Open Up!!

Last week I bought myself a new watch. All metal and all worth its price. I placed it in my wardrobe thinking I will open the box the next day and wear it.

Day two of new watch at home and I end up being late for my doctors appointment! But, I so so so HAD to wear my new watch. Just as if my doctor would notice and say "Woah..! Nice watch" instead of giving me my routine check up! I got ready and decided I will wear it come what may and then it began. Ironic as it may seem, on one hand time was running away and on the other, it was in my hands.

The darn packaging had to be so good, I thought to myself. I plunged into my kitchen drawer and fished out my scissors. Before I knew it I chopped into the thick plastic wires that fastened the watch to its casing. Oops my kitchen scissors... but who cares, I needed this... and I needed it NOW! Finally, finally the casing gave way. Thick, black and villainous - I thought.. At least that is how I felt back then since it kept me away from my watch!

And just when I thought I was a few seconds away from wearing my new accessory, did I notice that it seemed to be reluctant to come out of its box. Ok! Now what? I tugged harder as the clock ticked away. Oh my doc can wait a few minutes, she makes me wait anyway! Argh. It dint seem to get any better. I dashed for the knife, the next best thing I could find from the place I stood. I began working my way through the hind of the box to allow the watch to fall through. I cut and cut and cut.. almost using the knife as a saw.. and then, there it was - My WATCH!

But before I knew it, I heard metal clunk against the flooring and saw a little piece glass roll toward my kitchen trash. Symbolic? It was gone. Oh! it was....actually gone! After all the struggle it was gone! And time was too.. I was so consumed in breaking open the box that I was too late to go to the doctor.

Then I saw it... a little sign embossed on the box that said "Press here to open". I did so and it did too. Open up! Could I hate myself or the box or the manufacturers or what?

Ive been here so many times... trying to do one thing fast, before another more important one. And end up not gaining anything worthy at all. We all have been here I'm sure... Messing up priorities. But in the end there is one thing I have come to hate. Packages!!!! See how much one can lose? Why in the world do they not print the 'Open Here' part in a more visible way. I guess they just like to have fun with us, poor consumers. My blog has become a crib-forum, I know..last time it was toll free numbers and now packages. But, ain't I right? Its happens with cookie boxes, baby's toys, medicine bottles, frozen foods, electronics, canned foods... you name it!

And what did I do with my watch? I managed to get the glass fixed back in place AND decided to return it... Yes. Don't ask me why! I don't really know. Some things in life go unexplained. This is one such thing for me. Getting the watch back into its box was a story all on its own. We'll get there some other day....

The Secret Life of a Foodie

Hmm... Snack. Munch. Swallow. Binge. Gulp. Hog. Devour. Dine... Call it by whatever name, its just one thing - EATING! An act of bringing food to the mouth. Simple, sweet and probably the most fussed over thing in the world - after money, maybe!

We're all chasing ourselves from pillar to post, here and there, to make a quick buck, but,
right from the day we are born - its all about food. But have you ever given it a thought as to how much eating can affect everything - Health, Moods, Parties, Weddings (yes), Relationships (now you're thinking), Business Opportunities (now we're talking!).

If that's going too far... How about that day when you ate that pack of cookies but ended up loathing it because it just did not have enough chocolate chips? Or complained that the vegetable gravy your aunt made just for you with all her love was far too "not-your-type"? And, never went to a restaurant just because you dint like one item that you tried on their menu a decade ago?

I'm not sure when it happened to me. When eating transcended from just, well, eating.. to being a mood setter. Sometimes a hearty meal even makes my day. I'm sure it does for a lot of you reading this. After all, imagine going back to work on a boring afternoon after eating a meal that did not satiate and satisfy you.

Its easy to call someone a foodie. Besides its very debatable as to whether or not being a foodie is good or bad. No, we are not talking about people who devour food just for the sake of eating. But under the superficial layer of a person who is a food lover, lies a genuine interest to relish every bite. To savour, to indulge, to absorb every ion of taste.

Among everything else, just the way there is a child in everyone, I believe that there is a little foodie in everybody. Even if you belong to the category of people who simply eat to live, there would have been most certainly one day in your life when you craved for something. Even if its just something different from the routine makes a difference. And that day you feel good!

