Fabio Cannavaro

So Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro has won the prestigious Ballon d'Or (also known as Golden Ball) award for being Europe's top player. Well, in my opinion there were many other players like Henry, Ronaldinho, Totti, Buffon and my favourite Zizou alias Zinedine Zidane who deserved this award more than him.

Without going into why’s and how’s here, I come to the point... my area of curiosity, what actually caught my attention. ;)

Do you know why this guy is all smiles?

Look at the pictures below.

Cannavaro receives award from Italian actress Monica Belluci.
Bravo !! Claps ! So far so good.


But heyy what is she doing? Pulling that guy to award him something more? I know baldies are hotties these days but... and look at him, he has both yes and no on his face.


Oh la la !! I never knew getting top award is so much fun! He’s pleasantly surprised to get this one. Watch out!! Don't drop your trophy !


I know what you are expecting next, but sorry, this picture has been censored.


Look at him now. Shyly kissing the Golden Ball but dreaming of the evening ahead.

Question dancing in my innocent top floor:- Are all Mona / Monica’s alike? From Mona darling to Monica .. Go figure…

Current song- Phir Ud Chala Main Dekho Badalon ke Sang – Pankaj Awasthi

Neighbourly Introduction

A little conversation in lift between me and my Elderly Newly Neighbourly Aunty (ENNA). Her, after a stroll in the garden and poor me with a handbag, a thick book from library and a laptop.

Me – Hello aunty.
ENNA – Hello beta. Are you coming from your office?

Me (thinking) – No, coming from swimming pool. Grrrr..
Me (speaking with a big smile) – Yes, aunty.

ENNA (Looking at my laptop) – Where do you work?
Me (thinking, patting the laptop) – Just told you, swimming pool. Laptops behave at their best near water.
Me (speaking) – My office is in *******.

ENNA – What do you work as?
Me – I am a computer professional.
ENNA – Oh good, so you can repair our computer ! It isn’t working since last two months. Are you free this Sunday? I’ll ask my husband to be at home.

All in one breath?? No wonder she does those yogic breathing exercises. I must learn this art from her.

Me – No no. I am not a hardware person.

The lift stops at her floor. I remind her. She slowly opens the door but continues without stepping out.

ENNA – What is that, what person?
Me – I mean, I can not repair your PC. You’ll have to call someone from that computer shop.
ENNA – My maid’s son is working in the same shop. He did some computer course for Rs 6000 after his 10^th standard. You also did the same?
Me – No.

I remind her again of nagging sound the lift is making. She steps out but holds the door, doesn’t let me close it.

ENNA – But you just said you work on computers.
Me – Yeah, but I don’t repair computers. I am a software professional.

ENNA giving me strange look, looking at me from head to toe. I also look at myself, from head to toe.

Me (Thinking) Did I say something wrong? Like errr.. “softwear” professional?

I look lost as how to make her understand.

ENNA (trying to give another example) – Ok, like my niece? She did something in web, html.
Me - Yes, but no, I mean errr.. actually my job is different. It’s something like errr... your niece is a skin specialist and I am cardiologist.

I look at her curiously. She stares at me questionably.

Me – Well, it is like we can not ask a gyneacologist to do a bypass surgery though both are doctors.

Thanks to someone who shouts for the lift. I get in and close the door.

Me- Ok, bye aunty.
ENNA – Bye.

Sometimes it is very difficult to explain to people what you do exactly.

Current song- Mere Saamne Wali Khidki Mein Ek Chand Ka Tukda Rehta Hai – Kishore

Symptoms of a foreign returned

One of my distant friends is coming back from abroad. This is what is expected of him by his family and friends for some initial months. Needless to say, I also do some of these but more as a habit since childhood and not because I come back from a foreign land.

- Will drink and carry mineral water and always speak of health consciousness.

- Will sneeze and say 'Excuse me'. (I always do that since my childhood)

- Will say "Yogurt" instead of "Curds".
say "Cab" instead of "Taxi".
say "Candy" instead of "Chocolate".
say "Cookie" instead of "Biscuit".
say "got to go" instead of "Have to go".
And many more..

- Will not forget to crib about air pollution and any other type of pollution.

