fun and I also got to see the lives of the cadets from close quarters and here's to many more such activities in future. Cheers!

Hindi ki Izzat

We recently had a colleague from our US office visiting India. The firang guy had a tough time surviving on the food in our cafeteria everyday. So, we accompanied him out for lunch on a couple of occasions. One fine day, we ended up talking about languages over lunch.

To start off with, he was amazed by the number of languages that we have in our country. The concept of Mumbaiyya hindi, North Indian Hindi and Puneri Hindi was also beyond his limits of comprehension. He was of the opinion that the richness of a language is based on the fact that there are synonyms for words in one language found in other languages. Like, fat in English is the same as mota in hindi. This got us to finding words in English that do not have synonyms in Hindi and vice versa. The very first word proved to be a show stopper.

While finishing up the last few drops of chocolate sauce on his sizzling brownie, he asked us for the hindi equivalent of the word - sizzling! And my colleague and myself had no clue about this. We tried different hindi words but could not get to one hindi word that best explains what sizzle means in English. So, in case you are proud of your marks in hindi in high school, do take some time off and think of the hindi equivalent for sizzle. Yeh hindi ki izzat ka sawaal hain.

P.S. I have another word that I would know the hindi equivalent of - dieting!

Shah Rukh Don

The Badshah of Bollywood has delivered another hit with his latest Don. Inspite of the not-so-good reviews that the movie got at the time of its release, the movie has managed to do good business as per the market reports. And making money is the prime objective of commercial cinema.

It is this money making ability despite all odds is what impresses me the most about SRK. I admire him, not for his work but for his ability to overcome the shortcomings. I mean here is a guy that has average looks, atleast as compared to some of his other better looking colleagues in Bollywood. His acting skills are not something to rave about, considering the over dose of acting that is there in all his performances. He lacks the voice of an industry icon like Mr. Bachchan (who can forget the K - K - Kiran?). His dances are not his USP for sure. He plays the loverboy who gets his girl in almost all his movies - read lack of variety in performances.

Inspite of all this he manages to do well not only for himself but for his producers too! Now that's definitely impressive!! Hats off to you King Khan - for achieving all that you have through hard work and making a mark for yourself inspite of a non filmi background.

Haan Bol

One thing that's definitely changed with the onset of mobile phones, is the way people answer phone calls (atleast with the people I call). Gone are the days when people extended pleasantries to you on answering your call. Phrases like "Hello" or "Hi, how are you?" are a rarity nowadays. Most of the time the response is a rude "Hmnnn" or a "Bol".

I agree that with caller line identification, you no longer have to use the voice recognition mechanism in your brain and so you know who you talking to before you pick the phone. But yaar, how difficult is a courteous response while answering a call? No matter how busy you are a simple "hi" or the age old "hello" is always a better response to get than the ones listed above.

Is this change because of our busy routines or is it just a case of the growing impoliteness around? Whatever be the excuses, I think I deserve a better response when I spend my time and money to call up people. One of the most ridiculous responses that I've got is from this friend of mine. I called him up to wish for Diwali and the dude answered the call by saying "Haan bol, sun raha hoon." Got an apt response for that?