Thursday, June 17, 2004

A typical "work" day !

One question that keeps popping up often when I meet folks who cant understand what a "Senior Marketing Executive" does is how does a typical work day of mine shape up. So lemme just give you the more significant events.

Kaalai ezhunda udan kaapi (Coffee as soon as I wake up in the morning) - Hindu crossword in the bus - check blog and write some crap - Idli n Vada for breakfast - mails (Yippeeee) - Good Mornings over MSN - official phone calls - more mails - hot pantry coffee - a little casual flirting over YM - a little bit of work - mails again.

LUNCH


More phone calls - a few official mails - strong coffee - a meeting here - personal mails - a presentation there - music in Winamp - closing mails - sleep in the bus - dinner at home - Friends on Zee English - 11pm HBO - hit the sack.

The real high point however is at 2 pm - jes after lunch when I get my daily dose of Calvin and Hobbes. Am sure everyone worth his/her salt knows about this strip but for the nerds out there, C&H was created by Bill Waterson in 1985. It features principally Calvin, a hyper active six year old kid with a monstrous imagination and his best friend Hobbes who is in reality a stuffed tiger.(or is he not?) Then there are the fringe characters like Susie, the gal Calvin loves to hate (or is this jes a mask for hidden affections?) - Calvin's teacher Mrs. Wormwood who gets harassed no end - Calvin's Mom and Dad who have to perennially endure his whims - Rosalyn the baby-sitter, who is the only person with some control over Calvin.

Different people like C&H for different reasons. I love the inherent contradiction in the "real" Calvin exhibiting eccentricity bordering on lunacy and the "imaginary" Hobbes firmly rooted to reality. I love the rebel in Calvin, I think his brattish attitude rocks but I also freak on Hobbes and his common sense. You need to experience them to understand how I feel. Just to give you a sample, here's some delightful Calvin-speak for you:

"If ignorance is bliss, this lesson would appear to be a deliberate attempt on your part to deprive me of happiness, the pursuit of which is my unalienable right according to the Declaration of Independence"

"Childhood is for spoiling adulthood"

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"

"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present"

"If I 'm not going to be eternally rewarded for my behavior, I’d sure like to know now"

"Weekends don’t count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless."

"I'm only civil because I don’t know any swear words"

"I thought I knew everything when I was three. Now, a lifetime of experience has left me bitter and cynical."


And the last line of the last strip that WATERSON drew continues to be one of the most endearing ones ever..C&H are zipping off on their sled and Calvin says "Its a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy...Lets go exploring."

Doff my hat to BW ! Long live C&H !

Other useful links:
All about C&H - one of my favorite haunts !
C&H quizzes
C&H trivia

4 comments:

Ekta said...

hey...u made my day!....love calvin..he's adorable!

and some of my fav quotes...
1) Reality continues to ruin my life
2)How do I know your parenting is not screwing up my life!

Calvin is GOD!

Ekta said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nimbus said...

Calvin and Hobbes is a classic indeed! Remains one of my most favorite comic strips, along with Gary Larson's Far Side (although Larson's humor is a totally different can of worms!). My daily 9am C&H fix is as important as the cup of coffee that goes with it! I especially *love* his alter egos - Tracer Bullet and Spaceman Spiff :)

Signing off with one of my favorite C&H quotes :) --

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us"

Anonymous said...

Calvin and Hobbes is really Kool....
Hey you mention you go by bus....
Ever tried to communicate on bus on hosur road ?
I think you can have ALL the time in the world to solve THE
WHOLE HINDU puzzle!!