I have gone an extra mile to keep away from people who lose their temper easily. I really hate witnessing someone's temper firsthand, and more importantly, being the cause for the outburst. Wherever you go, you are bound to come across people who really lose their cool and ultimately turn out to be an embarrassment to those around him and to himself. I am sure later, while thinking about his reaction, he might feel really silly and might give anything to turn time back. I mean, how angry and irritated can a person really get? Right?
At home, most of us are mild mannered creatures. Cut to workplace. Many evolve into screaming, swearing monsters. What makes them see red while at their workplace?
Curiosity piqued, I asked a lot of my friends about this interesting topic. And this is what they had to say …
1) “Your first day at work. You turn on your computer and check whether you can chat via gmail. You can't because it has been disabled. You accept that. You move on. Days later, you catch the guy sitting right next to you chatting on gmail. You ask how did he manage to enable the service. He replies, “Aren't you supposed to be working?”'
2) “Is someone crying? What is that horrible noise? Oh no! It is something worse! 'That horrible noise' is coming from this guy, who sits right opposite you, humming a song in a voice that can only be described as like the noise that a cat makes when skinned alive - something that does not even sound remotely human. For all that torture, stuffing that paperweight down his throat seem to be polite enough to say “Stop it!”'
3) “It's lunch time. Ah, peace. Not for long. The men come trooping in with huge lunch boxes. Amongst snickers and laughs, the men start chomping on their food. The noise made by their chewing is enough to bring the roof down. The noise starts echoing in your ears and distress signals are sent to your brain. What you won't give to be able to ask the men, “Sir, have you bought stones for lunch?”'
4) “You have an important client to talk to pronto. You are sharing your office phone with a person who seems to have the phone receiver surgically attached to her ear. You calm yourself thinking your colleague might be making an important call. Instead, you hear snippets of their conversation … “So, what is for lunch?”, “Can I borrow your read skirt for the party today?”, “I saw this movie recently …”, “Can you book tickets for my trip to India in the year 2010?”… Aaagghhh …”
5) “You are concentrating hard while working. But obviously, the occupants of the adjacent cubicle are out to 'par-tay'. They holler, laugh AND have their mobile phone's ringtone set to the maximum volume.”
6) “You always find your stationary missing from your desk. You go hunting for it and find it on the desk of colleagues with sheepish grins. Forcefully smiling, you are aghast at seeing your pens, pencils, erasers … or rather, whatever is left of them. Few hours later, you borrow a pen from the same person and before you use it, you hear a sweet voice say, “Oh. Hey! Return the stapler once your done, please. Just reminding!”
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Yup ... it's changed!
You know things have changed when –
1) Most of your sentences begin with “In my days …”
2) Most of your conversations center on the topic ‘Kids these days!’ (obviously not in a flattering way!)
3) When an internee walks into your office and you are reminded of your time as one.
4) You go offline (or appear offline) when a friend logs into MSN messenger as you don’t want to chat while working and get distracted.
5) Even the oldest official mails can be found in your inbox, but you have to head towards the trash folder to get your friends’ mails.
6) You are briefly taken aback on getting a mail from a friend!
7) You are running out of excuses for not keeping in touch with friends
8) And when you do send a mail, you don’t know what to talk about other than work.
9) You address half the people you know as ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’.
10) When half the people you know address you as ‘Miss/Mrs/Mr’
11) When your wardrobe is full of formal shirts and you catch yourself wondering what to wear on a casual day out with friends.
12) You keep looking at the watch while watching a movie in the theatre because you have be at work early tomorrow.
13) You might forget your birthday, but never your pay day.
14) You can’t help laughing about the time you write nasty comments about the service provided at a hotel in the comment card.
15) Now, you politely decline to fill it in or write ‘good’ in each column.
16) You block out the fact that Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif are younger than you!
1) Most of your sentences begin with “In my days …”
2) Most of your conversations center on the topic ‘Kids these days!’ (obviously not in a flattering way!)
3) When an internee walks into your office and you are reminded of your time as one.
4) You go offline (or appear offline) when a friend logs into MSN messenger as you don’t want to chat while working and get distracted.
5) Even the oldest official mails can be found in your inbox, but you have to head towards the trash folder to get your friends’ mails.
6) You are briefly taken aback on getting a mail from a friend!
7) You are running out of excuses for not keeping in touch with friends
8) And when you do send a mail, you don’t know what to talk about other than work.
9) You address half the people you know as ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’.
10) When half the people you know address you as ‘Miss/Mrs/Mr’
11) When your wardrobe is full of formal shirts and you catch yourself wondering what to wear on a casual day out with friends.
12) You keep looking at the watch while watching a movie in the theatre because you have be at work early tomorrow.
13) You might forget your birthday, but never your pay day.
14) You can’t help laughing about the time you write nasty comments about the service provided at a hotel in the comment card.
15) Now, you politely decline to fill it in or write ‘good’ in each column.
16) You block out the fact that Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif are younger than you!
Monday, April 21, 2008
A Race to the exit!