- Will look for a dustbin everywhere to throw candy wrappers etc. & if not found will keep in pocket till he gets one. (This is typical me, so cleanliness freak I am )

- Unknowingly will try to figure all the prices in Forex and utter “Ah ! so cheap.”
- Will try to see the % of fat on the cover of a milk packet.
- Will crib about Indian Standard Time and Indian Road Conditions.

- Will look for a zebra crossing. (Me again. Zebra crossings are so rare in Mumbai)

- Will avoid eating more chilli (hot) stuff.
- Will try to drink "Diet Coke", instead of Normal Coke.
- Will try to complain about any thing in India as if experiencing it for the first time.
- Will pronounce "schedule" as "skejule", "module" as "mojule" , "today" as "to die" and some more depending on where he is coming from.

- Will say “Thank you” even to vegetable vendor. (Typical me. Sometimes I wonder how pointlessly well mannered I am) ;) lollll

Have you or anyone known to you faced such foreign returned symptoms ?

Current song- Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye – Mukesh

Do I Care ??

Do I really need to care as long as YOU care ??

Current song- In the End – Linkin Park

Questions Society

Tears of Joy-II

Don’t be so happy. It is not a sequel to Tears of Joy but only a post script.

First, I must thank all of you for your valuable opinions on the post. Many commenters praised my writing skills, it looked very real to them as if it was my own story. I am delighted about that. That day, as my thoughts and emotions flowed, I wrote the post without changing anything, not even the sequence and to tell you a little secret.. I was crying at the time of writing it. So, full of emotions I was and so close it is to my heart.

Some of the commenters have started liking the girl “Tum” and want her to be their friend while two of you are even ready to hit the guy “Hum” if he misbehaves with “Tum”. Lollll I am glad that I could make you guys so attached to the whole affair.

By now you would have guessed that I have decided to call the two characters as ‘Hum’ & ‘Tum’ .. inspired by Pyare Mohan ji.

According to some people...(well, most of them) who have commented on the post, it is NOT at all friendship, it is a clear case of love between the two while very few were of the opinion that it is nothing but a clean friendship.

Some thought it could be a friendship but an amount of love between them is definitely there which is going to blossom over the period of time. Request you to go through ALL the comments if time permits.

One commenter suggested that they should meet to keep the friendship alive or to survive while another suggested to Hum & Tum, the idea of discussing about the pros & cons of this relationship before it becomes another love story.

Now, since the existence of such friendship is agreed upon, the question “Can it survive for long as it stands today or is it just a matter of a few months when we all can call it “all over” ?” needs your attention.

Maverick and Kamal have already put in their views on this aspect.

Remember the girl has some doubts, some unanswered questions troubling her?? She wants to know whether she is also Hum’s best friend or not. She wants to know whether both of them are going to remain like the way they are at present or will come even more closer or drift apart. Are they going to change with time.. time just flying away ?

Do you think she is right to have those fears? What if all is true? Is she going to behave in the same manner as before? She must have had reasons to think in that direction. Who is going to answer her questions?

Opinions awaited eagerly..

Current song- Katra Katra Milti Hai, Katra Katra Jeene Do – Asha Bhosale

Tears of Joy

She hurriedly entered the ladies first-class compartment. It was a slow train from Churchgate, would take around an hour’s time to reach her place but today she did not bother. On other days she would have worried and grumbled a bit for getting a slow train. But today was different, today was special. She was smiling all the time. She sat near the window in front of a middle aged lady and made herself comfortable. Inside the compartment there were hardly any ladies at that hour. It was almost empty.

She seemed in a hurry today. She was visibly happy and smiling. There was something going on her mind. Yesterday night was very special for her. Why only night? It was well over 3:30 am when she could finally take a nap and she was up again at 5:30 am!! She glanced outside the window and took charge of her mobile phone. Forty seven messages from a single person !! Once again she started reading them one by one. They were all sent between 11 pm last night till 2:15 this morning, within a span of 3 hours. She smiled again. They were from a person who is very close to her heart...her BEST friend, ever.

She was never so close to any person in her life. They both have too many things in common.. their likings, their taste, their thoughts. They live eight kms away from each other and their office is just 1.5 kms apart. Both of them are very emotional, lonely, reserved. They have shared many secrets and thoughts of life with each other. Both have plenty of pictures of each other on their computers. Both of them have cried many times for each other. Probably they can’t see each other in pain. Every time he has hurt her because of some reason, within a minute she has received a sms from him saying sorry. They both love each other in a strange way. There is a special comfort zone between them and the trust ? Trust between them has no limits.

