delayed translation #win (or why it's so hard to buy tuna)

for the last 26 years of my life, i've only had tuna from a tin. i never wondered why. i kinda assumed it's cos we don't get it in the sea around here.

till one day a couple of weeks ago, mom made tuna curry, without telling me.

i loved it.

i asked her which fish it was.

i was told it's tuna.

i asked her where she got it from.

i was told it was from the local fish market.

i asked her how come she'd never brought it before.

i was told it's because she never know what's the local (marathi) word for tuna.

mom's been buying fish for atleast 40 years now.

all i could say was "now that you know what it's called, please buy it more often" :D

ps: the fish is called "kuupa" :)

H1N1/2

i remember the last time there was a H1N1 scare in mumbai. it was the week that ended on 14th august 2009. there were reminder emails being sent out requesting people to stay at home if they showed any sort of flu symptoms, we had hand sanitizers kept ready, face masks were made available on request, etc. i stopped all contact with doors, etc (yesh, i was actually pushing doors open with my foot, and using napkins to touch doorknobs etc)

everyone in my office was sneezing and coughing. a small fraction of them stayed at home too.

even the normally nonchalant working mumbai junta were wearing face masks or poorly draped handkerchiefs UNDER their helmets and inside their air conditioned cars on the roads.

i survived the week without a sneeze or a cough or a face mask.

we then had independence day on the 15th, and people (not me, i was busy drinking away my birthday :D) gathered in large numbers for flag hoisting, parades etc, despite all logic that said it's best to stay away from crowded places. and the next monday, everyone i saw was fit as a fiddle. not a mask in sight, on the roads even!

a couple of days ago, we all got another reminder email that H1N1 flu is spreading in the northern hemisphere.

everyone in my office is sneezing and coughing. few people are staying home too.

i have a bad cold, a sore throat, and a mild fever.

i think we'll need a national celebration this weekend.

multi-polar disorder

there's the joker kris, who pokes fun of everyone and anyone.

there's the butt of all jokes kris who only makes his appearance with a few friends who know him well enough to not be scared of him taking their case in return.

there's the emo kris, that only a few women know about, since he calls them up once a couple of weeks to cry on the phone.

there's the reading kris, who would rather shut himself in a book than talk (he hasn't made an appearance for over 5 years now).

there's the shy kris, who people suspect exist, but most haven't seen. he's been awol since 1999, cos everytime he tries to make an appearance, the kris' shout him down.

(quoted from a mail i sent someone - been lying in my blog drafts for 8 months now!!!)

chronicles of happy times!!!

that's some amazing dark lager in the pitcher there. and with the amount of alcohol in my blood, you could probably call my pee kingfisher or something :D

ps: you just gotta go to the "first brewhouse" aka doolally at corinthian club, pune, and have the beer for yourself. it's the first (and probably only) microbrewery in this country!

Standard chartered security #fail!!!

I'm sure i could do slightly better than that!!! :D