How to lose about 300 people in a matter of minutes.

Yea…you read that right: not pounds/kgs, but people!

I had had a long day at work yesterday, and had asked the husband to come all the way to my office and pick me up! The princess that I am, I refused to go home in an auto/bus. I had to have my chauffeur! Fed up of work — or rather, the lack of it — at a good-for-nothing office, he was already in a bad mood. Having to drive that extra mile amidst unrelenting traffic, and then, waiting for me outside my office forever (to which he’s become accustomed) did very little to cheer him up!

Which is when the thought of food came in—always the catalyst for a cheerful time!  So we went to a much-hyped Mallu restaurant near our place in Koramangala, Bangalore. Bad food, pathetic service, big-time delay and a high price tag. Did nothing but drive the husband deeper into the dumps!

A pack of VCDs had arrived earlier the evening (a few classic Mallu movies the husband had ordered from Moser Baer over the Internet), and i thought, “what better than a good movie to cheer up my movie freak” 🙂

So we reach home, settle down and decide to watch a movie — when he starts groping around in his pockets, beneath the cushions, under the sofa…and asks, “Where’s my mobile”?

The husband, when assured that the mobile is safe, usually does not budge from the sofa once seated, unless it’s a life threatening situation (like my heading for the TV with a hockey stick, maybe). But now, he’s up and about, searching for his mobile in all possible places a Sony Ericsson K710i can fit.
We call to his number from my phone and it says “The Airtel customer you’re trying to reach is currently out of reach…”. Momentary solace, hoping its way under the thick cushions of the sofa. Until I say that I’d heard a ‘thud’ when we turned the corner right after leaving the restaurant.

And then, pandemonium. Quick call to the restaurant: negative. Quick trip to the restaurant: negative. Not-so-quick survey of the entire lane: negative. Mobile lost: positive! And that was it. He seemed to have lost all interest in life (I wonder where I fit in 😉 ).

So, here’s how you lose about 300 people in a matter of minutes! Simple. Lose your mobile phone! 😀

Am sure the husband won’t be empathetic to my ‘simple’ analysis. He had to learn it the hard way, poor thing 😦 The thought of having lost about 250 odd contacts, many photographs and close to a million “I love you” messages I’d sent seemed to paralyse him 😦  How many contacts have I lost? How will I get back all those numbers?

And I say, “Call Airtel CC and  block your SIM. Ask them if we can get your mobile traced…isn’t there some IMEI number we can use?” The number is duly blocked and he promised to issue a duplicate SIM immediately, but the smart CC guy says the ‘Trace your lost phone with the IMEI number’ service is not available in India!

More depression and irritation. “Suraj, the sun” had set for a while 😀 [Perhaps this is what a baby goes through on Day 1: the world knows its identity, but the poor baby knows none!]

Which then made me wonder how much we all rely on that little gadget called a mobile phone (“we” does not include me; i rather believe mobile phones should be left wherever you please…and allow it to ring till it dies)

We no longer remember the phone numbers like we used to (of course, it’s much tougher to keep track of 8 digits compared to those cute 5-digit numbers :D); we no longer jot down numbers on quaint, alphabetical diaries; we no longer rush from our seat to attend that call on the phone resting on that antique corner stool (we’d rather the mobile phone rush to us: it’s ‘mobile’ for a reason!); we no longer scribble our loved one’s birthdays on our wall calendar; we no longer have use for that round little thing lovingly called an ‘alarm clock’; in fact, we’re in a stage where we wish everything could be located with a “missed call” !

Biting nails when boredom strikes are a thing of the past: it’s the mobile phone we play with.

Reading random magazines at the dentist is passé: why that, when we have games on our mobile phone?

Receiving no calls for one full continuous hour could only be because the battery has run out; not because you’re indispensible 😀

Owning a mobile is mandatory for anyone who wants to fall in love.

Etiquettes matter only at meetings and at the table; whoever said mobile phones come with a set of etiquettes? (Of course, I got a thick free etiquette book; but I sold it along with a stack of old newspapers! :D) If you are the proud owner of a mobile phone, the following are OK:

• Letting it ring insistently with that irritating ringtone (while you grope for it in the darkness) at the theatre
• Talking on it while in a flight (endangering other passengers as well) unless the pilot threatens to jump out with his parachute
• Fiddling with the “End” button, only to change your mind, accept the call and brawl into it with a “In a meeting; will call back later… Oh, that! Man, that was funny…hehhehehe…ooops…in a meeting; will call back later!”
• Waking up people from their sleep to say “Oh…did I wake you up? Sorry, didn’t notice the time… So, how’s life?”
• Talking animatedly on the mobile phone while crossing the road, and getting (not just oneself) others too into danger
• Talking loudly (not to mention the loud ringing) in libraries, hospitals, air-conditioned public vehicles and everywhere else!
  ………..
• And a dozen other irritating stuff!

For someone who’s damn careless and absented about all things, and mobile phones especially, I’ve never lost one: so, I don’t know the agony of losing it. In fact, on those days that I forget to carry it along to work, I experience a particular sense of peace and calm — of not having to attend calls, respond to messages and ensure it’s not misplaced 😉

I wonder how we (rest of the world excluding me) lived when the mobile phones didn’t exist! 😉 It’s a ‘maaranam’ (evil) we can’t live without, now!

Any special mobile stories, folks?

all it takes to lose…

Doesn’t matter how many years you’ve been friends for; doesn’t matter how many times you’ve stood by each other; doesn’t matter how many jokes you’ve shared; doesn’t matter how long you’ve been there for each other; doesn’t matter how many jokes you’ve shared; doesn’t matter how many pranks you’ve played; doesn’t matter how many, many times you’ve told each other “You’re my best buddy!”. All it takes to lose a friend is not to attend her wedding!

