R-Rated

Damn you, Zuckerberg!! You have officially turned me into a social networking-Zombie . What started off as a harmless exercise in "riding the wave of popularity", has now become the second most important website of the day (a close second to the email-Zombie - GMAIL). I had sworn off Social Networking after the Orkut** wave had crashed but the disease has spread way too much in my psyche now and to come out of the phenomenon might just have disastrous and unintended consequences. But guess what, I LOVE IT!! As reprehensible as it may sound, I actually look forward to getting news from folks in my Friends and "fake"-Friends list. And quite a few of them are "fake"-Friends, really. {**Google folks don't give up, do they - they clearly lead the "If you cannot beat them, BUY them" Bandwagon, case in point - YouTube, Blogger etc. Heck, they would have purchased Facebook too, if they had been allowed.} More so, I hate to admit it but I need t...

With 5 consecutive years of Ganpati at our home (in States and in India) between 2007 and 2011, a little jog back in time. 2007 - Minneapolis - The best one till date. K will agree. 2008 - Minneapolis - K wasn't in town for this one. 2009 - Mumbai - K wasn't in the country for this one. 2010 - Chicago - The reunion year. 2011 - Chicago - One last time (for now). Here's wishing my readers and their families a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi.. Ganpati Bappa Moraya, Mangal Murti Moraya Best Wishes from R and K

So as renovation gets underway in our house and the house gets transformed into Our Home , a winged species is trying its level best to call our home, their home. That's right. I am talking about the (damn) pigeons, who were made extremely famous by the Lata Mangeshkar/Bhagyashree combo in 1989 with Kabootar Jaa Jaa Jaa from Maine Pyar Kiya.  While that song was purely sung in romantic emotions, we now wish to sing the same song in order to shoo away the birdies from making their love nest in our gallery. And what a mess they create. They are relentless in their pursuit and hell bent on being permanent residents. We even had to move a very important plant inside the house just so the doves don't eat the once-in-a-lifetime blooming flower. K and I were out for 1 night and the next thing we know is that the foundation (that too of metal wires) is already laid down. Sorry, but only humans are allowed to stay in 402 Shreevardhan. One old dove had refused to fly away even a...

Today, I had to "let go" of my first and only employee. She did some decent work for us but there were times when she would not come to work at all and K & I would have to share the work left behind by her. Happened a couple of times last week but got to know later that she was not in the best of conditions to work. Moreover, with a new month starting, we thought, her services were not really required on a daily basis. Just when the need arises, she would be summoned. Guess whose services were terminated: ________________ Last week we had a horrendous experience with TWO service providers (retail), from whom (1) we had purchased a rather expensive product and (2) we wanted to get their services for digital TV. Customer service has a long way to go in India. With the retailer (Croma), we almost cancelled the purchase but the product made its way just as we were getting to the point of barging into their store and demanding our money back. The TV wall mount did n...

So we moved back to India recently and today after a long wait, we splurged. As a result, I have lost weight in about an hour's worth of workout and feel lighter already. Not the good kind though. A TV, Washing Machine and a Refrigerator were must buys so we bought them. Next up on the list, Home Improvement. We need it and lots of it. Time to lose some wallet-weight, again!!

Thank you... Sushil Kumar Yogeshwar Dutt Gagan Narang Vijay Kumar Saina Nehwal Mary Kom Some of you might or might not participate in Rio 2016, but if you do, best wishes for another medal to make India proud. GO FOR GOLD!!

Gagan Narang Vijay Kumar Saina Nehwal Mary Kom These 4 have been the medal winners for India at the 2012 London Olympics. Hopefully, there would be a few more on the podium by the time the event winds up this Sunday. And once the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka starts in September (followed by series with England and Australia ), the names above will just be forgotten - with the possible exception of Saina Nehwal - for the next 4 years until Rio 2016 comes around. I could not be any prouder of our Olympians, medal or no medal. Specifically, I loved the way P Kashyap (Badminton Quarters) played against World No. 2 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia . True that Kashyap did not have a chance against the much experienced Lee, but the World No. 20 played a superb game and even held the lead against his much celebrated opponent. Has a great temperament and has terrific gaming skills to match. I was glad that he was also felicitated in Hyderabad along with Saina (deservedly) a...