it's all relative

2011-10-23T09:05:00.001+05:30

What is it about the festivals in India, that creates a buzz? I so love the festivals. The colours, the lights, the excitement in the air. The similar excitement that I am feeling right now. Just a day and I'll be home. And just two before Diwali. Maybe that's the reason why.

But then what about the time about 4 years back. The winters right after I started working.
December began, and I could sense a sliver of excitement in my own self as soon as i would step out of work. I felt everyone is nicer. Felt everything is brighter.
A couple days gone by, a happiness generally for the impending Christmas time and the winter break set in.
Wait. What winter break? And what Christmas time for that matter?? I was working then. Not in college anymore. No breaks no "festive season frenzy". Office every day. Same work every day. Then why does the mind do that? Why do I feel the excitement, even though nothing physically around me has changed?

Maybe because, Festive is, just, a state of mind.

Have a good festive season, enjoy! :)

Live without

2011-10-22T22:03:00.000+05:30

Somebody posted on FB -

"Don't fall in love with someone you can live with, fall in love with someone you can't live without."

I say, how silly. And at so many levels.

Right now I don't even want to dwell upon the fact that nobody is indispensable.
More important is the question that how does one first be as attached to someone so as not to be able to live without him/her. And then fall in love.
What were you doing while you were actually getting attached to them in the first place?!

The networking blacks and whites

2011-10-20T15:01:00.004+05:30

Every body says the world is shrinking. Is it really? Am I the only one who feels otherwise. They also say social networking is getting us closer. Really?

Okay it does get us closer. Maybe in certain ways world is shrinking as well. But it is also making us impolite, rude and intrusive.

The downsides of excessive social interactions are many and at various levels.

No?

It somehow brings out our worst…

When we call people again and again, despite them not taking our calls?

Or when we don't answer people's calls, despite them calling us again and again?

If there were no mobile phones, we won’t have had the incessant need to call, neither we would have been so accessible. In the older times, a phone call was precious. Both, for the one making and for the one receiving. I miss that.

When we invite people with merely a tagging on the Face Book?

Or when we don’t respond to the e-invite?

If there was no email penetration or social networking we would have called or at least made the effort to post a note to the people who we want to invite. For the rest, well, we would have just let them be.

When we gawk at all the good looking people’s pictures in our friends’ list?

Or when we swear at acquaintances who ‘like’ or comment on our pictures?

This is something I don’t understand. I have seen people who actually keep a tab on other women/men’s lives who are not even their friends. Seriously don’t understand the need to do that. Have also often seen intelligent, well-read married/committed men check out other (read hot) women’s profiles. That only makes me wonder if we are that desperate or if we really are that short on entertainment in our lives. And what about the ones who first put them up on public display?

… and the best…

Oh, how I love what technology has brought us. The ease, the comfort and the closeness of relationships.

Thank God for the Mobile phones. We can actually talk to whoever we want to whenever we want to. Distance, time, location no bar.

The time, the effort and the costs involved are all saved when we can now just send an e-invite. I can’t imagine how difficult it must’ve been for the generations before ours who had to actually pen down names and addresses on each and every one of the 500 envelopes they sent out for weddings! So much more we can achieve in that time saved!

We are all so far apart. Can’t share the day to day activities with the ones who matter. Can’t share the thrill of new places we have been to. But now we actually can. I love the ease of social networking when I can just post the pictures and my friends and family can view them. I love it when through such pictures their lives actually become a part of mine.

It is all relative. Isn’t it?

Bangalore Metro - Namma Metro!

2011-10-20T11:00:00.001+05:30

Maybe, coming from Delhi - the city of the unstoppable and unprecedented Metro expansion, I am not awed by the 5 stop metro stretch in Bangalore. Or also because I feel that if this is what has been achieved in 5 long years, it is too little too late for the Bangalore people.

But still, happy I am, cuz now I will finally be able to get to Indiranagar from MG road in 7 minutes. And save the additional 23.

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

The little leaf.

2011-07-20T18:54:00.000+05:30

The little leaf tells me

it's time

time for the new dawn

the new season

the new reason

to sing to dance to laugh

to run to skip to jump

this, is what the little leaf tells me

along with the wrinkly ol' fellow

that at every end

is a new beginning

The silly cricketers' spat.

2011-07-20T07:27:00.002+05:30

Couldn't help posting this one here.
The question undeniably, now, is between the two big questions.
Have I made it large / Am I doing something different?

All thanks to the spat between the two leading cricketers in the country. Though I would very much like to ask them both, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh that by endorsing liquor brands under the garb of carbonated water/ cricketing gear and inspiration quotes. Like we didn't know it was Liquor you were endorsing. hmmmph.

A good laugh nonetheless.

Day 1 - The Beginning of the 365project.

2011-07-19T10:16:00.001+05:30

Alrighty, so here I go again.

Life is a changing. But then, when is it not. Hence, I decided to chronicle the next complete one year. In pictures. Popularly known as the 365 project.

Reason : My NEW CAMERA.

Courtesy : My sister. Her new job as the hot-shot corporate lawyer. And the first paycheck that wanted to gift her elder sister something. I am not complaining, bytheway.

After much deliberation, I bought a Nikon D3100 as you can see in the picture of the box. Even though a few days old, it was one of the first ones taken by me.

Nikon D3100, is a DSLR. Which basically means it is a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera.
In laymen's terms, i.e. mine and most of yours', it means that the camera would give me greater control over the kind of pictures that I would want to take. Giving me a correct-or Depth of Field. Allows me to play with aperture, exposure and shutter speeds and more importantly with a wide variety of changeable lenses.
For an in-depth reading, please follow this link.

See you all tomorrow.

At 10, she is a care taker.

2011-07-18T10:23:00.000+05:30

At a mere 10, she is an orphan and a care taker. Of four siblings.
I remember, when I was 10 my worries were what would mommy have packed for lunch, and not when will I eat again. Will I be allowed to sleep for some more time tomorrow, and not where will I take refuge tonight. Also about the homework for the day, and not about not being able to read and being duped by rouge shopkeepers of all my cash.

And then the Govt has the audacity to ask you, 'what have you done for the country?' !

How about setting up a system where the orphans are taken care of. Which is free of the numerous ghotalas, scams, corruption cases that have somehow become the order of the day.

After all ain't they the ones who would be asked in a few years' time to do something for the country.

At 10 she is a care taker while we were only learning to cross the road alone.

Pensieve for me, anybody?

2011-05-23T16:11:00.004+05:30

In my sister's blog , she talks about having a Pensieve. She also says, in her introduction, "Dive into the silvery threads of my thoughts and memories".
This would often make me question the need for having one. according to the legends from the world of Potter, Riddle and Albus, a Pensieve is used to store the thoughts. But actually, what they mean is that, in a farther time, these thoughts can be seen and felt, as though being projected on a 3d screen.
I used to think that what utility is that for. for what we can recall later, is good enough. For what we have put down on paper, on a journal is good enough.

It all changed as my Baba fell ill. No not then, really, but when he started to recover a bit and when he could speak again.
Gosh! I missed his voice.
I mean his real original voice. Right then, it was just a croak or a squeak.

That was one time I so desperately wished that I could have had a Pensieve. To help relive my memories with him.

'cause, When I think about him, all i remember is his rich baritone reverberating through the house, calling me out " Miiiishuu".

Gosh, I miss that voice.

Why are we so foolish

2011-04-07T10:15:00.000+05:30

It is all so fickle. The life as we know it, I mean.
One moment we are here, the other we could be gone.
There is no certitude. No paused moment. Not even for an iota.

If at all, it's always in a state of flux.

And yet we take it for granted. All of it. The moments. The people. The experiences.

Why, why are we so foolish, can you tell?

How India won the match!

2011-03-26T13:46:00.001+05:30

One of the numerous forwards I got, I forwarded one to Al. Big mistake for the earful I got :p

India is going to win the 2011 Cricket World Cup……101%

Want to know the reason why?

            virende R shewag
   zaheer kh A n
   yuvra J singh
   gaut A m gambhir
   yusuf patha N
   MS dhon I
   virat K ohli
  .       suresh r A ina
   r ashwi N
   Sachin T endulkar.
Hahahahaha .....=D

AL : :(
Ni : what happened? Why you :(?
AL : no one jokes with the Indian team for the world cup!!!
Ni : ???
AL : you might jinx it!!!
Ni : but no one can jinx rajanikant now, can they? :P
AL : :D

Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

World Water Day

2011-03-22T12:23:00.001+05:30

World Water Day

When I was younger, I used to wonder as to why we need all these days named after one of the causes that we all know and do something about.

But as I grew up, I realized how wrong I was.

As kids, my sister and I were very conscious about switching the light off as we exited from any room.

We never let the tap run as we brushed or washed our faces. Despite the fact that a simple routine of washing face would require turning the tap on and off thrice, but we still did it.

If there’s some water left in the bottle for too long, and we won’t drink it, we’d go out and water one of the plants with it.

Of course we were not born with these habits. It was our parents who instilled these within us.

Even today, I can’t bring myself to -

Let any tap run as I am brushing the pearl-ies(my teeth you see)

Throw away that bucket full of clean water even if I don’t need it. I feel so guilty even throwing one mug of that clean precious water away.

Stay in the warm cozy bed if I can hear a leak somewhere. Even a tip-tap needs to be checked!

Not to turn off even if it is a public water faucet.

Not to tell people (my hostel mates, my maids, random strangers all included) off if they leave the taps running.

There are a lot of walks being organized; one was at India Gate, New Delhi on the 19^th, if I am not wrong.

These walks are not for the ones who know. These are for generating awareness amongst those who don’t.

After all not all of us are blessed with parents who care enough. And who teach the kids to do so as well.

I don’t think I can go for walks and such, but, my contribution would be, when I have my own lot, teaching them to be responsible.

Turning Twenty Seven - 1

2011-03-16T11:38:00.000+05:30

It's that time of the year again. The time that makes me want to sing, to dance, to paint, to do all the things I like doing. All things I want to be doing. And not just the things that I have to be doing. bad grammar I know, but koi baat nahi. It is that time if the year.

That time when there s a spring in the step
When mad hatter is Johnny Depp!

My name is Khan..

2010-12-22T17:37:00.001+05:30

Break ke Baad

This movie has been berated, time and again, by the cine goers and critics alike. And yes I agree, it is not one of the regular masala movies. Yet, somewhere I liked it. And how.

1. The plot.

Very simple.

Girl meets boy when kids. Grow up together. Are in love. Family’s just waiting for the wedding date to be selected. When they realize that life’s not as rosy, suddenly.

