Of Geishas and Oshins...

A friend sent me the link to this Youtube video. Nothing great , its one sappy, corny music video, but it reminded me of Oshin.

I was a kid when Oshin was telecasted on DD, but I remember the love I had for her. The little kid was very cute(though her face is still vague in my head) and her acting was awesome.
I think that was my first brush with Japanese movies/TV/Entertainment world.

From that day, I have always been mystified by the Japanese culture. There is this respect for the Japanese because of their Phoenix act after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. And there is this awe about Tokyo which was at one point of time, the costliest city in the world. And then there are Japanese women.
Either its their Mongolean features or the complexion, I find women from the East very good-looking. And then they are blessed with wonderfully thin figures too, which would make any woman jealous.

But a closer brush with anything Japanese happened when I read Memoirs of Geisha.
This was one book, after reading which I badly wanted to see the movie. Such detail and drama in the story makes it so interesting, that I was very disappointed to learn that it was not a real life story. The makeup of the geisha, the grandeur of the kimono, the different hair-styles and the state of the city Kyoto were beyond imagination for me, and I had to see the movie to visualize it.
That added to the drama involved in the scene where Chiyo first sees the Mayor, Mameha san wanting to make Sayuri her sister, the wickedness in Hatsumomosan and Nobu san's looks and wanted to see them all on screen.
And then came the Oscar for that movie's makeup.

One of these days, I am going to get this movie and watch it, though friends have told me not to, coz apparently even this movie does not do justice to the book!

Go!

I think this is what I work for.. I mean, everyone works for this one moment, but I know for sure, this is why I didnt quit this job an year back.

Just to hear that one word - Go!

I think about this word, I rehearse how I am going to say it and I dream about it too... All for this one word - Go!

Sometimes makes me feel so proud and passionate, that I doubt if it is me.. I have never known this passionate side ine me, who is so possessive and takes so much of ownership, that she is ready to forego a day or two from her vacation just so that the project goes clean... Soooo unlike me!

Sometimes I wonder if I have turned into a nerd who can only talk about her project or real estate, but then I am surrounded by people like that.. can't help!

Sometimes I worry if I will ever be able leave this group, leave alone this job... I so love this work I do, and take so much pride in telling people about the impact I create with my work... its frikking unbelievable that I can think like this! But I can't ignore the glaring truth that this group is at its abyss in terms of management, and I dont want to work in this industry forever!

Its tough for me to explain what made me stick to this company, even after what happened to me last year. Certainly not the name of the company or its brand value or the work environment. I think I dont know it myself, so I can never explain it. I keep asking myself if I know why I stuck back, and if it is worth it or not.

May be its the tenacity in me, which didnt let me to let go, and turn back.

May be its the challenge that life gave me which I didnt want to leave untried.

Or it might be the attitude that I thought I always had, and had to show when the moment arrived - Never let that smile on your face go!

Whatever it is, I will continue to ponder on that decision of mine, and hopefully give talks in this same company at what makes an employee stick! I think I have it in me now, even if I have a string of 2007s now! :)

[One wave of emotion after having successfully sent a project which will touch more than 1M+ customers in emerging markets like India.. and I did this all by myself! Yes, without me, this project wouldn't have gone Live! :) ]

One heck of a party...

Four large pegs of Rum+Coke...
5 shots of Vodka
4 shots of Blender's Pride
1/10th of a Champagne bottle

And what would I wake up with... A headache and queasy feeling enough to spoil my weekend cursing myself for having let go that much!
But what do I wake up with... A great feeling in the head at having met 10 new people... a good feeling that the social life might improve at last.. and one wonderful feeling at having met a genuine person!

I wish we become friends... I badly need girlfriends in life, with whom I can now identify myself with.. and she looks to be one of those!

And heres to her great spirit and zeal in life... and a wonderful Happy Birthday! (I know she might never read it... so I will skip the word - Belated!) :)
Babe P, you rock! You are one heck of a woman!

And oh... this was one of the wildest days of my life... where I just drank and drank and was still sober for the major part of the day... and took care of the fellow Bewdis! And yes.. gave some of that good gyaan to whoever who cared to listen! :)

And I think this was one of the best parties.. with all the elements - drama, romance, friendship, bonding, girl-talk, boring boy-talk and relationships... Heres to many more such parties! One wish I would have for my next birthday is to have a bunch of friends like this, with whom I can be myself and party the whole night!

Hyacinth House

I love these lines from the Hyacinth House!

I need a brand new friend who doesn't bother me,
I need a brand new friend who doesn't trouble me,
I need someone, yeah, who doesn't need me!

Gives a whole new perspective to this abstract feeling called friendship! Makes me feel how it would be to have a friend who doesn't need you, or doesn't bother you!
I guess life would be great in that case.. no expectations to live up to. No sense of false security that the friend needs you. No need to be there for the friend.
But yes, as long as that friend is present somewhere in this world, you can go back to him.
Makes me think how wonderful it would be if everyone followed the rubber-band concept in relationships!

The amount of time and feelings we invest in people, only to let them crush them all or not live up to them. In the end we feel that we have wasted them all. Instead, life would be so good if we wouldn't expect anything from anyone and nobody would expect us to behave in definite way.. life would be sooo carefree, and sans responsibility... Something that I want to be at one point of time!

Not a great fan of Jim Morrison yet, but I am already getting to be in love with few of his songs... And the number of times I get to see his face(he stares at me from his photo on the door!) I might not even get to love him!

But then Whiskey, Mystics and Men is here to stay as my ringtone!
Gives my persona a whole new mystic feeling... and the title is apt.. ;)! :)

Life in Kondapur!

