Men are From Mars and Women are From Venus

If they are hitched that is! :-)


Part I
Boy: I will do anything for you

Girl: Really?

Boy: emphatically Of course I will!

Girl: That's cho chweeet. Why don't you take me shopping today?

Boy: Hmm, I am supposed to catch a movie with my friends

Girl: So cancel!

Boy: The tickets are already booked actually and I've promised everyone.

Girl: Ok, what about after the movie?

Boy: Well, we have pizza plans

Girl: Tomorrow?

Boy: Why don't you go with your friend Priya?

Girl bites her lower lips and the conversation ends

Part II
Girl to her friend (not Priya, say Megha) : sniffing I think he wants to break up with me!

Megha: C'mon now, you two are so good together. Why would he do that all of a sudden?

Girl: No, lately he doesn't seem the same. He gives the lamest of excuses to get out of spending time with me.

Megha: Ohhh

Girl: And you know what, I think he is seeing that bitch Priya behind my back.

Megha: You don't say!!! How did you find out?

Girl: He seems to be pulling her into the conversation always and he actually-wants-me-to-go-shopping-with-her - starts to break down

Megha: Oh no! Here take a tissue.

And the conversation continues well into the night

Part III
Boy to friend Arun: Dude let's catch a movie.

Arun: I thought you were meeting with your girl.

Boy: She wanted me to go shopping! I wiggled out of it though.

Arun: How did'ya do that?

Boy: I said we were going for a movie. And I think I scored a point too, I actually remembered her friend's name and asked her to go shopping with her.

Arun: Whoa

Boy: It was easy actually, her friend is hottt!

Exit boy and friend

:-)

Yeah feels good to be single! :-)

I love

good weather on Mondays that cheer me on the way to work

getting 100s off the ATM

getting a mail from someone when I am thinking of them

the cute smileys and hearts that fall off the Hello screen

the statcounter on my blog rising

(nice) comments on my blog from people I know and don't

my new music system that N bought me

humming an old Ilayaraja song the whole day

fixing a bug in G's code and shoving it on his face!

alone time in the temple with no-one else

It's a beautiful world! :-)

Nursery Rhymes Revisited

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill said "Serves you right for wearing a tiara"

Humpty dumpty sat on a Wall
Humpty dumpty had a great fall
All the King's horses
And all the King's men
Couldn't put inflate Humpty's shares again

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dollar dream

All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun
Pop! goes the weasel
And sued the monkey for damages

:-)

The Magic Number....

My statcounter is inching towards 1000 yay! :-) It's 992 now. C'mon people, visit my blog more. A treat for the 1000th visitor. :-)

Hello Hello

Me is hard at work and kinda bored at work too.

At about 11 in the morn
Tring Tring (or Whrrr Whrr since my phone is on vibrate)
Me: Hello expectantly
Other Side: Namaskar this is a free call from Airtel. If you haven't paid your bill ....

Just before lunch
Whrr Whrr(a SMS this time)
Since I've already received the customary daily SMS from Airtel, I open it again eagerly. It is from an unknown number
Emi chesunavu? Blah blah blah in Telugu

An hour after lunch
Tring Tring(my desk phone this time and from an outside number)
I pick up with mixed feelings, hoping it isn't a credit card or insurance agent.
It is M
M: Hi di. I haven't paid my elec bill for this month, do you know where to pay it?
Me: Check out the website da, it's pretty clear.
M: Ok I'll call you later

Few hours later
Whrrr Whrrr
Yippie it's P from Mumbai
Me: Heyy, how are you doing? How is Bombay? Have moved into a flat yet?
P: Yeah things are good, it's very different out here. Everyday I do #@#$%@! - That's not a swear word, its the funny beep before the line gets cut

At 7 in evening
Tring Tring (my phone is loud now since it's after office hours)
Home sweet home
Me: Amma, I am so glad you called.
Amma: Where are you now? Are you still at office?
Me: Yes ma In a pitiful tone to exact pity
Amma: Did you take your medicine today?
Me: Err no
Amma: Yesterday?
Me: Nopes
Amma: Are you taking them at all?
Me: Yeah sure
Amma: Did you buy them atleast?
Me: Will do today
Amma: #@!@#$%#@ - This isn't a beep, it's Amma scolding me loud and clear

It's time to take things in my own hands now. I call up S in Bangalore.
Me: Hi S
From the other side: This is actually S' mother speaking. She left the mobile at home today. Why don't you call later?

