Atlast into hibernation i go.....

Who doesn’t love to go into hibernation,once in a while?
With the sun always rising-in-the-East and setting-in-the-West type of mundane schedules, nothing like pepping it up with a vacation, ain’t it?

Since my Rajasthan plans toppled and disappeared without a sign, I had to make do with the last-minute travel plan to Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani.

The train journey from Hyd to Pune was uneventful (no kids crying and no drunken fights to be witnessed) and was spent in devouring the lip-smacking aloo-palak and rotis I’d made. The next day saw me donning the avatar of TMK (Tol Mol Ke Bol, a nick-name given by A to officially announce my bargaining skills!!) and in order not to let him down, I successfully managed to arrange a taxi from Pune to M’war for 900 bucks (n the rates had started at 1500!)

Day two we started on a 5km trek to the Tableland of Panchgani.
Tableland is an absolutely stunning flat stretch of land running to 6kms and overlooking the valley.
The story of Pandavas being there seems like a load of horseshit; as if people would visit the place only in case it has any mythological references!
Anywayz we took a tonga ride for the entire stretch and my friends were ready to throw me out in case I utter ‘nother word of pity for the horse (poor thing, itz not as if 4 well-fed adults are made of feathers!!!)

Day three saw us climbing up and down hills since we decided to cover all points of importance in Mahabaleshwar. Now what would happen if ppl, whose daily dose of exercise comprises of taking a flight of stairs or walking till the corner shop down the road, start trekking??? Blistered feet and sweat strained photos but in the end, it was all worth it.


Frankly I had underestimated the beauty of both these hill stations and they say that it is even more beautiful during the monsoon. The Sayadhri ranges are beautiful – sometimes they appear dry and dusty and at other times it is filled with lush-green valleys. The Krishna river has never looked more beautiful and watching sunset was ‘nother of those Wordsworthy moments (They flash upon that inward eye … types)



Now coming to food and drinks – I loved every bit of the sweet corn they sell all over the place there –fresh and juicy, u can almost gobble it in 2 minutes (now u know where all those so called ‘American Sweet Corn’ comes from??)
Totally freaked out on the vada-pav, which was served piping hot and spicy. Unfortunately for us, this year the monsoon had affected the strawberry plantation hence they weren’t yet out in the market. And u get these yummy dates which are flavored to taste exactly like sweet-paan and I gobbled so many of them ,not forgetting to bring back boxes of them.
The resort din’t serve alcohol but we sneaked in a few bottles of vodka and had a fun party in the room!

So what r u waiting for?? strawberrys r beckoning...

Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.

Volumes must've been written about Satyajit Ray's school of filmmaking; since I'm ignorant about the actual nuances of filmmaking I wouldn't delve into such details.
But that wudnt stop me from going gaga over Charulata - which I had watched recently.The only other Ray movie I had watched was Nayak - while in school and all that I can recollect are the odd bits and pieces of it.

Without further delay, lemme proceed to 'Charulata' -which seemed to me like poetry on celluloid. Since the greatness of this film perhaps lies in the emotions spoken through silence I wasn’t in the least concerned about my not knowing Bengali.(but yaa the English sub-titles helped)

What is amazing is the way u can actually feel Charu's loneliness, whether it a simple glance at her husband or the way she looks at Amol.
The story actually is like a breeze and u feel sad for Charu - not the melancholy type of sadness (if u know what I mean) because u must remember she has a loving husband who has no time for her whatsoever and realizing this he asks Amol to look after her.

My favorite scene is the one in the garden where Charu is on the swing and looks at Amol through her opera glasses -it is then u start realizing that she is in love with Amol -heard that this was a 8 minute long sequence but with no dialogues spoken at all!

'nother scene worth mentioning is when Amol's work gets published and Charu locks herself and is suddenly teary-eyed -I think any woman can relate to this feeling -tears because of jealousy.
But one thing I pondered 'bout was what exactly did Amol feel for her? Perhaps I must read Tagore's original story to find it because in the movie u get so engrossed in Charu's feeling that u dun seem to care 'bout anyone else but her.

Never before have I seen love depicted so beautifully -there is no mention of it whatsoever but the small acts of everyday life bring out the feeling so beautifully.
Charulata is a must-watch for anyone who enjoys watching a beautiful and well-made movie.

I think this is just the beginning of my foray into Satyajit Ray's works, I’m now eager to watch all his major works, all the while ensuring that I bug u people ‘bout it….

When life hands u a lemon, ask for the Tequila and the Salt

Sometimes it takes two, sometimes three and sometimes itz more....
I’m speaking 'bout the no. Of drinks it takes to hit people.
Here I'm deliberately avoiding any mention of those who would get sufficed with a few of what I call 'Ink-Filler shots' - S is one such girl - just give her one small Smirnoff+orange juice and she would conk off in no time.

These days Ladies Night is when the pubs rake in their moolah - the ladies seem to be happy with their highly-diluted-fruit-juice-type-of-drinks and the guys, with just looking at the ladies.

But whatever happened to me last night??? Generally it is while downing my third drink I feel like singing 'Aaj kal paav zameen par nahi padthe mere'...
but end of three drinks and a Flaming Shot n 3 Marlboro lights, I still find my feet firmly on the ground.
So ladies night is not when you are in a mood for real dhaaru n sutta (are the Hyd'badi gals listening???)

In other news, the Half Marathon and the 10K run was a huge success at Hyd, obviously 10K having more participants than the former. Statistics (which I dont bother to verify) would definitely attribute this to none other than Ms.Mirza, who was very much present at the run - no, not as a participant but as an ornament on the dais where other Tollywood stars and the much-booed Salman Khan (couldn’t they come up with a better role model???) were present....

The sun-rise (which seemed like the Halo of the Buddha) and the parachutes landing on the grounds made my waking, at an unearthly hour of 4.30am, really worthwhile.