Straight forward. To the point. No masala.

Yet, somewhere along the way, it touches a chord.

2. The girl.

She’s your new age girl next door.

She smokes(!). At a wedding(!!!). Of the boy’s sister(!!!!!!!!!!!). She’s not beautiful, she’s smokin’ hot. She’s not demure; she’s in your face. Is not a nag. Doesn’t really get insecure. She’s not a homebody, she’s career oriented, independent and opinionated. Sorry, very opinionated. She doesn’t need a man by her side; she’s capable enough to handle more than a couple, on her own.

Love her or hate her, women want to be her, men want to do her.

She is, The Alpha woman. The kinds we want today.

The problem – None according to her. Career comes first, boy, you better accomodate or go take a jump.

3. The boy.

He’s the new age sensitive man.

A good boy. He’s a wonderful cook. Is sensitive, sensible and doesn’t have any MCP-like orientations. Goes to office, comes back. With eyes only for the beloved, he doesn’t even look at other girls. He is in love. And he knows it. He’s not afraid to show it. To let the world know of his feelings. Or the girl.

Scorn him or pity him, men envy him, women crave for him.

He is, The Beta man. The kinds we want today.

The problem – None according to him. He knows she loves him. He knows he’d be able to tackle it. He knows he’d knock sense in her.

What happens then. A series of incidents, all very real life, put together. When he finally does knock sense into her. A lot of them I could relate to. A lot of them you’d be able to relate to, as well. Overall, a very real life story, meant only for the alpha women and beta men of today. Not for the mcp-s of yesterday. Not for the clingy nags of the day before.

But these are not the only things that I liked about the movie.

The names are Abhay Gulati and Aaliya Khan.

Finally, a cosmopolitan love story which actually touches the more relevant issues about money and career and career interests and passions in life, than the usual run of the mill caste, religion and parents’ permission ones.

Finally, a hindu-muslim love story when the lead protagonist doesn’t need shout out loud, from the roof tops, and by meeting the president

“ My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”.

Forever, really?!

2010-11-30T11:41:00.001+05:30

Is there a forever? What really is forever?

When we think about it, really, relatively, what forever is for us, doesn’t even register in the bigger scheme of things in the universe. Then why do we keep running after forever, forever.

Some things there are, that we accept. That, there is no forever for them.

No forever in being happy.

No forever in being healthy.

No forever for being occupied.

No forever in being at the top of our game.

All this we accept. Then why do we run behind the one forever which is so elusive.

The forever in love.

I am my daddy's girl. :D

2010-11-29T18:10:00.005+05:30

This post was picked as the Tangy Tuesday pick at BlogAdda. Ta da!! :D The link for the same is HERE.

How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man
who insists on treating her
as if she were a perfectly normal human being

- Oscar Wilde

What type of a boy do you want to get married to. In order of preference, what are the traits you are looking for in a boy. What kind of people do you like?
These are the questions that have suddenly been thrown at me from all quarters. I am no different. All girls my age (by that I mean, marriageable according to our society) go through this sometime. Some sooner than later.
People keep asking this one question, what do you want. How can we say what we want? When our needs keep a changing every other minute or so?

I mean, there is a time in every girl’s life when she falls for a bad boy. By bad boy I don’t mean a skull-tattooed, greasy-haired, leather-wearing punk. By bad boy I mean the type of person who’d have the ability to sweep you off your feet. Who’d not sit at your feet like a forlorn pup. Instead maybe show that he doesn’t really care if you call or not, yet liking it when you do. Who’d be the heart throb of numerous girls around, because he’s intelligent or flashy or good looking or a jock or maybe even all of the above.

Then comes the time when she’s looking for stability. That is when she’s looking for a guy who’d provide, shelter, take care. Stability and commitment. Honesty and perseverance. That’s what she’s looking for then.

And then she comes back to wanting the rush, the excitement, the thrill of being chased. If only by the same man.

Just as these stages can be experienced in stages, they can also be simultaneous. Or in any other permutation/combination as well.

There’s just one thing that remains constant. Just one thing that doesn’t change. Something, which, she’s unlikely to tell her guy.

Why?

Simple.

Because, he might get jealous.

Because, he might feel threatened.

Because, he might feel it’s too much of competition.

That all through her life, whoever the boy is, whatever he does, the only thing she’d want would be for him to be like her father.

No, don’t jump the gun. Let me explain.

Not that she’d want him to look similar, talk similarly, smoke the same brand, drink the same wine, no.

In fact, there are a lot of things she might just want to do away with. Like maybe his anger. Or that regional accent that he has. Or the funny clothes he wears. Or the strong political views he has.

The only thing she’d want her man to have would be to have the unconditional love for her like her father did. To be treated like a princess like her father treated her. To be, sometimes, taken care of without any other worries in the world, like the only man in her life, her hero, her dad did.

This, I think should satisfy all those questions mums and aunts and grandmums etc etc put forth to all the girls.

All of us, in this respect, want the same thing, and this is it.

My nailpaints, my plight.

2010-11-13T12:54:00.001+05:30

I like going to this store in ambience mall or dlf square or galleria
market that stocks a lot of make up. and invariably, I end up buying a
bottle of nail paint from there.
so this time when I went to the ambience mall store, about 10 days
back, it was no different. I got this gorgeous red(whaaat? halloween
had *just gone by :p) for those dramatic nights and a very nice subtle
(called cappuccino) for the normal routine wear. and a few other
things(hand sanitiser et al) as well which were not as interesting.
getting back home, I wanted to to of course try them! but alas, as I
opened the bag, I realised that the store keeper had forgotten to put
them in albeit all the other (inane) stuff was there.
I kept the bill with me, making up my mind to go and claim for my
nailpaints the next time I go there. as I was telling this to a friend
i realised, he was not very supportive of my charging up there and all
that... so, well, I probed of course. to which he mumbled something
like, let it be. and that maybe the store guy might not even believe
you and waise bhi they were not very expensive either. how much do the
150 odd rupees matter for having to try to convince the store people
of their mistake.
i disagree. my point being, I don't want to go cuz of the money. I
want to go cuz I want my nailpaints back. and I won't like to buy them
again from the ambience mall store and if I go to one of the others,
I'll keep whining about how I had already bought two but couldn't use
them for so long.

now my dilemma is, am I too high strung. should I just let this go
already and buy them again or should I confront the store people? what
says you?

p.s. I very firmly believe they should've called me and informed
about how they didn't give me my stuff. :p they of course had my
number, I am a member and my phone number is my log in number. duh.

p.p.s. this post is from my mobile, via the email as I sit in the
classroom waiting for the students to return from lunch break.
formatting would follow as I return to delhi again. :)

Why do I teach?

2010-11-12T14:15:00.001+05:30

Why are you teaching? I get this question a lot. Actually, almost everyone asks me this after they get to know that I am juggling between my working for a firm on the weekdays and the teaching on the weekends.

I answer by saying that I like teaching. Pat comes the suggestion, try for a college in Delhi and take up a permanent faculty position.

I nod, in my mind thinking but why?

The people who suggest this are my well meaning friends and relatives. Their concerns are based on my whining complaints about how very tired i get with all the traveling and about how I hardly get time for my own self in the process.

Also, how all the kids, well, no they really are not kids anymore, but yea, since they are all about 7-8 years younger and with my position as the faculty, they are kids to me.

Yea yea, I digress.

Coming to the point, how these kids are all from very modest backgrounds and how it takes a lot of effort for me to teach them(will do a detailed post about how modest and how much of an effort).

This all changes the moment I step foot there.

Despite all my whining, the sense of accomplishment that I experience, when they do the one exercise I gave them, correctly and superbly, is what I go there for.

The way they greet me when I reach the class in the morning, is what I go there for.

The shine on their face when I praise them, the determination to do better when I admonish, is what I go there for.

More than anything else, for me, it's the joy of giving back what I got from my education and the unexplainable joy at being able to make a difference in their lives.

That is what I go there for.

Designing and the likes - I

2010-11-09T13:59:00.001+05:30

Yesterday was the first client meeting I attended as part of Arcop. I was a little uncomfortable in my mind before it began. Mostly because I have had the habit of introducing myself as a part of Architect Hafeez Contractor's team. Which was not what I had to do now. The sides have changed. And hence the approach should too. Which is what I realised we have to we do even when we are working in the same firm. A sampler.

Team Arcop : We have to give glass elevators here. The cost will go up a little...

Team Client : Sure sure! We are all in for it. ask your director though.

Team Arcop : We have. He knows and he says it'll be a good idea.

Team Client : WHAT?! When we asked him in the last project he out rightly refused.Said that it gives a commercialised look to the project. What happened now!?!

Team Arcop : We have evolved as designers.

**followed by dignified silence**

Worst nightmares - I

2010-11-08T13:51:00.000+05:30

One of my most dreaded nightmares came true last week. Well, I would have thought Thank God it's over, now I won't have to be scared of it anymore.

But, alas, the *teacher in me is not so strong-hearted any more.

Beyond the theatrics, let me delve into what happened.

I ran into one of my ex-students. Not dramatic enough, eh? The setting surely was. I was happily shopping around with my parents at the morning store, at g.k. 1, aaraam se chilling, and was dressed well.. oh-so-casually, to suit the surroundings. Wearing a shirt and a denim skirt, I bumped into him. Skirt!?! A teacher in India and a teeny denim skirt. ouch. Though, to give myself some credit, I acted like all was well, like this is how teachers are supposed to look like, like the cool cat that I am. :P

To add to the embarrassment, I caught him checking me out, with the what's-wrong-with-her look, a couple of times when we were talking. Argh..

Told ya, it was my worst nightmare come true.

Karvachauth, really?

2010-10-26T11:43:00.001+05:30

All that my fb page is telling me today is that it’s ‘karvachauth’ and that most of the girls on my contacts are fasting for ‘the one’.

I just wanted to fathom the relevance of such customs in today’s world for our generation.

There was this girl I knew who’d fast for her boyfriend. Erm, for all of them. At least that’s what she told me. Every year she’d be fasting for the ‘current’ one. Eventually, she married some one else altogether, seems to be happy, and is fasting for him today, I guess.

Does the fasting mean anything to us?

What do the men do on ‘karvachauth’? They lead normal routine lives. They on this day, as any other, go to work. They on this day, as any other, stare around at other women. They on this day, as any other, maybe fantasize about them as well.

Does the fasting really mean anything to them?

Fasting as fasting goes, on ‘karvachauth’ means nothing.