Why do I even bother to have a mobile??? Someone call me please and soon too, before I fling my phone into the far beyond, then retrieve it, break it into bits, stamp on it and then throw it farther beyond!

Happeee :-)

Sister dear has made a job in her campus interviews and in the first company too! :-) The relief is overwhelming and moi is very proud of the little one. :-)

On the same note, congrats to K and P who are starting on their first jobs in Hyd and Mumbai respectively! :-)

And wishing V and her hubby marital bliss and joy and cheer forever and ever. :-)

After a gruelling test, interview and GD
It's time for H to celebrate and party
The air is filled with balloons, confetti and joy
'Coz V has hitched with her dream boy
K and P have started on new jobs
And started donning corporate garbs
The only thing left is a treat for the fete
And this you can do next time we meet!

:-)

Of Books and Tags

Me has been tagged by vettymax. So here goes...

1. Books I own:
I own about 60 books totally, most of which are mine. Working hard to increase this number ever since I started earning. :-)

2. Book I recently bought:
English, August by Upamanyu Chatterjee

3. Book I am reading now:
The Modigliani Scandal by Ken Follett

4. My favorites:

a) Wodehouse is my favorite author and I just love his works. "Right Ho Jeeves" scores the first place amongst his books though. It is delightful comedy with such absurd situations and the humor is accentuated with the right usage of words. The scene that comes to my mind immediately is when Gussie makes faces at Anatole from the skylight to make him open the door - absolutely hilarious. :-)

b) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - This is a thriller in the true sense of the word. No other novel that I've read has ever been able to grip me to this extent. I read this book while I was at school(in my 9th Std to be precise) and it was sooo unputdownable that I kept it under my desk and read it while class was going on. :-)

c) A Room With a View by E.M Forster - Nice, slow book dealing with life, society, love and passion. Something about this book that pulls me with it.

d) Something Under the Bed is Drooling - a Calvin and Hobbes collection by Bill Watterson. I love this madcap kid and the super calm tiger. This strip truly cheers me up when I am in the dumps.

e) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - My librarian at school used to beg and beg me to try this book and yet I somehow never took it home. I chanced across this fortunately while at college and is one of the best books I've ever read. It's funny, preachy, sentimental at the same time and is one book that I will never tire of rereading.

f) Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsythe - "Whoa" just describes the book in one word. I am always a sucker for spy books especially dealing with the erstwhile USSR and this coupled with the level of detail made a worthy read.

I guess I have to tag others now and the axe falls on the people who read my blog and have blogs of their own - kaarthik, sagnik and littlecow. If you guys haven't been book tagged before, please do fill this up. :-)

Whoopsy Daisy :-)

No this is not a post about Notting Hill(which incidentally is one of my fav movies, but more on that later). This is about some weird or off beat phrases that people keep saying.

When I was a little kid, I picked up "Whoopsy Daisy" from somewhere and used it so frequently that even now it's a standing joke in my family. They refused to believe that it is a legitimate phrase and would try and make many other normal words sound like that to make fun of me, like "Sopsy Daisy" for sorry. :-)

Will and Grace had a whole episode dedicated to this, where Jack invents a phrase "Stake it" and then finds someone else using it. Actually lots of them on the screen - Joey's "how're YOU doin?" and Jim Carrey's "B-E-A-Utiful" in Bruce Almighty and Michelle's "You got it dude" in Full House and of course the famous Trump's famous "You are fired".

A certain respectable gentleman has conceded in the comments section of his blog that he says "ai ai yo yo" a lot. :-) So anything like this that you can share, something that you or someone you know say?

When it Pours!

The most wonderous sight of the morning
Each drop is pure and inviting

It bathes the Gods who live above
Aah the elixir of life

Drop by drop it starts falling
Slowly and gently, at peace with the world

Soon it becomes a torrentous flow
Swallowing everything in its wake

And then touches the earth below
Spreading the wonderous smell all around

So I rush to the kitchen and turn the gas off
Drat the milk has boiled over again!