Then again, its a very hard task to be a foodie in this generation. Whether you are a compulsive eater or an intuitive one, finally what matters is relishing every morsel. Also, with globalization bringing cuisines from across the world together right at your next door restaurant, picking an item to eat is just as hard as trying to look up the web for the right information. Seen yourself in this situation? Caught you, dint I? And you thought you dint belong to the "Foodie" category. Think again....its a little secret hidden in all of us...the secret life of a foodie!

The "Mommy" Returns....

Ok its been a while since I got here... a year to be precise! Any guesses what kept me away? Oh yeah, motherhood and all its glory. Life can be hectic with a baby around, but nevertheless it did not leave me longing to get back to do what I like most.. Write!

Credits credits - I have to mention it was my friend's sister who inspired me to get back to blogging. With two babies and a toddler, hats off to her for actually making time to sit and write about everything happening in her life.

And then there's my little son, Samvit, who will turn six months in just a few days. So if you find me missing for a while, you know why! Ill probably be just folding the warm clothes out of the dryer or stirring the simmering gravy or changing a soiled diaper or mopping the house or...

So here I am, back again.. to keep you occupied,bored,intrigued,bugged and everything in between!

A Toll-free Story!

I perched the cordless phone between my ear and shoulder after punching in the long number and continued dusting my furniture. 10 a.m. on a friday morning when the cleaning bug bit me. A voice answered. A new-comer to this invention would think he has got through to speaking to someone for his needs in less than a ring. Unfortunately, for us it happens to be a recorded voice. I pressed the right options as the voice guided me balancing my duster and the phone and umpteen other items that lay on my book shelf... and then it began... Music!

I switched on the speaker phone for I knew we're going to have a long.. umm... conversation(?).. and lay the phone down. Some soulful orchestral piece poured into my living room. Then, I heard another voice. But again, sadly enough she informed me that all their 'representatives' were busy. I had to wait for Lady Luck to strike. I continued my dusting, sometimes almost swaying to the music. And then she came on the line again to inform me that my call was 'important to their business'. Ok, so far so good - but I am far from impressed! I reached for my vaccuum cleaner and began my run around the house. The music still playing in the background (or should I say foreground?) for my vaccuum cleaners whirring had began competing with the phone. I must admit, the sounds did get on my nerves!

10:23 a.m. Ok! Now, what WAS it with this number? I stopped my cleaning momentarily and picked up my phone that seemed to so obidiently play along all this while. But my temper said otherwise. Enough! I pressed the little red button and hung up. So much for the information I wanted. I picked the phone off the floor and yanked it on the couch. I completed my cleaning and sat down with a glass of water thinking to myself how much longer I would have to wait on hold to get the information I wanted. Sometimes it makes me wonder if these so called toll-free numbers are put in place only to make you listen to music. In fact, I think people must change their strategy. Oh by people, I mean musicians. They could possiblly begin selling their music on toll-free numbers by putting it up as the hold tone.

I wonder if it even bothers the company's higer officials if a customer is not getting the information he wants from a number that is supposed to help him with it. I truly wonder, if it even matters to them. And sometimes I wonder whether they themselves are'nt in situations like this - banks, insurance, ticketing etc. OH! Oh! oh! I forgot.. they have secretaries... Hmm.. There goes my chance of complaining to them. At this point in time if there is ONE thing I wish to do it would be to call the CEO of some firm who has a toll-free number and play the worst CD I have in my house for a good 30 mintues. Is it worth you ask? But at least revenge is sweet.

I lost my blog...

I woke up yesterday, and remembered my once-upon-a-time regular routine of blogging.... I guess the monotony of daily life pushed it aside. Well so much for excuses, I tried signing in... but somehow it dint work. I tried all the 'Forgot Username', 'Forgot Password' pages only to find that Google had intervened.

Sadly enough for me, (call it laziness to explore further) I could not migrate to the new version of blogger, so here I am... advertising my old blog in my new one!

www.deeptideepak.blogspot.com

Take a peek, if not a bow!