It is only a small ritual which is might mean a lot more if it was observed as it is.

As a token of selfless love and devotion(by the wives) and as a renewal of the marital vows(by the husbands).

Selfless love, come again.

Atten-tion!

2010-10-22T14:51:00.001+05:30

Okay, is it just me or does this happen to you as well?
I mean, I suddenly get inspired to write about something. Let's name that X. And this is what happens :

I open my blogger window. *thinking about X.
I know for sure how to begin. *happy that I am about to write something
I start reading one of my older post. *faint thoughts about X still in the back of the mind
I read the comments on it.
I click on one of the peoples' blog link.

And I am lost.

I read.
I enjoy.
I forget about X.
I close my blogger window.
Thoroughly satiated after a good half hour spent.
My blog still doesn't have that new post I so badly wanted to write about.

Is it with all of us or do I have the attention span of a goldfish?!

The need to know...?!?

2010-10-11T15:20:00.001+05:30

A random conversation in the wake of the whole cheating saga after the world cried *wolf at every celebrity relationship gone wrong, for whatever reason.

What is the need for cheating?

I agree, there is no need for cheating..

Then why do people do it?

In fact, I believe if at all there is a need for cheating then the relationship was flawed from the very beginning, maybe.*ponderous look*

But why do people do it then? And specially those men who already have women as hot as Ashley Cole beside them.

*all of this said with a huge grin*

I don’t know why women do it. But for men, it’s not dependant on the hotness of your partner, it happens more so because

1. There is an opportunity

2. The wife wouldn’t get to know

3. Of the need to know that they’ve still got it.

Hmmph.

Now, my question is, the fact that their wives slash girlfriends are still with them, is this not proof enough that they’ve still got it?! :P :D

What says you?

Cosmopotitan relationships, or are they?!

2010-05-15T12:41:00.000+05:30

I live in a free world

I hold no prejudices

There are no judgments

I don't discriminate

I believe in equality

I live and let live

I live in a free world

But, do I, really?!

Equality. What does it mean? I guess, equal opportunities for all. This is what it means. Also maybe, no prejudices against. This is what it means. Treating others like you want others to treat you. This is what it means. We say we all practice it, but do we?!

While surfing channels, chanced upon this movie y'day night, saw it for the first time actually. Life in a Metro. That's what got me ruminating.

Kay Kay Menon's character has been having an extra marital affair with a girl for the past two years now. His wife, played by, Shilpa Shetty has been hanging out, read no physical intimacy involved - had been on the verge of, but backed off, with a man for the past 3-4 weeks. On the night of confrontation this is the dialogue(well, somewhat) between them -

KKM - "You, know, I have been seeing this girl outside"

"for about two years now"

"but it is not .. you know.. there is nothing emotional about it.."

"I am sorry.."

"but, let's start over alright.."

SS, crying retreats into the kitchen

KKM follows. There,

SS - "You know I also want to tell you something"

"Will you forgive me?"

"I didn't go for a movie with Shruti, I went with someone else.."

"I don't know how it happened..it's been 3-4 weeks"

"but I am sorry.."

SS, still crying, goes and hugs him.

KKM doesn't retreat, but it shown unable to touch her either.

KKM - "So, did you sleep with him?!"

SS - *shocked* "No!"

*with apparent contempt*

KKM - "This is what you do when I go to office to work?"

"Did he use my bed?"

Later he's shown to walk out of the house.

So, the 'well educated Cosmopolitan Indian man' as they show here, is alright with his wayward ways but even a very small straying of his wife, he finds unacceptable. Which in my opinion *might have happened due to his apparent neglect.

We say, we treat people equally, but do we really, is my question!

I have a tattoo! :)

2010-04-27T17:01:00.005+05:30

What was it? A moment of insanity? An impulsive action? A devil may care attitude?

A careless reaction to something?

None. It was none of these. Or maybe it was all of them thrown in together. Along with a catalyst too! :)

Yep. I got a tattoo done. As a b'day gift to myself. :) :) It was a crazy decision and I just went and got it done. Not telling the world helped.

Most of the people think I am impulsive. Maybe I am! :) But, reflecting back tells me otherwise.

Interesting reactions I got when it was on display(only partly so) for the first time this weekend -

"OHH! Ma'am, you are very stylish! Tattoo and all that!!"

"Ahhh!! You have a tattoo!! What super font! Good that you got it done. It's good to get something done for yourself."

"Wat sexy tattoo! Looks fab with the saree!!"

And the best one was by an aunt (with raised eyebrows and a mischievous grin) ,

"So, whose name do you have tattooed on your back?! I've been trying to read it every time you crossed my way."

Old flame?!

2010-04-26T22:00:00.001+05:30

What is it with people and old flames?! It certainly is a touchy topic for most, as I see around me. But surprisingly, as I see, men and women react differently in the same situations.

A few cases in consideration.

About the guys I see

Despite the out of country study cum crazy time that RM had, he couldn't get his first love outta his mind. Still. 'tis been almost 4 yrs and a number of others in tow, now. Having swore himself off relationships, RJ still can't get over his erm, gf. He doesn't call it love, for reasons only known to himself. He's been trying for almost 3 years now. About A, well, when he told me about his gf of 7 and ex of 2 yrs then, he shouldn't really have said anything. The eyes and the voice said it all then. SD, as happy as he is with his love of the life right now, can't still get that one girl out of his system, still. For him, the struggle's been on for years now, between the salt and the spice of his life. SP. Well, what do I say about him. The fact that the girl he cared about for, while dating other women(!), about 8 yrs was seeing someone else was what it took to get out of it. Though, I still have my doubts. But, at least it did, momentarily. As for Al, ten years and her hence married and then divorced state, and his own string of women by the side, is not enough.

And hence consequently, their relationships with other women suffer too.

On the contrary

This is how the girls fare

SJ, doesn't really think about the ex of about 3 yrs. If at all, it's mostly about how crazy those days were. NS, she's dealing with it. Almost there, she's been saying for a year. I feel it's true too, now. AB, got on with life and is happily married now. So did GG. Not married yet, but happy and settled with the one she wants to get married to.

As for those who are not yet settled with others, they are all right with the parents finding them matches.

I don't say everyone needs to settle down. I can not even say that marrying your parents' choice would be wisest decision for most of us, considering our commitment-phobic nature. All I say is, albeit the past, the failed relationships, women are better prepared and more receptive towards other relationships. And that they make more efforts to make sure that the future ones are successful.

Is it because we, as women are more needy and scour for security in life or just plain simply, as Mr. Murphy put it, the truth remains -

A woman never forgets the men she could have had; a man, the women he couldn't.

she flies with her own wings..

2010-04-15T18:38:00.006+05:30

her life, a riot

a cornucopia

of colours

of spirits

of springs

of thoughts

of what she wants
of what she doesn't
of what she'd tell

of what she wouldn't

those azure blue skies

those beckoning highs

that wish to fly

the needs in her

of sky and earth

but what about you?

do you really have no clue?

of the difference

of needs and wants

of how there's no need

of how it's so 'cuz it's a want

that wish to fly

her life, a riot

a cornucopia

of colours

of spirits

of springs
sure she does

she flies with her own wings

Cheating, what is it?

2010-04-15T17:43:00.000+05:30

Cheating. It's a word used very often in our day to day vocab. But what does it really mean? The dictionary states it as -
Cheating - 1.To deceive by trickery; swindle:
2. Informal To be sexually unfaithful: cheat on a spouse.

But what exactly is cheating? "To be sexually unfaithful", just this? What about the emotional infidelity, then? Or being emotionally involved with someone else doesn't count? Then why does being physically does?

But then what really does? And who makes these rules, anyway?

As, most men would say it is the physical straying that is IT, whereas most women would say it is the emotional straying!

I say, anything you do, that you wouldn't or couldn't share with your partner is cheating.

What says you?

Chance?

2010-04-11T14:12:00.008+05:30

What do you do with a person who infuriates you when he doesn't remember your birthday? But also, at the same time, makes you laugh out loud only because you were expecting it?
What do you do with a person who says he wouldn't be able to meet you on your birthday? But at the same time, hands a birthday gift so beautiful, in advance, because he had done so the last year too, on exactly the same date?

I say, thank you :) I loved it. And to that let me add (with a wink too) -

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity”

General George S. Patton

P.S. But do it, only if it's a chance you are willing to take! ;)

smile on...

2010-04-08T01:23:00.001+05:30

Smile on mah love
Here's your angel from heavens above! :P
The shrubs the trees
The stars and breeze
The sun in winters
Oh! How the birds twitter!
Those kisses I steal
Yea! that look makes my heart beat!
Your feel your touch
It's insane how I miss you so much!
And if u dont have another reason to smile...
Can I be the reason for a while..

some stuff 'bout me

2010-03-03T19:26:00.011+05:30

I got tagged by one of my friends about a year back. And today, I suddenly got in the zone to finish this one. I had to post 25 random(I did one additional, it was difficult to stop once when started) things about myself. Like totally random. I've done this. Now if you're sport enough, please do it too and lemme know about it, too! :)

One of my wishes is to travel. a lot. (more on this in another post)
I want to be able to love and be loved unconditionally.
I want to, in due course of time, have two kids. preferably twins, of the same sex and identical.
I enjoy the journey ~~as much as~~ even more than the destination itself. there are times i wish the journey never ends.
I always take the window seat. I am afraid otherwise, that I'll miss something.
I am scared at times that I would never be able to find someone who I would be able to get along with, romantically, forever.
also, in the same breath, I'd like to add that, I think that our complete marriage system is flawed and that it is often the biggest mistake of a person's otherwise sane life.
I also fear the fact that someday, I will stop being attractive for my partner. This, maybe, is one of the reasons i run away from commitments.
I wish at times that I could sing. as to be able to even qualify for learning, you have to have at least the basic sense of sur, I know for sure that I would never be able to.
I want to host holi parties complete with gulal, water, bhang, white clothes et al a la bollywood style :)
I also want to be able to live in a different house every three years. and I want to do it up myself, of course.
I wonder at times, that why, why do we throw it all away. And what had it been like, if we had not.
Thoroughly, thoroughly dislike manner less kids. Their parents even more so. As I feel it's not the kids fault, it's the parents who cover up by saying " bacche hain. kya karein?" ("it's just kids. what to do?"). Rein them in. that's what.
I've finally found peace with the imperfections within myself. Earlier, till about a couple of years back, it was impossible to be able to accept such a thought.
I want to one day work for an NGO, one that actually helps, and help the poor kids we see running on the streets, in some way.
There are so many 'want-to's in my life that I panic at times at the thought not actually being able to do all of them.
My sense of humour, I feel, is a li'l whacked out. ~~I can laugh at almost anything.~~ What I really meant to say was that I see humour in most everything around me.
I love the colour red.
I wish I would be able to write more. And to finish most of my unfinished thoughts.
I love art. I love going to museums, to art galleries, to watch plays and dances. And I am also constantly searching for someone to drag along to these places.
I used to love sweets till 'bout a few months back. Chocolates and sweets were somethings I just couldn't resist. Not anymore. just a piece of chocolate and I'm done. I have suddenly realised what growing up feels like.
I used to be very scared of the dark. Of the unknown, perhaps. Not so much anymore.
I like planning. For birthdays, parties, surprises. Not for myself so much, but for others. I love putting people under limelight. Though get a tad uncomfortable when someone does this to me.
I have come to fully appreciate the futility of expectations.
Of the fictional characters, I identify the most with Scarlett o' Hara. I truly respect her courage and her will to survive.
I don't know, now, what happiness truly is. But, the pursuit's not over, yet.

