why we blog

Sitting in the IKs place (thats intellectual keedas for those who dont know - its called 11-02 dunearn gardens) - and we suddenly came upon 'why do people blog?' - for those who have a good answer, please tell me what to say - cos all i did was look at them and say a meek 'just like that' - perhaps cos I had a feeling that they would pin down the hapless blogger world on the table and disect it to bits before they came up with a satisfactory answer - a heavy round of of IM revealed several key hypotheses - including 'unleashing the hidden side of ur personality' to ' cowards who cant say shit - so write shit' - admittably most of this was after a strong influence of alcohol and so wont really write about the the last few hypotheses - even Nayak (who we consider to be the one with the mind in the gutter) would have struggled to come up with it ..

so then - me (in the minimal thinking capacity i have) started wondering - why am i here anyway - and as usual im confused..

marketing lessons

Finally, I've taken the hard call to separate out my blogs - now my cricket posts (which people allege are pretty much all my posts) will move to http:\\cricketatpng.blogspot.com - all in the spirit of a consumer centric world :) - i've also promised that i will squeeze my life harder to extract something to write something or the other in the absence of a happening life ..

As they say .. lesson 101 - if your TAs want 2 diff things, u need to offer diff propositions!

Of course, whether Im spreading myself too thin - only time will tell! till then - come visit both the sites.. the link is always here.. cheers!

loo-natics i tell ya

outright - this post is prolly more relevant to guys - or at least i cant think of how a woman may have gone thru such an experience.. but feel free to read thru and tell me if it does (one learns new things everyday!)

It first noticed it when I started working, fundamentally there are two kinds of guys - based on guess what: the way they act in a public (or office ) bathroom - especially while at the pot... now before u judge me - read thru it!

a) Type A will come in and quietly do his thing and leave - maybe a quick nod of acknowledgement if he sees some1 he knows.. most of the actual down time is spent staring hard at the wall in front, as if mentally wrestling some complex differential equation inscribed on it..

b) Type B has probably been working too hard all day - and mistakes this to be similar to a coffee/ciggy break - they look for ppl they know in there and often even go into the loo in a pair.. standing there is not a reason to stop talking and maintaining eye contact is an added bonus..

Anyway, these two live in perfect harmony - till the point where Type B sees Type A one day - and then starts off a discussion.. poor A, visibly squirms, trying to decide between solving the equation on the wall ahead or look back at type B, finally settling in between, making it all the more obscene and uncomfortable.. talk about captive audience..

The other really bad situation you could get into is when u are there doing the wall equation solving thing - and suddenly u are flanked on either side by two type B people who are in the middle of the conversation.. Try as much as u want - but there is nothing u can do - they will both be looking straight at u as they talk - the slight sway/bend back isnt much better either ! :) - now thats what i call being caught in a cross-fire!

so from all of the type As in the world to all u type Bs - do not judge us by our lack of communication in the loo, we are much more the talking type - just in slightly better situations/places! and for heavens sake - just take more coffee breaks!

the sweeeeeeeet taste of success

I may be rejoicing (?? i meant herbal-ing) too soon, but looks like we've found an apartment! ye ye!!! :)

Rupee and vidz moving out - so we may be taking their place - frightfully expensive but chalo something is better than nothing...

phew! wont have to live at the airport or the office now.. thank god!

Woes of an underpaid marketer in Singapore

First and foremost.. YES! this is a crib post - an outlet for the bottled up frustration - especially cos i have no one to blame.. but the supply demand gap for good condos on rent...

Anyways, it all started off 2.5 years back when i did my little calculation of how much id save if I lived in Singapore with my marketing salary - it wasnt bad at all - around 1.5 times of a normal Indian salary living in India.. and that made up my mind about taking up this job...

For the first year or some, things were rosy.. Elmira Heights was the perfect place to live (close to office, town, friends and sports ) - and to boot wasnt very expensive at all... allowed for a very very comfortable lifestyle.. and then i got ahead of myself..

In a moment of weakness, I decided to invest in a systematic investment plan that makes it compulsory to invest some money every month.. dont remember if i was drunk or just plain dumb (more likely a combination of both) - but here I was saddled with a monthly commitment..

And then .. just like that, the bottom gave way - and the axe fell - not in one, but two painful blows:

- The company wants us to become PRs - for those who dont know what it means - its basically a cut of 33% in ur salary that goes to the govt fund (and u get a measly 2-3% interest on it)

- The rents have gone up MASSSIVELY - from a reasonable 2200 sgd to somewhere in the region of 3500 sgd - makes u wonder if you living in downtown NY.. not that i know what that is like..

An example of how bad it is
Assume that a new hire gets 4.5 K - and work the numbers..
- In hand post PR stuff is nearly 3K
- take away rent and very basic living expenses and u have like 1 K left
- u blink and thats at risk and dont even dream of going for a vacation .. lets not get towards repayment of education loans and u risk getting mugged if u can spell 'investments'.. bah!

Im hoping some1 in HR is tracking all of this and is exhibiting some nimble footed 'in-touchness' and will increase salaries significantly - otherwise id be surprised if we dont see a mass exodus from the company..

And of course, my depression has nothing to do with the fact that we lost this weekend (cricket of course!) and i got a massive duck :(

a non-cricket blogentry - a slacker day

Ive said before - there isnt much to talk about in my life nowadays except cricket.. but a certain person has strongly 'advised' me that I need to write more non-cricket stuff or risk sleeping on a couch forever.. so here goes..

Todays day was spent like a sack of potatoes for most part of the day .. sat on the couch doing nothing at all .. pretended to work while distantly aware of the happenings on the tv.. pretended to attend two/three telecons.. and mumbled a few words there to make it sound authentic.. and basically surfed the net.. for no specific thing.. just random - site to site jumping.. blog reading.. it really is a good way to spend time u know..

one thing i came across was a poem by Rabindranath Tagore (yeah bring on the Bong jokes) - called 'Where the mind is without fear' - one of my fav pcs of poetry ... a poem that you keep discovering.. every line has layers of meaning which u need to peel off .. and they all link back to the one theme of the poem.. truly inspiring poem.. for the very few who havent read it before.. here goes..

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

:)