(Warning: I'm no good when it comes to clicking pictures and these photos are testimony of that fact.)

Tinkerbell(TF) Here I come....

So Truth Fairy(TF)tags me and so here I go...

Word of the Day
maelstrom


maelstrom \MAYL-struhm\, noun:
1. A large, powerful, or destructive whirlpool.
2. Something resembling a maelstrom; a violent, disordered, or turbulent state of affairs.



and foll. is my attempt to use this word


his emotions were turbulent
as his eyes darted in and out of the room
this was the D-day of his life and
she was missing....
An amazing whirpool of images flash past him
- perhaps she had an accident,
she might have been hospitalized,
she would be weeping for not being there....
after the lights had all gone, a ring and a Hello
Ah! she hadnt even considered it worthy of her memory
And she says hez trying to raise a 'maelstorm in a Coffee Cup'!

n so as customary I pass on these tags to
Raul, Shradha, Anumita

Youth -the gift of nature, Age - a work of art

I just added another year to my life and traversed a little further away from the age of teeny boopers-not that I’m regretting it but however hard I do not want to believe that forgetfulness is a sign of growing old, the fact keeps surfacing time and again these days.
It gives me immense pleasure to note that I’m not alone in this endeavor, my best (est) friend D seems to exhibit these symptoms more than me

(a phone call between D n me sometime last week)

Me: so shall I hope that at least this year you would wish me on my birthday?
D: No way, don't even nurture the slightest hope 'bout it.
Me: yyyyyyyyyyyyy? (reminiscing on all those lovely cards given by her a few yrs back)

and D narrates this incident:

On a beautiful sunny morning, D's hubby B wakes her out of her slumber to say goodbye.
D :(groggily, without even bothering to open her eyes) bye, see you
soon she is interrupted by a stupid phone call
D : (cursing, who! the &*^%) hello
MIL : so how are you guys? did u go to the temple today?
D : (now wide awake, thinking, shit! which festival is it today!) no, but what is so special today ?
MIL : today is B's b'day
D : (this is even worse than forgetting a festival) we decided to go to the temple in the evening

The next 20 seconds is total cacophony to the listeners ears as we fall victims to bouts of giggling (which is one phenomenon that never leaves a girl, never mind her age) and I knew better than to expect her call on my b'day !

At a recent marriage reception of a colleague where I gallantly go ahead and introduce ppl :

Me to C:(pointing to the red-color-shirt-guy) this is Chandu and this (the one in green) is Srini
Suddenly the two guys sport bewildered expressions: let us re-introduce ourselves, I'm Sridhar (red-shirt) and this is Raj (green shirt)
Me (shaking my head from side-to-side) and I thought I knew the names of all the people on my floor!

Fortunately for me, there are solutions which rescue people like me
by providing all sorts of gadgets like thinkpads, outlook calenders, mobile phone task lists and so on.These gadgets are heaven sent,no doubt, esp. once you have understood their instruction manuals!

So today I have become gadget-savvy and have all my to-do lists on my mobile phone which gives an alarming beep loud enough to wake me from my deepest slumber and proceed to the activity at hand but is there anyway to set a reminder not to forget the mobile phone itself???

Helpful hints from Mr.Podger

  So hopefully everyone had a ‘blast’ this Diwali and back to the same old sun-rising-in-the-east-setting-in-the-west rigmarole.

My Diwali can be summarized in one sentence – no show by the maid-cooking-more cooking-entertaining neighbors-colorful diyas-lighting sparkles and flowerpots-and finally a good dinner at my friend’s place. Oh and if I forgot –it also included flashing the ethnic black skirt, jewellery, the stringed choli et al …

If Tennyson were to write a poem today, he would have said
  Maids may come and Maids may go
  But the search goes on forever…
So you get the drift of what is about to transpire in the forthcoming lines? And the connection with the perplexing title!

Those who have read Three Men in a Boat, would be well acquainted with Uncle Podger. For the benefit of those who haven’t (read the book I mean) we all would have encountered an Uncle Podger at some time or the other in our lives. The story goes in the way that Uncle Podger volunteers to hang a picture and all he does is bark orders to people to get to do whatever it requires to hang a picture.

Now if only I could get some tips from Uncle Podger, for all the household chores I have to do these days, (already taking a toll on my manicured hands!!) ,I would be one happy gal.

I've alwayz depended on the kindness of Strangers

Been wanting to write ‘bout a couple of movies I’ve watched over last few weekends and the moment has finally arrived –(in the order that they have been viewed)  

• Rear Window


• The Apartment


• A Clockwork Orange and


• A Streetcar Named Desire

Rear Window is a very different Hitchcock movie – there is no denouement whatsoever but the dialogues were quite entertaining esp. those of Lisa and Jeff… like this one :
        Jeff: When am I going to see you again?
        Lisa: [angry] Not for a long time...
              [softening]
        Lisa: at least not until tomorrow night.

The Apartment was a witty movie and quite entertaining but I somehow did not like the happy ending of the movie – my morbid self would have enjoyed it better had it been sad.

And what do I say ‘bout the Clockwork Orange – scandalous stuff but definitely food for thought. Here I must mention that I did not feel even an ounce of remorse for Alex –I thought he deserved every bit of the punishment meted out to him.

Aha! So I come to the best at the last –A Streetcar Named Desire – having read the play long back I was so eager to watch this movie and I loved every bit of it.
It has found a special niche in my list of favorite movies (not to forget mentioning the special place in my heart reserved for Marlon Brando). Vivien Leigh looked every bit of Blanche Dubois (I believe she had that paranoia even in her real life).
And what amazing dialogues, boy! Each of them ought to be soldered onto your head:

Stanley Kowalski: (refusing to acknowledge Blance’s beauty) I never met a dame yet that didn't know if she was good-looking or not without being told, and there's some of them that give themselves credit for more than they've got.