I learnt this the hard way. May none of you ever!

P.S.:

My apologies! You’re still my best friend! 😥

good? bad? good? bad? i do not know…

There’s nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

So says Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Well, how more true can this be ?

There are certain people who enter your life unannounced, uninvited, yet becomes an integral part of your life. They become so much a part of your daily life that after a point, you don’t even realise what they do for you and what they don’t…you start taking them for granted…sometimes you like them; sometimes you hate; sometimes you look for them; sometimes you hide; sometimes you listen to them; sometimes you walk away…

I have one such person to talk about…

This person was not my type at all…I never thought I’d become friends with this person. But well, you can never chart out your life, can you? This person and I became friends. And being in a new city for good measure, I found much help in this person. A symbol of purity at heart, this person is very endearing to all who surround. Extremely selfless, this person would cross desert and sea to be with a person in need. Though this person would always be with everyone, wishing them good, people end up hurting this person a lot…leaving this person to wonder why good never begets good, at least, in this person’s life.

For me, this person has been a huge support and help for as long as I can remember. We have had our fights and misunderstandings, joys and happy hours….but this person, unlike me, was always unflinching in defining the meaning of friendship. I have no words that will justifiably thank this person for all that this person did for me.

This person has a heart that forgives; love is all this person ever needs and expects. This person always strives to see goodness in others…and tries to conquer people with love. Even to people who have conspired against this person, this person returns it all manifold in a lot of loving gestures and favours. This person, I would hence conclude by saying, is unique…one in a million!

But…like I mentioned earlier, this person was not my type at all…and well, maybe not all man is perfect! This person is an extremist, in a good sense, though. For this person, everything is sacred–relationships are meant to be forever! Being an independent, free person, I found myself wanting the famous “space” in my life. But this person would always be there with a piece of good advice, a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. And when perspectives of two people are different, everything one does would seem weird to the other…and well, though there’s nothing good or bad, thinking ALWAYS makes it so… and trouble creeps in…distance separates people…difference of opinions manifest themselves as irritation, anger…one loses the ones they once liked…but sometimes, one doesn’t care…that’s what happened to us too…

This person is not in my life any more. And I am neither glad nor sad that it ended this way. We probably never deserved each other. I hope we never cross paths again. May this scissors mark the end of what we mean to the other. Goodbye!!!

image courtesy: fotolia / sxc

an atm card, 7744 bucks and a lost password!

Been down in the dumps since Saturday…

Was in the joy of having received some bonus from office and all that on Friday. Planned to have a bash on Saturday…go book shopping, spend the night at a friend’s place and have a happy weekend. Until I checked my bag on Saturday morning. And… Damn! Damn! Damn!

My atm card had apparently deserted me! First call went to the boyfriend, “Why the hell did you take my card? You could at least have told me…now how the hell do you think I can go shopping?!”. The answer was calm and amused “I do not have your card, Priya.” Aah…that was it. “Damn! Damn! Damn! Me, my carelessness and my damn forgetfulness…”

I was in despair. I knew I had misplaced it…but didn’t know when or where—until I figured out that my previous usage had been on July 8^th…well, the obvious things were done—called the bank, blocked the card, realised some ****** has swiped it for Rs 7744 at some African Electronics shop! Damn! Damn! Damn!

“It was swiped in Africa? A.F.R.I.C.A ???” “Ummm…no ma’am…I meant it was swiped in a shop called Africa Electronics.” “Oh.” I was so irritated at the loss that I was quite tempted to be mean to the guy standing at the next counter and complaining, “Look, my card is old…and I need a new one…” Here, I have neither the card nor the money—and this fellow is cribbing about a new card?? Have mercy! For want of loosing my cool, I just pretended he didn’t exist. Damn! Damn! Damn!

Well, nothing much was to be done…I went on with my book shopping, had lunch and met up with friends to catch a movie… I had totally ignored the card and the loss… “What has to happen, will happen, Priya” I told myself. And well, landed up at Lido, met my friends and told them the sob-story. “African Electronics? I haven’t even heard of it” said a friend. “Me neither”, wailed I…when another one piped up “Ah, that shop is right behind my house!” “What???” Damn! Damn! Damn!

And then my brain started working…actually started working! Since that day, I haven’t slept. In spite of all that, i sat through the entire movie (Jaane tu ya jaane na–do watch it, its a happy movie…nice); i went to my friend’s place and spent the night there with 3 others; came back home on Sunday, continued the investigation…and finally on monday, i had two suspects. Hated the fact that it was either of the two… Damn! Damn! Damn!

All of monday, I couldn’t concentrate on my work. Kept solving the situation over and over in my head…and finally, by monday evening, I ruled out one among the two. And I was shocked… Damn! Damn! Damn!

Came home dead tired…mentally, more than physically…and finally sat down with my laptop, logged on to gmail… oops, logged on to gmail…ooops, logged on to gmail…ooops, logged on to gmail…ooops, logged on to gmail…and well, with shock, despair, irritation and much frustration, i realised that my password wasn’t working…it kept asking me to verify the special characters, check caps lock and a lot of other things. All I wanted was to see “Loading scorpria@gmail.com…” and that was the only message which wasn’t coming. Damn! Damn! Damn!

Then the tears started flowing! I cried like a baby…”I’ve lost my gmail id…waaaaahhhhh….i’ve lost my orkut id…everything is gone…my atm card is also gone….waaaahhhh….”

😀 😀 😀 3 sleepless nights, 2 full days of mental pressure and 7744 bucks! I had lost my logical abilities…the ability to think straight, apply my brain and realise that I can do a password recovery!