Talking about names...

Talking about my name, we talked some more about other names. And here is a list of absolutely hilarious names, especially when they come up in our conversations, that we discuss (often.)

1. Mariam knows someone who knows someone called ----
Booby Matthews. (second name changed)
Yes. Her first name is Booby.
We laughed, but more than anything, felt bad for her. How can parents do this? What were they thinking? A lifetime of ridicule. I hope she changes her name.... can you really live with it? Would you get used to a name like Booby and the reaction you get each time you say it?

2. From Booby, we moved on to, what Mariam says, is a very common name among Mallus.
Titty.
Hi, my name is Titty.
Oh God. Mariam said that if her parents named her that, she'd have such a horrible childhood that she'd definitely turn into a psycho murderer and kill her parents or something. I agree with that sentiment.

3. Mariam's dad recently hired someone who's name is....
Guitar.
Yes, the first name. Her father asked him to change his name. Because he's in the sales department and wouldn't be able to sell a thing if he said, "Hi, I'm Guitar."

Oh, and Guitar has a sister.... Veena.
Sheesh.

4. Then Jeetu mentioned the classic punjabi names... Of course we've all heard the Russell Peters jokes about Ramindeep, and Sukhdeep, and Hardik.

Jeetu once met someone called Five Star Singh.
And his brother, Superstar Singh.
I died laughing.

5. Then I've heard of someone called Clitoria. Clitty. I couldn't believe it. Parents aren't supposed to be perverts.

6. My ex boyfriend lived in the Dadar Parsi Colony. He wasn't a Parsi though, and he always made fun of the names of people in my community.
Sodawaterbottleopenerwala.
Screwwala.
Daruwala.
But, the weirdest one was someone who's first name was High Court.

How can anyanyone not understand the significance and meaning of a name?
I'll keep Afrin - with or without nose drops, thanks.

The name is Afrin

I've been thinking of buying a domain. I cant think of one perfect domain I want... I mean, I will find it, but haven't yet. You know, like the perfect website name.. for me... for when I'm a famous film maker, photographer, novelist, porn star, something, nothing.

So, while wondering what domain it should be, and while discussing it with Sassy, here's what he pinged me.

www.afrin.com

Aarrgh. So... horrid... pathetic... Nose drops?

I remember now, while reviewing ads for Google a few months back, I came across an AdWords ad for www.afrin.com. Imagine... the chances of the ad picking me to get reviewed by. I think I was so disgusted and embarrassed, (I obviously didn't tell anyone about it) and buried it in a deep corner of my memory.

Didn't think about it till Sassy found it. And Sassy laughed heartily.

To add to this, yesterday, I was talking to a Google Engineering Director, and when I introduced myself to him and said my name, he said, "Oh, I dont know if you know, but your name..."

And I interrupted and said, "Oh yea, there's a song with my name."

He says, "Oh, I don't know about the song... but there in the US, there is a brand of nose drops called Afrin."

I groaned. And laughed... Goddamnit. I'm going to sue them. Not yet... but when I'm a famous film maker, photographer, novelist, porn star, something, nothing....

Coming up

I've been having a blast. New friends, more movies, and work is interesting (something exciting about Google Maps - will post as soon as I'm allowed to reveal) and it's that time of the year.

I love Oct-Nov-Dec-Jan-Feb. Bombay gets so pretty. The city is dressed up, and lit up, and then gets stormed by all these festivals. Film festivals, music festivals, rock shows, art festivals. And the Mumbai Festival, sometime in Feb, I think.

Well, I'm not in Bombay. Am stuck in Hyderabad. And well, its lit up here as well, and the weather is awesome, the only thing missing is the magic on the streets.

Anyhow, our Blackjack's Tuesday Night Club is now a super success... We had so much fun last time, and of course being Googlers, and being online all the time, we just had to imprint The Club on cyberspace. So, there's a blog - www.bjtnc.blogspot.com, and an Orkut community. All this even though we all sit around 5 minutes away from each other... We're spammers.

I'm also working on a story. To either convert into a movie or a book. I'm very cautious about stuff when I'm writing. I don't like to share it until it's complete... and safe... But am probably going to dig up a couple of my old stories and post them here somewhere.

Oh, and the girls are back. Agent P from Calcutta, and Agent M from Kuwait.

Oh, and here's a completely, incredibly fantastically addictive game - I don't know why I didn't post this before.

Bloxorz

inxs

Why do an intoxicated person's eyes look so hungry? Why do we always want more.... of something...