Blanche DuBois: I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don't tell truths. I tell what ought to be truth.

Blanche DuBois: Straight? What's 'straight'? A line can be straight, or a street. But the heart of a human being?

Stanley Kowalski: You know what luck is? Luck is believing you're lucky, that's all... To hold a front position in this rat race, you've got to believe you are lucky

And the most touching one of them all

Blanche DuBois: I have always depended on the kindness of strangers…..

The Greatest Side Effect of Boredom

So I finally found the Mantra to the blogger's block, which seems to hit me
every once in a while, I haven’t patented it yet so all u fellow bloggers feel free to plagiarize it (but let us not get into the discussion of whether it is worth plagiarizing)  
but please don't blame me if you don’t get comments enough

  Mantra #1 - tried and tested n never ever failed - any movie/movies u have watched  -irrespective of whether it is Bolly/Holly wood never leaves u disappointed - sometimes even the comments u had made at the movie over the popcorn should do the trick

  Mantra #2 - rant at random about your recent book read but I must warn you that many people might find that condescending, don't worry I have a solution for that too - just spice it up with as many likeable quotes from the books

  Mantra #3 - there must be at least one song hovering in your head of which u remember only one or two lines -writing 'bout it would help u find out which numbah it is in no time...

  Mantra #4 - any glimpse of the lille love u had experienced - now people might hate watching those mushy-mushy ones in the films but watch the effect when it is about your own romance...If u don’t have one, invent one (but make sure u don’t reveal that bit)

  Mantra #5 - - they say “Mallika Sherawat (read Sex) or Shahruk” sells n it does even on the big blog world!!!!

So now no more excuses of the blogger’s block any more…
  

My flirtations with Haiku

Haiku - the first time I heard the term I thought it was some sort of an exotic East Asian Dish but was soon enlightened that it was a form of Japanese Poetry.

So my feeble attempts at haiku has borne fruit finally

her arms were around him
as he carried her
-to the hospital bed

They dont make machines like that anymore ...

Every era has believed that the previous one was better.
Grandmothers thought that their grandchildren were ultra-modern and when the grandchildren became parents themselves they faced the generation gap once again...

Well you must be wondering what is the point of this rant ?
while I muse on that point, I would take the liberty meanwhile and make a punching bag out of this post.
No one likes dirty laundry lying about in the house -not when you are used to using a washing machine from when they started flooding the Indian market(due credit to Mommy and her fetish for gadgets of all sorts-useful or not)

So finally as I zero down on the point in question - the washing machine(n not the punching bag,silly).
Couple of weeks back my Whirlpool Fully Automatic XYZ aged 2 years and a few months conked off right in the middle of a full wash load of a week old jeans and bed spreads.
As a rule I'm quite tolerant to insults but not when made by a so-called 'smart' appliance.They seem to take their 'smartness' to their heads(or their engines,watever).
Now I could expect a huge phone bill end of this month -where is the connection?
Obviously the phone calls made to the service center would put any newly-engaged-to-be-married guy to shame.

Here is an example of a typical call I religiously place almost every alternate day

Me : hello, the last time I called you, you told me that you had placed an order for the door
XYZ :(from the whirlpool service centre) which door ma'am
Me : (to self:oh! the refrigerator door u duffer) of course the door of the washing machine
XYZ : but tell me what is the problem
Me : (to self: for the zillionth time I need to recount the problem) the washing machine door's lock is no longer functional....blah...blah..

One of these days I must remember to borrow that voice-recorder of my journalist friend and play it over to them (saves me some energy atleast)

Apparently the advertisements for employing the people in service centers these days cry out loud 'Only ppl with no brains need apply' and poor me not aware of this widely occuring phenomenon expects some miracle to occur and my washing machine restored to itz normal,self-respecting self.But they say it is too much to ask....

And to think that a semi-automatic machine costing just 6000 bucks in the 90s(our first at home) lasted a decade and more all I can say is
'They dont make them like that anymore'

Will my machine be restored? Will I need to shell out 'nother 21K n buy a new one? all these questions nag me while I look stupidly at the telephone since it is time to make the next call .....

The shortcut of a long story

I know I'm not at all good at stuff like those listomania tags but this 55 word thingummy got me interested, I mean this might be the beginning of my venture into fiction, albeit a forceful one. Much thanks to Sagnik for honoring (read tagging) me n so I proceed (trumpets blowing in the background)

The Return of the Count
She was totally engulfed in his love,
Dreaming about that first kiss
Counting minutes to meet him
Waiting for him to arrive
And finally it happened
She moaned as his lips brushed her neck
And …Sudden silence
He looked back with gleaming teeth
Blood smeared on his lips
Her limp body at his feet...

In other news I got a mild shock when I finally discovered what my neighbors A and B, who are famous for being addicted to books, read! These pretty-settled-in-life-40-something women dig Mills and Boon, not that I have anything against those type of books but the thought that they assumed I also belonged to that league pained me no end.

As customary lemme pass this tag of 55 worded short story to Vigs , first rain , Anumita, RT and fatally flawed ,njoy maadi

A Tag for the blogger's block

I think Tags have been specially designed for people (ok, all I meant was me)
who, even after long hours of staring at the screen, at the next cubicle or the artificial plant near the window, cannot put a word to the keyboard.

