Office Pen Chor!!!!

Has it ever happened to you( I am sure it has), when some Tom Cruise on his Mission Impossible or some Damsel in Distress next to you picks up the phone to call a person , then realises half way through their conversation (with obviously an important client) that they need to take down some information!!!! So there they are standing next to you, with the index finger joint to their thumb vigorously shaking their hand (indicating they want something to write with) and you are suppose to interpret this Dumb & Deaf sign language. Whats more you even have to provide them with your pen.

Yes this is what happened to me yesterday, Damsel Distress asked for a pen. As sharing and caring I am I gave it. Then got engrossed in my work. When I picked my head up Damsel in Distress had vanished. WITH MY PEN!!!! I got up looked around, scanned the office but DD wasn't anywhere in sight. By now I was paranoid ( I know this sounds petty but it is MY PEN). I mean if one takes an account a pen every working day = 5 pens a week= 20 pens/month=240 pens/year that is a loss of Rs 7200/- a year (assuming Rs 30/pen which is by the way the actual cost of my pens some even more than that). OK so I would be spending 7,200 bucks a year on ordinary pens can you imagine I mean I'd rather go to Mango or any of the other hoity-Toity brands and shop(i.e. if they have anything above size 0). Haan so getting back to my pen dilemma, more than the money its is that the fact that it belongs to ME, I take that extra effort to visit the stationary store, get my stationary, take care of it(hide it from my younger sibling) and then some random people come and take it away.

Now I was panicking, cause DD wasn't to be seen, I mean I didn't know her name, all I could remember of her was her pink kurta because that's my favorite colour). I thought I should just scan through the office and search my pen. The moment I looked around I knew that it was a bad idea cause even if I hired CBI OR FBI for that matter considering the state of my office they would give up. On the outside it seems like a nice Corporate office. But once you Venture you will feel you are on the sets of Jumanji or Jurassic Park with papers and plastic bottles strewn all over, dustbins overflowing. But that's not why I would call it Jumanji or Jurassic Park the real reason would be people gathered talking, uh sorry! screeching, barking, crowing, grunting(like the rhino's in Jumanji) and calling each other's names ( I mean guys there is a phone there is list of extension numbers, use it sometimes) also " DON'T SHOOT PRINTS , is heard quite often here in this African Safari. So getting back to the point, it was a bad idea to search but nevertheless I am going to be the next Lara Croft and I am going to raid this tomb and excavate my precious pen.

Haaaeeeyyyaaa( thats the Bruce Lee kind of sound means lets fight). So I looked around, scanned, peered, was trying to find DD. But no pink kurta was anywhere in sight. Nevertheless my quest continued I was going to excavate it in the ruins of this Harrappa & Mohenjodaro. I went through each and every desk in my office checked below, checked above but it was nowhere in sight. Oh no, I thought it was lost, my heart was in pain.

I had lost hope, lost hope in humanity, in responsibility. Because responsibility doesn't exist anymore. My Mom once said, 'Take care of others things, more than you would take care of yours". I followed this right to the 's' of the last word 'yours'. I wanted to scream"Bhagwan mujhe kin karmon ki saaza mil rahi' (I fall in the Meena Kumari kind of genre). But I could not, because here I have to be like the Bipasha Basu of Corporate.

Just I was about to drag my feet back to my computer, I saw it. Atleast I thought I did. There next to the scanner. Was it a mirage!!!! It was silver, with black head. I saw it.I finally saw it!! It was there. Kushi ke aansu were rolling down my eyes. I ran upto it. Touched it first to make sure it were real. You bet, It was!!! I wanted to hug it, Just feel it in my arms. "Oh where were you for so long poochie, come to mama" But I quickly realised people were staring at my "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - Shahrukh meets Kajol after so many years and runs ro hug her" stunt. So I (sumdi mein) picked my pen and walked back to my desk.

I felt I could breath once again. I came back put my pen back in my drawer, locked it, put the key in my bag, gathered my things, closed my computer. Was ready to head home, after a tiring "Crystal Maze" episode kind off day.

While I headed for the door, I made a resolution in my mind. No one, and yes I mean it no one is getting my pen from next time. Not even if your as cute as Tom Cruise on his Mission Impossible.

