Kitschy dreams

If there is something I hate more than people who wear grey and cream together, is being absolutely jobless. Staring into space. Changing channels on the television. Refreshing my Facebook page again and again. It makes me feel like a married aunty whose sits around waiting for her husband to get back from work. And I don’t have a husband also. You see where this is going?

So a while ago, when Wastey tells me there is work opportunity for the two of us, I put on my prettiest shoes and run towards my new workplace in slow motion. Instant love connection happened. And I’ve been running to work and college and back to work ever since. While I do miss randomly hanging out after college, I could not be happier.

Working here also makes me feel a little Konkona SenSharma in Wake Up Sid. I always envisioned that kind of life for myself. Living independently and writing about things I love the most. I’m graduating in six months. May be that life is not so far away.

Speaking of Wake Up Sid and husband, I almost fell in love with Ranbir Kapoor every time he stepped out with his camera.

Then again, there are a lot of things about the movie that made me fall in love. Remember Konkona’s off-white kurta with the little camels all over it? I liked it so much I painted my very own version of that kurta. Except, I replaced the camels with ‘banjaaran’. I love being gypsy-ish like that.

I love how the entire movie had such a kitschy feel to it. Right from her bedroom to the Mumbai Beat office. My office looks a little bit like, with random colours splashed all over the place. May be that’s another reason I love coming here as much as I do.

P.S. Did I tell you, I went to Chor Bazaar to do a story? ^_^

_______________________________________________________________________________

My brother and I talk sometimes. He does most of the talking. I pretend to listen for a while and then give that ‘are you suffering from verbal diarrhea look?’

A few weeks ago, he came running into my room saying he had to rush. I gave him the most disgruntled look ever, followed by a very long lecture. Reason? He was wearing a pair checkered shorts and a striped t-shirt. Just because they had the same colours, he thought it was socially acceptable to step out like that. What is a girl supposed to do when she sees such blasphemy being committed before her own eyes? He left me with no choice.

Yesterday we were walking home and he was telling me about how he thinks he is having a ‘hukka phase’. He was looking at me for some sort of sane advice. Stuff like stop destroying your lungs or I’m going to tell mommy.

Instead I look at him with a straight face. ‘Suit Yourself’. Those were my words of advice.

‘Tell me something! Scream at me!’

‘You can do whatever you want as long as you’re not doing in a pair of checkered shorts and striped tee.’

It was my brother’s turn to look at me absolutely straight faced.

The Summer and I, we have made our peace.

I kicked.
I punched.
I grumbled, wailed, threw a fit and then poked the Summer where it hurts the most.

However, now that we have made our peace, I'm collecting all the destructive forces, brewing inside of me, for the day I go meet my boss.
Work until graduation apparently.
Which means she wants me to work another year.
FOR FREE.
And I will do what any other self-respecting woman in my place would.
Refuse to work in a place where I am not valued enough to be bloody paid for conveyance.
Let's see if you find a cooler intern, niggah!
Because from what I can see, you're going down!

There is also a lot of constructive energy bubbling inside.
What's better than to dedicate this energy to learning all the creepy stuff that I love so much.
I'm learning a new pack of Tarot cards.
The Osho Zen pack and it is making me very, very happy.

Generally, I give readings over the phone, but yesterday a friend of mine, stuck in the middle of some serious relationship crisis came over for a reading.
I cannot tell you how I got totally carried away, went into this fortune teller mode, lectured her unto eternity about the state of her life and where she ought to take it from there.
It was very satisfying, you know.
Blabbering away as if I really had all the gyaan in the world.

And then I took some very important decisions.
Whilst, digging my closet for an old shrug, I fumbled upon this very pretty black and golden scarf I was gifted a long time ago.
It's got ancient egyptian symbols on it and a very pretty looking sun right in the centre.
If all else fails, I'm going to put that scarf around me, find myself a pair creepy looking cat-eye glasses and a hundred bangles and beads in every colour, until I look like one of those gypsy fortune tellers from a Hollywood movie.
Then I will buy an old wooden stool, find a lonely corner on the beautiful streets of Bombay, set up a stall called K-ay's Corner and become the pioneer of tarot readings on the street.
Only for those who are willing to pay me but.

So money problems will be solved.
Creepy urges will be satisfied.
The Summer and I, will be best friends again!
Happy ending :D



P.S. I'd be more than happy to give readings to all my faithful blog readers :D
If you're too broke to pay me by cash or cheque, you can sed me bars of Bournville in every flavour!
Peace!

Summer 2010

I think it's going to be a good Summer.
Random, inspirational, adventerous and very creative.