I know it would be boring to read the below list of 5 things 'bout me but in case you still insist u can read further at your own risk and if you complain I can only say 'I told you so'


5 years ago:
Reading the Autobiography of Agatha Christie made me realize that what we remember over a period of time are not dates or years but memories, incidents and strangely the sights and smells.
so picking one incident out of the random stack (of memories)

A : Have you watched Sarforosh?
Me: (snobbish look) ah you know I don’t care too much
for a commercial flick
A : since we dun have any plans, let us tune in to it
4 hours of Sarforosh in between commercial breaks and
lesson learnt - 'Never judge before you know'

1 year ago:
Introduce all those fresh-out-of-college-girls at office to the pub scene at Hyd'bad,
never imagined I would play 'mother goose' this soon in life ***sniff**sniff**

5 songs I know all the words to:
all words??? "Surely you must be joking,Mr..."
but I do recollect a few words of so many songs, like this one
na jaane kyun hota hai yeh zindagi ke saath
nak yeh man kiski jaane ke baad ,
kare uski yaad choti choti si baat

5 Snacks I enjoy:
I think I've mentioned it way too often (that even I'm bored to type it)
'I have never met a Calorie I did not like'

5 Things I'd do w/ $100 million dollars:
Take the first flight to Las Vegas (n the money would take care of itself)

5 places I would run away to:
frankly I'm only thinking of one place now - home after getting done with this list and if I include the pubs on the way they would be the remaining 4

5 things I would never wear:
Anything false
- wig (unless I go for chemotherapy)

- plastic jewellery (the popular Nadia-type)

- animal prints (looks outrageous esp. in India)

- tattoos (unless I have to do a baby-doll-like dance)

and of course
- a smile ('am not counting those smiles reserved specially for nosy neighbors)

5 favorite tv shows:
I could make this short and sweet by saying the serials of Ms.K Kapoor (which is way beyond 5 btw)
but unfortunately I haven’t watched many of them (if you don't include the passive watching courtesy Mummy)
I don’t watch much of telly but 'Friends' and 'Ally McBeal' figure in this list

5 greatest joys:
now if only I could count my joys so easily and manage to stick to the figure 5,

the wind in my hair, fresh flowers, colorful hues of paints,
summer showers, smell of rain drenched earth, remarkable reading,
chocolates n ice creams, shop till I drop, playing with kids, sunny skies,
magnificent mangoes,cool winters, fall colors, lazy weekends, Sunday noons,
friends n foes, graceful dancing, jhatpat cooking, soulful lyrics,
old hindi songs, desi khanna, luscious lavender, winding roads, soft snowfall, rustic accessories, fabulous clothes, dangerous living...

5 favorite toys:
Since this question is included here knowing well that most of the target audience are at least 16 and above I guess they were referring to a different sort (now here is an opportunity to get wild with your imagination) but lemme not scandalize innocent folks so
I’d stick to the usual gurrrlie stuff like teddies and more teddies

now I come to the best part which is reserved to the last,
pass it on to unsuspecting victims like vicky, tigress , truth fairy , zombiee and fish hater ***exit with a evil grin***

Ships that pass in the night

the ambience was set....I sat huddled up on the carpet with those fabIndia cushions for comfort n leaned against the sofa, a cuppa ginger tea in one hand and the remote in another, I pressed 'Play'.

only then I realized that Charlotte also sits huddled up except that she is in a luxurious suite of the Hyaat n I'm at home.(question to self :Is sitting huddled up a sign of loneliness???)
for the next hour and a half I was totally Lost in 'Lost In Translation' - awesome! is the apt word for this movie but all u happy-n-in-love ppl might find it an absolute drab piece of work because it is set at the same pace as any Shabana Azmi/Smita Patil movies of the 80s.

Loneliness is something so difficult to capture on screen and I think Sophia Coopola has done a wonderful job of it.
While I laughed (I think a lille more than necessary) at the jokes of Bob Harris (esp, the ones in the bar), I really sympathized with Charlotte's confusion as to where her life is leading to.

jus when the screen came alive with those 2-3 second scenes of the Strip Club, in walks my maid! the timing wouldn’t have been better -that she had to enter in the only scene of the otherwise clean movie shows how right Murphy is (Bless his Laws) and I have to put up with her looks of 'I know what type of movies u watch' throughout the week.

back to the movie - I think I actually liked the way they maintain their friendship without spoiling it with unnecessary romance - two ppl who relate to each other because of their desolation in an alien land,
like (in the words of H.W.Longfellow )
"Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence."

My personal favorite is the one where they meet for lunch (after Bob's night with the singer) and Charlotte says 'perhaps because u can relate to her better' and
Bob says 'Doesn’t anyone ever give u the attention u want? '
(and immediately I say mentally 'but not from the one we seek’)
Of course the last shots were brilliant, Murray really wins hands down by conveying his desperation, to bid goodbye to her, thro’ his eyes which follows Charlott who takes the elevator in a nonchalant way without another glance.
another of those lines which I luved
Charlotte: Let's never come here again because it will never be as much fun.

all in all i wud give this movie a 5/5 because of the brilliant acting and direction.
But one thing which has left me wondering is ,in the last scene
“what does Bob whisper into Charlotte's ears which makes her smile ?” Any guesses?

Ain’t a Housewife a Domestic Goddess???

