Shopping mall encounters.

Shopping malls have always come as way to do some decent manageable time pass if nothing else was found to be done. So one such day was Saturday when I had relied on shopping mall for some reasonable time pass.
In the mall, marketing personnel try to convince that their brand is the best and going to suit you the most.
“ Madam, some sweet flavour will do?” “Would you like to check the new range we introduced?” “why don’t you just take a look?

So here are few of the funny encounters I had experienced in the past with the last one experienced on Saturday written first.

En 1 (Sat Sept 2008). :

While walking the lobby between the building, from the corner of my eye, I see A lens company has organized some event.. I move on without great interest. My corner eye glimpse also spots a marketing personnel speak something but being in my own thoughts I don’t stop to hear, thinking he’s talking to someone else.
But now few feet apart walking in my own pace.. I feel some one is following me.. and then I stop and turn around to see the same fellow whom I had spotted with the corner of my eye.

Panting he says.. “Madam, A lens company has organized a free camp. We are offering you one day disposable lens pair free,… blah blah” ( No wonder he spotted that I was wearing spects and a potential client ;) )

Since I had all the time in the world and they were giving one day pair lens trial for free ;) Voice in my head said “No harm in trying”
So there was I walking back with the person to where their setup was.
The guy asks me to fill the form. One lady checks the numbers on the spects that I was wearing. And then I was handed the free one day disposable lens to wear.

As soon as I got done I was bombarded with questions and schemes like “ ma’am how do u feel, this scheme is offering you so and so “ma’am you look better … blah blah ..why don’t you buy it’s a nice deal..

Tired of that bombardment I am ready with my tried and tested answer (which I have previously used for other cosmetic and skin care products ;)) “Actually, I have just got my new lenses done, for this I need to consult my ophthalmologist”
To this the lady says “No ma’am this is really safe.. blah blah…”

Her jabbering continues till I give her a big fake smile and excuse myself by thanking them “Thanks, I’ll surely get back to you guys once I need the new pair done” and off I am with the free trial.

En 2:
(Some day in 2001 or near around, when malls were pretty new concept here. Or rather I was quite new to it)
Ditto to the experience mentioned, I was loitering around the mall round the perfume section. It seemed that the concerned personnel of that section had no other great work and was accompanying me to all possible products they owned. Finally I decide to try few perfumes. And he’s there helping me by asking “Ma’am you like sweet, mild or strong smell” to that I said mild one should be fine.. So he douses the perfume on litmus sort of paper and hands over for me to smell it.. This goes on for 3-4 of such litmus test. After that he says “One minute ma’am, smell some coffee beans” I got confused as the person had said to smell or to eat the coffee beans.

And there he is with his extended hand with a box of coffee beans. Since I could not understand what to do I pick up 2-3 coffee beans and pop them off in my mouth and start chewing ( not knowing how eating would help me in selecting the perfume.. ;) ) (Wondering still how did he know I like coffee beans ;))
And off he’s there in a face trying to hide his laughter. Trying to manage a line or two “ Ma’am please smell the coffee beans so that the previous smells you smelled may not hamper your wanting to smell few new ones”
And there I was a little embarrassed and laughing on my on self.. Happens ( that’s what my mind consoled ;) ) !!

Enjoy!!

Picturising the unknown, unseen person..

We humans constantly create images of others in our minds window. As mentioned in Jaydip's blog , we form picture of the person we interact either verbally ( over phone) or written ( email,blog etc) without seeing that person. Soothing ( convincing/ supportive) voice at the times of need makes a good image ( picture ) of the person. And we wonder of the person's actual face over the imagined one.. how far does the actual image match the imagined one is at times funny to observe..

what use of pan spittle..??

I have never understood the urge to spit pan and cough on the roads and walls of buildings and stairs etc. I actually dislike (hate) such acts. Seems govenrment should also provide spitting pan along roads, buildings and wherever possible.. but...
Anyhow, one funny incident to note here.. while walking down the road, I happened to spot a crow chewing from someones pan spittle :) funny to see. Didnt have a camera then to capture the image .. Atleast someones enjoying the organic waste.... enjoy..

passing th8s...

Just recalled.. how we would all remain children in the eyes of our elders ( mom, dad, dada, dadi etc ) even if we grow up to be adults ... its only when elders start falling we realize our new found responsibilities of being the elder ones .....

pondering over .....

Why do we need synonyms and antonyms for almost all the words (leaving apart prepositions, proper nouns etc etc grammar words ) ? Isn't simpler the better?

Pondering over..

Thoughts were racing in the mind after the meeting at the office, matching the pace with which I was walking on the railway platform. After reaching the place on the platform where the boggey on which I had to board halts, there was a couple standing, holding a very cute baby.. Due to what ever reason the baby was troubled , it kept crying in its shrill voice continuously.. the parents tried their bit to calm the baby but to no rescue..