:-)

Three's Company

Scene - The cafeteria

Present - Obnoxious R, Simple Simon P, Fake Charming D and poor 'ol Me

The four of us are seated in a table

D(to me): So, what are you doing?
Me: Eating! duh
D(loudly): Ha ha ha! I mean, in your project
Me: Coding
To prevent laughter again The design is almost done, just started working on implementation
D: Wow, great yaar. Design, coding and all!
Oh yeah, software is not rocket science
Peace reigns for a while as chatter continues in Telugu

R(trying to include me in the flow): You know I shouted at someone today
Me: I couldn't care less Oh I see!
R: Actually it was at that S blah blah blah....... I don't know why he did that!
Me: Because he wanted to do that? Yeah!
R: So I told to him that I would report this. And nicely shouted at him.
Me: You don't tell "to" people, you tell things to people. And nicely shouted? Hmm
P: Yeah R, you are right. He shouldn't have done that. And then starts babbling in Telugu, obviously in the same vein 'coz R keeps nodding indignantly

Two recent hires join us at the table
Me: Hi, I am Janani and I'm in XYZ team
They introduce themselves and I am asking them about their college
R: Ragging huh?
Me: What?
R: Ragging the juniors. Hahaha Raucous laughter from all around
The guys throw awkward smiles and soon excuse themselves to join their friends at another table

P: My telephone bill is very high this month - its xxx.
xxx is just 20% of my bill and I express this
R: You have a boyfriend that's why you bills are high. Nudges me and laughs again
I smile and continue eating. Not fool enough to start a discussion about my singlehood
D: No R, even if Janani wants she can't get a bf Turns and beams at me seeking appreciation
What?? This is supposed to a compliment? Oh God, just take me away
Me: Oh no, I use normal sunscreen, it screens only UV rays and not guys
P: No no I know you mail this guy xyz@abc. com everyday. You must be calling him in Bangalore everyday, that's why your bill is high.
I almost choke on my food
Me: How the hell do you know I mail him?
P: I checked out the SMTP logs. Don't worry I can't see your mails, just the headers.
I silently resolve to use only gmail for all personal correspondance

I finish my lunch and leave.
Time spent in cafeteria - 17 mins
Time allowed for lunch - 1 hour

Why Me Again?

I just wrote out the biggest ever post in the history of jananisays.blogspot.com and while trying to publish it, it asked me to sign in again and then bam! All is gone. This post was bigggg, funny in places, had a few songs thrown in and a matrix like fight sequence and all other makings of a blockbuster. :-(

Now repeat after me,
Save and then publish
Save and then publish
Save and then publish

I am in mourning! :-(

P.S. I really try not to crib on my blog, but when karma catches up with me, I am helpless! :-(

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Why does the office have to be vaccum cleaned loudly at 6:15 p.m, when phone calls and meetings die out and I am trying to get some actual work done?

Why do people leave their mobiles on their desk which scream out gawdy tunes loudly?

Why don't people realise the cubicle is shared by 4 people and there are discussion rooms aplenty to have have mini meetings that last an hour?

Why does the desk phone have to ring always?

Why doesn't my mobile ring at all?

Why is only hot water coming out of the coffee vending machine?

Why does this guy M keep sending me fowards when I don't know him from Adam?

Why don't people say "please" and "thank you" any more?

Why can't I attend V's wedding?

Why isn't Amma at home now when I want to talk to her?

Why me? :-(

Someone Visit my Blog Quick!

My statcounter (at the bottom of the page) reads 666! Brrrr! It's creepy! :-(

Thamizhuku Amudenru Per! :-)

For the non-Thamizh readers, that line says that Thamizh is comparable to nectar. It's the first line of a famous poem by Bharathidasan(and not Bharathiyar!!) And don't stop reading now, much as I love my language, I am not going to extol it's virtues or anything right now. :-)

When we take any language, the spoken language has certainly become a little warped whereas the written is less affected. We write "Where have you been?" and we say "Where've you been?". Warped but not so much! The same case with Hindi, the spoken is a mildly contracted form of the written. (Since my Hindi is not so good, I am not typing out an example! :-) ). To clear things up, I am not talking about slang here, just talking about normal lines that we use everyday. So if a person learns English by reading some recent novels, he can pretty much manage the spoken part of it too.

