Guests..need I say more

In this post, the word guests refers to people who come and stay at one's place for a few days, weeks or in some cases, months. Guests, love them or hate them, but you DEFINITELY can't ignore. Everyone who knows me also knows that my house is teeming with guests all year round. Relatives, friends, relatives of relatives, friends of relatives, relatives of friends, friends of friends, well you can find almost all kinds of guests at my place. Sometimes we are entertaining two or three different sets of people (who don't even know each other) at the same time. 

Each person will agree with the fact that having guests can be pretty irritating or frustrating at times. You always have to be courteous, polite and smiling around them. Also, there is almost no privacy for you in your own house.

I have seen so many different types of guests at my place that I have broadly classified them into two categories, type of guests I love and the type of guests I hate. I have further divided the people lying in these categories into sub-categories. So, here goes my list.

Guests I Love Having Around


1. Guests who are non-demanding and become a part of your family: These kind of guests are the best to have. They have absolutely no demands with regards to eating, sleeping, clothing etc. Instead, they look after your house, even cook for you when you are at work and you can rely upon them in case of any problems. They blend into the family and become family members so much that you actually feel SAD when they leave.

2. Guests who come for a short stay and leave on time: Short stay guests are the most fun loving kind. You know that they are at your place for only a day or two, so you spend that time indulging them by going out for dinners, or ordering food from outside, going sight seeing with them etc. By the time you start getting bored or your stomach is unable to digest oily and greasy food from outside, it's time for them to leave.

3. Guests who bring nice gifts for you: Yeah yeah..I know what you all must be thinking, how selfish of her to like people just on the basis of what they get for her. But, seriously I am sure that there are many more of my kind, and everyone at some point or the other has been biased towards people who gave them good presents. It's just that when someone gives you an expensive present, it just compensates for the trouble you go through to make them feel comfortable.

Guests I just cannot stand having at my place


1. Guests who come unannounced to give you a 'surprise': I just don't understand the concept of landing on someone's doorstep with heavy luggage and his/her entire family, without any kind of intimation, to stay at somebody's place for 'a few days' and expecting them to be thrilled and happily surprised !!! Example - you are out for a movie and dinner with your folks on a Saturday night and get a call from your relative, who asks about your whereabouts. You are blissfully unaware of the reason behind the question. When you reach home, you find the same person sitting on the stairs outside your house. When you look shocked, he smiles sheepishly and says, "It is Saturday night so I thought you will be home and wanted to give you a surprise." More shock..How can a person be foolish enough to think that on a Saturday night we will most definitely be at home. If it was a Monday night or a Tuesday night or any other weekday night, a person can be sure that we will be home, but Saturday night!! I think that there are only two reasons that someone would arrive unannounced - first, he/she has not heard of a phone, e-mail, letter or a postcard, or, secondly, the person knows he is disliked by the hosts and would not be invited if he informed beforehand so he/she just pops up suddenly. Living in this technologically advanced generation, the former reason seems highly unlikely, so I bet that it almost every time the latter.

2. Guests who think the world revolves around them: These are the kinds of guests I despise the most. They have a big superiority complex and are the most egoistic. They treat the hosts like slaves or servants and expect them to obey all their whims and fancies. You have to give up your room for them. Not only the room, you have to empty your closet, study table and almirahs and shift all your stuff either in your sibling's or your parents' room. On top of that they require an exclusive bathroom for themselves which is out of bounds for everyone else in the house. Last but not the least, they pretend to be more busy than the president of the USA and want everything on time, for example breakfast at 8 am, fruits at 10 am, lunch at 12 pm, tea at 4 pm, dinner at 7 pm and so on. You actually dread staying at home and find excuses to go out and even spend extra time in office just to avoid them. Also, surprisingly, these guests are the ones that stay the longest.

3. Clingy guests: These are definitely the most irritating species of guests. They are too affectionate and loving for your comfort. They will want to sleep with you in your room whether you like or not and irrespective of whether there is space. After waking up in the morning, the first thing they'll do is give you a tight hug and a peck on the cheek. They also have a habit of going wherever you go within the house. In other words, they expect you to spend your every waking, and even sleeping hour with them. You get really frustrated if you've had a horrible day and they refuse to leave your side. You've spent 10-11 hours working in the office and three hours travelling and by the time you reach home you are drained and exhausted and just want some peace. But no, first these people will hug you like they are meeting you after ages, then hover around you like bees around a flower. You have no choice but to act all smiley and chirpy around them, as if you have spent the whole day in a spa and a beauty parlour.

This post has already become quite long, but there's so much to write about guests that I could go on forever.

Off to spend time with another guest
Chao!

Tip tip Barsa Pani....

Looks like the monsoons have finally arrived in Delhi to give us some respite from the heat. The amount of rains that we are getting are probably just 10% of the actual amount, but the Met department is announcing the arrival of monsoons through all means, except maybe shouting from rooftops. Well, I don't blame them. The poor chaps finally got one prediction right in god knows how many years. So it's only natural that they are super excited.