'I am vegetarian. But I eat chicken sometimes'

Hey was bored of writing about myself so I am writing about other people now. Now what I am going to write maybe a bit sarcastic as it talks about the duality we see in todays world. It is about my fellow gujarati, madwadi, jain etc folks who claim very proudly - 'I am vegetarian. But I eat chicken sometimes'.

I remember when I was small, like in class 5th or 6th (class not grade cause that's what I called it and that's what I call it still!!!). I remember being asked by this quirky bespectacled classmate with picktales "Whether I was a vegetarian or a nonvegetarian". She had a mouth so big she could swallow a mosquito!!. I thought to myself , twice a week mom makes chicken(yummy), once mutton(ugg), and once fish the rest of the days she makes the oh so tasteless vegetables and dals. So considering the fact that I ate nonveg 3 a week and veg the rest of the 4 days I proudly announced " I am both vegetarian and non vegetarian". Was so proud of myself, I had it right finally. The bespectacled girl with a mouth as big as it could swallow a mosquito made a big "O" with it and left. When I came home I narrated the incident to my mamma proud of my latest discovery. Mamma looked at me for a while and said " Sunayan people who eat both vegetarian and non vegetarian food are "non-vegetarians"… But Mamma I protested I don't eat chicken or fish every day. You make it only thrice and we sometime go to Radio Club for Chinese so I am both! Mom then said, " You either are a vegetarian or you are a non vegetarian,
there is no in the middle, there is no both. If you don't eat meat then you are vegetarian and if you do whether occasional, everyday you are a nonvegetarian.

Ok so now I had a new identity Sunayan Shahani, Female, Hindu, Non-Vegetarian. From that day whoever asked me this question I was Non-Veg. Even on Thursday! (A day on which the whole Sindhi community eats vegetarian food).

But today I have friends and fellow colleagues ( gujjus and madu's and jain's predominantly) who give me statements like, 'I am vegetarian. But I eat chicken sometimes, We don't cook it at home. I eat occasionally with my friends. I eat only chicken not sea food. Not even once a week may be 2 or thrice a month, Whenever I feel like.
DUDE!!!!!
I want to scream. But I keep my calm and and talk a like a civilized citizen from South Bombay (where even a scream should be in the form of a whisper because your BAWA neighbour will complain to your landlord), so I ask " How can you classify yourself as Vegetarian when you do eat Non-veg occasionally even if it is only chicken? I mean I don't eat non-veg everyday too my mom doesn't make it everyday. But I still acknowledge my eating habits as those of a Non Vegetarian!

But my dear gujarati and madwadi friends still continue to say the same sentence and not agree with me. So now I have come with a new term for this species of people who Eat Chicken, but are so to say Vegetarian. These people I call 'Conveniently Vegetarian', Actually it should be 'Conveniently Non-Vegetraian' since they eat occasionally and mom doesn't cook it and etc etc…… But I know they like the word vegetarian, shud shakahari, which we associate with a good feeling of ethical treatment to animals, with good people like Gandhiji, Maneka Gandhi and John Abaraham, with good associations like PETA.


Therefore this it Conveniently Vegetarian, here they come!!!

That's all folks. Please note this article wasn't meant to hurt any person or communities feelings(Ha like I mean that).

For now it is me signing out

Tata birla lodha,

The following poem is inspired by my Mom-


Wearing a smile on the toughest days….
Making a difference in many as ways

Every morning, I look at my face in the mirror,
I see a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother.
I see my duties, I see my role,
The day is going to be tough as it unfolds.

But still I go ahead,
Wearing a smile on the toughest days,
Making a difference in as many ways.

As I sail through the day, I realize,
I have tough choices to make
But I promised myself,
I won't given in and I won't break
I do it for everyone's sake…

Just for everyone...
Wearing a smile on the toughest days,
Making a difference in as many ways.

I see my world spinning around,
When I think about -
My children at school, my project deadline and
Oh my God the pressure cooker's sound!!

Then again, I follow a simple mantra…
Wearing a smile on the toughest days,
Making a difference in as many ways.

I am the flower that perfumes,
The hand that crushes it.
A lotus that blooms,
In the pond filled with mud and filth in it

What makes me so beautiful …
Wearing a smile on the toughest days,
Making a difference in as many ways.