Emotional Atyaachar

2010-02-17T19:27:00.003+05:30

To
All the guys reading this

Be scared. Be very very scared.
We are here.
Stay away from the female species. If not your gf/wife or sister.
We are here. To put you through 'Emotional Atyachaar'.
What do we claim? To put you through litmus test to see if your purity is intact.
What do we really do? We throw a super hot girl in your face.(Hmm, we already know about the paucity of hot accesible women in India) Yea, right in your face. (It's a trap, mate. Run. Run for your life. ok. Don't. your life, your choice!) One who's skimpily clad and is more often than not an aspiring model(read very hot and desperate to exhibit her exemplary acting prowess).
All she'd do is be her innocent self.
Bat her mascaraed lashes, pout her glossed lips and flaunt her erm, well.. the assets.
All in the name of testing you. We'll follow you. for a number of days. To be very sure. And then Bring in your gf/wife. Ask her if she trusts you. Duh! Whose doesn't?
We don't do anything, other than explain with the help of the recorded five days of fun you had without her. And then...

Well.. you've been warned.

Sincerely yours
Team Emotional Atyaachar.

Disclaimer : This is what the author's version of Team EA's letter to all men would be, if they ever write one! This is all in good humour and t omake sure that her friends are all all safe and not subjected to atyaachar. :P

Valentine's day.

2010-02-17T18:07:00.003+05:30

It is such a big deal. Here in India, now-a-days. An effort of the gift shop owners, Archies, Hallmark etc? Also cashed upon now by the others, titan, kwality walls, cafe coffee day, travel houses et al?
But what does it mean really? If it does, anything, at all.

together we spend an evening
continued into the morning

tidy the house
fill up the vases
chrysanthemums lilies roses
held together with laces

polish the crystal
set the table
put on the music
let's twist and turn to
the drums, guitar and cymbal

the room's aglow
with lights from the street
the stars and moon
that play hide-n-seek

it's pure magic
with wishes that it doesn't end
yet with promises galore
let the night and morning blend

this is what i like
about days that are valentine's
but then, is this not
what we like
for even the days
that are not valentine's? :)

Has Scarlett grown up?

2010-01-27T19:28:00.004+05:30

"You've changed Scarlett", he said quietly."The charming girl has become an elegant, grown-up woman. I salute you, I really do."

The Scarlett O'Hara of Tara, as we know her has grown up. Was it a natural progression or a forced one? Well.. for me, for one, Scarlett was perfect. Perfect as perfection goes. With a hint of impatience, those emerald eyes seething with undisguised jealousy, that temper barely in control, yes and also that fierce pride, that unwavering loyalty for her home her land, that protective feeling for her nears and dears, the uncompromising practicality, the foolhardy courage to stand up against the yankees and with her love for Rhett. She was perfect.

Why did she need to be a grown up? more than she was, already. Because, people did not understand her joyful self , her free spirits or was it because they did and were not able to mask their jealousy that they were not courageous enough to live up?

P.S. Would follow up to this post when I finish reading the sequel-Scarlett, by Alexandra Ripley to Gone with the wind, by Margaret Mitchell. Which incidentally is one of my favourite books still :)

Fire or ice?

2010-01-23T21:32:00.000+05:30

What really is worse - fire or ice?

If Linda Goodman is to be believed,

When the Aries woman has been really hurt, she turns from fire to ice. Her fire bums hot and dies quickly. Her ice can be eternal. Memorize that, if you care deeply about her-and it's doubtful that she'll stand for you caring about her any other

The typical Aries girl, that I am, I dread ice. Fire I can deal with, ice, not so much.
Yea.. I also know, that it's difficult to extinguish. Difficult to put out. Not only that, it takes a tremendous effort to control it as well. A raging fire can take with it the whole forest, the town and the city as some might like to remind me.
But do we not forget the havoc that befalls as only ice can. What did the 100 years of ice do to a place as beautiful as Narnia? And still people prefer the ice. Ice that is permanent. That can be thawed only with some fire somewhere.

Also, can we forget that however hot, fire still has the warmth and the light to keeps us going.

so, what's your take, fire or ice?

Love is..

2009-12-07T17:16:00.002+05:30

while chatting with SS y'day, it hit me real, hit me like in real time. He asked me, so, are you in love? I replied.. I don't even know what love is, anymore. He persisted, thinking I didn't want to tell him my current status. I couldn't come up with a better answer, try as I did, nonetheless. but this left me quite in a pondering state.

some realizations that hit me, later.

love is probably tolerance.

of your quirks and my nonsense

maybe it is the acceptance

of your conflicts and my ambivalence

or is it the sharing

of your comforting words and my caring?

i know this is right,

right this is

even though to state it is, very traditional

that love is nothing else but, unconditional :)

All in a Day's Work

2009-12-07T00:20:00.003+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 5; the fifth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

The floor was second
The evening gray
I stood there
In the last bay

Strangers we were
I didn't know the play
Yet you beckoned
Without having to say

Across the room
Above 'em all
It's the look you gave
That made me fall..

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

And I wonder.

2009-11-12T11:53:00.000+05:30

the quickness of it all -
the tennis racquet
and the ping pong ball
- of the days gone by

the quickness of it all -
the chinese whispers
the snake and ladders
- of the days gone by

the quickness of it all -
the stories
and tales
of mermaids and ogres
sea monsters and saints
- of the days gone by

the quickness of it all -
the wonder the beauty

of picnics and 'frooty'

- of the days gone by

the quickness of it all -

the flirting and hurting
the fresher's queen and the king

- of the days gone by

a day.. two days

months into decades

and I wonder

at the quickness of it all.

Important things.

2009-11-12T11:32:00.003+05:30

The RJ asked ,"How connected are you to your partner ? How well do you communicate ? Do you also talk about yourselves or is it that all you talk about are the important things? What about things that all not important ? ".

Important things ... But what are they? According to her they are the decisions in life. Umm, a sampler..

What fridge to buy.when to pick up the kids ? Who's turn to get the Vegetables ? Where to put the extra bedding for the visiting relatives? How good will the weather be in the coming days ? *sigh!*

Such mundane monotonous talks! Things, that after some time start getting done all no their own. You don't need to mediate. No intervention, not even initiation is required.

We tend to know all such matters. You would know what is your husband's favourite restaurant but do you know what his dreams are? You know your wife's favourite dress but do you know her fears too?

All that we tend to talk about in the initial days determines whether we'll be happy or not and also in some cases whether the relationship will last at all or not. These random no-talk-talks are what make sure that two people grow apart. That they find each others' company boring and that it becomes an effort to talk to the spouse when back home from work! Is this what we picture our relationship to be like when we begin a new one?

We say we share. Share our home our space our bed we may, but do we really share our lives?

Easier way.

2009-10-15T12:40:00.004+05:30

When I was a little younger, maybe in class 10th or 11th, I thought I had seen it all ( yea, yea, teenage ignorance! :P). And then I would read in the newspapers about some random suicide here or there. The adolescent mind, overworking as always, would try to find a suicide option. But all those that it could come up with were either -

1. painful and scary or

2. very painful and very scary.

Alas! Had I only known about the one option that was not painful(enjoyable even, according to my friends!) and not scary at all, I might have tried it!!!! :D

One of those ads that strike a chord. Immediately.

And why.

Disclaimer : Even if ever I would have thought that I might be able to withstand the pain and not be chicken from trying either of them(very hypothetically speaking), I knew I wouldn't do it as there were people who loved me and who would be devastated if I were dead.

Happy teacher's day!

2009-10-12T16:18:00.003+05:30

I have started teaching! It was something I never thought I would do. There are always those times in your life when you look down upon some profession or other. We have all had this when we were in the college, directed towards the only accessible-for-scorn profession - teaching!

And yet, here I am, teaching and enjoying every second of it. :)

It is an interior designing institute in Delhi and they wanted a part time faculty(read 8:00 to 10:00) in the morning. They got my reference from some random job site and pursued me(benefits of being a part of a big architectural firm :P) till the time I gave in! My only concern was how do I manage office and this together. But I am doing it, and hope I'd be able to continue.

I guess what drives me is the will to teach others what I know. And yes, it certainly is easier said than done. :)

p.s. - I got a teacher's day card(yea yea.. it was a guy and yes he was trying to strike points) and a few wishes, here and there.. :) on the second class.. it was very very embarrassing and yet very touching for some strange reason!

August Rush

2009-08-26T20:45:00.001+05:30

It's a tale from one full moon night to the other. only that they happen to be eleven years away from each other. A tale that begins one night, follows the notes and crescendos, to reach the grand finale the other.

Lyla and Louis, follow the music. And find each other instead. It was just one night they had spent together and yet a connection so deep had been forged.

Shortly after his birth, their child had been put up at an orphanage by Lyla's father while lying to her saying it was a stillbirth. Louis, of course, had no clue that he was a father.
Their forced separation made the music within them die.
The story, the movie, is not about them. It is about their son, Evan, who even after eleven years of no contact from either of the parents believes that they are alive and that he would find them. That, the music would help him find them.

And it does. The movie indeed is an incredible journey moving at the speed of sound.

p.s. The dvd of this movie was a gift. :)
If any of you has not seen it, you can catch it on August 29th on Pix! :) Enjoy!

Get Well Soon!!!

