did you know that BPL discriminates against its users? actually, when you get these sms reminders to recharge your phone account and they give you these offers like ' get Rs 50 worth talktime extra if you recharge today' and crap...they do not send the same message to all their users at the same time? so there begins the discrimination. you do not access the same information at the same time. why is that important ? you ask. well, if you happen to recharge your account even a minute before you get the sms offering you extra talktime, you are not elgible for the offer because as the dude at their customer service desk says, " Sorry ma'm, the server does not recognise your number as part of the offer. that's because you are elgible only after you get the sms.." and the whole thing works against you, coz even if you do happen to recharge your phone on the day of the offer, because the stupid server 'happened' to send you an sms a minute later than the others, you are not as equal as the others. i am guessing that other cellular operators also work on the same funda. the same server crap being doled out. what is worse is that it is now a machine that is discriminating against you...as the dude puts it, " sorry ma'm, but we are all slaves of the system."

it's employee appraisal time in office today. am guessing that while grading me, my editor might just ask me to leave for spreading separatist feelings in office. am guessing that my sub editor might just wonder "what is is separatist?" so now i know what it feels to be in the north east. not only do people have a stereotypical view of us (reporters) but Delhi (the desk) makes sure we stay that way.

waiting for your comments errorguy...

so, i think the 'intellegentsia' at office finally know that we 'idiots' hate them, despise them and happily laugh at them upstairs, tucked away in godown, with comps and paper cartons for company. for us they are representative of the burgeoning middle class, ignorant about elections or the BMC. they wonder if Lok Sabha is one word or two and do not know the difference between MLA and MP. but they insist that it is they who make our paper look good, hence they are more important to the organisation. I mean for all those critical about tabloidisation and dumbing down, we shoudl ust let them have a day here and by the end of it they will be pulling out their hair.

anyways, the "subalterns" have decided to rebel. first things first, we have at least managed to get a neutral email id from which we will be sending our mail of dissent to our boss.

yeah yeah, i know i am making it soud more glamourous then it actually might turn out to be..but then i am working with a tabloid..so i guess it's pardonable.

was doing a story on how this retired army dude was suggesting the use of a container as a makeshift post office instead of constructing a building, with brick and mortar as the govt does not have money. the first question i get, " What is a container?" after about ten minutes spent in explaining what a container is, they insist that they want to write the meaning within brackets. what else could i do, but hope that people who read it do not laugh...

totally off track...shibbs is looking stunning these days.

The scene is straight out of a sarkari office. the people in charge of the work walk in at 12...go about checking the headlines for the day, then their email for the day. taek abotu half an hour to get into the mood for working. by then it's about 12:45..then it's time to order lunch. 15 minutes to decide the menu. then it's about 1:15 by the time lunch arrives. it's a round tabel conference for lunch. where each one takes her turn for bitching about the 'idiots' upstairs. no phone calls are attended to during lunch time. anyone daring to disturb them during lunch may do so at their own risk. at around 2:15, they finally settle down to work. the unending phonecalls to the 'idiots' begin. please note, 'idiots' are not entitled to lunch time. they are supposed to eat while they answer queries meekly. the queries vary from illogical to down right ignorant and reek of stupidity. but they have to be answered nonetheless.

then they will be at their comps until 10 in the night. of course the 'idiots' have to be there till the end, lest the people in charge have their queries. finally, we are let off the leash. not to mention the innumerable abuses and insults that we are subject to.

this for you is a day at my office. the people in charge are the people on the desk. the 'idiots' are us reporters.

ok, so yet another senior reporter was shown the door..this is ridiculous, people with sub zero iq levels are in charge of hiring and firing. i mean all the grey cells of the desk put together would not add up to the iq of an idiot!

i am sure i am the next one to be sacked. they have already started noticing my trade union characteristics, or separatist tendencies as some would term it. so there it is, losing my job even before i actually have one for real. frankly speaking i don't care. but mum does, and so does dad, so i have been asked to shut up!

so there goes the revolution even before it actually started. reminds me of Battleship Potemkin. another thing that remindfs me of the movie, is my walk from Churchgate station to back home. when i am walking out of the station, people are walking in the opposite direction. it feels like going against the wave... literally! and there are some who will always walk in a criss cross direction. and that adds to the scene. so the whole thing reminds me of the odessa step sequence in the film.

so that's the high point for today.

so stirred a revolution (something of that sort) in the reporters' room yesterday. my fellow reporters have decided to take up the red flag against the desk, with Babu, ( from the land of strikes of course) to take the lead, and they have dubbed me as General Secretary, George Fernandes of the mutiny. so now, I have to take up the cause of the shoddy treatment of reporters at office.

lots of things set to happen at work, shifting to a new office, will be reporting to a new person, writing for the main publication, etc etc. everybody says this is a good move i am yet to arrive at an opinion of my own. the only high point of this move, is that i do not have to explain the meaning of silly things like 'donor passes' to the desk anymore.

so took on seniormost thackeray in Monday's morning edition. to tone things down, i reported on an arrest warrant that had been issued against him. thought twice about taking a byline, and finally mustered up the guts for it. thrilled to bits after it appeared. after all this the is the level of excitement that i can contain at 22!!

so how do you react when you call up a resident with a consumer complaint and he says, " i cannot discuss this on the phone, because the Interpol is tapping my phone." ..after a long silence, i ask, "why?" the reply, "because i have been associated with osama bin laden." to cut things short, meeting delusional people is part of my exciting career.

totally off track...i want a zonkboard!!

so at 22, nothing has changed much. the world still looks the same from where i stand. so either the world hasn't changed much or i haven't grown taller. the latter could be more true. so now my tagline is 'I am 22 year old five footer looking for her share of space in this world.'

on the work front, things aren't any brighter. they tell us, "get us five kids who have friends in town," soon that command will be get us us five kids, with three eyes, one nostril, and single horn growing out of their foreheads" and if we dare to say no, we will be branded as unresourceful and unprofessional.

shibbs turns a year older today!! happy birthday Shibbs! (here's to the only woman who brings a little cheer right now in my life) ( and if i am not mistaken, patnaik is fuming!! hahaha)

as for the homefront, i am convinced that my parents are undercover agents of the Sangh Parivar. i mean their opinion about BJP is solely constructed on one man..Vajpayee. and that will never change. no prizes for guessing who was celebrating most when the BJP let go of DP Yadav.