Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The PnG Challenge

I am one of those people who hate holidays. Absolutely HATE them. Yes, I know, it sounds extremely retarded, but there it is. I can't watch movies all day. I can't sit still in one position for more than two hours. I hate sleeping, and I don't like staying online for long. I'm not a workaholic, but I want to be productive all the time.

So I'm glad to think that over the past one week I have done something other than watch movie after movie with glazed eyes or bully my brothers. This was the PnG Challenge that was held at IBA on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I noticed some weird things.

1. People wearing lame clothes. There are always people who stand out in a crowd because they’re wearing too much makeup or are dressed to the hilt. There are also some people who forget where they’re coming. While most of the participants were dressed appropriately in formal attire, there were some who were wearing jeans and flip flops. FLIP FLOPS. To all those unknown people who fortunately never made it to the third round and hopefully did not present on the first day- don’t you think flip flops and shades are too casual for a business competition? Would you wear dress pants to the beach?!

2. Hobbits. Najwat will NEVER, EVER take a bath, especially if someone will ask him to. When Nabeel told me that Najwat had come in his sleeping suit, I honestly thought he was joking. What I finally saw was a grimy Hobbit who looked like he’d been sleeping in the same clothes for DAYS. Which I’m pretty sure he was. Surprisingly, this very Hobbit took HALF AN HOUR to take a bath when we were urgently waiting for him yesterday. All he had to say in his defense was ‘Tou uss waqt main kahin hang out karnay to nahin ja raha tha na!’

3. PnG judges. Yes, we were all looking up to them in rapt admiration when they trooped in to judge us for the third round. PnG people! EEEE! But that day really felt like CEOs’ Day Out. If you’re a CEO of a PnG brand, why would you embarrass yourself by gleefully stuffing Pringles in your mouth and passing them around? Why? Our product was Febreeze, which is a fabric freshener/ auto cleaner/ everything else cleaner, and one of those eminent CEOs was spraying it onto his shirt. Was he going to deduct marks if Febreeze didn’t clean his shirt properly? Maybe yes, because we didn’t win. On one occasion, all of the judges got up to take a break just because they had finished the plate of potato chips and wouldn’t go back until they’d been provided more. Er, if you are the CEO of a PnG brand, shouldn’t you atleast look like you’re interested in things apart from food? Such as the presentations a group of nervous students are making in front of you?

4. Happy B-school students. A random dude from the Hugo Boss group just couldn’t stop smiling while presenting. The fact that I was in a bad mood at that precise moment didn’t help either. How can anyone be so happy about a bottle of perfume? Most importantly, WHY was that dude so happy?! Whoever you are, looking like an over-eager salesman doesn’t cut it, okay?

5. Haider Hasan’s hair. As much as I love the alliteration, I hate the hair. Apparently Haider didn’t think that an audience with a couple of PnG people was worth cutting off his unruly locks.

6. The absence of hot guys at the PnG Challenge. PnG people are SO not hot. It really seemed to prove the old saying true, that you can’t have good looks and brains in the same package. Ever since the PnG Challenge, I have become majorly unmotivated about applying there, since I’ve prioritized looking for greener (read: hotter) pastures.

However, now that the PnG Challenge is over, and it’s been a week of winter holidays already, I’m once more bored to tears. I think I’m the only person who’s anxiously waiting for IBA to reopen. Until then I’m just waiting….waiting….waiting….and getting more bored by the second. ARGH!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Samosa Fetish

Some people eat to live, others eat to live. And then there are the converts, who undergo a transition to the latter out of nowhere. I am one of those people, and it has all been possible because of a tiny desi snack- the samosa.
I’ve always known that samosas have existed. From a time that I don’t even remember, they’ve been available at canteens, brought home in greasy brown bags and served at roadside dhabas. I never liked them, and thought they were so totally ew! Until one day…..
….a chance visit to PG changed my life forever. Hell bored, Mehtaz, Najwat and I had decided to visit it since we had nothing better to do (not that we have anything better to do anyway, but still). One of my favourite activities is bossing Najwat around, and so I ordered him ‘Hey Hobbit! Go and get me some samosay.’
There was an air of surrealism as I peered into the bag Najwat had handed me after much eye-rolling. As I bit into the first crisp samosa, my taste buds were assaulted with undeniable gastronomical delight- courtesy of the heaps of ketchup and chaat masala the samosay were topped with. I had never been a foodie either, so this unexpected sensation caught me unaware.
‘Mmm, I love PG kae samosay’ I mumbled with a mouthful of savoury aloo as Najwat and Mehtaz looked at me disgustedly. Needless to say, I crammed all of them and ordered some more.
Later at home that day, I was lying down and thinking over the bad day I had had, and ruefully thought that the only highlight had been the samosay. After that, it kind of became a ritual for the three of us to go to PG every Wed and Sat after FIM where the boys had rolls and bun kebabs while I gorged on crispy triangular baby samosay.
The best thing about samosay is that they are amazing as comfort food. The soft aloo filling seems to fill an empty void (literally and emotionally), and the garam garam samosay end up warming the very corners of my soul. Oh and even if you’re not feeling down, samosay are a great snack (especially PG kae samosay!!! EEEE!)
The other day at home I was missing my samosay (yes, from now on, all samosay at PG are MY samosay) that I got my dad to get some. Sadly, there were no cute, small baby samosay at our local dukaan, only big abba-type ones. I relished the abba samosa with gusto, fondly reminiscing about the ones at PG.
Samosay are so cute. Yes, I love looking at them, they are adorable. And nothing beats PG kae samosay. Even though Mehtaz has labelled me a glutton *sniff :’(*, my new found love will persist day after day, at least as long as I have to endure IBA.