Like every resident of Delhi, I was also extremely happy and relieved to hear the rain drops falling outside my house on Sunday. It rained for more than 5 hours on Sunday night, and continued to rain on and off throughout the week. But, what happens after it rains? Everybody knows the answer to this question because the situations faced by the people are not a one time thing, but an annual occurrence. Traffic jams, water logging, pot holes etc. Each year, right before the monsoon season sets in, we hear the MCD personnel declaring confidently in print media and even in front of news channels that WE ARE READY FOR THE MONSOONS!!! It seems as if they are challenging the gods to Bring 'em on. So, I would like to question the readiness of the MCD, and the Delhi government by putting forward a few questions about the state of affairs.

Q1. Is Delhi still living in the Dark Ages, or is it just by sheer coincidence that we are probably the only country, I guess in the whole world, that has not heard about drainage systems? What did I just hear, that Delhi has a drainage system!!! Then why, after just minimal amount of rain do our roads give the impression that its been raining for days? There is water logging on every road, in every underpass, even in the metro stations, and in the subways!!

Q2. What material is used to build the Delhi roads? As far as I remember, the most common raw materials used are coal tar and gravel. But, it looks like the authorities here use sand to construct roads. How else can we explain the emergence of new pot holes, bumps, and gaddhas on the roads, immediately after the showers? After all, it's not like it's raining pebbles or bricks, it's mere water that's coming down from the sky. I fail to understand, how can weightless drops of H2O have the power to break things like stones?

Q3. Dudes, what is the deal with monsoons and digging? Why is it that as soon as the weather officials announce the arrival of the rains, we suddenly see a spike (a significant growth) in the amount of digging going on in virtually every part of the city? It maybe argued that it's the work being done for the upcoming Commonwealth games, but that is just this year. What about all the previous times when the same thing has happened? The monsoons stay in Delhi for hardly 2-3 months. You have rest of the 10 months to carry out maintenance work, or just dig for fun. Then why this season?? What sadistic pleasure do you get by watching people wade through keechad, and muddy water?

I know there are no answers for these questions, but what's the harm in asking them?

Ciao

My Rotten Luck..

So, Brazil is out of the FIFA World Cup. This unexpected and unfortunate event shattered the dream of millions of people all over the world (of seeing this team lifting the cup), including yours truly. Let me clarify that I am not a die hard fan of Brazil, in fact I am not as passionate about foot ball, as some of the people I know. But, I am following this world cup, well because of the hype it has generated and because some of the games are really hard core. The reason that I am pissed off is that I had a lot riding on Brazil's win.

Initially, I was supporting Argentina and more recently, Germany (after their amazing win over England). Then our MD made this grand announcement that if Argentina lifted the WC on 11th July, the next day, that is,12th July would be a holiday for the entire office. So, I was back on Argentina's side, praying fervently for its win. This Friday, the equations changed again. The MD took back his initial decision, as it was considered to be unfair by some employees (if only we could get their names, I am sure a lot of people would like to give them an earful) and 12th july was declared as a normal working day. Instead, another offer was made by him.

This time all of us had to choose a team each, out of the eight quarter finalists, that each one of us was supporting and thought would win the finals. Whichever team won the final, all the people supporting that team will be given an off on any day of that week !!! As expected, at the mention of a holiday, everyone sharpened their brains, brought out their analytical skills (we are Analysts after all) and started a focussed analysis of every team. Hours were spent on discussions, meetings, statistical comparisons and what not. We had ample information to create a 100 slider presentation on the subject. On top of that, was the betting going on in the office, and as money was also involved, the stakes were even higher. Majority of us, who were not very well versed in the nuances of the game, reached out to a certain individual who is considered to be a database of FIFA WC 2010. He remembers every goal, every yellow/red card given, every match result, every injury, basically just about everything. So naturally, we all were relying on his gyaan of the game to earn us a holiday and loads of money.

After a lot of explanations, reasoning and logic, it was concluded that Brazil was the safest bet. It was playing against Netherlands in the quarters, which was considered a relatively weaker team. What a blunder we all made by underestimating this team, I now realize. Anyway, all of us were 110% confident that Brazil would proceed to the semis without much effort. In the semis it would be playing against either Uruguay or Ghana, whoever won the 2nd quarter final. These two team s were considered even weaker than Netherlands. So, it was confirmed that Brazil's position was fixed in the top 2. Going by other statistics and research we all said our prayers, thanked that person for showing us the light, and opted for Brazil. I, being a risk taker, even placed bets on Brazil. Thus, began the wait for the clock to strike 7.20 pm, and the match to begin.

The first half, as witnessed by everyone, was great with Brazil dominating the game. The second half ruined everything, since Netherlands played as if they were the world's number 1 team and Brazil, on the other hand, could not do anything to save themselves and lost. My weekend was destroyed, my chhutti gone, and my money lost..sniff..:'( What do I call this if not my rotten luck. Who would have imagined that a team like Brazil, which had lost only 1 game out of their 16 previous world cup games, to lose and that too against a team like Netherlands !!!!

As I end this post, I look at the watch. It's 7.13 pm, only seven minutes to go before Argentina vs. Germany. I would love to see Germany win this game, because being a sadist, I will be able to derive some pleasure out of the misery of all those in office who support Argentina (I know that along with Brazil, the Argentinian team was the hot favourite among the people)

Signing Off,
Sad and Depressed