The world I live in

The search for just one hymn's lyrics led me to a goldmine of Christian hymns .mp3s. This is it. I hope this stays online forever.

I'm not going to start a blog. Instead, here's a link which should help most Indians at least deal with the tax part of things. http://www.taxworry.com/

Been thinking about starting a blog on the financial investments for the small investor. The idea doesn't seem to leave my head for a very long time. I guess helping UK get her financial plans in order has given me a taste of being a financial advisor. Maybe I should do it. Maybe I shouldn't. Help!

Thanks to a lazy day at work last Friday, I was able to go to Adlabs and watch a movie. 2nd visit to Adlabs, 1st movie to watch. Went there with Jeethy after double and triple checking with boss that we could take 2 hours off from work. The movie began at 4 pm. All I had heard about the movie till the day I had to watch it was its name. About 4 hours prior to watching, heard it was a remake of some South Indian film. Oh well, I don't have a high opinion of remakes in Hindi. What the heck, why lose an opportunity to have an Adlabs experience just if I think the movie's going to be lousy! Don't ask me about the story line. I don't have much to say about that. All I can say is that Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal's on screen wife save the day with their comic timing. Just about 4 songs in the entire length and nothing else that I can say about the movie. On the whole, watch it if you want to just smile and have nothing else to do.

UK left with mixed emotions. I hope that all goes well with the move and life takes a better turn for her. Glad for her but sad that once more I'm left with no one to talk to face to face. Scattered friends, voices over distances and letters that are precious. I guess that's how it will always be for me.

The place is all mine. Well, not entirely. A loan repayment in 25 years time, will truly make it mine :)

For a few minutes last evening, I was rich with about Rs. 2.5 lacs cash in hand. Felt a bit weird since I never carry so much on me. But more were the doubts: anyone looking at me? do I look like I'm carrying so much? should have I have listened to mom and hubby to take someone along with me? what if someone mugged me and then killed me? what would happen to my family after that? all this for nothing? And so on.. the thoughts went scrambling over each other in my mind. But hey! those few minutes made me grow a bit wiser. And that wisdom shall be put use if I'm in a situation like last evening again. :)

Lots of things running through my mind and not a single word can be typed down here. All centered around M and what I'm feeling right now. The memories are just too many. The guilt even more. I finally did send M an email this morning. 3 lines of farewell. Got a response about an hour later. With this I hope there are no more reminders of the time we had together and of how it painfully ended. I do hope and wish that all goes well for him. I've deleted that email just so that I don't have to remember any more. Please let this be a story ended forever. Any sequels? please let it be more pleasant than this current state of sadness and guilt.

I've taken the challenge once more to stop biting my finger nails... at least the left hand. In this respect, have bought 2 colors of nail polish. The regular transparent one which I'm using on my finger nails. I hope no one notices the bright shiny nails. Not that there's much of the nails to see anyway. A weird color whose name I cannot recollect. All I remember is that it belongs to the Street Wear and I use the color on my toe nails. Had applied the coats on Sunday and the results are visible to me alone right now. Tough keeping those fingers away from my teeth. But heck.. I want to look good and feel good. Not to forget able to peel onion skins with my fingers :)

Today's list of eseparations brought in M's name. Seeing it felt odd. I'd kind of been expecting this. And now that it's finally here, I'd been wondering whether I should write to him or not. He's leaves on the 26th of this month. A few more days in hand if I do feel like acting on the emotion that's been driving me nuts ever since I saw his name. Besides entering a short note that states no dues to the library here, didn't wish him farewell or goodbye. Just signed off the clearance. There's loads I'd like to say but nothing that seems right. Should I get in touch again or should I just let it go? Or do I let time take over?

Was in Bharat Mall last evening with Joel and mom. Was just goofing around the place with no intention to buy anything. Just looking around. The crowd as usual was turning heavy due to the weekend + festival offers. Stopped by the cosmetic counter at Big Bazaar for the first time ever since I've been going there. Was checking out the lip colors on sale. Street Wear was attractive with it's packaging and range of lip colors. However, my eyes spotted Maybelline and I thought 'Why not! let's try it out.' The lady applied a shade to the my palm and said that it was guaranteed to stay on for 12 hours. And then went on to apply 3 other shades. During this time my mind was trying to decide whether I wanted a color to stay on for more than an hour. Told the sales lady, I'd check if her guarantee was working and then come back to buy it if the shade did last. It's almost 24 hrs since and the shade hasn't rubbed off. Not even with me trying to scrub it off. What t...