              
            If you thought that building a temple for Khushboo in some remote village of TamilNadu is heights of frenzying fans –think again! PPl the world over are tuning in to Desperate Housewives just because the First Lady of the US of A mentioned it. (quote “I am married to the President of the United States and here is our typical evening. Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I am watching Desperate Housewives. With Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentleman, I am a desperate housewife. I mean if those women on that show think they're desperate, they ought to be with George.” unquote)
But the sad and true fact remains that Yours truly is guilty of the same but I would rather blame it on the boredom of a Friday night.
           I have a repu of not being very sociable with my neighbours – well can’t blame them since I have only 24 hrs to juggle between my work, home and cooking so the spare time is spent in front of my laptop, books and on the phone (not necessarily in that order) but the aunties are as saccharine sweet as any sugarcane field. They ask me if I want help with the servant, driver etc etc so that they could happily approach me for borrowing that odd cup of sugar or some green chillies.
         Watching DH made me wonder if there are hidden elements of Susan or Lynette in any of them but they all seem very docile to me –the types who devote their time in kitty parties and their children. Since I have the honor of being the only working woman in my apartment complex (if I don’t count Asha who has a home-office) they suggested holding a kitty on a Saturday so that I cud join them; now a kitty is as strange to me as a blue movie; which is - I keep hearing ‘bout it a lot but never ever been to one and also try to avoid it like dengue fever.
           A housewife is an alien concept to me – no, I mean my Mom is one but I personally can’t relate to that concept. It is not about the money, it is also not about the Status –it is about having a life, individuality and identity. To learn to appreciate the aesthetics of life beyond the four walls but then ultimately itz each to their own.
            And these days there r also occurrences of house-husbands (also mentioned in Prey) – who have proved that they could manage the household chores as well as any woman…    
            Coming to the serial, which has rocked US these days, DH is a product you would get if u cross any of Ms.Kekta Kapoor’s serials with CID.
The characters seem so melodramatic and immature- rather made-up and larger than life.
The petty jealousies over-exaggerated and the women really desperate; so  
if itz Friday night and you don’t have any agenda then …Please do not tune in to Desperate Housewives. It is much better to watch the re-runs of Friends any day!

One Way Ticket

the bags are packed, good-byes told n all-the-bests mouthed.
the return to my home sweet home begins ,back to
-the kitchen where I rule- the actual Princess Chimera's realm
-the potted plants on my balcony ledge bearing a forlorn look in my absence
-the teddies in my bedroom badly in need of a hug
-the tiny money-plant craving to be watered by me
-the 5am Yoga classes to shed the excess calories gained
-the ladies-nites on Wednesdays at TDS

this last time itz a one way ticket for me from B'lore to Hyd,
yes I wud definetly return to this place for a visit but things wud never b the same.....

when did u last have a romance?

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance
-Oscar Wilde

I never met a Calorie I did not like

If you guys thought that women endure only childbirth then you are mistaken, when we are not worrying about what to cook for dinner we are worried about the project deadlines but that single worry, which is constant and persistent across women of all ages, is the Calories! Of course I’m not counting our obsession with the shade of nail polish or the make of our sandals.
I know it is touchy topic to speak about, what with the Atkins and South Beach diets doing its rounds in all the circles possible but I proceed with my ordeal nevertheless.

Wonder why do ice creams and chocolates taste the way they do which leaves us guilty after succumbing to their charms once in a while. And believe me all your plans of burning those calories the next day never work, not esp. after you get up at 8 in the morning and rush to work at 9.

But thanks to Moms who are ever ready to humour their daughters.
Every weekend my Mom finds me losing weight, I bet if she’d see me everyday she would say the same. She welcomes me with a 'You have grown sooooooo thin', 'you are not eating properly' -note that leaves me smug and happy. Though there is no correlation between general health and weight (in fact obesity has more disadvantages) the world in general and mothers in particular think that thin is synonymous to being unhealthy (only wish the guys also thought that!)

To make matters worse we have ppl who make it a point to comment on the amount of weight you have put-on. Now I think there should be a law against them – crucify whoever comments on a woman’s weight – no make that crucify them nude!
And leading the pack (to be crucified) would be the salesmen/women in shops,

Just the other day I realized that the waiting time to fit into my old jeans is over and went shopping for a new pair, I was rushing into a trial room trying to avoid one of those ever-ready-to-help guys, when I hear a voice behind me:

ERTH guy: Ma’am, what size are you looking for?
it is bad enough feeling lousy about ur waist size, gets worse when you have to declare it in public!
Me: mumble 28…..
ERTH guy: (appraising me) No Ma’am I’m sure they wouldn’t fit, 30 should be ok
Me: err…perhaps... ( why can’t the earth swallow me now) anywayz I’ll try both
5 minutes later, I emerge out of the trial room and quickly rush to the Payment Counter and come home happy with my purchase. Now don’t ask me who was right!

So the next time think twice before you tell a girl “I think you have put on weight”, unless you want to make an enemy for life.

Poetry begins in delight and ends in wisdom

It was 1 in the night and I had just finished my conference call, though sleep was beckoning me, I got in the mood of poetry and not wanting to lose that moment, I started writing. Of late, I find myself drawn towards Anna Akhmatova’s poems, which seem to convey a whole lot of meaning in a few words. Now, brevity has never been my forte but try I would ……

She lies intoxicated in those arms
Knows not what the world beholds

She seeks him in those eyes
Trying to break from the trance

She breathes in soft sighs
Mouths his name in sweet delight

She wonders about his restraint
Realizing her folly ,’Oh! It wasn’t him at all’

You live several lives while reading a book

Even before I set foot into the shop, I fell in love with it jus 'coz
it is named "Blossoms" which reminds me of the color n fragrance of flowers and since I’m as much fond of books as I am of flowers ,this place was added to my list of must-visit places in Bangalore.

My auto came to a rickety stop at the entrance of Church Street, the auto guy apologetically telling me “maadam yeh to one-way hai” and so I begin my search for this much-sought-after-shop. After many mumblings of directions by nondescript strangers on the road, I entered this shop- my pupils dilated and I was filled with this immense sense of feeling which ,for the lack of a better word, I would state as happiness and I sought to regain my lost senses on seeing so many books under a single roof(ok make that two considering the floor above which stocks non-fiction and strictly not my domain)

I picked up as many hard bound copies as I could lay my hands on till the shop assistant couldn’t take it anymore - I could imagine her irritation at the sight of a greedy bibliophile like me who kept piling up books into hands as if it were some sort of a shelf!
So many old titles and hardbound editions of Jane Austen, of Daphne Du Maurier, of ThornBirds...

I was in some sort of trance when the sound of my ubiquitous cell phone brought me back to the humble land - my friends were waiting for me to join them for a movie.
The timing couldn’t have bin worse, since I cud carry only a few of the books I had to remove most of them from my list.