This makes me say - How true! And got me all thinking!
Especially after the tirade of incidents that have been hitting me after I moved to this no-man's land hailed as the haven in this Pearl City!

Pray tell, how can a bunch of buildings, in the middle of no-where, with the power outage happening like it is a common thing, with not even water to drink, and no basic safety in place boast itself to be the real-estate heaven!
And why on earth do these people queue up to live in these houses? And pay such exorbitant prices?
And how in the name of God is this place lauded as a great place to stay!

Agreed that the constructions are all new, and there is Novotel in a stone's throw distance! But then, from when did Novotel become as cheap as your Udupi hotel? And its no Taj Mahal that you can admire from your balcony!
And no way, when there is no house help available to clean such huge houses!

The milkman acts on his own whimsies, and the maids think they are queens!
Life in the city starts as early as 630 AM, and the milkman doesnt do nakhras to give one extra packet of milk. Neither does he mind if you dont want one packet on a day!
Life in this village which is supposed to be the suburb doesnt start till 830, and when it starts, it starts with a big bang! The milk packet is not around, and you realize with a shock that he actually left the milk packets in the shoe rack, safely hidden from the prying eyes of the world, and even me! God knows the reason for this, but this made it to the top of the list - Why do I hate this place so much!
And when you dont take milk for two days in a row, he comfortably forgets your existence and doesnt care to come in the direction of your house! He then says that you need to give him a day's notice about the number of packets of milk you need!

Then comes the gossipy maid!
This to a person who had the same maid for 2 years, who never gossiped and did all the work you gave her, and took care of you! Any information that I got about the old maid was a result of the conversations Mom and Mom-in-law had with her, and thats the only way I know of her life. In spite of being so distant, only recently did I notice that I am indeed close to her in a silent sort of way.
Only when I gave her the last salary and let her go, did I notice that my eyes were brimming with tears, and so were hers! Only then did I realize that I can actually ask her to be my house maid forever! Only then did I realize that I began to value her so much that I didnt want to leave the house because of the fear that I might not get her as my maid!
And now what do I get? One extremely bitchy gossipy maid who has to talk about the whole world to me. When I am still fighting my morning blues, I find myself fighting the urge to throw the maid out! And one fine day, my restrain didnt help, and I had to ask her to leave!

Cable guy quotes a sky-high price and keeps mum when ask him the reason for that price for what he gives - few channels all with disturbance! Only when you persist does he say that the 550/- he quoted was for installation also. Had I been one of the fools, he would've walked away with all the money, and given me services worth only 150/-!

Next its the phone guys! A connection which I had for more than two years without any problem at all has to behave in a funny way the moment we enter this village! The call center guy takes you for granted and tells you the broadband does not support Vista, something which it did till a week back! He also gives you a great way to connect to the internet - just plug in the ADSL line directly into the computer, it will work! Then there is this readymade answer - Tower in Kondapur is burnt off. Will work after 3 hours. When you see that your neighbour who has the same broadband connection is surfing the net without a problem, you know you have been taken for a ride! The mention of the address does this to people!

Then it is the super-market in the area. 'More', supposedly a big name in the retail market has its outlet in the colony, and we took a walk on a evening into this place. When the umpteen questions I asked the sales guy were not answered, I was about to turn out in anger, then I saw the same sales guy talking over-enthusiastically to the hippie-look-alike guy who had a Infy tag in his neck! Disgusted I was to realize that life moves only when you show your office ID card around this place to get some respect! Ignoring the fact that we have been ignored because of our extra plain clothes and looks, we took a look around and strolled into the vegetable section. One week old withered veggies welcomed me and depression hit me big time!
Visuals of fresh vegetables and stores full of people of all ages and backgrounds passed through my head, and nostalgia made me feel bad at the state we were in!

Everyone around tries to make me feel guilty of my bargaining. Madam, itna kamate ho, pachaas keliye kyun bargain karte ho!
Madam, when you can pay 10K for the house rent, cant you give your maid 1K? Madam, aap jaise logon keliye hi to hum itna price bol sakte hain! Straight from the maid to the vegetable shop guy to the carpenter to the auto-wallah try to remind you the amount of money you make!

All this is because of the sudden surge of real-estate boom towards this part of the town. Sudden increase in the number of people staying. Sudden increase in the number of non-Hyderabadis around who dont know that real Hyderabad ends much before Madhapur starts! These guys curse the way people behave in Hydie whereas they dont have an idea how hospitable good old Hydie is! They have no freaking clue how the Irani chai tastes or how Hydie lingo works. Complaints like no one speaks Hindi in Hydie are heard coz they never spoke to real Hydie people!

And then they have abundance of money to splurge on luxuries like maids and milk packets! All this for one reason - Staying in Kondapur is calm, serene! And its so close to office!
Any place would be calm and serene if there are frequent power cuts, and absense of people in the vicinity! Wish these non-Hydies knew this and valued the real Hyderabadi culture!

Such are the ways of life in this village! But like Kareena says in Jab We Met - Mujhe kya farak padega, main to bhaag rahi hoon!

PS: For the uninitiated, Kondapur is a suburb in Hydie. Its nearer to all the IT parks in the city and is atleast 20 Kms away from what you call a City! Rents are astronomical and services are NULL! Real estate prices are sky-high and facilities are BLEH! Yet, this still is the most sought after place to stay by people who come to Hydie for their jobs! Its like the real Hydie never existed for these people, and they dont make an effort to discover it! All they do is to crib about how sad a place Hydie is to stay! Which is just not TRUE!!!

Sigh... its an anguish of a true blue Hyderabadi, who loves this city, and is thrown to this village by the cruel hands of fate! Okay, I exaggerate, but in essence this is the case!