Temporary happiness yet a memorable one…

[I know the title might confuse you a bit until you get to the ending part of the post.]

On one of my lazy evenings my bro and his friend got home smiling and talking about something which made me watch them with an active inquisitiveness, but I thought okay, let them tell me what it is and carried on with being lazy. They were actually talking about kittens they saw at the parking lot in my apartment. I was like wow kittens! Now who doesn’t say “wow”? I wondered if I could get one and asked them with the sweetest tone ever “I want one” [with uninterrupted blinks]. Bro said he tried getting one but couldn’t as one of the kittens have scraped his skin to break loose from his hands.

I thought okay, no big deal will ask his friend to get me one. Before I could even ask, they agreed to get one for me. I was the happiest! Trust me. Owning a cat/dog/horse would make me the happiest girl. We three went down to the parking lot taking stairs instead of elevator so that we could reach there before they find a new home. I wasn’t sure about how we could actually find those kittens in that huge parking lot. I really expected some running and circus stunts, to catch one. To my surprise those kittens hid behind a huge electricity meter wall, and hid in a thin passageway behind that huge wall. There were three of them. I thought, it was easy to catch one. Later realized there was a grill to the electric meter wall and it was locked. So, it was not that easy to catch one.

Finally we started mewing so that they feel we are of their kind. Though my bros friend had this manly voice and it didn’t sound like he was mewing! I was asking him to stop scaring those cute kittens. Anyhoo, we didn’t find a way to get the kittens' attention towards us. In fact, one of the very-smart kittens decided to take a walk in the passageway, and ignore us for a while, maybe it found my bros friend really boring .We had many ideas to bring them out of that grill which was almost covered with the spider web. Bro was at his best, he went home brought milk in a tiny bowl and tried to show those kittens that it was milk and not coke. We three were totally falling on each other peeping to see those kittens through that thin passageway. In the mean time, I pushed bro and we ended up with just 2 drops of milk in the bowl, while the rest of it fell onto the ground.

Bro – I’m not bringing milk from home.

Me – neither me.

Bro and me – * look at his friend *

Later, we again started mewing. I tried my best calling them names. Saying “come to mommy” and pointing a finger at my bros friend. We ran around from this end to the other end of the passage, hoping at least one of the kittens would sit close to the grill. Nothing worked. I got really tired and gave up and was a bit upset that I could see those kittens but could take neither of them with me. Bro and his friend thought it was time to act smart and gave up those circus stunts and asked the watchman unlock the grill gate, took up a risk, entered into that electric meter room and got one.

As soon as bro came out with a kitten in his hand I started wondering what was with his hair? It seemed grey to me, seems like a good way for the spiders to build web on his hair! Poor thing worked hard to see me smile; his friend also had almost torn his shirt with all of his stunts in catching one. It was a happy moment, while I couldn’t stop saying “aw cho chweet”. I called the kitten ginger. Okay now that name has its own flashback so let’s not get into its depth. As soon as my bro and his friend heard me call the kitten "ginger" they started calling it garlic, Gaa! My sister didn’t really bother to welcome ginger home because she was too busy with her farm on facebook gosh!

I thought everything was okay now, while dad entered home, irate for some reason, and asked me to leave it from where I brought it. I looked around and bro and his friend weren’t with me, they eventually disappear when Dad comes home. I could do nothing. It was just like a sweet dream and a bad climax. I didn’t even spend like half hour with the kitten and dad asked me to leave it. I could have made an issue out of it and could have still had ginger as my pet today but the reason I left it, was because dad said “Even this kitten has siblings, don’t separate them”. I really wasn’t sure if he didn’t want to see the kittens being separated or didn’t want a cat as a pet at home. I was getting weird thoughts like running out of the house with the kitten and try using some silly dialogues like “I won’t stay here without ginger” and blah! But wasn't ready to spoil my mood. Whatever it is, I really enjoy every bit of the adventure even today. Whenever I look back and see how bro and his friend were at their best to get the kitten for me, it makes go "Aw"! That was really cute.

So, ultimately I learnt, happiness is happiness whether temporary or permanent. And when it’s temporary it’s always a memorable one. You have a chance to speak about the best times you've had with your fellow beings, and everyone enjoys doing it, don’t you? I’m doing the same.

Few things about me and my Bro...

I have a brother, two years older to me and we call him Danny. When I opened my eyes on this earth, I seriously don’t know who held me in their hands first, but mom told me Danny was the happiest brother. As I aged I learnt that there were only two guys in my life, 1) Dad 2) Danny. Danny was a rough guy according to everyone in the family and I always tried to equal him. I used to do everything he did. And sometimes got caught in most of the troublesome things and would bear up with the whacks/whams and what not by mom. I started getting used to all his habits when mom ended up telling everyone around that she had two boys and one girl (I was also a boy according to mom).