Which comes to my second visit, this time I wasn’t alone, S had also come along n I was glad that she’d also picked many books, including a few for her kid nephews n nieces.
What is interesting about these dog-eared, yellowed pages of the books is that each one seems to tell a tale of their own apart from what they hold.
Esp. the ones that have been given as gifts -I pity all those people who, for whatever reasons, let go of these precious books.
But then someone else’s loss is my gain!
So thanx to the visits to this quaint lille shop in Church Street, my collection of books has increased considerably.

I have to mention the absolute treasures I picked up
Walden and Other Works by Henry David Thoreau
Notes from the Underground by Dotsvesky and
a beautiful hardbound copy of the Works of Edgar Allen Poe.

Due credit is given to this woman in the shop who was waxing eloquent to her partner ‘bout the first two books and I lost no opportunity in picking them up.
The book by Poe was a wonderful find by self.(a big pat on my back)

Now I think itz high time I plan my next visit ...

Fish outta water?

I was sitting, sipping a cuppa garam chai in my cafeteria,when I heard something, which I faintly recogonized as giggles, from the nearby table.
N whom do I see? A Krishna with gopikas -yes a single guy surrounded by 6-7 girls and I couldn’t help but hear their topic of discussion, they were really loud. (So I can’t be accused of eavesdropping)

Can you guess what their topic was? I bet Not in your wildest dreams 'coz they were discussing piercing (yes you heard me right) - nose and ear piercing (to be precise)
-how (gun shot, jeweler..) ,when(when I was 6 ,last month…) and what is the best place in town.
Now had this crowd been entirely a girl gang I would’ve passed it off as jus 'another' of those discussions but seeing a lone guy in their midst piqued my curiosity so I slowly watched the guy (of course out of the corner of my eye) -he seemed thoroughly embarrassed, was squirming in his seat and making all kinds of facial expressions but since he was given a royal ignore, finally he chose the safest option out, started making calls on his cellphone!
Boy! My heart just went out to him –
which reminds me of other such similar situations :

cute girl trying to impress mr.John Abraham look-alike with her dancing abilities and the footwear snaps

girlfriend A's usual mail to her boyfriend B bitching 'bout the boss and she accidentally sends it to the boss himself (actually heard this happen to my friend)

Y saying not so pleasant things about a person Z blissfully unaware of Z's presence behind.

dial a number by mistake you din't mean to –now you can’t say "well I wasn’t meaning to talk to you"

N this one featured in the Hyderabad times takes the cake -
women sporting backless top and the bet is on "what if the clasp comes off!"

***Shudder***hope we dont ever land up in such embarassing spots.

Pah-hey-lee

(Disclaimer - for all those who thought Paheli was a chick-flick or worse it's just 'nother of those stupid fantasy movies -puleeeze get back to your work/studies/college/browsing or to whatever u were doing before.)

I'm not a major TeeVee buff but the minute I hear the sound of an Amol Palekar movie then I stop whatever I'm doing (some of the aforementioned things) and stay glued to the idiot box. I mean i dont mind watching a re-run of GolMaal, Gharonda, Choti Si Baat or Baaton Baaton Mein instead of some stupid movie called "Kuch Kuch something something.."

Who else but Amol Palekar could make me courageous enough to endure SRK's histrionics and also appreciate Rani's non-existent beauty! BUT No Regrets ...

The story for a change is - ghost meets girl, ghost falls in love, ghost gets the girl and they live happily ever after!
Laachi (Rani Mukerjee) is the newly wed bride of Kishan(SRK #1).
She is just like any woman -with a million (nope, make it a zillion) dreams in her eyes when she enters her marital world. Alas! All Kishan seems to be interested is Money and sets off to some faraway land for 5 looooooong years.
Enter the frendly ghost (SRK #2, yes Casper does have a competitor) who takes the form of Kishan and enjoys marital bliss with Laachi, until the real one (confused??i mean SRK #1) returns n claims that he is the real Kishan.

Well the point here is not the story (ok, at least not for me) but a woman's eternal search for her perfect man.
Also I like the way the audience is manipulated -they actually starts believing that the ghost is the ideal partner for Laachi.
Imagine instead of a ghost had Laachi had an affair with another man, just because her husband does not live upto her expectations, then the moral police would have brought up their cudgels; but camouflage it with a hubby-look-alike and we have people enjoying the romantic antics of the ghost and wishing fervently that the ghost gets the woman in the end.

Kudos to Mr.Palekar for bringing the beauty of Rajasthan to celluloid -
Colorful Rajasthani dresses, ethnic folk music, amazing choreography and lovely colors of the desert it is indeed a visual treat for the eye.
I only wished that he could have done away with horrors like Sunil Shetty (he seems to grow uglier with each movie-wonder whatz the secret!)

Seems the good ghosts have entered Bollywood finally or shall I say the ideal/romantic guy is nothing but an illusion and is well represented by a ghost.

i cook the same way i dress ....to kill....

There I was- all of a full twenty and an addition of 1 whole year and still had no clue of cooking.My grandma would exclaim (as most grandmas do) "at your age I was the mother of 2 kids" and to this date I could never figure out the connection! I mean I don’t see why cooking should be a pre-requisite for reproduction.

They say necessity is the mother of invention and in my case it decided to prove itself right- a new job in an alien land and my body refused to be insulted any further after multiple attempts to keep it alive and kicking by treating it to all sorts of assorted junk that the Hyd'bad restaurants could offer (and in 1997 there were a sad handful).

So I decided to put on an apron and join the bandwagon of all those people (rolling my eyes in admiration) who can recognize the various names by which those small, round grains popularly called dal go by.The rats used for my experiments were my unsuspecting roommates; the torture endured by them would put any Tihar jail prisoner to shame.

