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There is something that I have figured out in my long association with submitting reports to my seniors and getting them checked.
The aim of the study is to find the best time to get your reports checked.
For my study I have divided the day into three time zones -
1. Morning – Just in, raring to go, destructive mode
2. Afternoon – Just after Lunch, laid back mode
3. Evening – Stressed, eager to complete work and leave
And I have experienced all these time zones first hand!
Submitting a report in the morning, when your manager has just come in and is raring to go, is all pumped up and is in the I will achieve everything mode, is not a very good idea. invariably he will look at your report and tear it into pieces. He will want to change everything. The concept, the idea, the formatting, content everything. Not a very good time for report submission
Submitting a report in the Afternoon, just after lunch when your manager saunters in with that content feeling of had lunch, is satisfied. His/ her body is going into relax mode, he wants to now get a nap or two on his desk. He wants to take it easy, this is when you go and show him the report. There will be hardly any changes, he will be happy with it, might even congratulate you on a job well done.
Submitting a report in the Evening, when he is hassle, people are gnawing at him for his attention. He wants to complete that report that he has been working on for a while and wants to go home. There is just too much of stuff to do and then you come it with your report and he thinks of it as a Oh-God-Not-Now thing and so he either does a quick scan with minimal changes or takes out his frustration on you by tearing it into pieces.
This has been my experience so far.
How to travel in Gurgaon if you dont have a car of your own.
Since the time i have shifted to gurgaon, I have had a harrowing time commuting. This city is a disaster when it comes to public transport. There is nothing in the name of decent mode of transport.
Thankfully i live very close to my office, a distance of 10 odd kms that are quickly covered in a car. It takes about 10 minutes in a self driven vehicle. Unfortunately i dont have a car of my own right now, so i am stuck taking rides and mostly the pathetic gurgaon public transport.
My experience has made me identify few of the modes that can be used to travel in Gurgaon (Government do something about this shoddy place)
1. Green Line Busses/ DTC Buses
These buses are a rarity. And more rare is when they actually stop at a bus stop. And bus stops there are none, people stand on the sied of the road and wait endlessly for a bus to turn up. They are ofcourse driven by high speed ex-truck walas, who are living their dream of mowing down people on the road. The few buses that I have encountered in my 7 months stay here, run at a speed of 80+ kms and are jam packed with people.
They never come on time and their frequency is an hour plus. They also dont run on the NH 8 road section and usually are more for the inner gurgaon or old gurgaon. Hence quite useless for me.
2. Short Distance Seven Seaters
These are a marvel. I could write a book on these amazing piece of engineering. They have been designed to seat a maximum of 8 people comfortably. But these seven seaters dont move an inch untill and unless there are 16 people in it (and that includes the driver, thank god for that!). It is shaped as a bigger autorickshaw that are very common in delhi. Four people in the back slab of the rickshaw, 8 in the middle and 3 more sharing space with the driver in the front.
The driver mostly is an underage kid, accompanied by someone, who keeps calling the customers. These seven seaters are mostly frequented by the lower class of people but I have quite often spotted well to do people also travelling in it (ofcourse out of desperation). As nobody in their right mind would like to be squashed from all sides and keep that position till the end of their journey and ofcourse not meet eye to eye with 8 people who are pretty much breathing down your neck.
It give a very “We are the world, we are the children” kind of a feeling that I would rather avoid. I was once sitting next to a lady with a kid. Shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg and the kid kept playing with my chunni and that just shows how close you are in that confined space. Ofcourse i couldnt care less about the chunni, all i wanted was the ride to get over.
Desperation makes you do a lot of things you rather not. The fare for these short distance seven seaters are Rs. 5. I used to take them regularly but avoid them like the plague now. Aviod if you can afford to.
3. Cycle Rickshaws
These are the cycle rickshaws with a driver paddling in the front and mostly with a covering in the back for the commuter. These rickshaws are very common in the Chandni Chowk Area of Delhi and will charge you anything from 20 – 150 depending on the distance. They are a big no no for me again as a distance of 10 kms on a cycle rickshaw is ridiculous. They are quite frequent in gurgaon as well and you can spot one anywhere on the road.
4. Random Taxis
The Random taxis are actually illegal and a lot of time it has happend that hte Haryana police has stopped them and told the commuters to get down while charging the driver some 200-500 Rs as a fine. But these taxis are effective. They are basically random taxi walas that are going from one distance to another and have a bit of spare time and would rather ferry people than go the same distance and not make money.
So these random taxi walas will pick up people and drop them according to where their destination is, like Dhaula Kuan, Nehru Place, Shankar Chowk (Gurgaon) and even Noida and ofcourse the starting point is Gurgaon. They charge anything from Rs. 5 – 20 (but not more than that). I usually take these.
5. Car Pooling
Car pooling is ofcourse the best option. I use it quite frequently, though the only issue here is that I take a ride more than I give a ride. Me and my friends are trying to get in a Corporate Car Pooling Service that will benefit a lot of people and make our roads less congested. Lets see how that works out.
FYI- The stretch that i travel on is on the NH8.
