They dont make machines like that anymore ...

Every era has believed that the previous one was better.
Grandmothers thought that their grandchildren were ultra-modern and when the grandchildren became parents themselves they faced the generation gap once again...

Well you must be wondering what is the point of this rant ?
while I muse on that point, I would take the liberty meanwhile and make a punching bag out of this post.
No one likes dirty laundry lying about in the house -not when you are used to using a washing machine from when they started flooding the Indian market(due credit to Mommy and her fetish for gadgets of all sorts-useful or not)

So finally as I zero down on the point in question - the washing machine(n not the punching bag,silly).
Couple of weeks back my Whirlpool Fully Automatic XYZ aged 2 years and a few months conked off right in the middle of a full wash load of a week old jeans and bed spreads.
As a rule I'm quite tolerant to insults but not when made by a so-called 'smart' appliance.They seem to take their 'smartness' to their heads(or their engines,watever).
Now I could expect a huge phone bill end of this month -where is the connection?
Obviously the phone calls made to the service center would put any newly-engaged-to-be-married guy to shame.

Here is an example of a typical call I religiously place almost every alternate day

Me : hello, the last time I called you, you told me that you had placed an order for the door
XYZ :(from the whirlpool service centre) which door ma'am
Me : (to self:oh! the refrigerator door u duffer) of course the door of the washing machine
XYZ : but tell me what is the problem
Me : (to self: for the zillionth time I need to recount the problem) the washing machine door's lock is no longer functional....blah...blah..

One of these days I must remember to borrow that voice-recorder of my journalist friend and play it over to them (saves me some energy atleast)

Apparently the advertisements for employing the people in service centers these days cry out loud 'Only ppl with no brains need apply' and poor me not aware of this widely occuring phenomenon expects some miracle to occur and my washing machine restored to itz normal,self-respecting self.But they say it is too much to ask....

And to think that a semi-automatic machine costing just 6000 bucks in the 90s(our first at home) lasted a decade and more all I can say is
'They dont make them like that anymore'

Will my machine be restored? Will I need to shell out 'nother 21K n buy a new one? all these questions nag me while I look stupidly at the telephone since it is time to make the next call .....

The shortcut of a long story

I know I'm not at all good at stuff like those listomania tags but this 55 word thingummy got me interested, I mean this might be the beginning of my venture into fiction, albeit a forceful one. Much thanks to Sagnik for honoring (read tagging) me n so I proceed (trumpets blowing in the background)

The Return of the Count
She was totally engulfed in his love,
Dreaming about that first kiss
Counting minutes to meet him
Waiting for him to arrive
And finally it happened
She moaned as his lips brushed her neck
And …Sudden silence
He looked back with gleaming teeth
Blood smeared on his lips
Her limp body at his feet...

In other news I got a mild shock when I finally discovered what my neighbors A and B, who are famous for being addicted to books, read! These pretty-settled-in-life-40-something women dig Mills and Boon, not that I have anything against those type of books but the thought that they assumed I also belonged to that league pained me no end.

As customary lemme pass this tag of 55 worded short story to Vigs , first rain , Anumita, RT and fatally flawed ,njoy maadi

A Tag for the blogger's block

I think Tags have been specially designed for people (ok, all I meant was me)
who, even after long hours of staring at the screen, at the next cubicle or the artificial plant near the window, cannot put a word to the keyboard.

I know it would be boring to read the below list of 5 things 'bout me but in case you still insist u can read further at your own risk and if you complain I can only say 'I told you so'


5 years ago:
Reading the Autobiography of Agatha Christie made me realize that what we remember over a period of time are not dates or years but memories, incidents and strangely the sights and smells.
so picking one incident out of the random stack (of memories)

A : Have you watched Sarforosh?
Me: (snobbish look) ah you know I don’t care too much
for a commercial flick
A : since we dun have any plans, let us tune in to it
4 hours of Sarforosh in between commercial breaks and
lesson learnt - 'Never judge before you know'

1 year ago:
Introduce all those fresh-out-of-college-girls at office to the pub scene at Hyd'bad,
never imagined I would play 'mother goose' this soon in life ***sniff**sniff**

5 songs I know all the words to:
all words??? "Surely you must be joking,Mr..."
but I do recollect a few words of so many songs, like this one
na jaane kyun hota hai yeh zindagi ke saath
nak yeh man kiski jaane ke baad ,
kare uski yaad choti choti si baat