I started dutifully by buying books of Tarla Dalal and Sanjeev Kapoor but alas! they never taught you the basic dal, roti and chawal, which resulted in huge telephone bills (since teaching to cook by Mummy on telephone wouldn’t last less than an hour) and maintaining a big notebook (which I proudly exhibit to this day).

The samples of my experiments could be bottled and pickled as exemplary examples of what not to do while learning to cook: these were the 5 popular dishes I could conjure in a jiffy.

** Idlis looking like mini dosas
** Dosas looking like mega idlis
** Chapatis competing with Papads
** Kheer, which could give a complex to ‘Camilin’ Glue
** Tamarind water with floating veggies, which could pass on as Sambar

Repeated experiments always produce good results they say and they weren’t wrong, these days if u see someone sporting a bright apron and hosting the office parties at home -then its none other than yours truly.(Needless to say 'am a proud owner of a kitchen designed by self -yup the one in the pic)
At last I learnt to use a knife for purposes other than self-defense.:)

the broken Wings of a Butterfly

no happiness holds me high
like that of the eternal light
none other do I seek as I fly
when there's hinderance in the flight

do i near the light emerging
i can feel the smell of fire
seductive appear'd the flame flickering
as i flew into the unsuspecting ire

unawares was i caught
as i smelt the burning wings
my life has gone wrought
as i let go of it without any strings

(song am thinking of ....
Baadalon Se Kaat Kaatke,
Kaagazon Pe Naam Jodna
Yeh Mujhe Kya Ho Gaya?)

the mind of an unmarried woman

Finally I gave up resisting the urge of writing ‘bout Parineeta.
A gud lesson I learnt is never to watch a movie after reading like a zillion revus on it, but cant help it, usually I’m one of those who just manages to take a peek before the movie leaves the theatres. Going by those standards, it is still ok.

Itz an okey dokey, once watchable type of movie but what I missed most was the total lack of romance in it (please don’t mention the scenes of passionate love making)
Wat I mean is watever happened to woh nazare churanaa, sharmana , nakhre karna, musukurana type of romance? Devdas scores high on those points.

Sanjay Dutt n Dia Mirza were big turn offs of the movie. Sanjay Dutt looked old enough to be Vidya Balan’s father.
Hope VidyaB is not a one movie wonder n we get to see more of her.
Also this flick got me thinking ‘bout overhauling my wardrobe –include more of salwaar suits esp. those with low-cut backs hanging on for their dear life onto some kinda “dooris”(strings).

These lines of Galib from this movie refuse to leave the bylanes of my memory

hum saans lethe hai to charcha ho jaata hai
woh katal bhi karte hai to kabhar nahi hoti

when did the weekend (i meant the weekend end?)

so i had this nice,long 3 day weekend(when the rest of the world is having only a 2 day weekend) an additional day as a special treat to self for visiting Hyd'bad after a loooooong time.

besides a whole lot of things which cant b blogged 'bout,I caught up with
* Aruna (on all things not covered on our long mails)
* chatting on y msgr (if u want to know how much u r missed come online after a long haitus)
* making geometrically correct shaped dosas (hoping they do not come out as big idlis)
* movie Kaal (drooling over someone named John A)
* rounds of Smirnoff (exit exotic cocktail with no hints of alcohol and switch back to gud ole vodka)
* long drives on necklace road (dun forget to bring in additional calories on ur way back)
* fights with Mom (all time favorite time pass)
* TDS (for the uninitiated my fav hangout -Ten Downing Street)
* pamper self by visiting the parlour (both the beauty n the ice cream variety come under this category)

cut to the present,
back to B'lore ,trying to get over n out with the Hyd'bad Blues

A compliment is like a Kiss thro' the veil

dwelling on the matter of Kisses, i recollect these verses on it :


Strephon kissed me in the spring,
Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all.

Strephon's kiss was lost in jest,
Robin's lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin's eyes
Haunts me night and day.

All 'bout true frendz -Buks

Since this is on one of my favourite topics (books), I don’t mind Vigs tagging me and even if it wasn’t on books, I don’t mind tags because it really gives you something to write about without thinking too much.
On a side note, I should say that considering the number of times I fill such questionnaires especially in restaurants (where the bill is always invariably handed to the guy and the feedback form to the girl!) I should have mastered the technique by now.

So without further delay lemme proceed in the direction of the questions at hand

Total number of books owned :
After someone flicked my “Gone with the Wind” besides umpteen others whose titles currently slip my mind, after I lost “Rebecca” while travelling, I had given up on buying books and started patronizing the neighbourhood library Kaleidoscope – which btw has an amazing collection of Tintins as well :-)
Recently I restarted my collection, I think it wud be a miserly 80+ books falling under the category of fiction.

The last book bought :
well I picked atleast half a dozen books at Blossoms but lemme put down the one treasure that I’d picked there in hard bound- “The ThornBirds”

The last book you read :
Itz Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide –not a bad read at all considering my prejudice against Indian authors.

One Book I Couldn't Finish:
James Joyce’s Ulysses takes the cake –I have not yet given up hope that one of these days I would definitely finish it.

Five books I always cherish:

In order to sound different (from my mouthshut review on 5 Best Books) I choose a different set of books here

1.The Colour Purple by Alice Walker -
It is just a coincidence that Purple is indeed my favourite colour n coming to the book it is 'bout Life as seen thro’ the eyes of an Afro-American woman –it is not only about the tribulations she faces because of her race, faith or gender but also about Hope that shows the triumph of the human spirit against all odds.

2.Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov –
Well this controversial book has always been on my list esp. because of the author’s lyrical (almost poetical) writing style and Humbert Humbert is the perfect love struck protagonist in my eyes and the book is all about love albeit between an old man and a nymphet.