Yesterday the papers were all submitted to Corp Bank. Now just waiting for the whole loan to be processed and the precious money to be credited to my account. Amrith got an unexpected holiday due to an ex-chief minister of Karnataka passing away. So HURRAY! After that another 2 steps and the flat at Golden Empire is all mine. In the meanwhile, for the past 3 days I've been working with a production unit at work on a fashion show piece. Initially I'd thought of trying the belly dancing on stage. In the end, I chickened out just because I felt I'm too huge to fit into hired costumes. Didn't want to hear a team disappointment. However, it gave me immense pleasure that my choreography based on Youtube videos proved fruitful. My students did well on stage. The only dampener was the rain that poured. Oh well! at least this time it was a real rain dance :) We won the third spot for the Fashion Show and here I am sitting and typing about it. Tired but very happy. Have called up...

Not yet. But at least I fit into a shirt which I couldn't even button up earlier. I can wear a salwar which I couldn't wear earlier. Have I lost weight? I don't know. The weighing scale isn't that good an indicator. Am I getting back into shape? Feels like it :) Not sure if having a cold today is an added bonus. Been gupling down lime juices since morning. The egg fried rice at the Food Court did help ease the nose block. :D In the meanwhile, just one thing at work keeps my spirits low. The team I'm in doesn't seem to feel like a team anymore. I'm choosing to sit quiet and see how things work out. All this on ex-boss's wedding anniversary.

I finally got to meet a Friendorama pal - Ganesh. Not what i expected. Blame it on a pic he'd kept as his visual on google talk. He was kind enough to drop me off to office all the way from Madivala. Heck! next time I'll learn to stock up my pockets with a little more cash. Met AK too. He's put on a bit more 'fat' since I last saw him. Limited time with friends is a curse. Next time I shall make sure I'm out on my own so that I can do justice to all the people that I'd like to meet up with. I've said goodbye to Friendorama but not without meeting 3 people there. Ganesh, of course, is the first on the list. The others are Brad - in an events management company and Anthony - into HR and head hunting. Let's see how these relationships grow. I sure hope I have these guys as good friends for life. The good part about Bangalore: - I got to buy 3 pairs of chappals for Rs. 300. I'm glad. I'm wearing one pair today and they are a real treat for my fee...

Pio Mall construction is in progress. Suniel Shetty's building one too and I don't know where that's going to come up. Reliance has purchased land near Jyothi for 26 lacs per cent and I hate to think of what's going to happen to the traffic movement in that area. Srujan told me that KFC is coming to town. YAYAYAYAY! Not sure which Mall they'll be setting up shop. I just hope it's either in Empire or Bharath which are the current malls in full swing. I'm just hoping the new KFC doesn't compromise on standards and quality. Else I might just have to limit my KFC chicken hogging to each time I visit Bangalore.

I'm excited about being in Bangalore for 3 whole days. My plans at present include: - working from Bangalore for a day - meeting the book vendors the next day - just going around and doing nothing constructive on day 3 Not sure how much of this is going to happen. But yeah! I do hope to visit a few people whom I haven't seen in a long time. Neil's wedding is just the added bonus. My evenings are totally taken care of. On the flip side, the documents required for buying the flat aren't totally in my hands yet. The seller is very interested in receiving his payments soon. Wish he was interested in giving those blessed documents just as quickly too. Who carries that much cash in the pocket? Please! please! please! let all things happen in good time and favorably for Amrith and me. Would love to have a place of my own to call home.

Amrith & I have zeroed in on one place in Mangalore. It's a flat at Urwa Stores in Golden Empire. A 2-BHK in a 1200 sq.ft area on the 3rd floor. If all goes well, we both have a place for ourselves which we can finally call our own. The owner comes this Thur and hopefully works on getting the documents required for the sale. Besides this the only other happening was the BEF Get-together at Pallkhi's Roof Top. Had a pretty good time there with the other BEF's units. An initial welcome drink and we started with a game of identifying the members of various departments. Each department's members were asked to be seated together. After they completed their identification process, their papers were handed over to another department to be corrected. We (E&R) got HR's sheets and ours was given over to CCD. We ranked second in the game. We also had to speak about the department who's paper we were correcting. For hungry souls like me the starters that were served...

