a dreadful disease called orkut..

Mr. Buyokkokten might have founded this 'social community' to find his long lost girlfriend.. or so the story goes... Whatever the outcome, he has definitely found a place in my house and life and has become a part of it, an important one at that. Orkut is an addiction for me and a million others, you have to, just have to get a dose of it, everyday. It falls in that category of things that you 'must do' while your at work or at home or from your computer lab in college or school. Inspite of it being banned from many workplaces (like mine) users still find a way to access the site (yours truly). With so many proxy sites doing the rounds, its not that hard you know.

From 12 yr olds to i really dont think its possible to limit it to age, its more like a thing for all ages. Its quite like diabetes, just think about it... you eat too much sweet ( exaggerate too,TOO MUCH).. get sick, get diagnosed with diabetes, are restricted from that same ol 'sweet' u once lived on, u still sneak and crawl n end up with tha sweet, get even more sick, finally ur on insulin. Just like diabetes, orkut IS a lifestyle disease; a booster for your social reach and circle ehh. Yea whatever..
Whether you like it or not, every couple of hours you feel the urge to check who's on,whether you've been scrapped or messaged.. or has someone scrappd your friend, or maybe someones scrapped someone you know, about you; is your crush single or committed?? DO you hav more fans or does she? Tumhare scraps se mere scraps kamm kyon?? magar kyon?
Haww!! but you have to keep tabs right...

At the end of the day, like a complete fool in love, i still am very much addicted to ORkut.I never miss out on birthdays anymore, I am in touch with all my friends, good friends, best friends acquaintances and haven't mets, i am a part of sooooo many communities ghar bethe bethe. My ego gets an all time boost (on a daily basis) with the friend requests and testimonials and i get to deepen my laughter lines with the"will you make friendship with me"?? drill.. i can't believe "i love your nose, will you be my friend" type still exist. But then again, anything for a laugh right!!??

Tales of Kashid & Korlai

A few days before I quit my job, I wanted to get away for my last paid weekend. Not the usual, quiet & serene package but something that would thoroughly shake me out of my monotonous living. A friend suggested some sort of cycling trip. The problem here, you see, is that I may look athletic but the exact scenario is quite unlike that.
Any way, there wasn't anything else to do, so we joined the gang- The explorers (based out of Churchgate) and dude that was the beginning of all good things.
The trip was to Kashid (130 kms from BBay) and it involved a total of 40-50 kms of actual cycling after the ferry ride, beyond Mandwa. For most of the group ( experienced travellers and a bunch of really friendly Dutch couples) it was a smooth ride, but for me n the other 'like-bodied' unhealthy individuals, a really brilliant truck was provided( that's another story all together)
Getting back to the point- Kashid, has the most beautiful virgin beaches, blue sea ( i swear), fine sand. Its so picturesque with cactus in some areas and casuarina in the rest. There is this one point, from on the road where the entire beach( approx 3-4kms) can be seen at a glance. We went somewhere in January and the weather was just perfect. Besides for the night, we had our tents (yeah baybeeh) put up right next to the beach, with a little fencing and all, for the cows in the area to realize that its a no grazing zone.

one for the camera; Thrugh the village; A Korlai House

Day 2 was some more of Kashid beach and KORLAI, the only Portuguese village in the state. The occupation here is fishing and related fields (making nets/boats etc). From the main road to the sea, is a long winding unpaved track which is a dream to walk on( u can drive down the narrow streets as well). Its lined with the most adorable houses, the kind you hear of only in stories with hay roofs and wooden gates. Little children running all over the place, chasing dogs and chickens. Mothers and daughters waiting in the verandah (probably for their fishermen) making plaits, oiling each others hair, talking and giggling with neighbors. Its such a pretty sight.

Net Practice; Some more netty work

As you advance into the village, u see a stretch of boats being made or repaired, then finally right next to the sea you see people making nets ( in the most incredible fashion, which BTW takes a LOT of effort n skill.)
Finally along the beach, is a another steep uphill climb to the fort and lighthouse( I did not go up, so cant help u there) but what I did do was climb the bare mountain to the fort and guess what its a HAUNTED mountain. Apparently 4 people had died weird deaths on reaching the summit (as told by one of the villagers who saw us climb). The funny thing was we were 4 of us too and towards the end it seemed like an easy anyone-can-do-it task. From the top, the sea looked mesmerizing and the whole village looked gorgeous. The guy who first heard the story wanted us down immediately,he was hooting at us in all funny ways to get us outta there, which we finally did without getting to the top.
Legend or not, visit the place, truly a fort worth conquering.

Crocodile on Kashid beach

Kids playing; More houses on the way; View from the haunted mountain

So many men..so little time

“Men are like pumpkins. It seems like all the good ones are either taken or they've had everything scraped out of their heads with a spoon.”
The ones that are taken are found in hell.. and im a lazy bum to go all the way to fetch em. So the category we have to deal with are the ones who have scraped heads.
Think about it this way, for a truly 'Indian' woman, she does sooo friggin much for her man (in most cases man equals wussy). From switching careers to switching locations; changing her name to changing diapers..the list is long and i dont want to rethink it..makes me sick n sore..
Im not against men, i love that species.. i mean what would life be without some adventure... boring as hell eh..but thats where the perfect adonises are. .. RIDICULOUS
Its funny how for a second u just cannot do without them and the very next second makes u sick in the stomach by the mere thought of that wussy.
Let me reiterate, this piece is not against anyone, i love y'all, each n everyone of u.. but then again no man is worth your tears, if someone does make u cry, take a bumboo and shove it up his 'u know what'.
The point of this damn thing,its already taken a while now; is that, whatever u do, wherever u go...love urself FIRST and LAST...the space in the middle is for all the others..its upto u to prioritise. You are the begginning and the end. Loving urself, is essentially through education and career. The stress here is on education and not mere literacy.Be financially fit and sufficient. Equip yourself so that you dont ever have to face any sort of 'male emergency' again. Make your career your 'weapon of man (name one) destruction.

Besides there are soooo many men.. theoretically, indias sex ratio allows every woman to have something slightly over a man (933/1000) !!!look at it this way, I feel like the priviledged one..tables can now turn; a woman with a harem of her men (sound politically, literally, grammatically screwed up) but sounds good nonetheless. So get down to doing some efficient time management thingies and make optimum utilisation of ur man resources (i mean wrt everything else also i.e. household work/diaper chores and the like)

Finally, despite all the rubbish that u have just read, take it easy with that pumpkin(s)...as long as at the end of the day u've reduced him to that- a PUMPKIN.