5 Snacks I enjoy:
I think I've mentioned it way too often (that even I'm bored to type it)
'I have never met a Calorie I did not like'

5 Things I'd do w/ $100 million dollars:
Take the first flight to Las Vegas (n the money would take care of itself)

5 places I would run away to:
frankly I'm only thinking of one place now - home after getting done with this list and if I include the pubs on the way they would be the remaining 4

5 things I would never wear:
Anything false
- wig (unless I go for chemotherapy)

- plastic jewellery (the popular Nadia-type)

- animal prints (looks outrageous esp. in India)

- tattoos (unless I have to do a baby-doll-like dance)

and of course
- a smile ('am not counting those smiles reserved specially for nosy neighbors)

5 favorite tv shows:
I could make this short and sweet by saying the serials of Ms.K Kapoor (which is way beyond 5 btw)
but unfortunately I haven’t watched many of them (if you don't include the passive watching courtesy Mummy)
I don’t watch much of telly but 'Friends' and 'Ally McBeal' figure in this list

5 greatest joys:
now if only I could count my joys so easily and manage to stick to the figure 5,

the wind in my hair, fresh flowers, colorful hues of paints,
summer showers, smell of rain drenched earth, remarkable reading,
chocolates n ice creams, shop till I drop, playing with kids, sunny skies,
magnificent mangoes,cool winters, fall colors, lazy weekends, Sunday noons,
friends n foes, graceful dancing, jhatpat cooking, soulful lyrics,
old hindi songs, desi khanna, luscious lavender, winding roads, soft snowfall, rustic accessories, fabulous clothes, dangerous living...

5 favorite toys:
Since this question is included here knowing well that most of the target audience are at least 16 and above I guess they were referring to a different sort (now here is an opportunity to get wild with your imagination) but lemme not scandalize innocent folks so
I’d stick to the usual gurrrlie stuff like teddies and more teddies

now I come to the best part which is reserved to the last,
pass it on to unsuspecting victims like vicky, tigress , truth fairy , zombiee and fish hater ***exit with a evil grin***

Ships that pass in the night

the ambience was set....I sat huddled up on the carpet with those fabIndia cushions for comfort n leaned against the sofa, a cuppa ginger tea in one hand and the remote in another, I pressed 'Play'.

only then I realized that Charlotte also sits huddled up except that she is in a luxurious suite of the Hyaat n I'm at home.(question to self :Is sitting huddled up a sign of loneliness???)
for the next hour and a half I was totally Lost in 'Lost In Translation' - awesome! is the apt word for this movie but all u happy-n-in-love ppl might find it an absolute drab piece of work because it is set at the same pace as any Shabana Azmi/Smita Patil movies of the 80s.

Loneliness is something so difficult to capture on screen and I think Sophia Coopola has done a wonderful job of it.
While I laughed (I think a lille more than necessary) at the jokes of Bob Harris (esp, the ones in the bar), I really sympathized with Charlotte's confusion as to where her life is leading to.

jus when the screen came alive with those 2-3 second scenes of the Strip Club, in walks my maid! the timing wouldn’t have been better -that she had to enter in the only scene of the otherwise clean movie shows how right Murphy is (Bless his Laws) and I have to put up with her looks of 'I know what type of movies u watch' throughout the week.

back to the movie - I think I actually liked the way they maintain their friendship without spoiling it with unnecessary romance - two ppl who relate to each other because of their desolation in an alien land,
like (in the words of H.W.Longfellow )
"Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence."

My personal favorite is the one where they meet for lunch (after Bob's night with the singer) and Charlotte says 'perhaps because u can relate to her better' and
Bob says 'Doesn’t anyone ever give u the attention u want? '
(and immediately I say mentally 'but not from the one we seek’)
Of course the last shots were brilliant, Murray really wins hands down by conveying his desperation, to bid goodbye to her, thro’ his eyes which follows Charlott who takes the elevator in a nonchalant way without another glance.
another of those lines which I luved
Charlotte: Let's never come here again because it will never be as much fun.

all in all i wud give this movie a 5/5 because of the brilliant acting and direction.
But one thing which has left me wondering is ,in the last scene
“what does Bob whisper into Charlotte's ears which makes her smile ?” Any guesses?