I have a comment from an anonymous visitor on a post I made sometime back.

Let me give you a little background. Some weeks back, I received a mail (two mails actually) from a person I do not know. I posted it. (You can scroll down and read it if you haven’t already.)

My anonymous visitor commented “This is not mean, this is being derisive. U find this fun, eh? May the farce be with you one day, too.”

First of all, it would be nice if the anonymous visitor left back a name/url/email id. Please, Sir/ Ma’am you seem to be a nice person concerned about others. I would love to have you as a well-wisher/ friend.

Secondly, I always thought that ‘derisive’ is a subset of ‘meanness’ which would imply that if I am being derisive I am definitely being mean. And I had accepted that I was mean in my post. Please do check. I wouldn’t want there to be any misunderstandings between us. What when you and I can be great friends!

Thirdly, I would have deleted the mail automatically from my inbox without a second thought, like I have done in the past. (I don’t know what it is about me, but my charm seems to permeate even into the World Wide Web. I get spammed by emails including ‘Let’s be friends’ proposals all the time). This time, however, the guy sent me two mails. The first one was obviously meant for someone else. The second one was a follow-up with me on the first one. Now, I am only human. My ego was bruised. He just sent me (and God knows to how many other people) a mail he wrote for another woman. Bah! The relationship hasn’t even started and there already is another woman in the picture. How could he! And then he added me on to his messenger list. That was the final straw. He was tempting me, again and again. What was I to do? Fall into the trap. Be the second woman in his life. I couldn’t. I couldn’t go through the mental turmoil. So I reacted in the way that people scorned in love do. I was mean to him. Can you not understand that? Oh please don’t be angry with me. Will you be my friend?

Lastly, thank you. Thank you so so much. Your words shall resound in my mind forever. “….May the farce be with you one day, too...”

Let the ‘force’ be with you as well. (You should run a spell-check on your comments though.)

It is 2:31 am in the morning. I am sitting and staring at the screen, unable to make any sense of the work I have. Why then, you ask me, am I not going home? Because I am waiting for my film edit to start. At this hour, you ask skeptically. (2:32 am now). Because of an unreasonable deadline that I have suddenly been informed about. What's this about deadlines anyways? The whole point is that something in motion comes to a halt/ end at a certain time/line and thus it is called a deadline. What's the point of having a deadline when you have barely anytime to get into motion? It's like me telling you guys that it is 2:35 am now and you guys have till 2:40 am to comment on this.
It's 2:36 am in the morning now. Sigh!

This life shall be the death of me.

Ok guys! I am not being mean here (though I must say that what I am going to post now made me laugh like crazy). I got two mails from this guy who, to quote him, 'is not interested in love but only friendship'. Anyone of you who has a kind soul (unlike me) can be 'friends' with him. Here's the mail (no changes made! He's addressed it to a 'Sheetal' and sent it to me. God only knows what he was thinking!) and please do feel free to mail him.