The prices of land and houses don't seem like they are going to come down at any point in the near future. Finding a place that fits within my meagre budget seems like a dream. Last Saturday there were quite a few places Amrith & I checked out. I loved the flat in Lalbagh - spacious, ventilated. However it was located on the 9th floor. Definite no-no on days when the lift is under maintenance and you have to travel up 9 floors with grocery bags. Milagres Castle too looked like a nice spot. Though this time 6th floor and the balcony's overlooking the busy Hampankatta road. Definite no-no if Mangalore's placed under curfew. Then met Sumanth, Amrith's colleague's bro-in-law. Surprised to meet a familiar face once more. Nabin's housemate during college years. He took us to a few places of Apoorva Constructions. All in all, either the cost is too high or the location's lousy. Will we ever get to see the place we'd like to move into?

This hymn/song matches my mood exactly. Been marching to a different beat at work since last week. My department's newsletter is ready to be rolled out.The library's getting re-arranged. The dumped books have been shelved. Weeding of unused books happens this week. Old journals have already been moved to a storage cupboard allocated for my department Got to add a whole bunch of domain related books CDs get shifted cupboard And fast moving books will be placed in the cupboards closer to me. Here's what I face sometimes: Desk phone rings Me: Library Caller: Hello, is it Veena? Me: Yes. How may I assist you? Caller: Are you at your desk? Try keeping the laughter out of your voice while replying to this question :)

My days are much better now. I don't feel the boiling madness within. Nor do I feel like tearing apart the world and people. Acha though is not much better. His second operation stays cancelled till date. Though, each time he seems to be heading in the other direction, the doctor prepares all of us for the operation. Last night, he's been passing motions too frequently. His urea levels are coming down. He's been talking non-sense to Joe. And seems forgetful. On the bright side, the Novena to Our Lady just before her birthday will begin once more from tomorrow. This year, Joel is old enough to understand that he has to strew flowers for her. I hope to catch him on camera trying to do this. Since at work, I've cooled down considerably, I've also begun surfing and checking out all the URL's that keep getting advertised or flaunted in my face. I'm glad to discover that my favorite store Fabindia is an online presence. And I'm going to be saving up to buy a f...

By Friday evening, I simmered down to the extent that I could joke about my 'angry woman' face. Had decided not to do anything or talk to anyone about it. But just let it be and do what I was expected to do. Then look at my situation again and see if it still needed to 'fixed'. I looked forward to the longish weekend (since Monday is an off for 'Thiru Onam') of doing nothing but reading, watching a little TV, talking to Acha and generally doing nothing important. By the time Amrith, Joel and I reached home at Udupi, we were greeted with a locked door with lights on inside. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Tried contacting Kala. Her phone was at home. Finally got through to Joe and came to know that: Acha had been passing urine and stools without his knowledge had turned pretty weak, with his legs buckling every time he tried to stand straight. he'd been taken to Hi Tech hospital. We rushed there to see him alright but something definitely seemed out of place...

I'm trying to work off this negative energy that doesn't seem to be going anywhere but just staying within. Came to know from Mom that I'd been screaming in my sleep. There seems no constructive way to let go of this anger. I can't remember being this frustrated and angry before. Eaten up inside and can't do anything about it.

This is something I'm sure most of us never stop doing. In my case, I think too much. Or that's what most of the folks I've spoken to tell me. Been thinking about: - How do we (Amrith & I) manage Acha after Joe leaves - Should I throw a party for Joel's birthday or not - How do I tackle that ESOP loan - How do I rearrange next to nil finances to pay the interest on that loan - What would I do if I had the money to get out of the rut I'm in - Can I fire my boss? - Which is the best way to give vent to all this negative emotion within me - Chucking the diet and just doing exactly as I please - Changing jobs - What am I best suited for - .... more that can't be typed down here. A person once likened me to a calm sea. It looks like very calm. But underneath, there's a lot of churning and bubbling and motion.

Thanuja's snaps have long evaded my grasp. Here's the most recent one. We celebrated her birthday a few days late. Some idiot at the office switched off the fridge in which we'd stored her Mocha Birthday Cake. Come Monday and the thing stinks rotted. Had to order for the cake once more. VSN (short for Suryanarayana V) is my new boss (since Dec 2006). Don't have much of a rapport with him currently. Not sure if I want to build one up with him either. Ashwini was the last addition to the group. Very quiet lady most of the time.

