Disturbed

I live in house with people (my roomies, those bastards!!!) who can sleep through an air raid. On the other hand, I am cursed. I rarely need over 6 hrs of sleep in a day and I get up to the faintest sound.

Infact the only time I do get "deep sleep" is just after a sumptuous breakfast...tsk tsk...a sad thing when u spend 5 days a week in office!!!

So on the advise of a friend, I decided to prepare a list, of "disturbing" sounds which have been successful in making my sleep life.. a living hell!!! aka it was her way of telling me .... ur "disturbed" :P

1. Anything beyond a whisper in my room qualifies for noise.
2. TV in any room of the house. This includes the light from the tv, if it enters my room.
3. The dastardly door bell.
4. Any alarm (including my roomies). On numerous occasions, it requires me to wake the intended person up in the other room.(i like to use leg :P )
5. Kitchen utensils have wreaked a havoc in my sleep life.
6. Walking in my room, is sufficient!!!
7. Shower/flush/tap
8. Plastic packet not kept inside and hence flying about because of the fan in my room.
9. laptop being closed (not shutdown)
10. Mobile ringtones being played anywhere in the house.
11. Dog bark...but doggys r ok. Kinda used to it after Snubby :)
12. Constant staring into my face while I sleep. Again, thats Snubby, 5.30 in the morning begging fr a walk :P
13. Sunlight, moonlight, tube light, mobile light, bulb.

And whats most disturbing lately is snoring, yes, my own snoring and the occasional mumbling in my sleep!!! Well, I wake up when I do that as well :)

The 2nd Degree :)

I am a South Indian but haven't lived much in South India. However, the 6 years I did stay converted me more into a "anna" than I could have imagined.

To the point that, I enjoy the slight twang in my style of talking, I smiled endlessly when I first listened to the ISRO scientists doing a countdown to the Chandrayaan, I cant do without rice, I absolutely cant live without Idly and Dosa and very recently completed my last "South Indian Brahmanical" duty by securing admission towards a 2nd educational degree.

But I realised the symbolic importance of this 2nd degree even before I completed my 1st. I was sitting on my usual spot in the kitchen eating dosas when I asked my mother, "what if I don't want to study anymore. I think I have had it with engineering". Almost immediately I heard, "are you crazy Raghu. Don't talk stupidly. You have to study. You need the 2nd degree". And that when I started to wonder, "why?". I then realised that like all mothers, amma was specially worried about the bride hunt, lest I don't find one myself. As an above middle class South Indian brahmin, that was almost a prerequisite (in many cases)...the 2nd degree.

She even went to the extent to asking the astrologer about my further studies, and guess what he said, "no"... blasphemy!!!
So what if I love meat, not got the sacred thread ceremony done or for the fact that I am an atheist (some say agnostic...who cares!!!). Nothing can be more radical than not getting that PG degree.

Well, it took me 2 jobs and over 3 years of corporate life to realize its importance. Now that I have secured admission into the 2010 MBA batch of Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, I cant stop smiling at the relief I have probably given amma :)

P.S: She still insists its not true :)

another day for the tiger !!!

Had a meeting today…by far the fastest one I have had in a year. It went something like this:

Manager1, 2 and 3: Good evening
Me: Good morning
Manager1: So I remembered you this morning …hahaha …..it was snowing.
Me: Hahaha, I hate that weather…. Is it snowing bad?
Manager1: Yes a little … it snowed 2 inches in front of my house
Manager2: 3 here
Manager3: Likewise
Me: Darn… just because my calendar says so., I know its winter.
Manager1, 2 and 3: Hahaha
Manager1: My shoulder hurts after all the snow I removed last night, I think I’ll use the snow blower today.
Manager2: I haven’t use one for the last 1 year…my son does it now-a-days.
Me: Hahaha
Manager1: Nitin I don’t think I have anything to discuss today.
Manager2: Hey note that u’ll need to start working on the numbers on XXX supplier as well, I have told him to send u the data.
Me: Will do. Thanks.
Manager3: As for me, I had a chat with you yesterday….guess its status quo as of now.
Me: Hmmm…so should we wrap it up for now
Manager1, 2 and 3: Yes yes…
Manager1: Go grab a beer. Let’s touch base next week.
Me: You too guys. Have a great day.

Total duration 4 mins :-) . And I stayed back for this call!!!