hi sheetal
To write detail let me introduce my self that this is "Kumar Nitin" age 20 years an 4th semester "Computer Engineering" student....orginally belongs from Bhagalpur(Bihar)
...well let me introduce my self in detail that my full name is KUMAR NITIN. i have passed my matriculation from ST JOSEPH SCHOOL bhagalpur and 10+2 from TNB COLLEGE bhagalpur.my residence in bhagalpur is at "ISHAAQ CHAK" but i rarely go bhagalpur because my grand father has bulid a new residence at Godda to...Godda a town just 60 km from Bhagalpur. well my father(papa) is a judicial officer(CJM: chief judicial magistrate) just now he has been transferred from "JAMSHEDPUR" to "JAMTARA" just within one month before he (my papa) has transferred to jamatara.....
my mummy and papa has only two children(only two sons) i m the elder one and i have one younger brother who is studying in 10+2...i have no any own sister, well sheetal that day i told u about my sister...that sister is not my own sister, she is my maternal cousin sister and her name is "ARCHANA" and rite now she is studying in "MSC" having "ZOOLOGY " subject. this sister almost has done her all education from bhagalpur she passed 10+2 and graduation from SM COLLEGE ......
well sheetal u must be thinking that whats my college name where i study?
the name of my college is "KIIT" "KALINGA INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY" my college is at bhubaneswar: the capital city of orissa...my college is "DEEMED" university college in eastern zone there r only two "DEEMED" enginnering colleges one is my college and second is "BIT MESRA"..if u want to see my college then kindly visit my college site www.kiit.org
my college is india's 1st enginnering college which is "WIRELESS" not even if any IITies is wireless....and u know that our college is providing a computer to its students in each room in hostel, and our juniors is facilated from"LAPTOP" here i m living in hostel and sheetal i m enjoying a lot in hostel....in our room i have two computer one is of my friend (laptop) and other is provided by our college and u know sheetal we have totally free "INTERNET" facility at a round clock(24hours) our college is first engineering college providing a round a clock internet facility to its students and after this IIT kahargpur has copied it and later the rest of IITies..very soon within a month i will be in 3rd year...because my semester(4th) examz r likely to held from 29th of september and it will continue till 9th of october, after becoming "DEEMED" the syllabus of our course is quite heptic and vast, so unlikely we all students r bound to be a book worm and from April 2005...lots of company will visit my college for campus recruitment for our batch. This year(for our seniors) lots of blue chip companies have visited our college for a campus recruitment
well sheetal now i want to tell u abt my college and its campus recruitment well sheetal about 70 blue chip companies make beeline for KIIT students(ours) this year (our immediate senior). in the abysmally frustration employment scenario, when companies are busy downsizing their work force,it is hard to believe that coperate houses r now head over heels to rope KIIT graduates. this starnge but true phenomena becomes vivid considering the fact that as many as 70 companies visited KIIT to recruit its students of the year 2003-04 batch. the quality of teaching and training at KIIT make all difference, admit the bigwigs of the coperate houses who have been frequenting the campus in search of technocrats and professional managers....sheetal nowadays the campus life again seems to have come full circle and the students are exuberant. our college KIIT offers unrivalled and placement facility to students, KIIT's training and placement department identifies the industry needs and gears up the building professionals to meet the challenges of the ever changing global job scenario............
now sheetal i know u must be bored up to read my mail....well sheetal before ending this mail i want to tell u a great news to you that my picture(snap) has selected by "ZEE cine creative eye" just today i got a call from Delhi that u r(myself) provisionally selected in "ZEE" u know that today morning i just a call....i can't believe in dream that how i will be selected?? Just by fun i had given my snap to "zee" but i never expect in dream that i will be selected....
ok sheetal i will send u some of my snap which i had sent to "ZEE" but rite now if u want to see my picture then kindly see my profile of nitin_kiss, kumar_kits and of nitin_kiit.................u just se my profile i have three new new pictures in this respective Email profiles....kindly see my profile......
well lastly i want to tell you that the number in which u dialed me is not a cell of mines9it's the cell number of my roomate), reality is that i have no any cell that cell number is of roomate....." I will bring my own cell(mobile) after durga pooja vacations.....If u want to talk with me then kindly ring that number only but in night(after 7.00)...."OR"anytime in sunday(because we have classes in morning) u just tell my name to my roomate that "may i talk to nitin" ...........................(my name is nitin)..
ok now this time i will call you because i have to ask some question with you, kindly be online on sunday(u give me time) and if u have time then kindly reply of my mail at nitin_kiss@yahoo.co.in OR in kumar_kits@yahoo.co.in rite now my mummy and papa is in jamtara living alone because we both brother studying outside from home
And today sheetal i saw two movie in hostel one is "MAIN HOON NAA" and second is "DDLJ" lastly i want to tell u sheetal that i m a great fan of "SHAHRUKH KAHN" ok sheetal i will tell u more about my aim and what my dream is? u will be surprised to know about my wish and dreamz?? but i think this mail is quite big and u must be bored and tired to read this mail and perhaps ur head too aching....hope u'll enjoy and like my mail.........inclinate my respect to all elders of ur family
thanking you............
Kumar Nitin
student of "KIIT" engineering college
a "DEEMED" university