Who is Nandu you might ask?
Nandu is a little boy, living on the street and selling flowers bundled up by his mom and sister. His world revolves around his home JorBagh red light…. (is that an address? Red light?) It is his address. His home.
He runs between cars dodging as they zoom by, risking his existence for 5 rupees worth of sale.
You want to know more, he is bare feet 24/7; come the Delhi chilly winter or the scorching Delhi heat. A bare shirt and a torn short is what I have seen him wear over the past 2 years that I have interacted with him.
What is so unique about Nandu? He is like any other boy living of the streets of Delhi, whats so new about that?
Well nothing new actually.
There are numerous people on the streets of Delhi. Eating, drinking, making babies on the street, their lives spent by the street.
The lights turn green, red, yellow; cars zoom, halt, honk; people, dogs walk past and they live and earn their livelihood. They smile at you when you stop and bug you to buy flowers/ book/ newspaper.
YOu glare/ buy/ shoo them off… and life it moves on …
But Nandu I feel is a little wee bit special, One he is adorable! (the picture does not do justice trust me!!)
Two he is always smiling and
Three he is insanely happy with his situation.
All he knows is to sell flowers and he does that with all the zeal that a 6 year old can muster. He is a master at dodging traffic and his tiny feet can bare the chill/ dirt/ heat a Delhi road is capable off.
My salute to little Nandlal. May your grow strong and happy and find a roof that keeps you safe.
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One the eve of Independence Day of our great country India I was all praise to the development and high growth rate. The way our country has surpassed colonial rule and come up with such vigor and glory is commendable.
14th of August was also the day our offices were shutting at 4:30, our buses were going to leave sharp at 4:30 and ferry us back to the comforts of our home.
Or so I thought.
The clock struck 4:30 and my colleagues and me … marched towards the bus, we unsuspecting souls…. Who knew at that point that the evening was going to go horribly wrong?
Well the bus was late (nothing new!) as whenever it rains in Gurgaon, the traffic goes kaput and water clogs as if we are in some shanty slum rather than the high flying DLF Cyber City area that houses the top of the class MNC’s the world has seen… EnY, WNS, Orange, Ericsson etc .. You name it they are there.
The traffic was crawling at the speed of .005 meters/ 20 minutes. Each car was bumper to bumper and everywhere you looked you could see cars, buses and more cars stuck, ofcourse …not moving.
There was an abundance of rain, flared tempers, honking and distress talks over the mobile phones.
Well we waited first in the pouring rain, huddled under an umbrella, with our shoes soaking in water 4:30 turned to 5. “Oh the bus is going to be here any minute” We searched in the lock jaw traffic, we searched in hope, in the anticipation of a miracle that this traffic is going to get better in a few minutes time.
5:30 Heated exchanges, 6:00 Blame game, 6:30 More rain, 7:00 No bus in sight.
Soaking to the bones, our patience run out, we headed towards the food court our spirits down looking for some relief in tea and bread pakoras.
Surprise surprise we managed to share a laugh or two. It’s a marvel how people connect in difficult situations. 7:40 is when we sat in the bus. The traffic crawled till Moti Bagh, 9:30 is when I reached India Gate and then home.
A total of 5 hours washed in the rains.
On the eve of 15th of August 2008, I made a few friends and marveled at my patience and ofcourse learnt a lesson – When it rains, it pours and when it pours don’t you dare come to Gurgaon.
I have this urge … to run …. run … sprint …. just go …..
To leave it all behind … to feel the air in my hair … that liberating feeling of just going with no direction … to be unstopable … to take any turn only if i want to
To run into someones arms? Bollywodd style?? with my hair moving in slow motion … to bump into him and fall in his arms …?
lol …. hehehe
Not really!
… not that kind of a running but the kinds that gives power to me … the one that says .. to hell with you …
I will probably stop a few minutes into the run to catch my breath … blame it on my utter lack of exercise …. but wht the hell … but to run nonetheless … like you cant be stopped
………………………… zoom……………………………………………………….
Stop me ! 
Okay so I had sworn off men … after a confused debacle that had happened about a year back
And now Mr I-will-woo-you is out there to make sure that I am back in the groove again
For some reason I am too afraid (?????) to let go of my - I am single/ miserable on weekends /nobody loves me / etc etc state of mind – and just go with the flow
(Why why)
I think I have few wage reasons -
It maybe the eager beaver mentality that Mr I-will-woo-you has …
or maybe his way of complementing me after a conversation – ” You are amazing!”
lol … where is that coming from ? really ! … it was a 5 minute conversation
Or maybe its his - I will drop you home as I will be meeting my cousins who live about 5 mins from your house …. and in the same breath … so where do you live again?
lol …
Or :O maybe i am still stuck on Mr Blabber-Mouth (Also The X )
Or maybe I have better things to do than start dating again …
Or maybe I AM getting old
Maybe I AM a 45 year old in a body of a 24 year old
Damn it …
Time will tell if Mr I-will-woo-you will be Mr I-wooed-her
Since the time I have joined this new office, which basically consists of a lot of people falling in the range of 30 and above, i have been called Madame, Ma’am and other polite words (falling in the same category)
So whats the problem really ?
