SS 10 Josephine & M.A.C on 143 - Page 107

Good to see both of them in sync... For Now... Both being such volatile personalities spontaneous combustion is bound to happen... N we r really enjoying this ride nisha thankyou...

Hey Anu

I am so sorry you are not having a good day, I wondered if it was something like that you know... I see your review of the chapter around 10:45-11:00 AM EST
Today I didn't I wondered whats going on...
In a unexplainable way we are all now tethered to each other, whether we like it or not

We can all be ourselves, laugh and cry and blush together over a silly story.
I have no power to improve or change your workday, but I do have the power to continue writing this story

Its therapeutic for me and and on days like today I hope it is, for you as well
For all others I hope its like a fun bumper sticker on the car upfront while we wait in traffic, something like :

"I don't suffer from Insanity; I enjoy every minute of it"
"My grandkids are cuter than yours"
"Id rather be shopping at Nordstrom's"
"I was an honor student, I dont know what happened"
"For free Carbon emissions, suck-HERE" (arrow pointing to the exhaust)
"I used up all my sick days, so I called in DEAD"
"I m only speeding cause I really have to poop"
"Vegetarians taste better"
"Be nice to America, or we'll bring democracy to your country"
"Red State Blue Girl"
"U keep your laws I'll keep my guns"
"Honk if you love Jesus"


Get my drift? Yes I live in a red state

I am no Indra Nooyi or Gloria Steinem to talk about women's rights or upliftment , the only one I know of is inside my shirt and its called a bra, and it does its job fairly well

I love you all immensely , I can only cheer you up through Software Symphony
The world can take care of itself
I can promise to write for you... that's all that is in my power



P.S. Hope this note will make you smile. You make my day every day, I cant see you have a bad one...

Originally posted by: Nisha0604

Hey Anu

I am so sorry you are not having a good day, I wondered if it was something like that you know... I see your review of the chapter around 10:45-11:00 AM EST
Today I didn't I wondered whats going on...
In a unexplainable way we are all now tethered to each other, whether we like it or not

We can all be ourselves, laugh and cry and blush together over a silly story.
I have no power to improve or change your workday, but I do have the power to continue writing this story

Its therapeutic for me and and on days like today I hope it is, for you as well
For all others I hope its like a fun bumper sticker on the car upfront while we wait in traffic, something like :

"I don't suffer from Insanity; I enjoy every minute of it"
"My grandkids are cuter than yours"
"Id rather be shopping at Nordstrom's"
"I was an honor student, I dont know what happened"
"For free Carbon emissions, suck-HERE" (arrow pointing to the exhaust)
"I used up all my sick days, so I called in DEAD"
"I m only speeding cause I really have to poop"
"Vegetarians taste better"
"Be nice to America, or we'll bring democracy to your country"
"Red State Blue Girl"
"U keep your laws I'll keep my guns"
"Honk if you love Jesus"


Get my drift? Yes I live in a red state

I am no Indra Nooyi or Gloria Steinem to talk about women's rights or upliftment , the only one I know of is inside my shirt and its called a bra, and it does its job fairly well

I love you all immensely , I can only cheer you up through Software Symphony
The world can take care of itself
I can promise to write for you... that's all that is in my power



P.S. Hope this note will make you smile. You make my day every day, I cant see you have a bad one...

i am going orre senti now sooo sweet .

aaaww sooo cute Nish of course it did !!!! i am grinning :-)
these are hilarious!!!! each one is priceless 😆
ur Sosy and this thread is a great diversion when you are trying to understand why software that "should" work keeps crashing 😆 and u have a deadline ..
Thanks da love you ❤️and not to worry this is my bread and butter will clear the crash soon ..

Originally posted by: Nisha0604

Nivi

THANK YOU FOR THE SUPER AWESOME CREATION
Trust you to share love poetically and pictorially

You do BOTH in a fantastic way for sure

Reading it all at a go is another fun all together...loved every bit of it...now im all updated for the next :)

If they were playing a game of snakes and ladders right now, II and R&B both would have just climbed up one of the ladders at the beginning of the game...perhaps the one that takes you from box 3 to 21 or the one that takes you from 8 to 30. 😊

Idlis & Ideology

They got off at took M9 and M 5 from Hausmann-Saint Lazarre to get to Magenta
at 3 ish... got off at the Magenta station. he held her hand all the way when ever they walked