Had gone to the food court with Usha about an hour ago. Just back and the questions that are revolving in my mind are: Who am I? From whom or where do I come from? To whom or where am I going to? Do I have a choice or not? On my way to the food court again. It's Thanu's birthday today. And she's treating the department folks. :)

Had been to Udupi on Tue evening. Amrith picked us up from Suratkal. Drove to the hospital and just waited near the ICU. For sure we (Joel and I) weren't going to be allowed into the unit. Came to know of Dr. Raja who gives the medical profession a bad name. Till then had just heard that he existed. Now I knew he demanded money and then treated his patients. Way to go Mr. Neuro Surgeon. Slap those people real hard that they don't come to you again. What does one do about such doctors? Write about them? Ask NDTV or CNN IBN to do a 'live scoop' on them? Give them bad publicity? Hold the hospital management responsible? Heck! Becoz of his ego, one of his own hospital's employees died and the blame is now put on Dr. C who's treating Acha. We are independent. aren't we!! On Wed evening Amrith dropped Joel and me at Haleangadi. Met Naomi for the first time after her wedding and her sons Jonah and Noah for the first time. Also met Aunt Emy, Deepa, Navin and Evita. ...

Just got word from Amrith that Acha's operation's over. Yippee!

Since I'd taken an off from work on Friday, 10th August, 2007, I was able to do justice to going between Manipal and Urwa for 3 whole days. Friday morning drove to the hospital along with dad, mom and Joel. I stayed back at the hospital till evening after sending Joel with dad & mom back to Urwa. That night reached home around 10 pm Saturday was spent in buying rations for home in Udupi and a few hours at the hospital. With the Big Bazaar having a discount sale going on from 11th to 15th August, the Udupi joint that had recently opened up is packed from afternoon onwards. Thanks to Amrith, we managed to get a few more things for the house. Reached hom at 9 pm. Sunday, had to pick up Ajit from the airport. His flight - Air Deccan was delayed by about an hour. We drove to Udupi and then to the hospital after he had a meal and freshened up. That night decided to stay back in Udupi since Acha's operation had been scheduled on the following day. While driving back with Amrith, J...

He's not been well for a while now. Last Monday (30th July) had to rush to Kerala with Amrith to talk him into returning home. When we reached there, we discovered that he was in no state to be talked to. He was lying down without able to speak much or move at all. Was scared that he was on his death bed. That night he was hospitalized. By Wednesday, the doctor informed us that there's been a bleeding in his brain and that we could move him to Manipal via ambulance. He was stable enough to be shifted. And so we started back to Manipal on Wednesday night, close to 12 midnight. Thur morning saw us in Manipal and Acha definitely feeling better. He was trying to talk his way out of getting admitted to KMC, Manipal. He gave Amrith a hard time. In the meanwhile, I took the luggage home and had a refreshing bath. Returning back to the hospital showed how much Acha had improved. His mind was working great but not his body. So he lost a bet with me and had to agree to stay in the hospit...

A week away from work for totally unexpected reasons. That's what it was. I got to read a few books to kill time and journey: 1. The Seven Minutes by Irwing Wallace 2. The Marriage Market by Nisha Minhas The week's been totally exhausting emotionally and physically. With Acha falling ill and a book exhibition at work. Both ends things haven't worked fine. One book vendor didn't show up. Acha was not a condition fit to be spoken to. It's been a crazy time and I'm hoping that better days happen soon.

If you've read any of Nisha's books, this one too ain't much different from the rest. Till date, I've read 2 of her books: 1. Saris & Sins 2. Passions & Poppadoms. It's always a setting between a North Indian family (Sikhs) settled abroad - England as far as the 3 books I've read.There's always a struggle between the older generation, current generation and the culture shock, culture mix - leading to confusion and sorting out. Her writing style isn't enticing or great but yeah there's plenty of laughs. Though sometimes there's also some enlightenment about certain practices and traditions. And it's always about the current generation Indian girl facing a dilemna about what to do and how to do it right when there's plenty of wrong doing or guilt. The books would make time-pass movies if directed well. A few did reminds me of some Bollywood movies and movies like Bend it like Beckham (I hope I spelt his name right). In this book is ...