Well whenever i am called by those titles ….
I always feel … Really Madame ?
Me ? Ma’am ? Me?
I mean do i look old to u ?
I am really a girl … i still love my mommy and daddy and live with them … do i look like a madame to you?
Did you just miss my goofy grin … my insane jokes … my retardness … my dreamy look p>
Are you serious ?
… Please call me by my name
Madame just makes me feel so old and boring
and though I have been called Madame/ Ma’am a little too often … i am always always surprised …
(somebody from behind) – “Excuse me Madame”
(Me) ”Who me ??? Are you serious??” :O
I have hunted and I have searched like a dog on a chase. I have set a goal and gone after it like NASA. I have searched (to the extent of being obsessive) like Gholum in the Lord of the Rings. I have scanned malls, street shops, posh shops, brands and any shop in the vicinity … any vicinity !
But i fail to find a shoe that I like.
The search started in Connaught Place – I checked Bata, Reebok, Nike, Sundry other shops. The Select Citywalk Mall in Saket – all brands from Mango, Van Husen, blah blah. To Amby Mall Gurgaon – Highly highly priced shoes with no substance. Shoe Tree. Khan Market. South EX . Woodland. GK 2 market … You name it … I have been there.
I still havent found it… Its insanity… All I need is a formal pair and an everyday pair … thats all!!
So after the crazy walking in and walking out of shops … I have come to a conclusion that I aint going to find one … not here … definately not in this country …
So why cant i get a customised shoe made? A place where all I need to do is log on, select the material, design, colour, stitches, heels, pointed/ non pointed, with/ without the back strap, pencil heel, flats, whatever and give my shoe size.
They then deliver a dummy shoe … I try it on obsess over it make some more changes and say my okay … and in a 30 day time period … vola!!! I have a shoe that fits well, looks and feels like the shoe that I want and is the one and only of its kind :D !!!! Hmmmm … And it will be called My Kinda Shoe (Mera Wala Joota) !! lol …
I got to go golfing !!! All thanks to daddy dearest.. who gets to work his ass off 365 days a year … so that his darling daughter can have all the comforts of the world.
Golf being one of the elite games of the society that hardly everyone gets to enjoy. I had the good good fortune and absolutely unbelievable pleading skills that got me the opportunity to play golf this weekend.
I had been anticipating it for months!! The greens the holding of the club, the teeing off and of course the admiring glances of the cute hunks 
(Am I that predictable???!! and delusional ?? lol )
So well when dad finally let me come along for a golf trip … I was excited!! Exuberant!!! And totally pumped up… And ofcourse my joy knew no bounds (are we writing a school essay here?)
Well we went there on a nice sunday morning, the place, the prestigious Delhi Golf Club was already teeming with golfers. There were the oldies, the young kids and of course the cute ones!!! The place was quite flooded at 11:30 on a Sunday morning… And ofcourse the ladies … the moms, the girlfriends and the wives .. were looking ravishing (no surprise)
It was my first time at golfing and like every firsts I made an absolute complete fool of myself ….
Ofcourse I couldn’t hold the club well .. didn’t bend my leg the right way … my butt wasn’t out enough …. my swing was too swingy … my aim was too lanky …. I had no patience with the ball and my constant checking out of the cuteys was totally not acceptable ! ( ghosh!)
I teed about 50 odd balls in all direction and obviously none in the one intended … My shirt flew when I swung too hard and by gods grace the club didn’t slip from my sweating hand and give some one a tight wrap on the skull
To be completely honest if it wasn’t for the eye candies that were walking around …and my bosses obsession for the game I would probably skip it cause you not only require a lot of patience but also sweat glands that don’t sweat all that much
A thought did strike me while teeing my 16 or 17 ball (about golf ofcourse! not cuteys) that this game is really like the hunting of old times … that the royals used to do. Hunting basically where the Maharajas with their plethora of soldiers and royal people used to mount on elephants and go on excursions for days together … sometimes coming back with no kill at all and at times a tiger or two.
Basically it used to be a thoroughly useless exercise which was done just to show off and spend resources on absolutely non productive exercise …. Golfing fits the bill to the tee … I mean there is a stick, a ball and a hole. All day you need to try and put the ball in a hole and basically walk around in the greens …. atleast of what I saw nobody cared about the game. There were people networking more than teeing off … they were busy saying HI and smiling than sweating it out …
And the whole concept that while a cabby trudges around carrying your load you stand there and tee off and then get zoomed off to the other location in a golf cart! Is crazy cause what do u do really? Burn probably some .000001 ounce of calorie in a year!! Ghosh the hypocrisy!! 
Can we run? Jog? Shout out and pump our fist in the air? Can we be a little less refined??
But with all my criticism … I am all pumped up to go there again … and play it like a pro … bend my knee the right way … butt out a certain way … swing like a champ and flash that pearly white when the ball goes in an absolutely insane direction and ….. oh yeah …. Concentrate on the game a bit more than the dandy candy !
Tee hehe to that!
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