When he was 8 years old, my cousin sent a bicycle as a present to Danny and I wanted the same bicycle. I remember crying for the bicycle and ended up having a fight with him. I didn’t speak to him for an hour until he took me for a ride. I saw him ride the cycle every evening and would wait for the last round when he took me for a ride. He did throw me in a gutter once on my birthday, duh!

I always wanted to be like him. I used to wear his T shirts and act like him at home in his absence (and that’s when he used to go play cricket without taking me with him). We grew up with the rides and the fights. Once I spotted a few guys hitting Danny. I got wild-rushed home-told mom-took her to the spot, mom stood there with a huge wooden cane and started hitting all the boys black and blue when danny yelled and said “Mum we were just playing a game” and looked at me like he was gonna eat me. He punished me for that by taking all the money from my kiddy bank else he wouldn’t give me a ride.

We grew up and were in high school. We both had different bicycles. Separate rides. But still the habits of being like him never changed in me. I was a tough girl too. One day I overheard a guy say “hey she’s Danny’s sister don’t play pranks on her”. I went up to the guy and found out that my bro was a terror to some of the guys who tried to play wicked pranks on me, in school. And that’s how I figured out why most of the guys from my group used to get scared to speak to me. He has always been a support to me unknowingly. If I was in any difficult situation I knew whom to tell it to. I shared all of my secrets with him knowing the fact that he was a secret holder but he did exert pressure on me through threatening about revealing my secrets to mum if I didn’t help in introducing him to my friends.

As kids we used to fight and not speak for just a day, but things have changed as we grew up. Now we don’t speak for months if we ever fight. He’s the first to apologize let it be his fault or mine. When he bought his new bike few years ago, I was the first girl to sit on his bike. His friends told me he was the happiest that day when I sat on his bike and took the first ride. Everything that belonged to him belonged to me as well. Everything he held in his hand, was mine (because I used to cry for it). And now we have mutual friends. His friends are my friends too. We hang out together and I know he would protect me always. He’s been the sweetest and also the most annoying bro at times.

This post is totally dedicated to him as he celebrated his 24^th birthday last week. I know he won’t read this but still wishing him a great life and a cute wife (lol).

Starting up a conversation with strangers

Most of us at some point in life are surrounded by strangers let it be hospitals, banks, bus/rail stations, interviews, malls, etc. Many of us require great effort in starting up a conversation with strangers, don’t we? And some of you might not like talking to strangers for the reason that you only enjoy talking to the one’s you know. Or some of you want to start a conversation with the person sitting next to you but end up starring at them and see them walk away thinking you’re a geek. I never interacted with anyone in college if I don’t know that person really well.I would give a Yes, no, maybe replies to the ones who try talking to me. So, most of them from my college ended up having a wrong impression about me being an attitude babe. Although, the ones close to me call me bubbly babe.

Later when I started working with a BPO, I was trained on how to interact with people around me. And interacting with customers helped me grow my communication skills pretty fast. I’m sharing some of the things that can be useful to many of us who want to start a conversation with the person sitting next to you. I tell you this is one of the best things you could do, learning about different people. This is going to be pretty useful for guys. People who think starting up a conversation is not you’re “thing” then please feed the fishes on my page you’d probably enjoy doing that than reading this *winks*.

Smile – when you see someone occupying the vacant seat next to where you’re sitting, please wear a smile on your face in case the stranger looks at you. Don’t give a weird look and confuse the stranger if that seat was already occupied.

Observe – observe the stranger, if he/she looks busy/tired/grumpy/sleepy/irate/weird then avoid starting a conversation else you’ll feel embarrassed with the answers he/she might throw at you. If you think the stranger is energetic and is smiling you might wanna go ahead and start off with a bright conversation.

Compliment – this is what I always do and you could do it too. For guys it’s the best way to impress girls, especially for the ones who like genuine compliments.

Ice-breaker – don’t wait for the opposite person to start off with a conversation. That sometimes won’t work for guys. You be the one to talk, maybe just a “hi” if the stranger looks at you and you could probably continue asking a few questions.

These are the general things we all are aware of, am sure. However there are certain things that need to be avoided else the conversation makes no sense at all rather wasting each other’s time. I will share a few personal experiences.

Avoid unnecessary talks with strangers:

[This happened when I was getting back home in a cab after a long tiring day at work, got squeezed between 2 jumbo sized people, a guy to my left and a girl to my right. The girl somehow managed to doze off as soon as she got into the cab, the guy was fully awake like me. I found a cowboy hat in his hand. Here’s the further conversation]

Me - *wow nice hat* thinking to myself, staring at it.