I usually try to refrain from reviewing movies, barring special movies, though for EXTREMELY different reasons, like Chak de and Hello (refer previous posts). It's not that I don't enjoy placing a movie under the microscope … it's just that movie is art. It is the output of a filmmaker's hardwork and I don't feel great opting for the cushy and more convenient job of reviewing them.
But, when you come across a movie that can, by no means, be termed as 'art', what must one do? After ages, I decided to go for a movie with my brother in law and my sis. We eagerly checked the papers and came across the Hindi movie Race. Hmmm … well it's a movie with Anil Kapoor in it … and Akshaye Khanna … How bad can it be? Let's go!
Even thinking about the movie makes me feel tired and weary! Those three hours in the theatre was a terrible ordeal, which I am surely not going to forget for weeks to come. What was wrong with the movie? You really want to hear? More importantly, do you have the time? Coz this might take some time …
Let's begin with the men. Saif In a movie that makes endless hours of staring at the ceiling a much more attractive option, you would expect someone like Khan to have worked on his acting skills, in between his trips to the tattoo artist's. It is not that he did not act well … It's just that I feel he could have done a much better job. Agreed the role had nothing to write home about, but he could have done something more than wear windshield-sized sunglasses, grunt, not comb his hair and … I swear I caught him wince somewhere in between! (Hahah!)
Next is Khanna. Well, if I had missed the beginning of Race, I would have easily mistaken Khanna to be acting in a sequel to Humraaz. That flashy devilish grin of his the first few times made him look very endearing … but later, when you find yourself watch him grin far too many times, you think enough is enough!
Next Anil Kapoor. I really admire Kapoor as an actor and his work in Pukar is one of my favourites. But, good God, man! I really don't think you should take up such roles, especially after your daughter made her debut in a still-fresh-in-memory disaster called Saawariya! He munches on fruits throughout the movie and mouths embarrassingly corny lines.
Next the ladies. Bipasha is ok, surprisingly. I mean, you know she is there somewhere in the movie but you wouldn't really miss her if she wasn't. Kaif's mere presence in the movie has reaffirmed my faith that if Bollywood continues to churn out more actress like Kaif, they are definitely heading for the dumps. And this because, I read in many magazines that she was the only actress who delivered the maximum number of hits last year. Needless to say, I am yet to recover from the shock of reading the news.
Now, the lady who inspired me to write this post and review the movie in the first place. Sameera Reddy. Her rcharacter was one of the worst ones I have across. No, I would like to change that. Her role is THE WORST one I have come across. She had to play a dumb assistant to Anil and was mainly the victim of Anil's 'pun-intended' jokes. Her role was a very demeaning one and I really don't know how a human being with even a shred of dignity could take up such a role. Now why I would like to emphasise this point is because I came across quite a few reviews which described Sameera's role as a 'cute and sweet' assistant!!!! Gimme a break!!!
And whatz worse? Race has been declared a hit! This is madness, I tell you!
But, when you come across a movie that can, by no means, be termed as 'art', what must one do? After ages, I decided to go for a movie with my brother in law and my sis. We eagerly checked the papers and came across the Hindi movie Race. Hmmm … well it's a movie with Anil Kapoor in it … and Akshaye Khanna … How bad can it be? Let's go!
Even thinking about the movie makes me feel tired and weary! Those three hours in the theatre was a terrible ordeal, which I am surely not going to forget for weeks to come. What was wrong with the movie? You really want to hear? More importantly, do you have the time? Coz this might take some time …
Let's begin with the men. Saif In a movie that makes endless hours of staring at the ceiling a much more attractive option, you would expect someone like Khan to have worked on his acting skills, in between his trips to the tattoo artist's. It is not that he did not act well … It's just that I feel he could have done a much better job. Agreed the role had nothing to write home about, but he could have done something more than wear windshield-sized sunglasses, grunt, not comb his hair and … I swear I caught him wince somewhere in between! (Hahah!)
Next is Khanna. Well, if I had missed the beginning of Race, I would have easily mistaken Khanna to be acting in a sequel to Humraaz. That flashy devilish grin of his the first few times made him look very endearing … but later, when you find yourself watch him grin far too many times, you think enough is enough!
Next Anil Kapoor. I really admire Kapoor as an actor and his work in Pukar is one of my favourites. But, good God, man! I really don't think you should take up such roles, especially after your daughter made her debut in a still-fresh-in-memory disaster called Saawariya! He munches on fruits throughout the movie and mouths embarrassingly corny lines.
Next the ladies. Bipasha is ok, surprisingly. I mean, you know she is there somewhere in the movie but you wouldn't really miss her if she wasn't. Kaif's mere presence in the movie has reaffirmed my faith that if Bollywood continues to churn out more actress like Kaif, they are definitely heading for the dumps. And this because, I read in many magazines that she was the only actress who delivered the maximum number of hits last year. Needless to say, I am yet to recover from the shock of reading the news.
Now, the lady who inspired me to write this post and review the movie in the first place. Sameera Reddy. Her rcharacter was one of the worst ones I have across. No, I would like to change that. Her role is THE WORST one I have come across. She had to play a dumb assistant to Anil and was mainly the victim of Anil's 'pun-intended' jokes. Her role was a very demeaning one and I really don't know how a human being with even a shred of dignity could take up such a role. Now why I would like to emphasise this point is because I came across quite a few reviews which described Sameera's role as a 'cute and sweet' assistant!!!! Gimme a break!!!