But I notice that in Thamizh, what we speak is so much distorted. For example, "Nee engu sendru kondu irukirai?"(Where are you going?) becomes "Enga pore?" while talking. Why is thamizh alone in this state? When we can write decent thamizh, why do we mangle it while speaking? I am not even talking about the famous "madras bashai" here, just the normal thamizh that most people speak at home. A person who learns thamizh from "Learn Tamil in 30 Days" is screwed if he tries to live using it in Chennai. I mean things don't even sound remotely similar.

Any thoughts? And how are things in other languages?

Words and Words Are All I Have

Not mine though, since I am feeling lazy today! :-) Here’s a pick of my fav quotes off gmail’s RSS feed.

Some people see things that are and ask, “Why?” Some people dream of things that never were and ask, “Why not?” Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.
George Carlin

A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.
Bob Hope

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.
Woody Allen

Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing.
Robert Benchley

The way taxes are, you might as well marry for love.
Joe E. Lewis

All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Spike Milligan

Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem.
Jerry Seinfeld

The first time I see a jogger smiling, I'll consider it.
Joan Rivers

I really want to love somebody. I do. I just don't know if it's possible forever and ever.
Jim Carrey

Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song? The guy who wrote that song wrote everything.
Steven Wright

Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just whipped out a quarter?
Steven Wright

I went into a McDonald's yesterday and said, "I'd like some fries." The girl at the counter said, "Would you like some fries with that?"
Jay Leno

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.
Yogi Berra

We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next-door neighbor.
Chesterton, Gilbert K

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it.
W. C. Fields

Whine and Rant and Crib

Warning: I am now going to launch into a full fledged rant about today. Rant phobics can stop reading here.

It all started when I woke up late. And I decided to cook my lunch as well(I should have realized that trying to take my lunch is a recipe for disaster). Then the usual - stuff got boiled too much, something in my breakfast i.e either the bread or the cheese(ahem low fat) was spoilt, no auto etc. Then when I finally reached work, late of course, many people helpfully pointed out that my bindi was missing, and I hate it without my pottu, I really really do. I slid into my chair whewfully(blogic license) and started checking gmail, blogs etc. And then a mail popped up saying the weekly status review meeting was going to happen in 5 minutes. To my horror I then discovered that a cron job for which I am responsible, has been failing continuously and has been generating lots of mail alerts. I went to the meeting hoping and hoping and hoping that nobody would have checked it and of course somebody had.

After this hungama I went for lunch and discovered that I had forgotten to put salt in all that I had made. :-( I really hope later in life, I don't suffer from high BP or some other medical condition that restricts me to saltless food. (And no diabetes too, I want my ice cream! :-) )

A mini meeting with my PL followed where I dared to pooh pooh one of his ideas and he pooh poohed me back. A bigger meeting with my manager and he also pooh poohed my PL's idea - score one for me! :-) And then he accepted one of my ideas and even praised it. ++1 for me again :-) I was feeling all hotsy totsy and I slid back into my chair with a triumphant half smile. My PL turned to me and said "Janani, why don't you now explain the other suggestion you had regarding blah blah." and I just stared back at him and my manager 'coz I remembered I had some idea and I remembered that I had touted it in the previous meeting as the next best thing to mankind since gel pens, but I remembered not what it was! My manager was pretty helpful and asked to go to the board and explain just the basic flow of logic. I looked at both of them with glazed eyes and mumbled something about preparing a doc and mailing it.

Anyways there is this huge project coming up and I am very excited 'coz it involves lots and lots of coding most of which will be interesting. And I get to dabble with number sequences and random numbers and mail delivery - whoopie! :-) But the downside is that I can't attend V's wedding in Chennai. :-(

Just while writing this post my PL called me and told me that he is going to take care of the mail delivery part. Me sad! :-(

Btw, my roomies aren't coming home for dinner and since I have this problem with eating out alone, gotto cook for myself when I get home. :-(

I hope tomorrow dawns nice and bright "for you and for me and the entire human race" :-)

Me, Myself and Someone Else

On my way to work I saw this girl on the road and she looked vaguely familiar. After lots of thinking I realized that she had reminded me of myself! It was spooky for a minute 'coz this kinda thing never happens. Why do people always remind us of others and not us? Many people keep telling me "There's a girl just like me" at work or college or near their house or whatever - I guess I have a common face! :-( . I've looked at a few of them and I always felt that they looked nothing like me.