2009-08-21T18:03:00.003+05:30

What do you do when someone you love falls sick? I panic. So I realised in the past couple of days. Not in a way that I don't kno what to do, where to go et al. But panic in the weirder way. Where I feel helpless AND useless if I am not doing something that helps in wellbeing of the patient!!! Even if it is only a case of the influenza!
It's as if I already have a list of questions-to-ask ready! :P And they don't even vary either of the 40 times a day that I ask them!!!
Are you cold?
Do you think you have fever?
Are you sure?
We'll take the temperature?
Are you hungry?
Do you want to eat anything?
Are you sure?
Are you cold?
Do you want another blanket?
Are you sure?
Do you want to drink anything?
Do you want soup?
Are you sure?
Watermelon juice?

The answers to most of them, as you might have guessed, is a NO. Except for 'Are you sure?' For which it is a very firm and insistant YES! :D

Now I know what my mother means when she says, " You'd realise it only when you become a mother!!"
*Aah! did I hear a chuckle somewhere?!*

p.s. If you're reading this before you get well.. please get well soon! If not for yourself then for me!! I dont like the fact that I've turned into a nagging mother!!!!
*sigh*

Not a child and not a Goddess

2009-07-23T18:39:00.003+05:30

Girl - I am not feeling good. I am low and irritated and snappy and I feel I am not looking good today.
Boy - Oh! That's why you didn't go to work today?!
Girl - Yeah.. You got that right, I am looking ugly today. I don't like it at all.
Boy - That's okay, sweetheart. Even you can't look beautiful all the times. It's okay to look bad sometimes. Some days you look good, some days you don't. It happens.

*sigh*

Is it not nice to be treated like an adult. As an equal. Ask me. It is a relief. To know that it's alright. Alright for you to be scared of losing something. And that even if you do, it'll be alright.
There could've been two different ways the conversation could have gone other than the aforementioned.
One could've been when the boy tries to tell her that she still is pretty. Despite everything, she still is. Put her up on a pedestal. What a farce. Yet the girl smiles. She likes the compliments. Knowing very well that he's fibbing. If it did make her feel good, then, later a doubt creeps in. Does he always fib when he praises me?

On the other hand, the boy could have convinced her that he would love her, no matter what. However she looks. That looks don't matter. She smiles. The objective achieved. But she's no kid. Is she? She knows the importance of each and every aspect of her own self. Then who is the boy kidding, anyway? Not himself for sure. Would his neck not turn every time a pretty young thing walks past them. Even with her hand in his own? And would she not know that it did?!

The only way to deal, is to strike a balance. It might hurt just a little bit, but it'll be easier. To tell her, that's is alright. It's only human. And that the only way is, to deal with it. And accept it. That she is an adult. And an equal.
Not a child and not a Goddess.

Beautiful vs Not so.

2009-07-22T01:39:00.001+05:30

Beauty, somehow, always manages to elicit different responses from different women. From men it is always the same. It's perhaps the appreciative look that they give. That tells us women, how one of them is more preferred than the rest.

And yes, does being beautiful not help the women?!

It eases the whole process. The ticket queues from the govt offices to the movie theaters. If not quicker, it is more comfortable.

'Beautiful women can get away with murder' is what someone I know keeps saying.

As a conclusion after another of the many conversations that I keep having with this friend, I realised how difficult it must be for some of the girls for a few years. When they are not pretty enough and the boys are cruel. Yes, I mean the age bracket of 12-15 yrs.
Girls are getting there. From being cute to becoming pretty. But boys don't like them. Yet.
I thanked my stars then, that I was an alright looking girl even in those years. I say alright because I had my doubts all the times, despite the compliments. Either I'd be too thin or too fat. Too fair or too dark. Too curly or too straight. It could never be perfect. Even today.
An old joke goes something like this -
Q - Why is an average woman more good looking than intelligent
A - Because an average man can see better than he can think!

Well, we seem to be obsessed with beauty and beauty products.
And for good reason too. What does a girl do when a guy she really likes and finds the feeling to be reciprocated converses her like this -

Girl - I am not feeling good. I am low and irritated and snappy and I feel I am not looking good today.
Boy - Oh! That's why you didn't go to work today?!
Girl - Yeah.. You got that right, I am looking ugly today. I don't like it at all.
Boy - That's okay, sweetheart. Even you can't look beautiful all the times. It's okay to look bad sometimes. Some days you look good, some days you don't. It happens.

Umm.. did they not know there's a word called pampering?! :P
Also, am I only a pretty face? and that once when I stop looking good.. well.. *shudders*

This only teaches you, you gotta look good all times. Else there's more fish in the sea! :P
More on this in a bit. Maybe the other perspective. ;-)

When a woman loves a man

2009-07-21T22:01:00.005+05:30

Never has it been said by a man that he's understood a woman. And never will he be able to say that.
They can only perhaps try to understand. That is, if at all the woman lets them.
Let me try to simplify the process. I'll take David Lehman's help here and quote something out of 'When a woman loves a man' (complete poem). That is so how we want things to be like.

When she says margarita she means daiquiri.
When she says quixotic she means mercurial.
And when she says, "I'll never speak to you again,"
she means, "Put your arms around me from behind
as I stand disconsolate at the window."

He's supposed to know that.

Polygamy

2009-07-21T14:15:00.000+05:30

“Man is a natural polygamist: he always has one woman leading him by the nose, and another hanging on to his coattails.”

~ Henry Louis Mencken

Are they really polygamous?!
I mean, men believe and would like us to believe that they are polygamous. But are they?
I know this post defies convention. But then, when was I a regular girl next door?

Well looking at the dictionary meaning, polygamy means -
either

1. The condition or practice of having more than one spouse at one time. Also called plural marriage.

or

2. Zoology A mating pattern in which a single individual mates with more than one individual of the opposite sex.

Is it really this difficult to be in a monogamous 'loving' relationship? I mean, I look around and all I see is people getting out of their years-long relationships.. The reason? Sheer boredom!! But being bored and as a consequence getting into a polygamous state doesn't mean that men are innately so by nature.

I asked a simple out of the blue question to a lot of my guy friends.

Why would you want a wife(whenever you would, that is)?

And, not surprisingly, the one thing common to all their answers was - for companionship.
When guys say they want companionship, how can we, ever, even think that they would want to stray. Or that straying is something they look forward to, already.

After companionship, comes that they want to love and to be loved.

Which makes me wonder if we can talk of love and companionship and two timing and extra marital affair in the same breath?

But is companionship and love what we get when we are committed?
Things can get from bad to worse and men can get into an affair outside of marriage or the committed relationship they are in. Then maybe, it is only a maybe as I can't vouch for men, they would still rather have only one relationship. Only that they are not courageous enough to be able break away and hence the polygamous situation!

And hence, on this note let me end by quoting G.K. Chesterton, who very wisely said -

"Variability is one of the virtues of a woman. It avoids the crude requirement of polygamy. So long as you have one good wife, you are sure to have a spiritual harem."

Vacant Expanses

2009-07-15T17:30:00.002+05:30

Vacant expanse all around

Hangs heavy

And tepid

Pungent with my own fears.

Alone.

I am all alone.

Road winding uphill

With ends that ne'er o meet

With except for in illusions

Parallels moving together

Not a soul to be seen.

I fear this lonely stretch

That might just not last

I wouldn't want to be

With another

Who doesn't let me breathe

The fear

The expanse

The road

The wind

Some of what I am

I cannot let it go

All that is a part of me

It's all that is me.

I walk and you let me leave..

2009-07-09T12:17:00.002+05:30

I walk and you let me leave..

Is this the lovin' of which you talked to me!

The smiles

The laughs

The one of which we were two halves

I walk and you let me leave..

Is this the lovin' of which you talked to me?!

If you love someone..

2009-07-07T17:31:00.002+05:30

The original goes on like this..

If you love someone, set it free.

If it comes back.. it is yours.

If it doesn't it never was.

This is the version that made me chuckle -

If you love someone, set it free.

If it comes back, it was, and always will be yours.

If it doesn't, it was never was.

If it just sits in your room,

messes up your stuff,

eats your food,

uses your phone,

takes your money,

and never behaves as if you actually set it free in the first place,

you either married it or gave birth to it.

Can we be content, ever?

2009-07-07T14:16:00.007+05:30

I used to fear the unknown. The things I thought I couldn't understand. That I didn't know the inner workings of. The dark. The world beyond. Now I've accepted that there might be things I don't know. Events that I don't understand. Circumstances I know nothing about. People I can't fathom. Yet I accept them all.

What makes us so diffrent from each other? The basic fact - that is- the way we think. The way we react towards a situation. The way we respond to a person. The way we relate or not to a situation. this is what makes us so different.

This acceptance is what we require. This acceptance of the differences. And the harmoniuous living alongwith.

As I maintain, what is love? It is nothing but acceptance of the highest order.

I know people who find it's beyond them when it comes to understanding other people. They are happy doing their own things. Happy believing that the world out there is rotten, bad and wicked.

We need people like these. Only if they would be able to accept the difference and stay content.

We look at a criminal. We look only what he's done. Do we also look at what drove him to do that? I've started to. And I'm alright. As long as I know the reason. I can forgive and forget. It makes my life so much easier. So much simpler. There's no anger. If only, momentarily so.

Office politics. This is one of those ruts I never wanted to get into. But then, I am only human. It is basic human nature to form a group and yet want to be a loner. It is this conflict of interests that creates these situations.

We've learnt about Darwin. And the theory about the survival of the fittest. And yet if we can't relate it to the others. If we can't empathise and hence accept the bites, the claws, the scratches and lashes. Can we really be content ever?

Getting a girl - and keeping her as well

2009-07-06T22:45:00.003+05:30

As someone I know very aptly put it -
Its not rocket science, but you are likely to have better success if you treat the girl like any other business associate - Polite and Professional!!

But he gave out only half the story. Maybe because he doesn't realise it himself. Or maybe because he doesn't want the other men to benefit from it. Who knows!

Let me elaborate.
You gotta be polite. But not only until you've got her. So before you've gotten her you open the doors and mind the p's and q's. But bang(!) and don't you forget, my dear! *pun totally intended*
Is this what being polite is? That you're polite only till the courtship time. Methinks, it is more polite to be impolite earlier than later.

Professionalism it is. But then being professional means carrying it through the whole time! You gotta deliver. and deliver with perfection. All that you promised. When wanting to make her fall for you.

But then of course. You do all of this if and only if you want to keep her. Else, stop at the first para and enjoy the ride! :-)

Who's the fairest?

