Dilbert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dilbert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Totally love the comic strip. I do not know how i got into enjoying Dilbert so much... i cannot for the life of me remember.. did it come in the newspaper earlier? Though obviously you can only appreciate it once you have started working!

Anyway, however i got initiated, the point is its so much fun to read it!!! Yesterday when i was posting the "pure evil" post, i thought of Dilbert.. i likened myself to .. Catbert the evil HR director!! lol

Everyone who is working can relate to the comic strip!!! The work situations.. the bosses... peer group!!! In fact yesterday, i logged in to the Dilbert site and the day's comic strip set me off laughing.. i just couldnt stop (i went through exactly the same situation recently) and then i had drag some more old dilberts and laugh even more!!



Today in the morning i made my colleague read yesterday's strip and other strips that i had read last night and we both then reminisced about our favourite Dilbert strips for at least an hour!! And then read some more Dilbert together.. and talked about various work situations... yes it is funny but it is also true and so reflective of the office situation!!! I am sure we all can identify with it And as we were dicussing in the afternoon, these are situations that everyone goes through - whether in north or south, in this country or some other, man or woman, big company or small.. its universal!!



The one i read yesterday can be accessed on this link (in case you cannot read the below strip) http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-05-25/










Some other favourites include... boss saying computer is getting warm , is the firewall acting up... or the one wherein dilbert is asked to take some training session in elbonia and he says he is not qualified to take the training and boss says i will reschedule your meetings so that you can take the session.. dilbert says you are solving the wrong problem!!! (I actually saw this happening at a work situation recently).. and there are many on performance appraisals which take the cake!! Another good one -

Pointy haired boss has a meeting with everyone

Wally : Agenda items 4-7 do not include me ; i will use that time to take a refreshing table nap; experts say its good for productivity
And he is lying sprawled on the table.. with the others sitting around him.. and
Boss : I need to talk to those experts!!

Dilbert can be enjoyed when read by self or with work colleagues!!!!!!!!!

This entire Dilbert discussion has prompted me to take out my Dilbert book and read it!!! :) So i am off!!!

Pure evil

That was what i was today!!! Pure evil!!

Deccan chargers won yesterday... yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I do not like the Bangalore team. But being here in bangalore, obviously this train of thought does not find much support!

Yesterday, me and husband were planning to go to a pub to watch the IPL final. But did not go out of concern for my safety and well being...i would have been beaten up black and blue!! Planning is wrong term actually... the thought came and left the mind pretty quickly.

So at work today, it was loads of fun. Obviously everyone was supporting Bangalore team. Except for yours truly! And i had a whale of a time.. smirking at people.. rubbing it in.. and telling them what the blr team is like ... used terms like daft and all.. please note it was done purely with malicious intent!!! Malicious not towards the blr team i.e.

If the situation were reversed.. hmmm.. i think i would have just said.. its just a game!!! lol

And boy did i laugh... and smirk.. at everyone! Sigh.... that was quite fun. Fun (ner) bit was no one could say anything to me really except one person called me traitor (well even then i should be supporting delhi not blr)!!! But i just laughed wildly its pure pleasure to be able to do that... oh how i had fun rubbing ppl's noses in!!

I was totally evil today. And boy did i enjoy it!! Whats next... i wonder!!!

The inky pinky ponky league

I could not decide which one to drop - pinky or ponky.. to get it to fit into IPL... so i decided to keep all...or maybe we could change it to IPPL!!! :) The title really fits it so well (i am so proud to have thought it all by myself lol)!!

The idea behind the title being - it has been like an inky pinky ponky kind of a series... nobody fancied has won.. the one team that won all matches is not there in the finals... the team that came last, last year is playing finals.. the team that won last year dropped out.. and of course the most "advertised" team of the year losing all matches (I am delighted.. how i hate KKR)!!!! So its been a joy ride.. instead of any intelligent analysis and picking up the team that will win, might as well pick a team basis "the inky pinky ponky" schematic!!!

Its been a total topsy turvy world in the IPL this year!!! And you really really really cannot guess on who's gonna win..

The teams that i was supporting , quite happily and vociferously i may add - Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super kings and Rajasthan Royals!!! And i am ecstatic.. that deccan is in the finals.. i think chennai will be too!!! Or maybe i should say hope!

I am not supporting them because of any regional affinity.. i think these teams are really good.. and i like Gilchrist/ Dhoni/ Warne... they going about minding their business i.e. cricket unlike other teams!!!!! I am soooooooooooo glad that none of the celeb teams made it to the semis!!!!

So if it is a Deccan vs Chennai finals.. i am not too sure who i will support... maybe chennai because of Dhoni.. but i know will still feel bad if deccan loses!!!