I am God's creation
When He was at His best
He nurtures me,
So that I can take care of the rest.

He gives me the strength …
Wearing a smile on the toughest days,
Making a difference in as many ways.

First Love

Pehla Nasha ,Pehla Khumaar....yes u guessed it right First Love

This has been on my mind since a long time but never thought of penning it down let alone blogging it.It's very personal and close to my heart ,may be thats why.
I 'm not talking about some first random crush but First Love.The first feeling of selflessness.If i were to quote one of my friends its the time things became from "me" to "we".

How can I put into words a feeling only a heart understands .It's like giving birth to a baby only the mother understands the joy n the pain. Similiarly only those who've fallen in love will understand . It's a feeling, scientifically may be a rush of certain hormone(i dont know what its called) but actually gives u a high u've never imagined.

It's the first time u see a pretty pink dress in a showroom n you see her in it. Its the first when u hear "truly ,madly, deeply" and for the first time you realize its true meaning.You feel you are in some kind of fairytale. Everytime you blink your eye u think of that person. Everynight u fall asleep you dream of that person in your arms.You dont remeber your life without that person.This is when u know you lost yourself to someone or maybe found who u really are.

It's unforgetful. 'Mystic' could be an easy way to describe this complicating feeling!! It's the first time you start using worlds like "cutiepie", "honey", "love"!!! God they don't seem too cliche any more. It's when you start taking care of the way you look. It's when you know you look good just by looking at that person. It's when you are dull and grey even when your with your friends and the moment that person come into the room your eyes light up, an uncontrollable smile spreads across your face, it's like you have just started breathing, it's like you've just started living.

I could go on and on. However cheesy it may sound " feels like am in love with love".
To conclude .......
Usne baat ki kuch aise dhang se...
Sapne de gaya woh hazaaron rang ke,
Reh jaaon jaise mai haar ke....
Aur choomein,
woh mujhe pyaar se....

Pehla Nasha, Pehla Khumaar.....

Humanity ....The only relgion

The British author H.G. Wells once said "Our true nationality is mankind".Taking it further from here for me it is also the only true religion as well.

Religion literally means set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affair. Therefore from the above meaning i infer that religion is means to organize us .It was created by human beings themselves in a bid to bind us in a code of conduct that would enable every being to lead a life of happiness and content.

Isn't it ironical then that religion is a source of discord and disharmony in this world of "gods emissaries".Wars are waged in the name of religion which aggravates the situation to the summit of devastation.War exploits peoples instinct for survival by placing them in a situation in which they had to either kill or be killed.War is inhuman ,it not only destroys our present but also our future generations making it a vicious cycle of unending suffering.

Wars cannot be stopped once they starts thus it has to be eliminated at the very beginning when the such an idea germinates in the minds of people. only when humanity is deep rooted within the minds and hearts of people ideas of war hatred jealousy bloodshed are not in sight.It is only when man looks at concepts other than humanity that there is devastation.

Thus just like a mothers milk is food for a baby's body ,Humanity and mankind are food for a person's thoughts.Once strongly ingrained they would fight devilish tendencies of war and religious turmoil.It teaches us to empathise and make peace.

Rather than just following religion on an extrinsic level lets get beneath its hide and see its underlying meaning-Why has it originated?what is it teaching us ? what is it sole purpose?The day we start asking ourselves these questions is the day we have started treading on the path to humanity.....the path to everlasting happiness.....

Thats How Life Seems

Stolen...
that's how life seems to be,
like the British stole the Kohinoor,
and the Indians were left in agony...

Broken...
that's how life seems to go on,
I try to find the petal,
but get pierced by a thorn...

Shaken...
that's how life seems right now,
with the sky below my feet and
the earth right above...

Shattered...
that's how life seems today,
like The World Trade Centre
on September's 11th Day...

Dry...
that's ow life seems to pass by,
Like the leaves that wither in Autumn,
finally fall and die...

Black...
that's how life seems to mould,
I'm grappling in the dark and
there's nothing to hold...

Cold ...
that's how life seems to shiver,
I'm holding it tight,
It still seems to melt away quicker and quicker....

Sinking...
Life seems to be hitting the ground...
just like The Titanic,
She hit the iceberg and
went sinking down...