"If I see you I am not going to be lost" she muttered smiling

"I would have believed that before Monday" she muttered in her ear

"where are we going?" "If we are going to be walking for a long time today I want to eat a lot... nahi to I am OK eating just a snack... like us Indians are they snack wh**es? (giggling) All I see is cafes... and people drinking wine or beer or espresso, kuch khaate nahi shaayad"

He paused looked at her and smiled a half smile

And began walking she sprinted behind as he dragged

"WHATTT?" she said

They got to the block where the Tamil food heaven was located
She shrieked jumping up... ARE YOU SERIOUS?" she SHOUTED

"OMG!! OMG!! WE LIVE SO CLOSE TO THIS PLACE WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME?" she shrieked

She dragged him as she ran to the door

"Its opennn" she gushed

"Umm... I checked that" he said
She hit him with the back of her hand

She heard TAMIL and was OVERJOYED

She clung to his arm squeezing/cutting of its blood supply

"Rendu" she said in clear Tamil and looked at him

"Phew!! It feels like I finally have a voice" she said grinning

"I bet" he mocked

She gave him a "look" more like a mocking glare like she was saying "really? u want to mock me for being a talker NOW?"

They were seated within half hour, it smelled exactly like the restaurant at Janpath where II would go with Appa when she went to North Block to bug him for money as a college student, even in Grad School while on vacation she would go see Appa mooch Rs.3,000 or Rs.5,000 from him, by making him get money off of the ATM, join her friends at Saravana for the best meal ever, wash it down with filter coffee and walk away bloated


She told him about that experience...She ordered even before the waiter appeared with the menu

"Inga daan irukeengala?" (do u live here?) asked the young man

"Ille, ivar irundaar" (he used to live here) she said

"Onga husbandaa madam" (ur hubby?)

"Aama"

"Vada indiyar pola irukaare" (looks like a Northie)

"Amaa Punjabi" she smiled

"Neraya avanga daan varanga madam" (only they eat here a lot) he laughed

"Namba saapade apdi" (our food's so yummy)

R&B stared dumbfounded at her chatting with the waiter like that... he hadn't seen her quiet except for when she was upset or worried about something

She ordered, dahi vada, he ordered every Punjabi's first Tamil cuisine favorite masala dosa and a side of vada sambar

"Is it possible to come here every day until we go?" he asked

He smiled fully... "Don't u want to try the French cuisine at all?" he asked gently
mocking

"Sure if they have idlis on their menu ya, I'll try it" she said smiling back

He held her smile for the longest time... the waiter appeared to tell her the daily specials if she still wanted to order them...

She ordered poori and aloo, later, he ordered idlis for her...

"I am going to lay on this bench and take a nap" she giggled
The filter coffee arrived... it was past 4 when they stepped out... he even got her a bunch of sweets and savory snacks to take home, that and a bunch of food for dinner... she was mortified when her bag arrived...

They decided to drop it home before heading to Notre Dame.

"I was accepted into Notre Dame for college, but dumped it when CMU accepted" he said walking to the Magenta Metro station

"I hear a lot about their football team... God knows why they even call it football" she smiled


"I followed it when I lived there.. I worked at the Univ store and then at the concession stand at the stadium" he said

"what did ur parents say about that" she asked

"They didn't know until I told them" he said... and left it at that

"Did ur feet hurt?" she asked softly

"sometimes" he said

"My idea of being independent and my familys'... never matched" he said after an afterthought

"Appa wouldn't let me live in the US by myself" she said guiltily

They leaned on the wall waiting for the every 12 minute service to Haussmann-St Lazzare


She set the bag down... he had his hands tucked into his pockets


he stood in front... "U didn't try to rebel?"

"Some rebellion can get ugly" she said softly recalling a fight she had with Appa about getting that offer from Merrill Lynch in LA

"Did u want to live in the US?" he asked

"Ya... most of my MBA class left India... I returned to Delhi. Didn't go to the US like most did
I didn't want to settle down in the US or anything I didn't want to be away from Delhi for ever you know but the first flush of biz school knowledge I wanted to change the world a couple of friends and I had planned to start a company by year 5, 3 are in the US... I am here... and of course" she stopped

He carefully scanned her face for change in expression and waited for her to say "Subbu" she didn't


"what do they do now?" he probed, hoping his name would pop out

The three are still working... like our plan was never meant to be"
She again avoided even referring to Subbu casually


The train arrived...

"what sort of company?"