2009-07-06T16:30:00.004+05:30

While watching the match y'day, gripping as it was, I didn't miss even the commercials. Suddenly I see John abraham and was I not interested! :)

But the euphoria didn't last for long as I realised, he was the 'brand ambassador' for well..

Garnier Powerlight!!! Yea. It's a fairness cream for men!

And was I not disappointed! He of all the people is the wrong guy to be in an ad propagating whole 'fairness' mania considering he is the well, come to think of it, one of the very few guys I know who has a gf darker than himself. And is she not HOT!!

For someone who is not very fair by our north indian standards, I know how cruel people can be regarding your colour! I have known people dismiss one of the sisters only because she unfortunately is not as fair! There's a guy in my office who is extremely so. And he wants a wife more than what he himself is! And I thought as Indians our skin tone is supposed to be.. well.. a healthy tanned!

When we get to know about any new matches, the first thing that everyone asks is ' is she fair?'. As if, it's just the fairness that matters. Her merits, the education, the well mannerisms don't.

The obsession with the fairness doesn't end here.

Not only do the darker girls get all the chiding the mothers, the grandmother and the aunts always are trying to smother them with ways to improve colour! The raw potatoes, the cucumbers.. the turmeric.. lemon! But nothing works. Do they not know it's in the genes. If anyone is to be blamed, it has to be the generations above the poor sufferer. But I guess it's not their fault. They took the whole 'Mirror mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all' way too seriously!

As if all this was not enough, there is an onslaught of beauty products hitting the market promising to make you beautiful. Yea of course they mean fair and hence the beauty! And now, truly understanding the need of the hour, it is not only the face but also the whole body fairness lotions that they've come out with!

Personally, I see no reason why the colour of the skin should refrain a person from being and looking beautiful. As Reggie jackson very famously said -

"The only difference between me and those other great yankees is my skin color"

Having said that, let me get out of here for today. Have to doll up. And my Garnier fairness face wash and the Garnier fairness wipe off lotion are waiting for me! ;-)

Not easy to please women

2009-07-06T12:32:00.005+05:30

I am irritated. tired. and a litle buzzed. even after a super packed and fun weekend and a week of almost no work. maybe it is just the too much of nothings in my life that's doing this to me.

Aah! I just realised all this is just the overflow from the PMS from last week.

The previous weekend I claimed to be out on three dates. With three different men of course. all in a span of 18 hours. When in reality all I did was vegetate at home and (very obviously and in full hearing f my parents and sister) moan! This claim was made to Arshad who was home in Cochin on a vacation. To which he replied - " You're on fire this weekend, doll!".

Even he wouldn't buy it.

And well I apologise, yet again this morning, for bringing up the very sensitive issue of PMS and all that. For the uninitiated, as many men(very surprisingly) are, PMS is Pre menstrual syndrome, and no it is not a disease! :D

This is just a woman's way to get pampered. and also to rant all that she wants to!

There's one thing that I really don't understand. Why are men so scared of PMS. And of a pms-ing woman, of course as well? I agree, the women are difficult, irritated, look a little unkempt, and of course are not in the mood for any sex. But then as very aptly put by Marilyn Monroe -

"I am selfish, impatient and insecure, a little out of control and at times I am hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst...then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

P.S. - Just to set the records straight, women DONOT fake this. The mood swings do happen.

P.P.S - And yes, the rants would continue.. not easy to please a woman, pms-ing or not, is it?! ;-)

The grand wedding saga -1

2009-07-06T11:38:00.002+05:30

This happened to me on friday morning.

There's light outside already. Rubbing my eyes I check out the phone to see if it's time to wake up. Hoping it isn't yet. It's only five. But hey! BFF3's been calling me through the night. and there are messages from her too.

I call her and this is what ensues.

BFF3 - You up already?

I - nah! I just woke up and saw your calls. sorry slept through them. what's up?

BFF3 - Oh! So you still in bed.

I - Yea. Still time to wake up. I thought I'd call. What happened? emergency?

BFF3 - Well..if you sleepy, lemme wake you then.

I - Eh?

BFF3 - Well.. I'm not going to London.

I - EH?! Why? *concerned* What happened? Everything alright?

BFF3 - Yea.. only that I got fixed up last night!

I - *with hysteria, excitement, hysteria, happiness, some more hysteria in my voice* WHAT?!

And yes, I forgot to mention, I jumped up from the bed. And had no idea that the crazy weekend had begun!

The weekend so far

2009-07-06T10:41:00.003+05:30

Apologies. For not keeping up with blogging. But my life's been full of well.. many incidents suddenly. Very amusing at that.

A little update on what my friends have been upto, and you'll get the picture.

Umm.. for their rights of privacy and blah I will hereon call them, not by their original names but would number them *until I come up wih names for them all*.

So, BFF1 has been very happy pampering herself *read shopping left right and centre* at all the monsoon sales.

BFF 2 has a guy at the office, totally totally trying to court her, as is she not enjoying the ride! ;-) though when I ask her, she claims to have no idea about what I'm talking about!

BFF 3 had who had been super duper super excited about going to London (LSE at that), for a summer program for a month, didn't at the last moment(another post about it)!

Another friend got a death threat from a super hot girl, just because he didn't confirm her political views. and yes, she also mentioned that she was in the army!! *grin*

I have been as jobless at work, as always. And not hating it. As yet.

And well as for Arshad, it's Hard Rock overload.

Marking your woman

2009-06-28T16:15:00.001+05:30

What's the issue with marking your woman? Metaphorically AND literally. Men like to mark their women. And subconsciously whether looking for a commitment or not even the other men stay away from the marked ones! :P Which makes me wonder if they really are looking only for that?! Ahem! *chuckle*
Marking.. well how do they do that, you might ask.. very simple. The more traditional methods are.. well..That bindi on the forehead? The amber sindoor sparkling above. The glittering mangal sutra. Those jingling glass bangles. The wedding band lovingly put on the ring finger. Or the coruscating nose ring? Those colourful toe rings. The ghunghat that they hide behind! What else did we think these were? Yep! Just the marks of being taken! And that brings us to the more non-traditional erm.. subtle methods! *wink,wink*

Do you like it when your guy takes your hand and leads you through the crowded dance floor? Or do you like it when he takes you by the waist, while he gives the stay-off-my-girl look to all the others around ?! *wink* The way he's a little more in the mood of PDA when you are around someone who's being trying to hit on you??? umm.. tagging your photo on the facebook or you yourself the blog?! *chukle*

These are a few instances just based on my observation. Maybe men they do it because of the hunter instinct from the cave men's times. As there'd always be that need.. and the instinct to protect.

And as we already know, other men do keep away from the marked women, don't they?! *wink, chukle*

And also it brings me back to the question that if they really are looking only for that?!

I need a husband.

2009-06-23T10:23:00.002+05:30

I've always rebuffed any suggestions, nudge,nudge wink,wink or the more direct in-my-face ones, about my need to get married. But now I know. I NEED a husband. If only so that he can drive me to work and back. You might ask me if a driver would do, instead. No. He wouldn't. Only because if he bangs the car then it wouldn't still be his fault. It'll be my headache. With the husband, it'll be his headache and his fault! *evil grin*

Now that I have told you what I need, methinks it is time to let know why. Yes, it is because someone (read obnoxious @#&^*!*&^%# ) banged my car from behind today morning. Not only that, he had the audacity to tell me it was my fault!!! Because, giving an indicator is not enough when you are turning left, you also have to take into account the *over* speeding vehicle *at least 60 in a 20kmph zone* which is trying to zoom past you!!!!!!!!! (Yes. He told me this!)

*sigh*

P.s. - I reach office after the debacle and get six cheery 'good mornings' today! Such is life!!

I want to travel!

2009-06-17T16:03:00.002+05:30

There is suddenly an urge to travel. Again. After a long long time. I suddenly want to look around. to see the other sides. not of the proverbial coin but of the 20 sided die! Only cuz there'll be much more to look out for! :-)

More on it when I actually do get to get out of Delhi and the unbearable heat.

Calvin and bed!

2009-06-17T14:23:00.000+05:30

The story of my life... :D

The upturned denim!!

2009-06-15T10:54:00.003+05:30

I so don't like shopping for denims. Or anything else that tells me that because I am thiiiiiiis fat I should've also been thiiiiiis tall! Hmmmph!

So I got this pair y'day which of course needed a few inches chopped off. But as usual, of course, they couldn't get the length right in the first go. And so I had to take it away that way itself and return another time to get the corrections done.

Coming to today morning I turned them up a bit as I got ready for the office. Just as I was getting out

My dad : Aah!! No office for you today?

Yours truly : Oh! noh! of course there is!

Dad : I thought you have an off today

Yours truly : No no! Why do you say that?

Dad : Oh! The turned up denim et al! I thought you going out elsewhere!

Yours truly : Erm.. Actually chhoti (my sister) asked me to turn them up a little further...

Dad : But?

Yours truly : Well.. I can't wear capris at work

Dad : Says who?

Yours truly : Well.. they are not formal!!

Dad : Oh yes! Of course these denims you wear everyday are oh-so-formal! A tie would go so well with them!!

Yours truly : *ignoring the dad, feigining hearing loss, saunters out*

Need a little time

2009-06-14T10:34:00.003+05:30

A lazy sunday morning.

Late night last night.

Late morning today.

A lazy sunday morning.

I got breakfast in bed. Courtesy my mum. Who I just had an arguement with regarding 'my space'! At that time I thought she didn't get it. But in retrospect, I realise perhaps it is I who doesn't get it (my judgement befooled by the b'fast in bed, of course :P)!!

A lazy sunday morning. I'm sitting in bed.. typing away.. whiling away. And I so like it. Though in the background I'm preparing myself for some entertaining I need to do.

Today, if you ask me,

- "What's the story morning glory?"

- "Need a little time to wake up!"

Kid talk!

2009-06-08T12:22:00.002+05:30

This is what my six year old cousin had to say about his 9 months sister to my aunt.

Raghav : Mommy. she looks the ugliest when she cries.

Aunt : *shocked to hear that he called the sister ugly* Umm.. okay Raghav.. so when does she look the prettiest?

Raghav : Umm.. when she's all clean after you bathe her at night and she's fast asleep peacefully. That's when.

Aunt : Ahem!

Hair and now!

2009-06-02T14:16:00.004+05:30

Sitting together, the two of them were discussing the nothings. As always. And enjoying thoroughly the talks, as much as the company.

April : What do you like more.. long hair or short?

August : *Amused look*

April : *with a goofy smile* No I mean if you like longer hair, I can grow them for you

August : You know what,wear the way you want to ! I'd like whatever you like.. whatever you are comfortable with, it suits me.