Got the e-book version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a few days before I got the proper book copy in hand. Thanks to a colleague I can now read the book during all those odd and snatched bits of time. I've reached the portion about Harry, Ron and Hermione reaching Hogwarts. Decided to take a break, complete some work and blog a bit too :) Monday evening I discovered that my diet didn't let me lose any weight. I hadn't gained any either. Still weighing 79 kgs on the Dr. K's weighing scale. Getting the book on Monday evening did help me get a good start on the final story. Tuesday, read the book very little. Wednesday, the day I had to undergo Cross Culture Sensitivity training. Eating food with a fork and knife has never attracted me. I discovered why. It felt as uncomfortable as it looked. Had a trip down 'GUILT' lane since I had to eat paneer, rice and a yummy chocolate pastry as a part of the training. Was able to avoid bread and butter. This morning...

Reached Udupi on Friday night. As usual Amrith had come down to Mangalore to pick Joel and me. Had a quick dinner at home and set off. Reached Udupi in good time even though the roads weren't any better and we had to stop to buy Joel a packet of biscuits. The plan on Friday night was to have breakfast at Diana of Sat morning. But that somehow got cancelled out since most of us woke up late. After a latish breakfast, Amrith set off to college. Ajit, Julie and I didn't do much. I had a bad cold. Joel and Keziah set off playing and writing some stuff on paper. By lunch time, Amrith was back. Ajit and Julie were packed and left by 1:00 p.m. to catch the Matsyagandha at 1.:35 pm. Came to know from Amrith later that the train was delayed by about 20 minutes. The afternoon was spent just catching up on sleep. Woke and went to get the much needed waxing and pampering that I wanted. Sunday morning, went for mass. And then set off for Haleangadi to Richie uncle's place. Picked up Mai...

This statement was made just as I got of the local bus with another Infoscion. It reminded me of my kindergarten days. My class teacher said I talk too much. It also was a neat comment on my progress card. The only addition this time was: You talk too much for a librarian. :)

I did meet Sangeeta last Saturday. She had a very busy morning and I had to take her around. The last time I saw her before moving to Udupi was after her haircut. A further update from this morning: The straps on the pair of shoes I keep in the office too broke too. That's 2 pairs in just one day!

Alright, it's not 'Japani'. It's very much Indian made, bought during the visit to Mumbai during Dec 2006 and has been quite a relief for my feet especially when i had to walk distances. This morning while commuting to the office by the local bus, I'm not sure what I did that the toe holder snapped. Getting down from the bus was awkward. And then I was stuck with a choice. Take a rickshaw, go home, wear a new pair and come back OR just walk into the office and wear the spare footwear I keep and hope that 1. the spare pair doesn't do something similar 2. I find a cobbler to fix the broken pair Chose option 2. I'm so grateful that the flooring in the office is sparkling clean that I could take of my shoes once inside the building and walk barefeet to my desk. I hope to read this some time later when I've forgotten such an incident happened and have a hearty laugh at my predicament this morning.

My Samsung E730 finally breathed its last this morning after a full power recharge. Although I did get sufficient warning signals from the phone last week, I never believed it would die on me so soon. I've had a lovely time with this phone. Starting with a few months after Joel's birth till date, I've been using it's camera and memory slots to keep my set of memories alive in digital format. Keeping in touch via phone calls, listening music and the 200 sms's space too have been used to maximum benefit. That's not all, Joel has drooled over it and chewed it and whacked it on floor and used it as a floor scrubber on numerous occassions. And it still had the will to stay alive. I guess this morning was the last straw when Joel used it like his toy draggy around the place with the cell charger attached to it. It just couldn't take it anymore. Sigh! I'm going to miss the phone a lot. Since I have to stay 'in touch' and be 'available' constantl...

The weekend was nice and fun on the whole. It was good to see Keziah again. I'm sure Joel enjoyed having her around too. Wish I could have a few more days off and just sit at home with her. She's a sweet heart. Ajit, Acha and Julie went to Gandhi Hospital to get the executive profile. Thanks to Acha's 'vast' knowledge, they got a few basic minimum things done. Executive profile is still unheard of in most of Udupi today save the TMA Pai and KMC hospitals. Ajit looks well. Came to know from Amrith that his reports came out pretty clean. I'm glad. Acha's and Julie's reports too are clear. Back from Udupi last evening. The drive back to Mangalore was filled with a lot of insights from Amrith. As it is, the conversation between Ajit and Julie over lunch on Sunday was a little shocking for me. I expected them to have a cosy comfortable marriage. But it kind of looks otherwise. All in all, I'm beginning to dislike false pretenses. I hope I can stay the way...

