Guardian Angel

I am standing in queue at one my favorite restaurants to order lunch and I am playing a little game in my mind.Trying to guess which one of girls behind the counter will be taking my order.And I am hoping that its the one with the pierced lips because she knows me by sight(since I frequent that place so much) and she does a darn good job of waitressing.I am very anal about such things.I prefer my latte at Starbucks in a certain way and there is this cute guy who does makes it just the way I like it.Everyone else there messes up my order.Either there is too much foam or no foam at all when I specify light foam.The temperature is never right when I say I want it extra hot.And on days when I badly need my coffee to be done right,it usually is, thanks to cute guy.

This reminds of one of the most bizzare days of my life ever.A day when everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong but in the end it all worked out fine.

So it was exam time and I was in my final semester of engineering.I had this policy of not going to college any earlier than T-15 minutes mainly because I would invariably be asked to explain a hundred things to a hundred people in the process of which I would end up confusing myself thoroughly.And most importantly because I needed all the time I could get to cram.It was no different on this eventful day either.Except that the weather looked really dubious.My mom kept reminding me to leave earlier than usual but out of sheer habit,I left home at exactly T-25 as it took about 10 minutes by auto from my home to college.I just about turned around the corner of the street and it started to rain so heavily that my umbrella gave way and flew out of my hand.And within seconds I was completely wet.There were no autos in sight and I could not even see what was 5 meters ahead of me as visibility was so poor thanks to the rain.I walked a little ahead to next bus stop hoping that I would get an auto as it was the main road.But again no luck.It was now T-20.My mind was totally blank as I saw no way of getting to college on time for my exam.And just then I heard a loud honk.I look up to see a friend of mine who was a year junior to me.He was on his way home from college and he had decided to take this route as it was less crowded.I had never ever been so happy and relieved to see someone in my whole life!

So this friend of mine,lets call him Mac.Mac offered to drop me to college and I hopped on to his bike.By then the intensity of rain was so much that we could not see a damn thing.There was no way Mac could ride the bike for a good 5 miles with zero visibility.So he suggested that we go to his house which was close by and we could then take his dad's car.So we reached his house and he was kind enough to offer his sister's clothes as I was completely drenched.So I grabbed the first set of salwar kameez in sight and changed hurriedly while he removed the car out of the garage.Since there was no use of carrying my wet back pack,I just picked up my pen case and got into the car.We were half way there when the car suddenly stopped moving.It would not go forward or backwards.We then realized that the car was stuck in a pothole which we had not seen as the streets were flooded.It was T-0.I was hyper-ventilating.Then Mac being the brave guy that he was asked me to just get out of the car.It had stopped raining by then.So we got out of the car,locked it and left it right there.Bang in the middle of one of the busiest roads in Bangalore. Before we got stoned to death by the other motorists for blocking the road,we managed to find an auto and got into it.I was now a little calm and hopeful that I will somehow be able to write the exam.We were about a mile away from college when the auto went into this huge puddle of muddy water all of which landed right on me!I was wearing Mac's sister's dress which was light pink in color and my entire right side was covered with muck.I did not know whether to fret about my appearance or about her dress being ruined!

Finally we reach college at about T + 10 and when it was time to pay the auto guy,both of us realized that we didn't have our wallets with us.We had left it in our jeans pockets when we changed into dry clothes.I could just die right then!Mac asked me to just go ahead and find my exam hall and that he would take the auto back to his house and pay him there.I did as I was told because I was in no state whatsoever to think rationally.I went to the designated building to find that there were 16 rooms on that floor and I had no idea which room I was in.I just stood there in the middle of the corridor.Blank.Covered in muck.Luckily,one of my professors came out for a drink of water and spotted me.He instantly knew that something was wrong.He asked me wait right there while he figured out where I was seated.I stood there nodding my head and shivering. After a couple of minutes he came back and guided me to my room and seat.He got me a cup of water and asked me take a couple of minutes before I started writing.I drank the water just to realize that I was feeling a little damp elsewhere.Nature decided to play truant and I had just gotten my period.Of all things!

I did manage to write the exam and get a decent score.Mac paid the auto guy at this place and then managed to extricate the car from the pothole with the help of the auto driver.And the car was intact, thank god.I got the dress dry cleaned twice before I returned it to his sister.To date every time I think about that one fateful day,I cannot help but wonder what would have happened if Mac hadn't passed by.Mac, I don't think I have thanked you enough for all that you did.You were my guardian angel.

Edited to add: I guess I haven't articulated my thoughts too well.The only bone I have to pick is with the guys over at the slaughter house in this article.Their callous attitude just gets to me.My anger and disgust is solely directed at them and people like them.This post DOES NOT condone a particular lifestyle choice over another.

I am vegetarian. Simply because I believe in it. I have nothing whatsoever against people who eat meat although I cannot relate to it.It is their choice just like being a vegetarian is mine.But what really really gets to me and makes my blood boil is when certain statements are made.Such as:

"Humane and inhumane killing of cows in slaughter house......"

Excuse me?Could it be more paradoxical?You are killing as in ending the cow's life for your own benefit.What is so damn humane about it?It is not like you are euthanizing the poor animal or making sure its death is as painless and quick as possible.So why the pretense?Someone asked me how I can take such a hard stand when capital punishment still prevails.Well,you get the death penalty only if you have committed an extremely heinous crime.What is your excuse?

I do not expect anyone to justify the choices they make.Neither am I proclaiming that eating meat is sinful and vegetarianism is the way to go.All I am trying to say is do not glorify the horrendous act.Animals are killed/hunted for their meat and fur.Period.No point pretending otherwise.No point in justifying the act of killing.All this just makes it harder to stay objective.

Read this.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

We have been following the Texas primaries and caucus closely and for once,I am really enjoying it.Maybe it is because this time around I understand to an extent, whats going on and whats being discussed.Enough to stand my own (for a while atleast) in an elections-oriented discussion.It is amusing to see the two Democratic candidates go at each other like there is no tomorrow.By the time the Democrats are done deciding who they are going to field,both Senators Obama and Clinton would have lost steam.Presumably Senator McCain is having the last laugh.But what a speaker that man Obama is!Inspirational does not begin to describe it.Fun it is.

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Things at work are looking up.Some new work just came in and we had the kick-off meeting yesterday.Of course,it didn't help much that our manager spent half his time talking about naming conventions which is like coding 101.I so need to read What Color is my Parachute. Thanks for the suggestion, bird's eye view.

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We watched Jackie Brown a couple of days ago.Loved it.We also watched Mithya, another gem of a movie and Rajat Kapoor's directorial debut.Loved it as well.Especially this scene that has Neha Dhupia and Daisy Irani rambling away in Punjabi.Apparently Neha Dhupia can act!

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JustFemme,an online magazine, is organizing a women's film festival in Bangalore.The festival features five short films,chronicling women's lives in contemporary India.For more details about the films,visit www.justfemme.in or contact Just Femme at 9741437431.This month's issue features an article written by your's truly as well!

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Spring seems so far away.But I couldn't wait any longer so I went ahead and pampered myself with a really cute and springy floral black and white dress.Now the question is how long before I can actually wear it.

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I never knew blogging could be so much fun.I do not write as much as I should but it has been a nice experience thus far.I got to know so many intelligent and fun and super-cool people most of whom are of the female persuasion.This is a first for me because I have always had more male friends.I am loving it and I am really really glad that I got to know you all.You all are wonderful and its been a blast interacting with all of you.Cheers!

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Edited to add : Rohit rightly pointed out that Mithya is not Rajat Kapoor's directorial debut.I stand corrected.Thanks Rohit!