Guy – looks outta the window. And then looks at his hat.

Me – that’s a lovely hat, *smiles*

Guy - *giggles* thank you... my wife gave it for my wedding anniversary.

Me- oh that’s … interrupted...

Guy – I wore it today for work to show it to my friends, but somehow didn’t wanna wear it while taking calls, it looks funny though. My wife is really a sweet heart. She bought it for me for my wedding anniversary.

Me – that’s really swee …. Interrupted again…

Guy – you know what? I think I’ll show you my watch, it’s really awesome. *fetches for it in his bag*

Me – why didn’t you wear... Interrupted...

Guy – I love it so much that I keep it safely in the bag, never felt like wearing it.

Me - *dialing the last call on the call list in my phone*

Guy – you know what …. [His story continues about his wife]

Me – *blank, yawns, blank, grrrr*

Guy – shows to me his wedding pictures and his wives pictures in his phone.

Me – excuse me I have a call. “Hi baybay…”

Guy – waits for me to hang up.

Do you think I really dialed someone’s number dude? I switched my phone off and pretended to talk to someone, had to wait until he started to look outta the window again, though I kept the phone near my ear and acted like I was listening to someone. We all have an actor in us, don’t we? Now, that was something I can never forget. The conversation would have continued if he would have given me a chance to say/ask something. There are people who can talk rapidly about unimportant things. Why do I really want to know about his wife anyway? I really never felt like complimenting a stranger after that. So, people who have the habit of talking rapidly can bear in mind you’re throwing the opposite person in a boredom space. Avoid doing that, else they can talk about you anywhere like I’m doing here about that guy I met in the cab.

Don’t stare at the stranger:

This is basically what most of the guys end up doing, if you wanna say “not everyone does that” then I agree to it, but 90% people I’ve come across have done that, it includes girls. Avoid starring if you don’t want to talk.

[Below is a conversation that happened the other day at a consultancy when I had to wait at the lobby to meet an HR. There was a guy two seats next to where I was sitting. He was struggling hard to start up a conversation]

Me - *reading news paper* (I have this habit of reading my horoscope though I don’t believe it)

Him – tries to peep into what I was reading

Me - *cough cough*

Him – *opens the main paper* (trust me the way he opened the paper and turned the pages was absurd)

Me – *looks at him angrily*

Him - *half-smiles*

Me - *back to reading my friends horoscope*

Him – mute

Me – *wondering why he is so silent looks at him* and gaa he’s starring.

Him – half-smiles

Me – WHAT?

Him – wh-who-wha-whotttt.. iss…?

Me – Sorry?

Him – blank

Receptionist – Esther you can meet the HR.

Me – gotta go *straight face*

Trust me I like aptness. I still don’t know what he tried to ask me? Maybe, just my name? Better luck next time dude.

Don’t be a braggart:

[This was the most recent one. Yet another consultancy lobby, with the receptionist who sat there without any work, maybe it’s just the weekend special]

Me – Hi, I’ve been waiting here since two hours to meet Mr. XYZ (Oh remember the HR I’ve mentioned in my previous conversation?)

Receptionist – Oh yeah, you’re Esther right? Gimme two minutes. *Dials some number, talks, hangs up* Please wait for 15 more minutes.

Me – Ha? Ok, whatever!

Receptionist – you can have a seat here ma’m. [The seat was quite close to the receptionist’s desk]

Me – Thanks *was quite pissed off though*

Receptionist – did you color your hair?

Me – Yeah [now that’s a weird start up, I felt, but that’s okay I could say a yes, no, maybe]

Receptionist – I love you hair, it’s straight.

Me - *rolls eyes* Ah, yes it is. Thanks btw.

Receptionist- *giggles* what do you do?

Me- I’m working … etc etc..

Receptionist – Oh nice, I’m just 18 but I’m working. I’m very intelligent.

Me - *straight face* okay nice.

Receptionist – do you know shaan?

Me – which shaan? The singer eh?

Receptionist- yeah the singer... He’s my bro’s good friend.

Me- *raises eyebrows*

Receptionist- good na?

Me- Very good. Excuse me I just have to make a call. [Walked out]

Wasn’t that boring? I almost dozed off listening to her.

Keep your conversation limited with strangers. They will hate you if you talk about your popularity. This post has been unusually long but I’m sharing my experiences about my conversation with strangers out of which none of them were perfect. Connecting well with people you don’t know is really a nice thing to do. So try to connect, make friends but avoid boring them. I don’t admit enjoying all of these conversations, but experiences are experiences, eh?