The best thing about IPL is that our actual world cup team will be a very strong team... players selected because of merit.. which many of them had a chance to display because of IPL (instead of languishing in domestic cricket) .. they must be all worshipping Lalit modi!!!!

Its been 1 year since i started posting!!!!! And IPL was one of first posts!!!! :) So its been a full circle.. a surprise actually...

My murky world

I was in a workshop the last 2 days. Very surprisingly it was quite an interesting last 2 days we had!!!!! And no, this post is not about the workshop. But when i said interesting i did mean the workshop .. as in content wise!!

What made it equally interesting was the eclectic mix of people! I know all of them.. some better than the others. But its still quite interesting to see people in a group situation which is not informal.

One of things i mentally do, (and this is not confined to workshops, i mean generally) is slot people. Slot people based on characters i read about ... like one person could be like "the pointy haired boss" from Dilbert. It happens quite automatically though NOT ALWAYS.. and i do not even register it!!! Like we had a case study over the last few days.. and we were split into groups to solve it. Someone said something.. and i thought " dude you are trying to solve the wrong problem" which reminded me of dilbert and his boss!!!

And then there are those whose CP is quite high... at times unnecessarily so!! And of course, workshops are "fun-ner" when you are sitting with people with whom can share these amazing insights with!!! lol

In between the sessions, another strange (strange for you not for me) topic came up - which animal does xyz remind you.. not in terms of looks.. but in terms of characteristics!!! One of my friends used to do this.. and i too do it.. at times i.e..so there are cows, squirrels, deers, hawk and vultures and elephants etc etc occupying my world though i do not, not even in my mind refer to them like that ..

Now this discussion evoked responses like "oh really, why do you think this person is like this animal"? There were no expressions which said " are you nuts?????". The reason was that is all "react-ees" were women!!! If the same question or the same information was shared with men, i wonder what or how would they react!!! Hmmmmmm...

And on that thought, i will retire!

ps: post title is reflective of me and my posts getting stranger :)

I had a "monday" at work!!

Thats what i am going to call irritating work days for sure!!! Loads of work (for a presentation) and i managed to accomplish exactly 1 slide till 6.30 pm!!!!! There are these days when whatever you had planned to do never happens.. and all the irritating things that can possibly happen, happen!! So i spent the day arguing, staring at slide, arguing and staring some more.. and so till i finally felt the need to break for 5 mins.. post which it was back to some more staring talking etc. In between also met some people who did not add any more joy to the day.. some people can just be so fake!!!!!! They jump and prance around you but would have met you for the first time and wouldnt have no clue as to even your name!!!!!! And then they chat as if they have known you for their entire life!!! And they are touchy feely.. i hate it!!!!

But anyway, the high point of the day was the toy tortoise. My boss has gifted a ceramic tortoise to everyone (he just came back after a trip)... its a damn cute thing... its green in colour.. and waggles its head, legs and tail when you touch it.. i have kept it on my desk.. and today was playing with it the entire day.. very cute thing.. and thats what kept me sane i think!!!

Planning to name it... two name options as of now - pichkoo... and another one suggestion was schumi... please suggest some interesting names???

Keep off the grass, You are here & Thanks for the memories

Its the book review day!!!! Ho hum.... its been quite a while since i posted about books. Have read these 3 books in the meanwhile. And its important i write about these - important so that you know what to pick and what definitely not to pick.. more important for the latter reason actually!!! lol

Keep off the grass (karan bajaj)

I really liked this one. I picked this book up with trepidation thinking this is going to be like another Chetan Bhagat. And i did not like either of his books too much. I picked it still, remembered that Scarlett had given it Thumbs up. And i really liked it!!! Its a racy novel.. you wont feel like putting it down. Its about this boy who is working at Wall Street and decides to quite his job to come down to India and study at IIMB , ostensibly to find himself! He has a couple of friends - a totally doped guy.. who whiles away his entire time, does not study.. yet tops everytime. Another one from the army. He is forever under pressure to top... since he has come from wall street.. there are many expectations!!! But he figures after a couple of classes he will be somewhere in the middle.. as in if 200 students, he will be ranked around 100 and there's no escaping that!!! I love one of the initial few scenes where during his first class.. which is economics the prof asks some questions... he answers the first one.. and then by the time he thinks of answers for the next few questions, he just hears "great answer" coming from the prof... you just cannot help but think about your own MBA class... i was an eco students and hence expected to know some answers.. felt as cocky as i could.. thought.. huh this is my baaye haath ka khel.. and lo and behold it was the same situation!!! lol... i think everyone faces this in an B school! Anyway, coming back to the story, once he accepts that his rank will not change no matter what he does, he just goes with the flow. So he dopes, goes to jail.. and also goes off for Vipasna.. he does every random stuff.. which is what makes it a good read!!!