And whatz worse? Race has been declared a hit! This is madness, I tell you!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
A happy accident
When people grow nostalgic and talk about how they used to climb trees and break their bones as kids, I keep thinking to myself, "What are they talking about??" Okay, either they have terrible calcium-deprived bones or they are all making it up. Honestly, how can you always manage to get your bones fractured, your clothes torn and so on? How can the number of accidents that you have had as a child act as a measuring tool to gauge how wonderful your childhood was?
Well, I was always a careful child. I mean, of course, barring an occasional scrape or cut, I don't really remember having a major or even a minor accident. It is not that I was exceptionally careful or anything but probably God was being too kind. Even after spending a whole day in the school playground, I would turn up at home looking neat and tidy. I don't remember ever tearing a sock, losing a ribbon or any of my shirts missing a button.
I always find myself, strangely enough, surrounded by people who have had at least one major or minor operation. I mean, if it's not an appendix operation, it's an operation that has something to do with tonsils, adenoids etc etc. So when someone, for instance, steps on my feet in a crowded place, and I yelp out "Ouch! That hurts!", I am bound to get a quick retort for friends, " Yeah!? What would you know?" Anyway, I am not complaining!
Now, being a grown up, I no longer fancy about getting hurt, cut or operated on. I consider it a inconvenience — a waste of time and money. So, God could not have picked up a 'better' time to give me my first accident - a really bad sprain.
I was busy trying to catch a bus when the embarrasing accident happened. My company van was waiting for me and as usual I was running late. With one hand holding my mobile, the other my watch and my mouth the house keys, I deemed it possible to literally fly across the stairs. Of course, the next thing I remember is having landed on the ground on all fours, with my mobile, house keys and watch all scattered on the ground.Trying to ignore the sharp and shooting pain in my ankle, I boarded my bus and the rest of the day passed off uneventfully.
It was only in the evening that my walk slowly degraded into a limp. I found it difficult to move my ankle without grimacing from the pain. On reaching home, I took a good look at my ankle and was shocked to see that it had swollen to twice it's size.
My first reaction was ... excitment! Wow! My first sprain! I soon thought of devising ways to manipulate this situation in my favour. I played the role of 'the injured' to the T around my family and was soon flooded with offers to get a cup of tea, the remote control, my hairbrush and even chocolates to 'cheer' me up! I managed to put up a brave face through it all and went to bed, feeling triumphant.
The next day, I sprang from the bed and was, as usual, running late. Wishing eveyone a half hearted and quick good morning, I was on my way to the wash room when my mom estatically said "Hey you are not limping anymore!" "Huh?" And I looked at my ankle to see that a tiny bump and almost no pain! My reaction? "AW SHUCKS!"
Well, I was always a careful child. I mean, of course, barring an occasional scrape or cut, I don't really remember having a major or even a minor accident. It is not that I was exceptionally careful or anything but probably God was being too kind. Even after spending a whole day in the school playground, I would turn up at home looking neat and tidy. I don't remember ever tearing a sock, losing a ribbon or any of my shirts missing a button.
I always find myself, strangely enough, surrounded by people who have had at least one major or minor operation. I mean, if it's not an appendix operation, it's an operation that has something to do with tonsils, adenoids etc etc. So when someone, for instance, steps on my feet in a crowded place, and I yelp out "Ouch! That hurts!", I am bound to get a quick retort for friends, " Yeah!? What would you know?" Anyway, I am not complaining!
Now, being a grown up, I no longer fancy about getting hurt, cut or operated on. I consider it a inconvenience — a waste of time and money. So, God could not have picked up a 'better' time to give me my first accident - a really bad sprain.
I was busy trying to catch a bus when the embarrasing accident happened. My company van was waiting for me and as usual I was running late. With one hand holding my mobile, the other my watch and my mouth the house keys, I deemed it possible to literally fly across the stairs. Of course, the next thing I remember is having landed on the ground on all fours, with my mobile, house keys and watch all scattered on the ground.Trying to ignore the sharp and shooting pain in my ankle, I boarded my bus and the rest of the day passed off uneventfully.
It was only in the evening that my walk slowly degraded into a limp. I found it difficult to move my ankle without grimacing from the pain. On reaching home, I took a good look at my ankle and was shocked to see that it had swollen to twice it's size.
My first reaction was ... excitment! Wow! My first sprain! I soon thought of devising ways to manipulate this situation in my favour. I played the role of 'the injured' to the T around my family and was soon flooded with offers to get a cup of tea, the remote control, my hairbrush and even chocolates to 'cheer' me up! I managed to put up a brave face through it all and went to bed, feeling triumphant.
The next day, I sprang from the bed and was, as usual, running late. Wishing eveyone a half hearted and quick good morning, I was on my way to the wash room when my mom estatically said "Hey you are not limping anymore!" "Huh?" And I looked at my ankle to see that a tiny bump and almost no pain! My reaction? "AW SHUCKS!"
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