With the storm of thoughts in my head, I sincerely wished that the couple dosen't land in the compartment I had to travel. But not to wonder, as mentioned in my previous blog, the crying baby and the family had to sit in the same compartment that i was travellig in :) To add fuel to the fire , there was another family with a crying baby almost the same age as this one, sitting in the next compartment but his Dada was sitting along with us, so the father kept bringing the child to his dada..And turn by turn both the kids kept crying.. :)
After some initial moments of irritation ( may be few hours :) ). I had to let go of thinking to restrospect the day at office and be a part of the flow.

If one has to enjoy a moment, one has to be a part of the flow. Being an observer simply would never let one enjoy the events. So then I decide to put aside all the thoughts and the book that I was wanting to read during the journey and enjoy the moment.
What made me wonder was, like child whose language was difficult to understand as they cry to make their parents or others understand its wants.. so also to us .. the language of emotions is so difficult to understand and more difficult is to give voice to the emotions exactly as they are felt within . How easy it is to misinterpret those and because we couldnt understand what was meant to be conveyed we misjudge, spank , under rate others..

Every business works around emotions.. how easy would the life be if we try to master that art.. !!

To cut the story short.. The next morning was calm as both the troubled kids were fine, fresh and happy to play with us... :) and journey ended peacefully.. All's well that ends well :) What say ??

Likes, Dislikes and What I could change..

On crossing the road , I just realised my frowining face...all because of the ramming traffic of humans and vehicles just about to hit you.. it made me think of the likes and dislikes this city has to offer me - the metro that we call MUMBAI
Likes :
- Metro city- more opportunities
- More happening ( lots of events keep happening)
- Well connected to major cities in India and abroad
- More gujarati crowd anywhere you go ( not that i discriminate other communities - but when you are away from your known place and culture you tend to miss it and somehow if you find ppl speaking similar dialect it makes you feel happy)
- open minded people - helpful also
- comparitvely "safe" for women

Dislikes :
- Very Dirty
- Heavely populated - no breathing space
- Heavy traffic
- very expensive

What I could help change:
- Help creating awareness of reducing waste and proper disposal of waste ( just happen to do that while i am using the public transport )

Likes and offerings the city has to offer outweighs in number/count over dislikes, but if we sit to calculate the percentage of inconvenience the dislikes cause it will outweigh the likes ...
What does your city say? and can we actually do something of trying to lessen the dislikes

coincidence or what ??!!

Sometimes, why certain events just happen with you and not with someone else.. all the more that event is something you hate the most .. for eg.. hair coming in the food plate that you are consuming and it keeps coming to your dish alone leaving apart other taking food from there only... :)

similarly other events that may happen to you but you hate those events to take place ... is there an answer to such events that happen to you consequently ...?? or can this termed as coincidence or what.... !!??

pondering over ...passing thought ...

Quite often we tend to pass on a murk smile ( or a mocking smile ) if someone falls or makes mistakes ..
( and all the more if the wavelength of the other person dosent match much with you ( or if one is not too comfortable with the other person))

what makes us laugh .. that other person has made mistake and you are not the only one ... or what ...

**Tagged** TagDi Batein

Little Ranting reptile ( stupidosaur) has tagged this time .. ( Acknowledgements to the little ranting reptile to 1st of all tag me and 2ndly to use a part of title from his blog without asking , but this reptile is a little generous and wuldnt mind the same ;) )
More often then not Tags come and act as fillers .. anyhow here is the tag completed..
Rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge the person who tagged you.
Nearest book?
Hmm.. badi mushkil se ye book khatam kiya .. Pg 123 didnt have anything substantial to quote so I took liberty to change it to pg 148 and the last of 3rd sentences from that page is what i ve taken here

Name of the book: Letters to Sam , A grandfathers lessons on Love, loss, and the gifts of life By Daniel Gotlieb

( Crossword had put it in best seller section - but some how I was hardly impressed . As written in the last page of this book Royalties from sale of this book are being donated to cure Autism now and other children's charities. - so in case if u wud like to do a little charity u can buy this copy - otherwise the book can be skipped.. )

Here are the lines :
"Groopman realised that as he accomodated the pain, it persisted. And the more he accomodated, the more it demanded.

I think many of us do this with our tigers. If the tiger is fear of rejection, we might not get into an intimate relationship. If the tiger is depression, we might stay home more and socialize less. if its insecurity, we might devote our lives to appearing more productive than everyone else, just to hide that tiger."
______________________
(Could coorelate with the above quote and hence posted it but I would like to add one more from my diary . )
I ll post a quote I like a lot .

- To laugh often and much
- To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children
- To earn appreciation of honest critics and endure betrayal of false friends
- To find the best in others
- To leave this world a bit better by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition
- To know even one life has breathed easier because you ve lived.
This is to ve succeded
___________________
Anyone who wishes to update their blog page is humbly requested to take up this tag..It wud be nice to read variety of answers..

