Another One Bites the Dust

And another ones down...

Miracle Monger has decided to tie the know on the 29th of this month. Atom-Dom, Willy and I are planning to attend the wedding and the pre-nuptial festivities.

I am planning to buy a swanky new DSLR before I leave so hopefully you guys will be treated to some good images of the horrific looking MM.

So till I'm back, wish him luck and me, a bon voyage!

The Quitter's Diary - Year Review

The midnight of 9th January last year, I made a promise to myself and after a year of smoke free existence, I had the following proclamation to make on twitter:

At midnight, I have completed 1 year of #smokefree existence. If after 13 years of being a chimney, I can #quitsmoking, then so can you :)

Yes it is true. If I could quit, then even you can too.

I spent two years of Junior College perfecting the art of smoking. I was caught twice. Once by my mom because my lab partner ratted me out and the other time, thanks to my moralistic coaching classes. I promised my parents that I would quit, but I never thought I needed to.

Manipal saw me progress from a 7-a-day-Goldflake Kings (Bada Goldflake for Mumbaikars) to a 20-a-day Wills smoker. On a visit to Mumbai, a friend's uncle had been admitted to some hospital that had a special ward for people who smoked Wills but that too didn't deter me from the evil of smoking. All it did was make me switch from a terribly strong brand to a lighter brand of cigarettes - Goldflake Lights. I smoked 20 a day for the next 9 years. Every new year I would decide to quit but I would just end up smoking 10 a day for a week before moving back to smoking my mandatory 20s.

Then finally, a year back, I decided to free myself from this habit. It worked and I don't foresee myself going back. The first few days and weeks are chronicled. You can begin here and move upwards. It was tough. I figuratively bit peoples' heads off in the first few days. Then it all went away - slowly but steadily. I still, albeit rarely get the pangs. A sudden urge to smoke. The urge can be laughed off now. All this because I made a promise to myself. A promise that I will never smoke. Ever. Again.

P.S.: I am also proud that I influenced one friend to quit, who in turn has influenced two of her friends to quit. Not that I am a quit smoking evangelist but if you ever need help, moral support or you just want to talk, give me a shout out.  

Agency Blues: "Revenges"

The New Year, as usual, brings with it the promise of a new theme. Presenting the Agency Blues.

After the huge success of my post - 10 comments baby! (even though the comments were a conversation between me and my good friend Pussy) - on how my Client Servicing Executive is adept at listening, I am going to write all my (OK. Whatever I think is funny) agency experiences under one theme.

Why "Revenges" you ask. Well, the Surname of my Copy Head when translated from Hindi/Marathi translates to Revenges and here is my usual (yes, usual) interaction with him.

I had to come up with a line for the Six" World Cup. Before you perverts go on a joy ride in your minds, let me clarify that I now work at an agency that goes by the name Six".  Yes and I have trouble adapting there because I am bigger you know. Like a big fish in a small pond. Anyway, I digress; Focusing back on the main topic:

Me and Revenges had to come up with a line for the Six" World Cup scoreboard and I instantaneously came up with "Boss, score kya hua?"  But Revenges had other things in mind after reading my take on the line. His feedback was:

"The line should have rhythm..."
"Then, make it spunky..."
"C'mon the line should motivate the teams...Think of something on those lines"

After I came up with a few lines that adhered to the above mentioned criteria, I was told, "Keep it short." When finally I gave up, Revenges comes up with the following line: "Boss, score toh bol."

Yeah! My 9 hours at work usually pass by like a breeze. A breeze that contains the stale scent of meat mixed really well with the breath of a thousand ogres.

Wish me luck.

Greetings for the New Year

We at S.C.O.F.F. have this year's resolutions already made and we would like you guys to follow them too.

(Image stolen from here)

Before we forget, wish a Very Happy New Year! In this new year,

(Image courtesy oatmeal)