Missed Opportunities!!!

I just lost a golden opportunity to give my career a boost. I am dejected and extremely angry that I didn’t take time out to develop those skills. With so much talk about pink slips and salary cuts, this had been a god send opportunity.

It all started when I got a call from the placement agency, which in these dark times seemed like the 10th wonder of the world. The representative in her most professional voice told me they had a few openings and it was high paying. As she listed out one job profile, my excitement knew no bounds. It was exactly the kind of boost I needed. With lots of responsibilities and a salary to die for!! The growth path was tremendous too!!

However when she listed down the qualifications and eligibility criteria, my heart sank like the Titanic. I switched off my phone for the entire day to mourn my great loss………




Here’s what the consultanat said to me:
1) Education (minimum eligibility): The lesser the better. Proficiency in handling fire arms like AK 47 and breaking a few bones.
2) Excellent financial skills: Including an ability to overstate the financial gains and make get finance in the form of hafta to the organization.
3) Oratory and public speaking skills
4) A flair to explore medical opportunities.. ( read drugs) and willingness to pursue real estate areas in confined spaces ….( did you know that’s a code word for jail??)

Pssst … there is a braking news ….actually Amar bhaiyya ( his secretary actually) had called me before he called Sanju … I lost the golden chance to serve you all … if only I had paid attention to enhancing my skill sets…………. :(

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The Diagnosis

She had been grappling with this problem from time immemorial, to be precise from the time she was 10 months old. Many treatments had been tried and many doctors consulted, but the ailment persisted. Even eating food was a problem. Her appetite seemed to vanish each time she sat down for a meal...

The problem got her into trouble everywhere she went. In school, she was always discriminated against, even made to stand outside the class for no fault of hers. The teachers overlooked her case; they even had no words of comfort to offer.
She tried very hard to overcome her troubles, but it seemed in vain. Her friends supported her, but she had this feeling a day would come when they would stop doing it too. She would have to fight her battles on her own.

After many years of struggle, there was a diagnosis to her condition. They called it ETD and the cause they presumed was genetic and in her case from the paternal side. This was a first step in her fight against her problem. Complete cure was still a research topic... she just prayed for a miracle......











The diagnosis was Excessive Talking Disorder (ETD).... wish this had been done when I was in school.. would have been spared of kneeling down on corridors!!!
Now I know why I suffer from poor appetite too, I talk more than I eat and by the time I go back to my food, everyone is done with eating and left the table or glaring at me to finish. How can a poor soul eat in such difficult conditions?

Treatment is on …One friend even suggested working in a silent movie to reduce the urge to talk… and he is gonna train me to communicate silently on the telephone too ( I have such caring friends) Any other suggestions are always welcome!!!!!!!!!!
P.S : The ETD researchers have invited me to give a “talk “ on the issues faced by people with ETD … any fellow sufferers know where to contact me … we can talk about it ;)

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Deadly Silence!!!

She looked at him, her sad eyes unable to hide the pain of him not responding to anything.
Days had stretched into weeks now; there had been no change in his situation. Nothing seemed to be working, neither the medicines nor the prayers. There were talks around her to replace him, how she wondered it was possible to sever someone from one’s life so easily, just because they can’t serve you anymore.


Slowly she tried to get acquainted to his replacement; but his loyal services over the years still seemed to haunt her. She hoped against hope that his heart would beat again. For the past few days, he had been just lying like a vegetable. She willed her folks to adhere by her decision to keep him alive for a few more days, even if it was through life support. She wanted him to have one last chance.






So my mother keeps on hoping for our dead landline phone to wake up since the past 15 days. Slowly getting accustomed to the cell phone, which she had resented with the intensity of Taliban fighting the US forces. Addicted to the tele phone, she used to chide me .. but the tables just turned ;) Now just one small beep from our friend the telephone will be the best music we have heard in years !!!!!

PS: And pray why is the telephone a “he”.. you may ask? Because it only listens what you got to say and throws it out through its other ear (literally), and never says anything in return!!!!!!!!!!! :D (ok now I can see the male brigade baying for my blood and my sistahs nodding their head vigorously in agreement ;) )

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Time to move on!!

She watched the sun go down. There was something powerful about this sunset. It only seemed to make her resolve stronger.
There had been several times when she had made this decision but something seemed to hold her back, some unknown force. She was being drawn into a different world, a world which existed only in her dreams, a fact she refused to accept. The smile she carried with her hid her insecurities from the world too. Nobody seemed to spot the cracks in the smile.

This year had been a year of hanging onto a past which refused to die down. Of dreaming up things, which would never come true. The last day of this year seemed to jolt her out or her reverie. She knew time was running out, decisions needed to be made. She had to move on. Moving on, two little world which have far reaching effects. The scars which would come back to hurt her in the unlikeliest moments. The mistakes that make a habit to haunt her and the sorrow of an unfulfilled dream that she would carry with her.

Rome wasn’t built in a day… goes the popular saying and nor do lives change in day. But one day at a time tiny changes creep in and in a year’s time we are not the same anymore.


Happy new year to all of you!!!


The past year has been good, bad and ugly for me and I just hope I can shed the ugly burden and move on to 2009. Just an attempt to leave the hurt here and move on!!!!!

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Do you believe in Miracles??

Two pairs of eyes sat staring at the screen. Taking in each piece of information thrown at them. Each time hoping to find what they were looking for; a face in crowd.

Their faces often clouded with disappointment and self doubt. Was this going to be another futile goose chase? They looked at her with anticipation, hoping that she would give them support in their time of need, but to no avail. But they were not ready to give up yet, after all life was about hoping. Their dream would come true, he would definitely come into their lives and everything would be alright again. All the questions of their prying neighbors would be definitely put to rest. They believed in miracles.



This is precisely the feeling I get each time I see my parents scout the matrimony sites for me!!! They keep hoping for a miracle... ;)

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Snobbery…

She could hear their muted whispers as she walked past them. How much she had changed over a matter of few days. Today she didn’t even bother to turn and smile at them, they said. Yet she continued walking, looking straight ahead.

Snob; that was the word they had used. It had hurt her too much. They hadn’t bothered to check with her about her misery. They had just drawn their conclusions. She didn’t bother to correct them, she believed in keeping her woes to herself. This too shall pass she knew, time would reveal the truth to all!!





Only if the people around her had realized that the new found snobbery was thanks to a real stiff neck developed over the weekend!!!

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Of Ironies and Iron men!!

He hurried to get dressed for work; he was running late which was unlike him. His roommates had already left and the room looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. He smiled as he remembered how they had teased each other over girlfriends and crushes at the club last evening.
He blushed as he stuffed his wallet, she did look pretty in that but he knew that smile would turn to a scowl if he forgot her birthday next month.

As the bus sped down the road, his colleagues talked about their plans for the upcoming holiday. He had planned to catch with the many movies he had missed. Slowly as they neared their destination, all talk in the bus turned to work. They focused on the day ahead.

The bus screeched to a halt, his day had begun. Then it was a just a non stop flurry of activity. By the look of it, it already seemed a long say in office.

Little did he know it would also be his last!!

A small tribute to all the brave men in uniform who walk into danger knowing what awaits them. Who have their dreams and aspirations at the back of their minds but give it all up for people they don’t know, but just know the fact that they are their country men, irrespective of the region they belonged to.

Tears will be shed, peace marches held, but that birthday card will always remain not sent!!

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