(I am the meanest person alive. Forgive me God for I have sinned. )

I am not an atheist. Ok, so I am not the kind to visit temples (unless they hold some historical significance). And I don’t have a small corner in my house where I keep an idol or two that I can pray to. I must also admit that I eat beef, which is a strict no-no for Brahmins. I could claim that it is because of my father who refuses to wear his sacred thread (like other ‘good’ Brahmins do) and loves to eat beef. But that would be untrue. I just don’t believe in God the way others do. But I do pray. Impulse prayers. I pray when I am happy or I pray when I am sad. Sometimes I just pray when I remember to. I may not be all that religious but I have nothing against other people being religious. I am game for all religious celebrations especially if it implies a holiday. At least that is how I felt till last week.

Flashback…
We were allowed to go home early (at 3 pm) as Mumbai roads get completely jammed because of Ganpati immersion. Imagine! Leaving office at 3 pm. Initially the bright light stung my eyes a little. I couldn’t remember the last time I had stepped out of office in broad daylight. I reached home by 4 pm. Never having been home at that hour I was at a complete loss. I didn’t know what to do. My body clock was not tuned to being home at that hour on a weekday. I twiddled my thumbs for a while trying to decide a course of action. I decided that TV was the best option.
And then it started! The noise!!! Like I said I am all fine with Ganpati celebrations but did they have to do it that loud. It was almost like they were trying to make it loud enough for the Gods in the heavens above to hear. You cannot begin to imagine the cacophony. The music, the drums, my rattling windows and the TV volume I kept increasing. Nothing helped. Neither the cotton wool stuffed in my ears nor the two cushions I tried to bury my head in.In short, it was a disaster. I ended up watching TV (just watching since I couldn’t hear a word) and was reminded of the days of the silent movies. My roommate S and I tried to make conversation but it was too tedious trying to her lips. I finally managed to fall asleep in the wee hours of dawn. I was more tired the next day than I have been after working really late on a Monday night…

I lost my ATM card yesterday. Well, to be more honest, I kind of forgot to take it out of the damned ATM machine. You can imagine the fright I got some three hours later when I realised what I had done. I went back to the ATM machine to check whether some honest soul had given it over to the security guard. But obviously, the guard had changed in the past three hours and the new guard had no clue.
I called up the HDFC help line.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Hullo. I am Rajesh. How may I help you?
Me (Totally psyched out.): Hi. This is so and so. I just lost my ATM card.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Yes Ma’am. How did that happen and in what branch.
Me (Slightly embarrassed): Uh! Actually I lost in the machine.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): In the machine?
Me: Yes. I kind of forgot to take it.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Forgot to take it?
Me: Yes. I kind of forgot to exit.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Forgot to exit?
Me (Defensive and irritated with his parroting): Yes. Forgot. So anyone could have taken all the money from my account . (Suddenly I realised the gravity of it. My salary has just been credited to the account) Oh please please help me out.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Of course Ma’am. Do you have your credit card number?
Me (sadly): Uh. No.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Bank Account number?
Me (almost in tears): No.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Customer identification number?
Me (wailing now): Noooooooooo
Rajesh (Obviously used to hysterical women): Do you have a transaction slip?
Me (brightening up): Yes.
I gave him my bank account number.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Miss so and so
Me (Duh! That’s the first thing I had told him. My name.): Yes. Yes.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Ma’am I have cancelled your card.
Me: Thank you. Please please tell me if there is any money in my account.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): I am sorry Ma’am we are not in a position to give out that information.
Me: What do you mean you are not in a position to give out that information? It’s my account. I need to know.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): I am sorry Ma’am.
Me: Cummon. You can’t do this. Tell me something. Anything.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): Ma’am your last transaction was Rs x.
Me: What was the transaction before that?
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): I am sorry Ma’am we are not in a position to give out that information.
Me: What do you mean you are not in a position to give out that information? It’s my account. I need to know.
Rajesh (in a sickeningly pleasant voice): I am sorry Ma’am. If it helps that is the only transaction today.

What a first class ass. Couldn’t he have told me that in the first place!!!