More Goofing's ......

Now this is becoming a space to vent out goofings.. yet another one and this one was really funny..
Scene 1:
C is to take a lecture to the freshly recruited batch, next morning at 10.30 on a designated topic (which got designated to her just around 6pm).
The lecture to the batch is to start at 10.30am at ground floor conference room.
Few minutes before the presentation time, C checks for the setup. C was not aware where the wireless keyboard and mouse were kept apart from the console to control projector and stuff.. so C goes to the reception counter and gently asks the receptionist ( hence forth called R1) of the same ..
(both the receptionist R1 and R2 are engrossed in some talks before I barge into their conversation )

here goes the conversation…

C: hi, I’ve a presentation in this conference room . I ve to present “slides” so I would like to get the set up of projector, wireless keyboard and mouse done .
R1: tell security nah.. (half listening.. not interested in what C is talking as C had disturbed her from some hot topic both R1 and R2 were discussing… )
C: perplexed.. ‘security’ ??
R1: yeah .. tell security he will do it
C still stands there not understanding why for IT set up she has to talk to security ( or was it that security was that smart )..
R1 : arre tell this lady in grey sari she will also do it ..
C is still standing ..and wondering and more confused.. what and how would security people know about how to set up projector and keyboard and stuff..
R1: go that lady standing there, she will help you. ( by this time R1 is tired of instructing C !!)

Scene 2:
C: ( so confused still) approaches wondering what and how she should explain that security wali lady to get the set up of projector etc done ready for her presentations so that she understands my wants and gets done with my requirement …

Though C in her mind knows the result and doesn’t want to converse at all with that lady but R1 from remote is watching ;) so C makes effort and goes to security)

C: I want to present a lecture , Pls get the projector and keyboard in place..
Security lady : what ?? huh.. i dont get u!!
C is like where in the world have I landed ( C feels like banging her head)

C is looking around for some instant relief and luckily C spots HR guy .. C immediately leaves that lady behind ( that lady is also perplexed what language I talked her into!!) and C follows the HR guy who’s walking towards R1.
( so this conversation again takes place near the R1)

C: hey V, I have a presentation here in ground floor conf. could u pls get the required set of WIRELESS KEYBOARD, MOUSE and PROJECTOR done for me ( C is now tired of explaining her wants)..
V: hmm .. ok ..
Meantime R1 is also hearing C and V’s conversation and barges our conversation to share her knowledge….
R1: o ok u want to present a lecture I will call chacha..I thought u wanted to get “switches” on..
(Chacha was the IT guy handling/managing all those equipments..)

So while I was talking of presenting “slides” ( inturn meaning a presentation) R1 in her own mind understood my saying as “switches” instead of “ slides” and hence was continuously pointing to the security .. because security ofcourse knew where the “switches” were to lit the conference room.

Phew!!!

There was no end to laughing at the whole encounter and events that took place..

namequest..UQ !!

On the quest to find a colleague on the sametime( messenger of lotus notes),I question the masterfind( repository of all the employees with their designations and email id..) . I put the name of A on masterfind.. and out comes the result page by page. Since there were ample of them with the same name, name with A1, A2.. etc. I knew the surname of A and with that name and surname there was only one name..So I go further, on basis of instinct.. add the one assuming that this was the one I had to contact to..
C: hi
A: hi there
C: hey what happened to the common photos of the outing.. if u ve uploaded them can u send the link across....
A: m sorry, but m sure this is some other A. U are taking to some other A. and I ve no clue and am least aware of the photos u are talking about.. and ends it there with a smiley
C: sshh... opps.. m so sorry ... and so do i end the conversation with a smiley there ..
Goofing, was funny for sure...must ve brought a smile to that chaps face too...

Further to that, I thought lemme check by putting my name on masterfind and check out my uniqueness..
I was amused to see 42 people with name C.. with a slight variation of alphabet here and there.. All the while I was thinking I am unique and so is my name ;) Though with this spelling of my name and the surname combined there would be no doubt abt its uniqueness..

Go ahead check ur uniqueness quotient (UQ) .. ;) Enjoy..

26-5-2008

colour logic..

How is white colour formed in actual sense of objects/materials/things bearing the colour 'white' ?
i guess its inherent to nature of material. for eg white paint may be formed from lime or chalk
white cloth formed from white yarn and yarn formed from cotton, which is inherently white etc..
Can white colour be made...?
Anyone can add views to this ...

[according to colour theory white colour is the mixture or blending of all colours , but if we blend colours it turns out to be black . and black is understood to be as absence of all colours...]

silent prayers

someone has rightly said " the biggest suspense in life is you know whom you pray for but you would never know who prays for you"