Our sleeping beauty from China

S and I have something entertaining to do at work now besides passing comments on how much we hate M.
There are two new Chinese guys at work ... both of them rather cute but painfully shy.They sit right opposite us and we spent most of the time observing them and then commenting on them in Hindi. I share the phone with them and every time they have to use it they go into paraxyms of guilt saying sumimasen(sorry in Japanese) to me a billion times before using it.
Then there is something slimy and green that one of the guy adds to his water bottle every morning and it sort of floats around looking like worms or something. So S and I spent an hour debating what was in the bottle - is it tea leaves or does our Chinese friend really like to eat raw food?
But our absolute favourite is the one who site right opposite S. He is really young, and has permanently raised eyebrows that give him a perpetually startled expression.When ever someone speaks to him suddenly he starts and becomes all nervous and jittery.
Whenever he doesn't understand something he asks the other chinese guy and his manner of asking is so interesting that I am entirely captivated by it though I don't understand a single word of what he is saying.He moves his chair close to the other guy, points at something in the document or in the computer and says something in rapid fire Chinese all the while flaying his arms about. The other guy's replies are always punctuated by a furious tapping of his computer screen with his finger.Our man looks at the other guy, then at the computer screen scratching his head with a very puzzled expression on his face. When he is truly agitated the scratching of head turns into rapid churning of hair which leaves it standing up in spikes.Then he flays his arms around some more and says something again. The other guys replies by more tapping of the computer screen.
But the best of all is when he falls asleep at work. He sits staring at the computer and slowly his eyes start to close and his head starts to nod - the first few times that happens he gets up with a start and discreetly looks around to see if any one is watching ...then shakes his head not unlike a puppy just out of water and diligently start typing again. But soon his eyes start to flutter close again and his head is nodding against his chest. Its then that the other guy hits him with the back of his hand and starts reprimanding him in Chinese - so our poor sleeping beauty shakes him self awake once again and gets back to work.
This performance is repeated at least twice a day and forms the highlight of our work day.
For those of you wondering if we ever work .. take your own guess !

On Living your dreams ...

How important is it to get the job you want? How many people are doing what they really want to do? How many of us spend our entire lives doing a job we don't even like?
There have been many things I have dreamt about doing .. about living in the mountains and writing ....on getting more invovled in social work and of finding and doing the kind of job I really want to do.
A while back I went for an interview to a media company..I Knew I was not qualified for the job also knew the chances of getting it were one in a trillion ..but I went for the interview for that one in a trillion chance and also because I simply could not let pass an interview with such a great firm .. And it was great simply great.. I royally flunked their test coz it was all about finance reporting- and they asked questions meant for an economics or commerce student and not someone with a humanities background and who needs a calculator to add 2 plus 2.But the questions about writing articles and proof reading and copy editing .. by god how I enjoyed doing them ... And I loved the ambiance and I loved talking with those people. As I stood there soaking in everything I realized how much I have missed associating with like minded professionals. My mind, my intellect has been yearning for some stimulating conversation with intelligent educated brilliant minds. I learnt Japanese because I loved the language.. I loved playing with words, I loved the art of translation I loved learning the different nuances in a language and using them. And now after a Masters in that language I am doing something that is not even remotely similar to what I had ever wanted to do.
I really respect and admire people who have the courage to give up a well paying job just to live their dreams .. I just wish I had that sort of courage ...I know no one gets the perfect job ..but please god let my next job be better and different and please give me the wisdom to find it......

At lunch today ....

The three of us decided to go to a neighborhood Japanese restaurant for lunch today. It was actually a small family run restaurant with the folks living at the back. The kind where you sit on cushions on the floor and eat.
The owner was a lady in her sixties wearing a bright red lipstick and talking loudly and very brashly to one and all.
Anyhow they just had two types of lunch – sashimi (raw fish) with rice or vegetables with rice. A asked the lady if the vegetable with rice contained meat and she gave him a funny look and said off course –Pork. When he asked her if she could give him just the vegetables and rice without the meat she looked at him as if he had asked her to strip and do a jig in front of him. Remove the pork !! what ? why ??!! – I cant do that !(horror stricken face) So finally we just asked her to bring the whole damn thing and A spent 10 minutes fastidiously removing all the pork from his plate as well as the bits of octopus,squid,prawn, fish and other assorted sea food that came with it (To all the vegetarians in Japan -when a Japanese says vegetable dish it means it has vegetables along with the meat, and not just vegetables. Also for a Japanese sea food is not meat.)
Any how after she had served us she loudly regaled to the rest of her customers about how we came in and how one of us wanted her to remove the pork from the dish and how strange it was that some people just didnt want to eat her good meat !
The funniest part is she knew we all speak Japanese because all of us placed our orders in perfect impeccable Japanese (including the long winded conversation about removing the meat) and here she was sitting at practically the next table talking about us! What was she thinking!
And on the way out I forgot to close the door behind me – it was one of those Japanese sliding paper doors that you are supposed to slide shut on your way out - I realized my mistake when S asked me if I had shut the door.
We laughed all the way back imagining how this must be the highlight of her day. First four crazy Indians walk in and ask her to remove the meat from her good dish and then they forget to close the door on their way out ! Oh my goodness what audacity!!

It made a interesting lunch though and put some fun in the otherwise drab day !

Are you going Gymming tonight ?

I think I have coined a new word and that word is gymming.Instead of asking each other if we are going out tonight or what time are we going back home we ask each other if we are going gymming tonight.
Actually I started it all. I had a hard look at myself and finally realized that my trousers are not becoming tight because they shrunk in the washing machine or something but that I am totally and completely out of shape and will seriously become obese if i dont do anything about it pronto. So I went and joined the tipness fitness club right next to the office.And both the friends from work got so facinated by my talks of how great aerobics classes were and how good the machines were and how relaxing the sauna was that they joined in too.
So here I am every evening huffing and puffing on the treadmill surrounded by extremely fit Japanese women with highly toned bodies who make me feel drab and flabby and un-smart ... But its a lot of fun and Gym is turning out to be an obsession with me – it’s a great stress reliever and I recommend it to every one who needs to do some stress busting.
And seriously – I am about fed up of the see saw of loosing weight and gaining weight that I tend to do on a regular basis and I have resolved that this time the weight is going to come off and stay off for ever.
So ladies and gentlemen a few months from now get ready for a much slimmer and trimmer me !