Small Talk!

Have you ever just out of the blue talked to a stranger when you are in the elevator? Were you the one to accost people into a conversation when you are standing in line to buy your movie tickets? Do you talk to your colleagues when you are in the coffee room? Ok if you did not you are not the kind who is very good at small talk. What is small talk anyways? I did google a bit and found out that wikipedia defines small talk as meaningless chatter! well yeah thats what it is but it is a social grooming process. It is the only time where you get to know some more info about your colleague or just another person. You might know that they were up the night before taking care of their sick child, or that he/she is getting married or just about anything. One of my friends says that small talk makes people think that you are incapable of making serious talk...I beg to disagree.It goes a long way in making business negotiations..now dont ask me how it helps but apparently it does and thats wat they say.

Ok...now how do you make small talk?

1. Talk to just about anyone and everyone about anything and everything.
2. talk to your doorman, cabdriver, someone u meet on the subway
3. Read and watch the news, learn about different topics you can converse about not just the weather and the weekend. there are many other things to talk about. May be the person you talk to might be interested in some TV show or some particular type of sports. This doesnt mean you have to know everything...but you could always try. Again remember nonsense small talk will only gain you more disrespect. You cant just barge into some conversation and talk what you want. Always keep in mind that your small talk should keep the other person interested in the conversation.
4. And...most importantly be a good listener. You are the only one talking..its not a lecture...its a conversation.
5. Do something new that is not typical of you, try to walk out of your confined circle.
6. If you remember some funny stories that you can relate to what you are talking about, tell it. Make people laugh and you get some good laughs too...Laughing is good for health and keeps your spirits up.
This is what small talk does, it does build your confidence and makes you come out of the closet where you are hiding with all your shyness and all your no's and dont's.

Of course refrain from using abusive language or any comments that might hurt other's feelings. Consider the mood of the people you are conversing with, if you know that guy's aunt is dead..you dont want to go and make small talk with him and tell him all crazy stories ..yes you do want to make small talk..but not the experiment kind...you need to show some concern.

But carry on with your experiments and a little small talk goes a long way in building relationships.

Tennis and Rabbits!

Just like how the shutterbug bit me, I also fell hook line and sinker for Tennis. Though, I stink at that game. But am still learning…so that’s a good sign isn’t it?Tennis is an absolutely amazing game, the very thrill that you get a point by making a passing shot or a volley or a serve just gives you a feeling of exhilaration. Lawn tennis was one of the earlier forms of Tennis and now people play it on almost any surface, I play on concrete turf! But on any given day, lawn tennis rules. Wimbledon always has its own charm and glory and no other Grand Slam can take that away! There is something royal about it! And then it reminds me of Sampras and Becker and Graf! Well I can just keep going on and on but this time around am not rambling.

If you are thinking it’s just another game, let me tell you all about it. It’s not just getting on court and playing, there are so many things that you need to play tennis. First there is the racquet…it can’t be just another racquet, gotta be a good one! Then comes the tennis balls…there are the junk balls which turn all furry after you hit a couple of shots (even if you are the worst player… these tennis balls are worse than you!). Of course there is the availability of the court to play! You have to get your footwork right; you have to follow through with every shot; you have to swing the racquet; you have to keep watching the ball; your forehand and backhand has to be strong, and you cannot just dance around on the court! When I play exciting tennis, its always mostly my feet are glued to the ground and I end up watching the ball pass by me or if I do take it I slam it to the net or hit it for a six! I would have been good at cricket I guess!

My forehand has absolutely no swing or powers so it barely makes it across the net …so I don’t even want to get started about my backhand. Of course there is the hitting of the tennis balls into the other court or into the bushes and spend half the time picking them up. We end up losing and finding a lot of these tennis balls every day. Then there is the thing called service, now I somehow manage to get my serve in but it lands on you like a soft snowflake…its just cakewalk to hit it. Now that is easiness served on a platter for you what more could you ask for?


But when I play tennis the most interesting part of the game is when I spot the brown rabbit having its evening snack, looks like he is people savvy…but yeah if you get too close to him he runs away. I always wonder since he comes from just behind the woods if he is the rabbit and I am Alice, so is there a wonderland then??

Jai Hind

Tiranga hai garv se phaila
Sar ooncha hai hamara
rag rag mein himmat bhara
Hindustan hai desh hamara

kayi jaat kayi baasha
kayi log kayi sanskriti
rehthe sab is desh mein
anek hai yahaan ki aakriti


kashmir ki jannath se
kanyakumari ki sira tak
rangon se sajaa hai yeh
Hamara rangeen baseraa

jahaan hariyaali khethon ka
haseen vaadiyon ka hai milaap
jahaan dilchusp afsanon ka
meeti yaadon ka hai aalaap

jahaan himalay ki godh mein
behthi hai sunehri ganga
woh bharath desh hai hamara
garv se phaila rahe sada iska tiranga


Jai Hind!

footprints

clik on the picture and zoom in to read the poem. this was something i shot and smthing i wrote.
footprints
Originally uploaded by digijinx.

chek this out

A new desi website. its still in the making, but looks like its gonna make it big someday!
its called beingdesi.com
chek this out.

Bridge of flowers

IMG_4951
Originally uploaded by digijinx.

Yes you read that right. I had been to visit a place called the Bridge of Flowers which is perennial garden bridge…what all kinda ideas people come up with. This place is supposedly claimed to be the only one of its kind in the world. This bridge was originally built for the Trolley line. After the Trolley line became obsolete in 1928, people (Antoinette and Walter Burnham) came up with the idea of turning this concrete structure into a bridge of flowers and it became a reality in the following year. Now that is some imagination.

The bridge plays host to over 500 different varieties of perennial flowers (believe me it’s a cornucopia out there but since I went in summer there were many flowers missing) and there is a Flowers Committee with a head gardener and they maintain this garden from spring through fall. There were trees on this bridge and I kept wondering where would the roots go? But well the trees were there bearing wild apple like thingies, only the apples were smaller.
This time of the year I think the Irises are in bloom and they were aplenty. There were a lot of roses too. Pleasing to the eye, this place is really nice. They have benches put up on the bridge where you can sit and view the flowers and each flower comes with its name tag and the flower in my previous post was there and I tried so hard to find its name. Looks like someone flicked the name tag; I even searched under the bushes, only in vain. Mind you, am still searching may be someone might come up with the name. (Just like one of the fellow bloggers told me that it was a Magnolia) I also got to see the Kingbird, you can see its pictures too..couldnt get a close up of it thought

The travelogues continue…

Statue of Liberty...

IMG_4742
Originally uploaded by digijinx.

Now thats an odd title for this picture aint it? well I finally managed to visit the statue of liberty and once again took a lot of pictures. This particular one came out well with the details. I am still curious to know what is the name of this flower, coz i see it all around. i know its not a sunflower.
the ellis island and liberty island and then back onto the ferry. it was a humid hot day and had to stand in a long line to get on to the ferry. but it was a nice day altogether.

They were celebrating the swiss national day and they had so many programs goin on in Ellis Island for that.
Still travelling and exploring
and the journey continues.