It's this way with voices too. People always feel that my sister and I sound similar and no-one's ever been able to differentiate between us on the phone. But we both have difficulty believing that we sound the same. But then, when I listen to my voice on the answering machine or something, I feel even I don't sound like myself.

And btw, about that girl I saw on the road today - I am much prettier! :-)

PHYSIOGNOMY, n. The art of determining the character of another by the resemblances and differences between his face and our own, which is the standard of excellence. :-)

Bunty Aur Babli

We tried to get tickets for this movie last weekend itself(failing which we went for Naina.) Wiser, this week I booked tickets on Wednesday itself only to have the movie hall folks call me to say that they are canceling the morning show 'coz of technical probs. Not willing to let this deter plans, I hunted all over the net and booked tickets in this obscure theatre miles away from where we live and set out in the hot sun only to find that the movie was sooo not worth it.

The movie starts well, the parts when Rani and Abhishek set out from their small town to make it big in the city were pretty enjoyable. They start doing small con jobs first to make ends meet and then for plain fun only to realize that this is their life's calling. So they get married and resolve to be together the rest of their lives and to keep pulling jobs. Amitabh Bachchan is introduced pretty late in the movie as the cop who resolves to catch them. The chase and whether-he-catches-them-are-not is the rest of the movie.

The promos about the movie were pretty clear that it is no intellectual fare. So I was pretty prepared and left my brain at home, but even so I was unpleasantly surprised. It seems as though the director first set out to make the an Ocean's Eleven kind of movie, but failed miserably by including preposterous ideas like selling the Taj Mahal (Sheesh, give the audience some credit!). The humor that you expect in this kind of movie is conspicuous by its absence. And then halfway through he decided to add sentiment as well, as a result there are some totally unnecessary weepy scenes. Of course there has to be some kind of masala and so a cheesy item number by Aishwarya Rai. Amitabh Bachchan's role didn't have much scope, and yet every scene of his was hyped up and the neck cricking mannerism was very irritating. The drunken scene with Big B and Ju B was drawn out like an obstinate bit of chewing gum(I think this is when my roomie fell asleep). To be fair the first half has a few enjoyable moments, but there is absolutely no excuse for the part after the interval. The songs are nothing to write home about except the "dhadak dhadak" song which I kept humming throughout the day.

Verdict : Average bordering on bad

That Thing You Do :-)

My hands kept twitching,
Touching the keyboard, not quite typing.

Red light shone into my eyes
When I explored the underside of my mouse

I clicked refresh all the while
Only to be told there is no new mail

Made sure my mobile was on loud mode
Can't afford to miss a call today

Called my deskphone from my mobile
Yeah all the lines were working fine

The things that we do
On a slow day at work!

:-)

Announcement

I have decided not to continue with "Storytime: Untitled as of Now" anymore. The reasons behind this move are manifold. Mainly it is not moving in the direction I had wanted it to - I didn't want it to be yet another overly saccharine love story. Now it is so dripping with mush that even I can't bear to read it! :-(

Also despite rejoinders that these characters are fictional, people seem to think that I am writing my life story and are guessing as to who is Venkat. Folks, Srishti really isn't me.

So until I hone my story writing skills a bit and churn out something better, you can rejoice at not having to put up with Storytime! :-)

Storytime: Untitled as of Now - Part III

*This won't make sense until you've read Part I and Part II*

Venkat was surprised to see the empty cube. Her blue and green bag was also missing, which meant she hadn't come in at all. A sudden feeling of fear swept over him and he swept out his mobile and called her. She picked it in half a ring, "Today's started out on a wrong note, I woke up sooooo late and then I took bath and rushed to my mess for breakfast and they were out of food. So I went to this hotel round the corner all alone and realized I had only 500 rupees notes in my purse and had to hunt around for change. And now this traffic jam", she drawled out each word for emphasis. "Oh ok, I was just wondering if you were on leave today. Ok, don't drive too fast." She knew he would call and she could sense the relief in his tone.