Their friendship is not even a year old, it is just ten months! If she has something to share with, the first person comes to her mind is him and she always misses him. Time spent with him is never enough. Not a single day passes when she doesn’t think of him with a smile. And in somewhat similar way, she is the only person he has shared his some of the most inner thoughts with. They savor each other’s company.

She had helped him in her own little way when he was looking for a change of job and she was the first person to know about his interview calls, appointment and so on. She was away from the city when she had received his message of new job. All the dates are still etched in her mind. Those were the days when he was very much tensed and so was she.

On his birthday, she sent a book to him, her favourite one and she knew he would equally like it. Now, the next birthday is approaching fast, she has started wondering what to present him this year. Probably a book again ? Books are never going to be a problem between them.

On other days they normally exchange a few sms’s, only when one of them wants to share some info or ask for help. Yesterday also, it had started on the same note. But after 3-4 sms’s, she could guess his happiness. He seemed extremely happy. :)))

Now, it was around 11 at night. All family members at her place had gone off to sleep and she was trying to concentrate on some pending work she had. She asked him if he doesn’t want to sleep tonight or again he is reading his unfinished novel. He replied “Nothing of that sort today”. He was just too happy and listening to songs on his i-pod. She knew the songs were her favourite as well.

Then came a message: he was listening to “Katra-katra milti hai, Katra Katra Jeene Do” ..one of their favourites. She immediately messaged back, “I want to listen it too!”. Not even ten seconds later there she was, sitting, smiling, listening to the song on her cell phone. He was playing the songs at his end... she was listening to them. And thus started three most beautiful, wonderful hours of romantic melodious songs.

“Aapki ki aankhon mein kuch mehke hue se Raaz hain”, “Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai Tu Kahe to Main bata Doon”, “RimZhim gire sawan, sulag-sulag jaaye man”, “Humein Tumse pyar kitna, ye hum nahi jaante”, “Phir wohi raat hai”, “Aie kaash ki ab hosh mein” and so on.. none of the songs was repeated.

They were both extremely happy - alone and yet together. Their joy had no boundaries. Neither of the two was sleepy at all. In between they kept sending messages to each other. He wanted to share his happiness with her. Initially he started humming the songs at his end, she could listen to it. She knew he wanted to sing aloud. She asked him to do so. As he lives alone in his flat, it was not difficult. So, he started to sing ... The voice was coming right from his heart.. Dil se. He was dreaming about his future... getting married and settling down soon. He was in full romantic mood. She could “see” that. How well she understands him.

Once he coughed, she got tensed.. asked him why? Since he smokes occasionally, she was worried about his health.

The night was beautiful, awesome, and quiet. The songs kept coming ... one by one.. all romantic ones that they both love... him, singing along and her listening and smiling. They didn’t feel like speaking to each other. There was no need. The words were not needed there, only emotions were flowing and they could feel it. They could feel the presence of each other, they were together in that special moment. Just the songs through cell phone, him singing and series of sms’s without a single spoken word of communication.. it was all so wonderful.

This was the best night she had ever experienced, thanks to her friend. Then at 12:41 AM, he told her why he was so happy that day, “I am in love” a sms conveyed it all. Now, sitting in the train she checked the sms again. Yes, it had come at 12:41 AM. And then in next four sms's he told her about a girl. Once again she was the first and till now his only friend to know about his feelings. Probably she is also his best female friend?? Probably not ? She doesn’t know. She tried to brush aside this thought.

She was happy for him. She felt like holding his hands and telling him how happy she was.

Their beautiful and amazing friendship is unique in many ways. They both know they can reach each other at any hour of the day. What if till now they have not been able to meet even once in real life? What if they have not spoken to each other even once except for 2-3 minutes on one occasion? They share each other's joys and sorrows, they share each other's problems and seek advice and they feel each other's presence in their life.

She hopes to meet him one day and it is going to be a wonderful day... the happiest day. That very thought of meeting him brought tears in her eyes. The lady sitting in front of her was watching her smile all this while and now suddenly tears??