April : No! Please tell me.. I can grow them if you want me to!!!

August : *turns towards her to look into her eyes* Ok. Here's the thing, my being with you is not dependant on the length of your hair! It is only dependant upon the good times that we have! So, it's all good!!

And with that he leaves April with an even goofier smile and a wonderful thought! :-)

The Human explosion!

2009-05-31T22:22:00.003+05:30

Just while surfing channels I came across this reality show on which the anchor very, mind it very chirpily announced -
"We have for you.. the human explosion... Mallika Sherawat"

Erm.. I didn't get what she meant by it.. did you?!

*chuckle*

Because she had not been born a man

2009-05-26T15:22:00.004+05:30

Acts of Faith by Erich Segal. One of the books that made me think. And realise the importance of the privileged life that I've been leading. Of life and freedom of mind and speech that until I had read this some years back I took for granted.

As time passed, Deborah Luria learned what else the Father of the Universe had ordained for Jewish women.

In the men's morning prayers, there were benedictions to the Lord for every conceivable gift:

Blessed art Thou Who Cast enabled the

rooster to distinguish between day

and night.

Blessed art Thou Who Last not made me

a heathen.

Blessed art Thou Who Past not made

me a female.

While the men were giving thanks for their masculinity, the girls had to be content with:

Blessed art Thou Who past made me according to Thy Will.

Their teacher, Mrs. Brenner, constantly reminded the girls that they were privileged to help their husbands fulfill God's injunction to Adam to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."

Is that all we are, Deborah thought to herself, baby machines?

The best her teacher could offer was that since women were created from one of man's ribs, they are therefore only part of what men are.

By chance, years later when he was in high school, Danny showed her a passage from the Talmud that she had never been allowed to read during her own education.

It explained why, during intercourse, a man must face down and a woman upward: a man looks at the earth, the place whence he came, a woman at the place where she was created the man's rib.

A woman who gives birth to a boy must wait forty days before she becomes "pure" again, whereas one who gives birth to a girl must wait eighty days.

Ever since she could remember, Deborah Luria had wanted the privileges bestowed upon her brother at his circumcision. But as she grew up she was obliged to face the painful fact that she could never serve God to the fullest . . .

Because she had not been born a man.

-Excerpts from Acts of Faith, Erich Segal.

The theory of changes and the likes

2009-05-25T15:25:00.002+05:30

And then I think I don't change 'em nor do I change for 'em!
Do I accept change as long as I know it is not for or because of somebody? And do I shy away from it as soon as I realise it is because of a reason other than myself?!
Just a random thought.

Got hit by a thunderbolt

2009-05-16T10:24:00.003+05:30

At a cafe, Michael tells her father Vitelli that he meant no disrespect or offense to him or to his daughter when describing her beauty:

I apologize if I offended you. I am a stranger in this country. And I meant no disrespect to you, or your daughter. I am an American, hiding in Sicily. My name is Michael Corleone. There are people who'd pay a lot of money for that information. But then your daughter would lose a father instead of gaining a husband. I wanna meet your daughter with your permission and under the supervision of your family with all respect.

Micheal, after struck by the beauty of Apollonia, as described by one of his bodyguards:

"I think you got hit by the thunderbolt."

- An excerpt form, The Godfather

I am chocolate!

2009-05-08T17:11:00.002+05:30

This tells me I am chocolate! And I post this only cuz I so liked the way it described me(supposedly)!! :D

You Are Chocolate

You are dramatic, charming, and downright addicting.

You have a strong personality, and and people are drawn to your fabulousness.

You are stimulating and exciting. It's hard to get tired of you.

You are incredibly likable and popular. You live a glorious life.

Are You Chocolate or Vanilla?

They do not love..

2009-05-08T14:38:00.002+05:30

They do not love that do not show their love
The course of true love never did run smooth
Love is a familiar
Love is a devil
There is no evil angel but love

-William Shakespeare
Love's Labour's Lost

Captain Jacks Pairo!

2009-04-30T17:21:00.005+05:30

Just couldn't resist taking this pic and posting it here.. To 'Captain Jacks Pairo' .. :-))

Kids these days..

2009-04-28T17:00:00.004+05:30

I'm sure my Uncle didn't bargain for this conversation with his nine year old girl when he jokingly asked her to come and massage his feet!
*chuckle*

Uncle : Kiddo! come here and massage my feet.
Kid : So is this why you had kids? So that you could ask them to come and massage your feet?!!
Uncle : Of course! We thought that when our kids grow up we would be able to get them to do some seva! But alas!! Our kids don't work at all!! Would've been better if we wouldn't have had you kids at all!!! *sigh*
Kid : So then your fault! You should have taken that iPill! *some laughter*
Uncle : Shocked silence.
Kid : Or also there's that condom.. condom no?! *guffawing*
Uncle : Way too stunned to say anything at all.

Bright!

2009-04-27T17:40:00.002+05:30

A wonderful limerick. :-) It's all relative. Ain't it? :P

There was a young lady named Bright

Whose speed was far faster than light;

She set out one day,

In a relative way

And returned on the previous night.

-A. H. Reginald Buller (1874 – 1944)

A one year old's birthday party

2009-04-27T17:05:00.005+05:30

What is an appropriate celebration for your kid's first birthday?!
Not only that s/he wouldn't remember any of it when she grows up she would perhaps be sitting somewhere looking at that didi snatch away her balloon and run!
So, why do we really celebrate a one year old's birthday? Is it because the parents feel happy that they threw a party for all their friends and relatives? And that once the child's fifteen she would maybe understand and also remember for life as to what happened on her first birthday! ;)

And I thought I was an architect..

2009-04-27T16:36:00.004+05:30

And I thought I was an Architect. Being in this wonderful office has made sure that I've remained everything but that! The latest being 'The letter writer'. Yep. I now do all the important letter writing bit for my seniors. All thanks to my good language skills!
*sigh*
I now know that Journalism was something I should have taken up in the first place instead of Architecture!

The Google effect!

2009-04-27T16:26:00.002+05:30

I am a compulsive 'googler' - a self-coined terminology for someone who has to google every, read that every thing right from a recipe to a dress designer to the STD codes to some useless fact! And amongst other things I like the new look Google adorns time and again. Like today, I got a surprise when I got on to the homepage. For this is what it looked like..

Yep! it indeed was celebrating the birthday of Samuel Morse, the father of the Morse code!

Feeling very complacent then, very eerily as if predicting the future, I chanced upon this! *chuckle*

Re-learning Driving.

2009-04-27T14:02:00.001+05:30

Re-learning driving. The Dilli ishtyle.

Since the time I've started, I've had people praise me for my driving skills. Maybe only so so that I feel good! *smile*
But now after about 6 years of sporadic driving on Delhi roads and also having driven a few times on the highways, I am relearning the basics. Here's for all to enjoy.
Statuary Warning : Emulate at your own risk. :P

1. While waiting at a traffic signal whether third or tenth car in the queue, wait what queue?!, be attentive with your hand poised on the horn. So that, without wasting a breath, as soon as the traffic signal turns green you can HONK! :D Maybe, the others in front of you didn't manage to catch the green light! or maybe, they thought of admiring the scenery around and hence didn't want to move! :o Who knows, what's stalling them!!

2. The fastest moving lane is the left one. The best way is to cruise to the very front in left lane and stop. And hope that another 'Dehliite' like you stops behind you. And then, ready as you anyhow would be, as soon as the signal turns green, before anyone can even say 'hello', just zoom past them all to turn right! :D See!! Did I not say left lane was the fastest!!

3. There is NO free left turn anywhere. Anywhere. The reason?! Refer number 2. :-)

4. When a vehicle in front of you slows down, you don't. Let that fool slow down. You just swerve sharply, quickly, without indicating of course in front of the unsuspecting vehicle in the adjacent lane and just continue! :-) See. So easy! :-) No stoppages, no time wastage!

5. These are the things you do when you see a woman driving.
a. Leer
b. Cut her path. Leer.
c. Park next to her and keep looking inside. Leer.
d. Try to race her. Leer.
e. Honk at her. Unnecessarily. Leer, of course!

You decide..

2009-04-27T12:52:00.002+05:30

Tanmay : Then do we just go home?
Anika : You decide
Tanmay : Let's take the bus, I will accompany you
Anika : The Bus is dirty and crowded.
Tanmay : Ok we will take a cab
Anika : Not worth it... for such a short distance
Tanmay : All right, then we can walk. We can enjoy the weather
Anika : I am hungry, can't walk.
Tanmay : Then what do you suggest?
Anika : You decide

:D
This is how we communicate. Men and women. These conversations really make us believe that we're from different planets altogether. Umm.. But aren't we?! *wink,wink*
With this, let me begin the A-T tales. Yup. The Anika-Tanmay tales where the resemblance to any person living or dead is NOT 'purely co-incidental'! Cuz they would be what we are and what we do. Also I would try to dechipher the woman-speak for my fellow members of the other sex. Hoping to make life a little more interesting, if not easier for them.
Suggestions and comments are, as always, more than welcome.
Enjoy. :-)

What season are you? :)

2009-04-17T11:53:00.003+05:30

Blogthings tells me -

You Are Spring!

Hopeful

Playful

Sweet

Fresh

Airy

So, What Season Woman Are You?

I got it..

2009-04-09T10:21:00.014+05:30

I got my first birthday gift for the year. Ta da! :D
And none other than the one thing I really wanted.
The one I had (and there was a wonderful story behind it too) just managed to lose!
A copy of 'Love in the time of Cholera'. :)

Thanks, Arshad! :) :) :)

P.S. He got it for me, even though the same book had led him to label me as a 'hopeless romantic' ! :D :P

Leading to Twenty Five - 5

2009-04-08T10:40:00.005+05:30

"But aren't you going to run and help her?"

Alice asked...

"No use, no use!" said the King. "She runs so fearfully quick you might as well try to catch a Bandersnatch

So you're in love with an Aries girl. I don't know whether to congratulate you or sympathize with you.

And so begins Linda Goodman when she describes us, the Aries women! :D

There'd be a few more on the same lines; now that the sun is in Aries, let's celebrate the spring blooms and the firecrackers that go with it. *wink*

I lost it..

2009-04-05T18:19:00.005+05:30

I lost my copy of 'Love in the time of cholera'. :(
Left it in one of the autos back home.
*sigh*
I've gotta go and get another one. Asap.

the 'great unbuttoned' moment.