She liked him. She had justified it hotly to her gal pal, "Why wouldn't I like him? He is kind, thoughtful and really cares beyond the superficial level. He is charming in his own way, can be trusted and in short super nice." "That's just your way of covering the fact that he is as dull as ditchwater. Yeah have a passionate affair with reliable ol Venkat", her friend retorted.

The truth in her friend's words hit her and she frowned a bit. It was not that reliability didn't go down well with Srishti, she admired that quality in men. But she fancied herself as a romanticist and in that role, Venkat was hardly the Prince Charming. She had no siblings, and most of her childhood was spent dreaming. And in due time she started dreaming about her guy, gave him form and even held imaginary conversations with him. The problem was, Venkat resembled him in no way. She wanted her guy to be spontaneous and even impulsive; Venkat thought twice before even saying something. Her guy was a brilliant conversationalist mixing knowledge with humor and could argue a tail off a donkey; you were lucky if you could tear ten words continuously off Venkat's mouth. Mr Right also had to be a party animal, clubbing, pubbing and so on; Venkat thought twice before attending the annual company party and decided to attend in the last minute only because she was going. He hated staying up late and considered watching too much TV a vice.

Srishti was a small town girl herself. And she liked being so. But heart went out for these oh-so-cool guys of whom Venkat was not a part of. She knew she was being a little shallow when she rejected Venkat outright. But she felt like she was killing something in her heart if she said yes to Venkat. Venkat hadn't said much, but the look on face shot to her heart and she wondered if she was killing something by saying no. She always convinced herself that she didn't "love" him. Sure, she liked being with him, liked talking to him, liked listening to him, but was it something more than that? Srishti could never give a straight answer to that question, which kept asking itself so frequently.

And the fact that he was her colleague and lived two streets away from her didn't help. Whenever he smiled, she felt like ruffling his hair and when he was down, it took her a lot of resolve not to hug him and tell him things will be alright soon. She wondered if Venkat shared these urges. And sometimes she wondered if she had killed the love in his heart by her refusal, leaving behind just affection. For a period of time, she forgot all about her imaginary X and almost waited for him to approach her again so that they could live happily ever after. Unfortunately he was the perfect gentleman who didn't disturb the lady again and she was the Ice Princess who didn't propose to men. As time went by and nothing happened, she forced herself to abandon such feelings and stopped feeling sorry for what she did.

TOW the Lunch Box

When I recovered from chicken pox a few months back, my mom suggested I take lunch from home for sometime atleast(Yeah I am a reasonably good cook). And the obedient child that I am, I made a nutritive meal of rice, greens and bhindi, packed in it the lunch box that I had stolen from my sister when I was in Madras and trotted off to work. During lunch everyone went gaga over the fact that I had actually cooked all this by myself and in the morning. My head was literally bursting with pride and I resolved to do it everyday if only to prove a point. That evening I left early (since I was convalescing and all!) and after going 6 floors down and walking a few yards I realised that my lunch box was left behind. Up I went again and brought it back and felt very smart for remembering. Then I shopped at Food World (for next day's lunch), made a call at a STD booth(it was my days of prepaid) and then autoed home. And realised that I had left my beloved lunch box (feels wierd to keep saying that, like some pre school kid or something) in one of those places.

So the next time I went to Madras I hunted for a Tupperware agent and bought a sleek lunch box for a ridiculous amount of money. And after coming to Hyderabad I left it in a relative's place where I landed for breakfast the morning I reached. I managed to get it back later though. It slept at home for a while after that since I completely forgot about its existence. I found it while cleaning up the kitchen this weekend and I resolved to re-attempt cooking-and-taking-lunch. And I woke up early, made roti and dal and packed it in - everything perfect, except during lunch time I forgot that I had brought lunch. Eeeessh! My resolve was more strengthened by this fiasco and yesterday I made lunch took and ate it. Mission accomplished but I forgot to take my box home.

I have decided not to fight providence any more. If I manage to take my lunch box(7th time I am using "lunch box" in this post - ooops I did it again! :-) ) safely today and dump it in my kitchen, I will leave out cooking for dinners and weekends and eat the grub that's served in our cafeteria. Wish me luck!