Without wiping those tears off she said “They are tears of joy” and she let them flow.

Do you think there can exist such friendship in this world ?
Could it be true or could they be just faux-amies? Could it become the most beautiful friendship one can ever think of or could it be termed as most unrealistic, unheard kind of imagination ?

Current song- Aapki Aankhon Mein Kuch Mehke Hue Se Khwab Hain – Kishore & Lata

Are we bold enough?

Are we bold? Are we bold enough to admit things? To accept things? To refuse things? There are many actions that we do without realizing or without giving it a thought.

Boy meets girl. They like each other and start going out. After sometime boy wants to go one step ahead. Girl wants to refuse but.. but thinks she would hurt him, lose him if she does so. She succumbs to his demands. Later, she regrets. What went wrong here? And why?

A boy joined medical college. Ragged by seniors in front of all to the limits of humiliation. Next step? He committed suicide.

How many of us would stand up and oppose that ragging? Or fight with a bunch of hooligans on a lonely road? Or stand by a rape victim? Or stop that drunkard who is beating his heavily pregnant wife right in the middle of the road?

Most of the times we just close our eyes like a cat or an ostrich .. pretending that everything is normal. We should mind our own business. Nothing has happened and nothing unusual is going to happen. Why do we do so ? What is stopping us?

Are we bold enough to accept the existence of homosexuals or the living-in relationship especially in not so urban India? Are we ready to happily accept unwed mothers ?

Are we courageous enough to refuse our senior when he commands us to be a part of corrupt system? And are we bold enough to stand and yell at this damn rotten world, “Enough is Enough!!”?

We expect everyone else to be bold and gutsy: not us.

And when that someone else is courageous enough to take a daring step, we somehow want to follow his shadow because we know he is right and by following him we might gain something which we always wanted to, but never had the courage to ask for or fight for.

Yes, I said follow his shadow. We don’t want to walk beside him lest we might face the wrath along with him. More than cowards, we are scared. Scared to face the consequences, scared to face the ire of society, scared to face the world.

We think of others first. What my boyfriend, my family, my friends, my society will think about it if I listen to my inner soul and do things differently ? Do I have the guts to lose them or face them? So, we try to be a part of masses and keep suffering. As long as someone else tries to change the scenario, it is fine with us. After all, if at all things change, we are also going to be benefited.

Perhaps, we are selfish somewhere.

I don’t believe in the saying “If you can’t beat them, join them”. NO. I won’t join them. I would prefer to stand alone far away from the crowd even if I am not doing anything.

I am sorry if my views are too strong or raw for you but... Ok, will try to make the topic more lighter.

Well, we all have some fantasies about many things in life, which we dare not discuss with others.. maybe, sometimes with our very close friends who also have similar inclination but definitely not with our elders. But can we accept it?

Tell me, how many of you have watched or have thought of watching a porn movie sometime in life? Or don’t get taken aback when you see a seventeen year old buying condoms from a chemist shop? Or have you never wondered how a prostitute or a strip dancer undresses in front of strangers without even a blink of shyness ?

It is not possible and it should not be, that we always accept in front of this world. World.. society.. families.. close friends and finally our own self. The big large sphere reduces to a single central point. Can we be true to that single point at least?

To me, that seventeen year old who bought condoms is more truthful and honest to himself and to the world than most of us. And yes, he was bold enough to go to the shop.

Wanted to recount something about my college days but decided against it, as it was becoming very lengthy post. Some other time or maybe a post script to it. :)

There are many dark secrets in our lives, which we would want to keep under covers. We always try to pretend to be all goodie-goodie persons. And of course we are so!! Just because we have those forbidden thoughts or desires, we do not become bad persons. Just because we peeped at other pretty girls over the shoulder of our wives, we do not become unfaithful husbands. But Alas !! It stops there.

If any of my family members read this post, they won’t be shocked. They don’t know about any of my fantasies but they accept that their own Cuckoo can also have some.

Yes, even I have those so-called forbidden inclinations. Being a female doesn’t make me any different. I would definitely want to watch a porn movie sometime in my life..never seen, only heard about them and I am bold enough to admit about my this fantasy. Are you?

Current song- Pal Pal Pal Har Pal, Kaise Katega Har Pal – Sonu & Shreya