2009-04-05T10:24:00.003+05:30

So he asked his wife to unbutton. His own denim, of course. So what if it was under the watchful eyes of thousands on a ramp show too! We have nothing against the barely there scraps adorning the hindu naris on and off the ramp then why this? Okay, so he must've made pots of money from the brand he endorses. Okay so he is comfortable with this. With showing the world that he loves her and that she loves him enough to be doing this! So why are we unhappy? Why are we as a nation having to poll for something as trivial as this. When there are matters more pressing like illiteracy and female infanticide!
Or is it just that the difference between us and the west is still where it was.
That on our streets it is allowed to piss but not to kiss.

Atleast a moment.

2009-04-04T11:53:00.002+05:30

Her first reaction was one of hope, because his eyes were open and shining with a radiant light she had never seen there before. She prayed to God to give him at least a moment so that he would not go without knowing how much she had loved him despite all their doubts, and she felt an irresistible longing to begin life with him over again so that they could say what they had left unsaid and do everything right that they had done badly in the past. But she had to give in to the intransigence of death.

Love in the time of Cholera
-Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Do we have time? :P

2009-04-01T13:10:00.000+05:30

Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and George Washington are on a sinking ship.

As the boat sinks, George Washington heroically shouts, "Save the women!"

George W. Bush hysterically hollers, "Screw the women!"

Bill Clinton's asks excitedly, "Do we have time?"

Lady of Shalott

2009-04-01T12:23:00.002+05:30

John William Waterhouse's Lady of Shalott

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

- Tennyson

Leading to Twenty Five - 4

2009-03-31T09:56:00.003+05:30

There's no other time that the your age bit starts hitting you than when you hail an auto or a rickshaw! These people somehow have this uncanny way of telling you your erm.. age.

When I was a li'l girl I was 'baby'.
A little later I became 'Gudiya'.
College was time for 'Didi'.
And now it's 'Madam'!

Just how much longer before..*sigh* it is 'mataji'!!
Just a thought!
Lol!!

There's no perfection

2009-03-30T22:01:00.002+05:30

There's no perfection in anything in life.
Even in the great river Ganga there are black serpents.
The beautiful Saraswathi has jet black curls;
The moon has a dark spot
Because even in nature perfection is not possible.

- Translation of an old Kannada poem in Mahashweta by Sudha Murty

Leading to Twenty Five - 2.1

2009-03-30T15:44:00.002+05:30

But they won't let me!!!

A haircut? - My hairdresser wouldn't
A tattoo maybe? - My friend wouldn't
nose piercing? - My mum wouldn't
Or maybe I should just get that bit of colour I wanted on my hair. That splash of red! only at the ends.. :) - My sister wouldn't !!!!!

And then they say, you're twenty five now. Act your age!!!!! Bah!!

It is wonderful Tonight

2009-03-28T21:15:00.001+05:30

9:15 at night
CCD, Regal
It is wonderful tonight :)
I am doing what I like doing the best like. Am digging into a chocolate fantasy (with ice-cream :)) savouring every bite of it.. with a wonderful book for company. :) This is what I had wanted to do since morning today. To spend time alone. But that's not easy! Yea.. I mean it. That is not easy at all. okay, let me rewind. And then we'll see. :D
2.30 in the afternoon Just out of office
JUST OUT OF OFFICE?! Did I really say that??? like wow! But, hey! A few realizations.
1. I suddenly have a whole lot of day to myself

2. It is just as I wanted it. A whole day to do things that I wanted to, with no intrusions.

3. I have no one to go out with! Not that I wanted to in the first place. Still, I didn't have anyone I could call at such short notice and expect them to oblige me! Bah!

4.30 in the afternoon
In cozy comfort of my bed basically just killing time :D
Dad calls in to check on me! yea they (my parents) still do that! Okay.. so I don't like it when they do but I don't like it even more when they don't! Anyhow, so after all the you had a half day today(?!) bit, he tells me that there's a seminar he'd be attending later in the evening and that I should be ready by 6. Like why would I want to attend a seminar, one. And, two, that too for something (ERP) I don't know what the abbreviation stands for! DUH!

6.15 in the evening.
Here there everywhere
I still am trying to run around getting ready while blowing dry the, still very wet from the very late shower that should have taken place about an hour ago, hair while I'm trying to dissuade him from taking me along and at the same time persuade him to drop me off at Oxford's so that I can well.. enjoy my evening at least a li'l bit!

8.10 in the later evening
At the seminar
Okay. So I like it here. Okay and I also agree that Daddy's not always wrong! *cheeky grin* And suddenly he leans in to whisper that I can go off if I want to and that he'll later take me out for pizza! :D ( :D for being able to go off!)

8.15 in the a bit later in the evening
On my way to .. somewhere.. :)
WOW! It's drizzling. :) beautiful weather. wonderfully magically beautiful weather. :) I walk past a CCD. Hmm.. would be wonderful to dig into a chocolate fantasy with a good read in hand.
Ta da! And so I step in. :)
*sigh!* that would have been the end of a wonderful evening had I not acted on my impulse and left the CCD behind. So now forward.

8.30 in just a little more later that evening
Janpath
Such energy. such euphoria. Such a riot of colours. Lights. People. Shifting shapes.
Why doesn't it rain a little more? Drizzle's no longer fun. It should pour! Pour like there's no tomorrow!
*sigh*

8.35 and I sure have lost track of time
Janpath, in front of the big rabbit cage
Now this looks like something I can like. :))
The heaven's opened its taps.. and am here loving every moment of it.
The billowing winds. The darkness. The thunder. And the cold cold wetness. Feel like home here.
The colours are gone. So are the lights. It's only the rain playing around. Frolicking. Chuckling at the ease with which it can change the course of an evening. Completely. Absolutely.

Sometime later
Still Janpath. Somewhere near D'pauls
"Paridhi?!"
"Nimisha!!"
Both of us, together - "Such a pleasant surprise!" :))
Instant idle chatter. The clothes. The rain. The works!

Sometime Later
Famous Book Store, Janpath
I'm scouring. Devouring. Enjoying. Drinking it all in.
Finally I spot the one I want. 'Love in the times of cholera'. Have been reading an ebook version. But this paper and print feels so so good. Also took another one. By Sudha Murthy. Mahashweta.

Sometime
Somewhere
Now I am ready. With a spring in my step and a jump and a splash with the water running down my face.. I step in. :)

Leading to Twenty Five - 3

2009-03-28T09:31:00.003+05:30

Idea for this post was on my mind for sometime, but Arshad's comment on the previos one acted like a catalyst! :)

There's never enough excitement in the world. But there also is never a paucity of events we can create excitement for! It is the 'what next' that basically is the fuel for life.
I've noticed that it is always the leading-to than the actual final event that manages to excite. That makes you wonder about the pleasures the day in the future holds for you.
When I look back, it is always the dress rehearsals that are far clearly etched in my mind than the annual day itself!

It is the planning.. the preparations.. and well.. the works that make the leading-to times so memorable in the years to come.

This exactly is what makes me excited about my birthday! :)

Love in eternity

2009-03-26T13:00:00.001+05:30

"Love vanquishes time. To lovers, a moment can be eternity, eternity can be the tick of a clock."

Mary Parrish

Leading to Twenty Five - 2

2009-03-26T12:12:00.002+05:30

Spring's all over. In the air. In the trees. In chirping of the birds. In my colored non winter clothes! :)
There's something exciting.. new.. and different I want to do now. Umm..
A haircut?
A tattoo maybe?
nose piercing?
Or maybe I should just get that bit of colour I wanted on my hair. That splash of red! only at the ends.. :)

Is it the spring.. or is my birthday just round the corner! :P :D

The vagaries of love and the likes.

2009-03-26T09:36:00.004+05:30

Give me the idle lecherous look vis-a-vis the undying non-wavering loving gaze any day.
Does this make me weird?
Maybe.
But it is so much easier to deal with disgust than with the realization of the power of hurting someone.

Zogwart Queen!

2009-03-25T11:53:00.003+05:30

Nothing like Calvin to salvage a bad morning!! :)

True homage?!

2009-03-24T09:58:00.004+05:30

I got this SMS sometime after the 26/11! They talk about true homage. Erm.. I am not too sure..

What wud be true homage to victims and brave souls of soldiers?

1National Flag at half mast
2CandleLight Vigil
3Memorial
4Other
Snd Homage to 59595 Rs2.

Oh! They forgot option 5. By not taking such stupid polls and commercializing the sanctity of sacrifices???

In love with office!

2009-03-20T22:41:00.002+05:30

I am going insane. I am in love with my office! ok! not so much so with the people around but the office itself!
Freshly out of college I was this super excited super exuberant kid who jumped at the opportunity of being posted at the airport (at the site itself!) instead of having to sit in our office in Mumbai. All I wanted my place of work to have was loadsa action. A corporate setup. And some good air outside. Which with His grace was what I got too, here! :) When I settled I didn't know that I'd fall for it. And so hard.
Knowing fully well that I'd have to shift I dunno how could I? *sigh*

I can't bear to throw away my money-plant . It's been my company for the entire eighteen months that I've been here! My drawers choc-a-block with papers nick nacks and memories. the blue water bottle and the paper cup. the swivel of the chair and the round table conferences. coffee machine stops en route the terrace, overlooking air-side. My corner that I call office. MY corner. :)
My corner that for once has made me abhor change.

Maybe it's just age catching up with me.

Leading to Twenty five - 1

2009-03-20T13:46:00.002+05:30

I'll be Twenty five in a few days. Twenty Five. Sounds big! But I don't feel as if I'm approaching twenty five. For I like to believe that I had reached the mental 25 a long time back! ok. Debatable it is, but that's what I like to believe. :D

There are a lot of things that come to me as I think about my 25th birthday. The birthday party that I,m thinking of is just one of them. Party?! like who throws a party at 25??? *chuckle* well i do, as long as it has a cake with 26 candles on it! :-)

2009-03-19T17:53:00.003+05:30

My beloved Milo is being taken away !!! :((((
Now how WILL I drink milk???? :(((

Women who know their place

2009-03-19T17:32:00.006+05:30

Dunno if it is true or not, but it was way too good to be let unshared! :D Enjoy! :)))

WOMEN WHO KNOW THEIR PLACE!

Barbara Walters, of Television's 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan , several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands.

From Ms. Walters' vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands, and are happy to maintain the old custom.

Ms Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, 'Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?'

The woman looked Ms. Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said..."Land Mines".

Moral of the story is no matter what language you speak and where you go:

BEHIND EVERY MAN, THERE'S A SMART WOMAN........