Sis has shifted to Bangalore yesterday. She'll be home tomorrow. I hope to meet her during the weekend. If not, missed opportunity. I'm most probably staying at home in Udupi on Monday. Hope that time is sufficient to get Joel and Kezu reacquainted. With Ajit and Julie around, I hope that all's well and my temper and tongue are kept in constant check. On the workfront, Anitha's getting a transfer to Mysore, finally! I can't figure out why, what, how of what's happened till date with her. Should enlighten my boss that he needs to be a lot more careful and prepared in his dealing with everyone. Got informal feedback from a project person that he cuts a very sorry figure. This morning one more person wasn't very happy that he was anchoring Minfy Scholars. I'd like to defend the guy but he makes it impossible for anyone to stay happy with him.

And why wouldn't I? A visit to my doc on Monday evening showed that I had lost 4 kgs. I don't feel the loss and definitely don't look like I've lost much. But what the heck, the diet's paying off. Another 2 weeks of sticking to the same thing before another visit. During these 2 weeks, the only additional items I can have are 1/2 an apple, 1/2 a pear, blueberries and butter fruit. Don't know what the last 2 items look like. Should stop by Niligiris and check.

Pretty close to the end of my 2 week diet. Coming Monday I visit Dr. K and find out what's in store for me next. Glad the weighing scale showed me back on my original weight of 83 kgs. It said 84 till last evening. Which means, on Dr. K's weighing I would be 82. Good. Have been in touch with Seafarer, Copywritrix, Mumbai Call Guy and Hyd chap during this week. Glad to hear that they are doing well except for Seafarer. He lost his voice due to his treatment for the mouth ulcer (or was it cancer!). But then, in his words, the rest of him is still fine and working great. That does bring my thoughts to the other thing which 3 of these friends share in common - an active interest and sex life. Seafarer's married with children who are on the verge of adulthood. Copywritrix, the sweet heart kind of guy, is single and too buried in his work. Mumbai Call guy, single too and I think his age and hormones don't help his control and will power much. All's the same and usual in t...

After finding a blood sugar level higher than the accepted, and insulin levels low on fasting, the health conscious diet has begun since last Monday. Broke the rule once last evening to gobble a small Snickers bar. Couldn't resist. Had been craving for something sweet to eat.

It's a normal day. Loads of things to do. And I never get around to actually doing it. My work space is a mess. Not sure when I'm going to clear it up. Hope to do so before the long weekend starts. Weddings happening in plenty. Amrith's cousin is getting married on 28th Jan. Puttur is too far away from Udupi. And I'm too lazy to travel on a Sunday just for a wedding. Hence giving the wedding a skip. Looking forward to Aunt Merlyn and her family dropping in. It'd be nice to see them again. Been a while since I've corresponded with Nimmy too. Acha should be back by Thursday. So a little family reunion time once more. Uncle Alex hasn't improved much. Still bent on troubling Acha. Sigh! When will he ever learn and grow up. Bought a few more things at Fabindia. Amrith finally found the capris and bush shirt he was looking for. Bought Kala a set from there too. I hope she likes it. Thoughts at this time in life are revolving on how to lose weight. The Jane Fonda C...

I haven't typed in anything for so long as I had just enuff time to read and look at the pics. At work, life's been pretty hectic after the vacation. Mumbai trip was so-so. All 3 of us had an attack of loose motions. Joel's recovering slowly. He's abt 75% back to normal self. Didn't go around much since Joel wasn't able to adjust much to place. He loved travelling in the locals out there. On the flight back, something about the air hostess's butt tickled him. He kept whacking each hostess's butt everytime they walked passed our aisle seat. The one benefit we all had was meeting all the relatives. The next trip to Mumbai can be delayed for a very long time. Back in Mangalore, the weather has lost its chill. One fair closed. And Karavali Utsav has begun. Fabindia's come to town. 2 malls and regular events are making people in Mangalore spend. Exams coming up. College Fests and School Days happening in plenty. Rumors of bundhs and strikes keep coming an...