The world I live in

When it hits you, it hits you, all at one time and in some cases one after another. This seems to be the case with almost everyone I am in touch with. If this is what it means to be an adult, a grown up responsible human being, I think I'll work in social services in my next life. And definitely no marriage, no kids. Perhaps the coward's way out is what I am thinking of. For now, I tackle the multiple issues that have just fallen in my lap without restraint. P.S. : Thank you so much God  for the angels to help in the form of family and friends.

Gearing up for another rotten mood day, I was in for 2 pleasant surprises. 1. My colleagues - Anitha and Deepthi - were so concerned that I was on a diet and not taking care of myself. Their concern really touched. And no, I'm not on a diet. I'm just tired and exhausted and drained for reasons I came to know thanks to a babycentre.co.uk mailer. Mood swings and exhaustion are part of this phase of my pregnancy. I'm glad that nothing is 'wrong' with me. 2. Jeethy turned up at the library and helped me get a lot of books rearranged and shelved. A thoughtful gesture from her end also included getting me a box of salted raw mangoes and mango pickle. Yummy! :)

Venue for the band was Food Court (FC) 2. Could hear a few songs on my walk to the FC. Jitters again. I reached there in time to hear the introduction to judges as well as know the judging criteria. Attitude on stage was one of them. Now how does one do that while playing a keyboard? Oh well! I'd leave that to fellow band members. We were no. 6 in the list and each performance before ours made me think I shouldn't go up there. YANTRA (Yet Another Night To Rock Away) performing I was right. I messed up the first song's scale. After that, I went into this auto pilot mode and just played. It didn't sound the way I wanted it to. But hey! it's not for lack of trying to get the blessed organisers to give us a slot to practice which wasn't after midnight or trying to practice with no sound. One of the lead singers was low. And it's because me his song got messed up. How does one explain that and the fact that not a single other band member made it to the sound che...

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.

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 :)

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...

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.

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...

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 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...

Finally got this photograph from HR after a long wait and a few reminders. This was taken after the big bash we had for celebrating MInfy 11 and Infy 25 at the Convention Centre (T.M.A Pai) in September 2006. That's Anshu, me, Mukesh Pancholi, Shads guy, Rahul Vaidya, Navaneeth and Pavana. Mukesh and Rahul were contestants for the first Indian Idol. Man! it's been 3 months since I last fit into those jeans. I need to lose those extra inches I gained FAST!

The Rangoli at the entrance to lifts One of the 2 exhibits The yummy lunch

Devendra Rithesh had a swell time dressed up as Devendra. He was the colorful attraction of the day. Never seen a chap so enthu as him to get painted and stuffed as he was that day. Minfy sure has got a lovely person here. Jeethy, me and Girish We were part of the welcome committee. Jeethy's one of the 2 people from my dept. The other is Thanu who's on maternity leave. Waiting for her to get back to work. Would love to see her daugher too :) Usha, Sangeetha, Divya A few more colleagues and a friend. These 3 ladies make playing throwball interesting. Breaks from work with them send me back with a refreshed mind and attitude.

Meet Veena B Smiling - worried - determined - J2EE lady Rithesh Kumble: A sweet guy - great lunch mate - the Campus Connect & .NET guy Girish Aithal Boss - mentor - a wiz at using Excel - overloaded! The other 2 from my department have yet to be captured on my camera

It's been a while.. and then some. Had a nice work week.. 4 days of holidays, followed by 2 work days and then another 3 holidays. Wow! I love working in these conditions. I hate it though when i had to spend the 3 holidays in the office. Not that I was in the whole time, but life just existed between going home to Joel and coming back to my comp at work. The only good thing that happened during this time is that Amrith was in town. Joel learnt to sit and I'm pretty happy that I got some time together with both of them. Family!