"A Biz Intel company in the FMCG space (fast moving consumer goods like toiletries, processed foods, toys, soft drinks) to improve customer loyalty.. u know sell analytics to Parle or Priya or Johnson & Johnson or Sunfeast, u know depending on the core area we choose to invest resources in first. There is so much retail sales data in India, not being collected maybe in a sophisticated manner but a gold mine if u can get to it"

"Do u still want to do it?" he asked


"It all seems so far away right now" she said somberly

when she talked about work she seemed like a different person to him, mature, formal... very thoughtful like she spent a lot of time thinking before she spoke, not as spontaneous as she was otherwise


"I don't want to sound like my life is horrible or anything, its not" she immediately went on the defensive

he smiled twitching his lips


"Its not a terrible thing to change course BEFORE u begin your life u know... 10 years from now if I have to abandon SW deployment I might have a different opinion. The path I didn't take cant hurt me right?" she looked out the window carefully avoiding meeting his eyes

He wondered if the "path" included Subbu

She was his exact opposite, Argent was his longest stint anywhere... he didn't ponder and analyze like her... a part of his professional ambition was like his leisure pursuit,... random and adventurous... the remainder aggressive and focused, but he didn't involve himself too emotionally in anything, except the object that was in front

"How would you be if u had to abandon something?" she asked still carefully avoiding eye contact


"Work or personal?" he asked hoping it would startle her


"Umm" she said... "Uh.. Umm ofcourse work" she said concealing her reaction cleverly.

He was beginning to debate between truths, half truths and harmless lies, when it came to her... he had three bins now... but went for the truth bin

"If I love something immensely I wud definitely give it a lot of thought before abandoning it" he said,

"Even for you is it definitely easier to give up before u take on the challenge or experience a thing ?" "Or do u grieve the loss of opportunity like some people do? (she classified herself as "some people" to distance herself from the lost opportunity of starting her own company??)

"I don't give up II, I do it if I want to"

He never grieved... if he wanted to do something he did it... there was no lost opportunities in his life thus far...👏 he overrode family dissent very easily, he lived life on his own terms


"A couple of my IIM batch mates started a not for profit, Its called eShiksha or something rural education enterprise, they invited me to go join, we would volunteer outside of Blore a lot"

"U didn't join them?" he asked

HOW WOULD I HAVE MET YOU?
I WOULDNT HAVE
NEVER KNOWN THE TWIRLING LOCKS OR THE LOVE FOR READING OR THAT HALF SMILE😭

He looked at her shoes briefly as if trying to change her train of thought... went back to looking out the window


"Umm no... I am not like many 20 somethings" guiltily "I do my bit for non profits but don't want JUST DO non profits, there is such insecurity involved in admitting you want to work of Corp India almost as if its a crime to be ambitious" she said

"U probably know that, I am talking to you like I am talking with a foreigner" she said sheepishly
" Its almost prestigious to abandon a Rs. 20 lakh IIM degree and go work for 1 lakh a year" she said passionately... "My parents borrowed money, I did too... donating an entire career to charity is a luxury for some in Indian middle class... however bitchy that sounds to you" she said glumly

He just listened with rapt attention...

"I don't see myself as Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page, but I don't see myself as some activist like Medha Patkar either.." she said defensively almost as if she was responding to Shiksha promoters...
He sensed a vulnerability in her response while noticing tremendous ambition
He hadnt talked career with any woman, one sister chose to be a wife and mother, 😳another a life long student,😃 Marliese just spent his money... II was different👏


"do u love Paris?" she asked suddenly changing topic

"I do" he said

She still looked out the window... as the train pulled over

Originally posted by: taara113

Reading it all at a go is another fun all together...loved every bit of it...now im all updated for the next :)

Hey

GREAT TO SEE YOU

Hoping whatever you were taking care of is all done now and we will see more of you now😃

Idlis and Ideology

very neat!! trust me when you see a desi joint after 4 days of eating whatever is available.. and to top it its saravana bhavan that feeling is amazing...
even now the first restaurant i go to when i go to chennai is saravana bhavan.. i love their coffee everything!!
I loved that convo between the waiter and her and her saying wish she could sleep :)

Actually honey moon is a time when couple is supposed to understand each other better and i love how thats happening here ..
why is he bothered that she avoided Subbu ..

there have been several times i have wanted to quit jobs and go after non profit etc but fact is i now do it not because i am too lazy to start from scratch but also cause i want to reduce the college loans the kids will have in future so its true non -profit is a hobby some folks can indulge in 👏 (IMO)

chalo dinner time

I have the same question as Anu...why does her avoiding the mention of Subbu bother him? Does he not like the fact that she is unable to speak of and think about Subbu as nonchalantly as he can do for her ex (and one of his own ex's M for that matter)?