A thumbs up from me too!!!

You are here (meenakshi reddy madhavan)

Did not like it. A wannabe book with wannabe people who i cannot identify with.. not even remotely. It is about this girl Arshi who works in a PR agency and stays with a friend in Delhi. The rest of the book is all about her and some guys.. roomie and friends.. yet other friends...moping.. parties.. drinking... some working.. if you ask me whats the story... i do not have any idea. It does not have any story actually. Its some random events of a person's life.. at no point in time does the plot interest you!!! A lackadaisical account of some chick.. who is frustrated.. and uses the F word liberally.. you know you do not need to do that in the book to make it interesting!!! Very sad. Not worth spending too much time on it!

Thanks for the memories (cecelia ahern)

She wrote the book PS I love you. But i did not pick it up because it seemed depressing. So i picked this one up. And what do you know. Its kind of cute... a cute romantic book.. a little weird but cute nevertheless.. makes you feel nice and romantic..

So its about this girl who meets with an accident and loses her baby. She receives a blood transfusion. A random lecturer donates his blood to the blood bank and his blood finds its way to this woman's body!! And they are connected... rather she feels connected to him.. she shares the memories he has.. of his daughter growing.. of his wife leaving him.. she suddenly starts eating meat (she a veg)... and she knows all about architecture (historical) i.e. .. and she doesnt know why she knows all these things. They bump into each other a couple of times in the book but end up not meeting. So the books follows this woman and her life - her dad and 2 friends.. and it follows the guy and his life - his university, brother and family. What is incredibly cute is the relationship that these 2 people share with others. Like the woman and her dad.. her father is a bumbling, loud creature who has never even flown anywhere and has always stayed in Dublin. And like the guy with his brother his sister in law.... their corny but cute relationship. Like when this guy has to meet this girl who he has not met... his brother offers to come along and tells him that you can tell her I am gay and introduce me as your boyfriend in case you need an escape route!!!!! Oh well...you have to read it to understand what i am saying! So its cute and quite funny in places!!! Worth a read.

Also read Sudha Murty's short stories called "The old man and his god". Its quite nice .. very similar to "how i taught my grandmother to read".... leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling.

I am stopping now. Basically moral of the story is - i need to post as i read the books. Sorry for the looooooooooonng post. Phew!!

Abba, the best group ever

Yes!!! It is!!!

I so totally love their music. Actually Abba was one of the first english albums i ever listened too.. maybe thats why i like them so much! It was i think 82 or 83 or something.. the year i.e. And my dad got this tape .. 2 tapes actually , Abba and Boney M. And they still play perfectly well.

Ever since i have heard them.... every month, every year... and i just like them even more!!! Its like Pg Wodehouse. Cant ever imagine someone not liking them!!!

My favourite Abba song - Thank you for the music... I love I do.. I love Fernando too..And what about Dancing queen...Winner takes it all is awesome... And take a chance on me.. hmmm.. so difficult to choose...one shouldnt too!!!! As a kid i used to love Hasta Manana... i think thats the first song i heard.

I am listening to Abba as i write. They are too good. Actually i was watching this show on Travel and living - the show is about Abba and the movie Mamma Mia. And of course they played most of the songs... i was sitting singing at the top of my voice... you just cannot help but sing along or dance along!!!!! In the movie Mamma Mia the actors have all sung their own songs... meryl streep was really good.. a singer i.e.. so was colin firth!!!
This is the second time i watched the show... it just puts you in this exuberant mood.. no matter how you were at the start - sulky or whiny or angry or tired.. my mood totally changed... for the better i.e. and both the times!!!!! Unfortunately i could not watch the Abba show when it came to Bombay.. next time perhaps!!!

Take a chance on me (song i am listening to as i write)
If you change your mind, I'm the first in line
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try
Take a chance on me(That's all I ask of you honey)Take a chance on me

We can go dancing, we can go walking, as long as we're together
Listen to some music, maybe just talking, get to know you better
'Cos you know I've got
So much that I wanna do,
when I dream I'm alone with you
It's magic
You want me to leave it there,
afraid of a love affair
But I think you know
That I can't let go

If you change your mind, I'm the first in line
Honey I'm still free, Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I'm still free Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try

Take a chance on me, Take a chance on me

Oh you can take your time baby, I'm in no hurry, know I'm gonna get you
You don't wanna hurt me, baby don't worry, I ain't gonna let you
Let me tell you now
My love is strong enough to last when things are rough
It's magic
You say that I waste my time but I can't get you off my mind
No I can't let go
'Cos I love you so

If you change your mind, I'm the first in line
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I'm still free

Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see
Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me
Honey I'm still free

Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see
Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me