I started working full time at the office.
With college, I could only manage to come in after lunch.
I like the sort of discipline it brought with it.
Waking up early, sleeping before 12 am, eating on time and all that.
I wasn't sure what I was doing writing about celebs I hardly care about, but I enjoyed every bit of it.
I felt like I was living someone else's life.
One of those starstruck journalists who actually care if Ranbir and Katrina are going out or what Akshay Kumar is doing on his birthday.
Everytime I wrote a story, I thoroughly enjoyed spicing it up and sensationalising it, while laughing in my head at all those dimwits who actually wake up every morning to enthusiastically read what I have written.
I know this is not what I want to spend the rest of my life doing, so I'm going to make the most of it while it lasts.

There is just one miniscule problem.
I have too many things sitting on the top of my priority list.
And giving so much to a company that refuses to pay seems like such a let down.
So I tell her that this isn't working out for me and I'm going to work from home instead.
Which basically means I get to write for them, attend important events and  still find the time to do all the other stuff I've always wanted to.

Works for me!
I can finally hunt down those photographers who promised they'd let me be their stylist.
I plan to stand outside their doors singing until they get tired of terrible voice, agree to employ me AND pay me.
I've also become a bag-wali off late.
No I don't stand at the station and sell bags.
A store in bandra does it for me.
Now I want to get back to it and get the second lot made.
More belly dancing will happen.
Lucky women will get to learn to groove like me.

I'm also feeling very DIY.
I've moved into my new house and I want my new room to be *beautiful*.
So beautiful that magazines will want to feature it!
Okay. I'm pushing it now.
But I'm thinking of getting a wooden chair that I'll paint myself.
I want to get wall paintings, collages, photographs done.
I want the wall to look insane!
And I'm thinking of making some wall hangings as well.
Crazy suggestions are always welcome :)
Also if you're looking to employ someone AND pay them, you *must* leave a comment asap!

Embarrassing incidents from my interesting life

My Jelly beans!
It's been a long time, hasn't it?
This time I'm back with the promise of nonsensical updates every other day, starting today.
I've been embarrassing myself a *lot* these days.
Then again, when do I not?
But no matter how much I embarrass myself, I don't really get embarrassed.
Get what I mean?
Oh well! I'm just going to get to my story.

So the day ends and I'm very, very impatient to get back home.
I come running out of the door and make a dash for the elevator.
This random person standing by the elevator, tries to control his laughter as I almost slip while doing so.
I refuse to smile at such smart asses and walk straight into the lift.
Suddenly, it feels as if the elevator is taking *way* too long to get to the ground floor.
It starts to get a little awkward, so I decided I should pull my cell phone out in order to look busy.
I dig my hands into my pocket in order to pull my phone out and kaboom!
I drop it on the way and my phone lies on the elevator floor in three pieces.

On the way to work the other day I decided to start being a little sensitive to things like skin tanning and skin cancer.
I'm too lazy to use sun block most of the time.
I wasn't even carrying one the day I decided to protect myself from the sun.
But I did have my my white rimmed, very retro looking sunglasses and my red polka dotted scarf.
So I put my sunglasses on and attempted to neatly wrap the scarf around myself such that my entire face is covered.
I failed miserably.
So I just put the scarf around my head and pulled it down to cover my face the way women covered their faces with their pallus in the olden times.
The funny thing was I wasn't wearing a saree.
I wasn't even wearing a kurta.
And I shamelessly walked around the streets with a red polka dotted face, providing a lot of amusement to the onlookers.
Well, didn't I tell you?
I hardly ever get embarrassed. =D

I eat a lot of junk, you know.
And I'm seriously trying to cut down on that.
I bought bananas on the way to work, so I could have them instead of inhaling my 468th cup of coffee.
And also because it makes me feel rather smug about having included a fruit in my daily diet.
So in the evening, whilst the tummy starts to growl, I pull the banana out of the bag and start peeling it.
It was a safe time to indulge in fruits that make dirty people think dirty thoughts, mostly because no one was around.
Half way through, the boy who sits opposite me and visits his desk for not more than five minutes during the day decides this is the perfect time to get back to work.
Then the boy who sits all the way on the other side decides he has some very important information to share so he comes and hits who who sits across and they both stand up and start excitedly talking about god-knows-what while my half eaten banana sits in my hand.
They both peer over at what's in my hand.
Then there is silence.
Story of my life.

Grumpiness personified.