I'm back from Back Jack's Tuesday Night Club. The happiest part of the night for me was when he played What do you want from me? - Pink Floyd.

Oh, and my time is running out.

Two Things

There's two things I want to say in this post.

1. I'm a slave to my whims. It's incredible. I've made mistakes, and I've said, yea, am glad this happened... I'm wiser for the experience. And then, I go and do it all over again. It is incredible.

2. Thing two is a bit happier.
Everyone has catchphrases... am not sure they're called catchphrases, but I mean phrases that we suddenly find are stuck in our heads, and we use it all the time. And they're not always phrases... it might just be a single word.
Like my current catch(word). Supreme.

Let me demonstrate, it really is a great word.

- I've a supreme headache!
- I'm supremely bored.
- I had a supreme time.
- You look supreme!

I dunno where it came from, but its stuck.... I don't use it all the time.. its a subtly sticky catch(word). I use it once in a while, and it comes naturally... and I think to myself... Yea, its definitely my current catchword.

A week

It's been an interesting week. Both my roommates are out of town, (for another whole week as well) and I've had a busy time. The week started off on a weird note- confusing, and painful, but its worn off.

Tuesday was Blackjack night. Quite a few of the group was out of town and couldn't make it, but the four of us who went, had a good time.

Wednesday ticked off the start of a Theatre Festival in Hyderabad - four great plays from across the country came over courtesy the The Hindu, and gave Hyderabad a much needed and very refreshing feeling of 'something interesting to do.'

The first play was produced by a group from Bombay. Love Letters. Rajat Kapoor and Shernaz Patel. Nice. Good performance, especially her. And nice set. Rather, barely any expect for the 'tetris' like blocks they kept rolling over and over.

Thursday had the Madras theater group's version of Five Point Someone. Conventionally directed, and adding almost nothing new in comparison to the book, the performances were strong. Great actors.

Friday was the most interesting and experimental play of all... An original work from the Harami Group from Bangalore - Butter and Mashed Bananas - was an excellent satirical, hilarious piece which touched politics, censorship, with a engaging script, use of dance and music, and a very good looking and talented cast.

Friday was also the day when I threw a little party, but more about that later.

The last and final play, was Amadeus. Again from Chennai, this play was the longest and probably the most demanding in terms of engaging the audience, but it was elaborately made, and the lead actors did a fantastic job. Amadeus is a play about Mozart - his life and death, and is also a famous movie. It was a bit too long, and my fever did cause me to nap off for a few minutes here and there, but, but but... I liked it.

Now, about the party. When roommate - Agent M - was leaving for her 2 week long holiday, we teased her that we'd have grand parties in the house, and basically do all the things she would not approve of. And well, we stuck with the idea, and decided to really have the party.

Invited a mixed bunch, half didn't turn up, but another bunch turned up anyway, and we:
1. got drunk
2. got acquainted
3. played a super drinking game and got smashed all over again
4. got told by the neighbors to shut up
5. made more noise
6. didn't stop laughing at all

Shame my Bohemian theme didn't work out - but there's always next time to have an authentic bohemian party.

Ah, nice. Have been resting and indulging today. Also saw:
1. Harold and Kumar go to White Caste
2. Requiem for a dream
3. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Don't have anything else to add. Oh wait, darn Monday!

Cheery

I have exactly 120 seconds to make this post. I haven't even thought of a title yet.

After all the depressing self-help stuff I've been posting, I finally feel nice enough to post something cheerful.

Am off for the third session of the Black Jack Tuesday Night (drinking) Club.

And I'm pleasantly happy to find on my Google Analytics that 51% of all visitors on my blog use Firefox. Supreme stuff.

And now I have to run. Time's up...

High Hopes

I'm listening to Pink Floyd. Feeling apprehensive, sad, bewildered, and I possibly have expected this. Maybe I'm used to it.

Just telling myself two things:

The person I am depends on the choices I make.
And that I should begin to move away from the edge and find my center. One day at a time.

Guilt and the delicate lines

These days I'm going through an unfamiliar phase. I am guilty. I should feel guilty. I did. But I don't anymore.

It's confusing, I don't know where the lines are - between good and bad, wrong and right. I'm making my decisions and choices, and I'm learning along the way.

I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing, (or the wrong) but I think I'm drawing my own lines... and they wont coincide with anyone else's. Is there really so much grey between the black and the white?

Sin

If I could just hide
The sinner inside
And keep him denied
How sweet life would be
If I could be free
From the sinner in me

- Depeche Mode

Sinned again... and I can't even say how. Sinned, knowing I was. And now it's time for torture.