You know what I dont like?
Long boring meetings that never seem to end, while the sound of your growling stomache is audible in the next room and the weight of your droopy eyelids seem heavier than the weights you lifted in the morning?
No I don't really lift weights, but it seems awesome to pretend like I have a very healthy lifestyle with my daily visits to the gym and all.
I also know that I hardly sound funny when I'm this grumpy, but I need to vent so shut up and listen ok?
The meeting starts at 1.34 p.m. and drags on till 4.14 p.m.
Time of last meal : 10:14 a.m.
You know what long periods of no food does to me?
It makes me very, very cranky.
Did I mention snappy?
AND Slappy (Read: Irresistible urge to slap someone)!
Such a long pointless meeting ONLY so she could tell us that we have to spend the entire night in the office uploading 'live updates and snippets' on the website.
Try not to smirk ok?
I am as it is find the scenario very, very amusing.
The awards are being treated like Obama's presidential speech or the coverage of the 26/11 or something.
Obviously we have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than upload the shady winners of the Filmfare.
Fine! So I generally don't.
But that justifies nothing ok!
And it's not as if I didn't get it the first time she told me.
Or the time after that.
OR that.
OR THAT.
*sigh*
With all the ranting that I have done now, the grumpiness seems have lessened by 15.5 percent.
Have to leave for an event now, for which I am very excited(read: FREE cocktails).
Ok now that I'm having thoughts of pink martnis and lemon mojitos grumpiness have decreased by 85.5 percent.
On that note I shall leave.
See you later alligators!

Awesome-ness!

Hello Muffins!
Such a happy Sunday morning it is!
Well, I dragged myself out of bed and almost fainted looking at the mess around me.
What happens when a part of your closet(read clothes, shoes, jewelery, scarves, belts) is scattered on the bedroom floor, while the rest of it is sitting in three different bags, lying somewhere amidst the excessive clutter?
The mere thought of having to clean was putting me back to sleep.
Well my ideal Sunday mornings entail endless cups of Cappuccinos followed by absolutely delicious breakfast, while flipping through pages of the Brunch(HT supplement).
Grumbling over a backache caused by standing for long hours at the studio and walking around with a bag the size of a travel bag, is really not a plan for the plan.
Did I mention I had exactly half an hour to eat, get ready and clear the place up before I could leave for work?
And yes I did have the irresistible urge to slap myself for trying to be 'superwoman'.

But when I finally got here and logged onto the Indiatimes movies website, I couldn't stop grinning to myself.
Trying to handle college, endless projects with work, seemed absolutely worth it.
Two of my stories were in the highlights.
So there was one shady piece of gossip about Rani Mukherjee, which has been edited(read: murdered) and a Fashion feature.
Well my first fashion feature as 'Fashion Police'.
The content of the article is not too different from my Blog(Purple-Peeptoes), but it feels awesome to be able to talk to a larger audience now.
And the good news is that, it's going to be a weekly column from now on!
Yes, I feel awesome!
Awesome about how everything is falling into place.
I've completed a month at this office and see things get brighter everyday.
I've gotten to know a lot of people who are willing to get me in touch with big designers and stylists.
So my summer internship seems like something I'm going to look forward to.
First it seemed like a far fetched dream (read: lack of experience and no money to get a portfolio done).
In circumstances like these, I chanced upon a model and photographer in dire need of resources.
And now we've formed a team that's going to help all of us.
The the mere thought of it is so exhilarating.
The backache and the clutter seems like a an insignificant price to pay.
It is an awesome Sunday morning.
And from where I'm standing, it seems like and endless row of beautiful mornings.

P.S. For those of you who want to read the article, here's the link


P.P.S. Thanks so much for all the photography ideas. I'll upload the pictures I took soon.

Because I like it here.

You know how you expect your typical first day at work to be, right?

You go home late wondering why you came here in the first place...

If all female bosses intentionally model themselves on Meryl Steep from 'The Devil wears Prada'...

And if work is all about being overworked and underpaid.

But it sort of helps if you're prepared for the worst.

It kind of turns your average first day to a not-so-average first day.

Infact, I left the office feeling -Wow! That wasn't bad at all.

For a while, all I have been doing is, going to college, pretending to take down notes, delaying all my projects, wasting way too much time on the phone, letting Facebook take over my life and hanging out with friends a little more than I should.

And that feeling of guilt....

Well. it had been lingering for a while now.

And then Indiatimes came along.

Ya, I know... not the most exciting place to work, but for beginners, believe me it's fab.

If you get to do something other than serving coffee and xeroxing papers, consider yourself very lucky.

And I am getting to do more than that.

I get to upload articles and actually be a part of my process.

Isn't it wonderful, the feeling that your opinion is actually counted?

Besides, the people also seem very nice.

Who wants to work in an office full of bitchy, condescending people right?

The loos are clean and the coffee is aaamaaazing!

Plus, one of my friends is working in the Zoom office, which is right opposite my office.

So I have nothing to complain about! :)

Ok, not nothing.

I do hate the fact that there are waaaay too many dogs in the compound.

Ah well! That I'm going to have to deal with.

That's all for now Cupcakes!

Merry X'ams and Happy New year!