3.Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck –
I hear that this is sort of classic in American literature and rightly so since it captures the essence of the dreams that American farmers nurtured during the Great Depression. A story of the love and dreams shared between two farmer friends and the tragic end that would leave you misty eyed.

4.The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waler
Every once in a while u read a book that completely changes your perspective of love and this is one such book. I know this book evokes mixed response from people, who consider it adultery, but for me it is a simple and eternal story of love between Kincaid and Francesca, sometimes even an affair of 4 days leaves an indelible mark in your lives.

5.The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Ok I can hear my friends screaming “here she goes again ‘bout thornbirds” but I can’t help it (sorry folks!) I know it is just an antiquated love story but the forbidden love of Maggie and Ralph, the Australian home of Drogheda and the entire Cleary family hold a special place in my heart always.

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. From each of them goes out its own voice... and just as the touch of a button on our set will fill the room with music, so by taking down one of these volumes and opening it, one can call into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and hear him speaking to us, mind to mind, heart to heart. ~Gilbert Highet

5 ppl I would tag it (I haven’t done checks if they have already endured this list!)

the crouching tigress
the desi Barry
first rain
zombie
fiona

Magnificent Mangoes, cool cottons and sunny skies

Am really bad when it comes to writing(read blogging) regularly
and can think of 1101 excuses for not writing n I also know that no one is interested in listening to them (1101 is a long list after all)
but couldn’t disappoint searchinformrmojorisin.

For the nth time Deccan Chronicle’s headlines glare “rain lashes twin cities” – someone please ask the DC ppl to find new phrases to welcome the onset of Monsoon in Hyderabad. And for the benefit of those who r not from Hyd’bad, if you thought Times is full of trash u must read DC which is a step ahead of it and infact when it comes to gossip even the good old housewives bow down to DC.

So having waved goodbye to another of the scorching summers of Hyd’bad lemme dedicate this blog to it.
You hear it everywhere – in office cubicles, in boardrooms, in between client meetings, in shopping malls, in restaurants – “When would the summer end? Isn’t it too hot these days?” -if someone was to take the help of statistics, roughly a third of our waking time is spent on discussing the weather during the summers.
Is it only my weird self who enjoys these summers (no no I’m no masochist)?
After reading this, I bet u wud also fall in love with Hyd’bad summers as well.

The roads seem so silvery and full of mirages (my note: go for long drives on the Durgam Cheruvu road).
The juicy watermelons – best when taken chilled (my note: take it in any form – juice, fruit pieces or squash)
Mangoes – all variants of it (my note: dun miss the Avakai pickle made out of raw mangoes)
Palms – really cools ur body (my note: buy the entire palm and scoop the fruit out with a fork)
Sugarcane juice – saccharine sweet (my note: a personal recipe is to mix ½ glass tender coconut water and ½ glass sugarcane juice with some lemon and ginger)
Cucumbers – all those salads, which we can munch on (my note: try the Russian salad in the Viceroy buffet)
Starchy cotton dresses (my note: a visit to FabIndia is a must, to pick all those cool cotton tops for girls and kurtas for guys)
Melting Moments – the sunshine ice-cream parlor (in yellow) on B.Hills (my note: the chikoo ice cream is a no-miss)
Smell of khus-khus mats hung on the balcony doors (my note: best when a cool breeze flows in gently)
Desert coolers in all living rooms and ACs in bedrooms (my note: never mind the huge electricity bills after all itz only a matter of 3 months)
Chilled Beer parties with wholesome goodies (my note: with frendz on Sunday afternoon brunches)
Bring out the floral colors of peach, pinks and lavenders –from accessories to shoes to bags (my note: if u r the “if u have it flaunt it” types then flash those short skirts and shorter tops)

So given a choice between grey winters and sunny summers, I bet u wud choose the latter. Of course the monsoon heralds different flavors altogether (hot samosas, fried corn, masala chai …) but then that wud b another blog altogether.

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana

Inspite of what historians might call the British as 'colonists'
who r proud of the axiom "the Sun never sets in the British Empire", I am ever grateful to them for popularizing English in India.
I can’t imagine India sans IT jobs and the much popular BPOs (popular for the wrong reasons though), with Hindi as its lingua franca and still competing with Somalia in terms of itz GDP! Unless US became Hindi friendly and still outsourced jobs to India!
But then I digress too much …

Coming to what exactly I wanted to convey –well itz about the much-loved language –English. (Unless u belong to DMK/ADMK factions!)
We all boast ‘bout (ok not all but at least I do) that we walk, talk and think in English but inspite of our bragging, there are so many phrases and words are not so popular in India but used very frequently in countries where English is a way of life…
Before u can dispose off this write up as something to do with those mails u have received umpteen number of times ‘bout the misuses of English in all the Asia Pacific regions, let me clarify that my intentions are not to compete with that mail. I actually wanted to throw some light on some of the lesser known words/phrases of English not yet heard even in the most Elite circles (whatever that might mean…)

- Wish I could say that “I can fly by the seat of my pants” about blogging.well this phrase actually originated from pilots (the next time u can remember this during severe turbulence) who navigate the airplane during bad weather going by their experience, minus any navigational devices. It is used in the sense “to do a job the best you can by instinct, training, or experience, without outside aid or instruction”
- On open invitation for all –“Come round to my drum” -as it is self-explanatory unless u r confusing drum in the literal sense of the word) means “Come over to my flat/apartment”
- “Mushfake” meaning “designate an object modified from its ordinary function to serve a new function” would be ‘happy’ if it is used more often, so next time u know how to address a hairpin which was used to open a lock.
- Another phrase which has been in existence for more than a century but I have never heard it being used too often is “Katie bar the door” –now don’t mistake it as a command to this vivacious girl, called “Katie”, to close the door because on the contrary it means “Look out here comes trouble”
- An odd word of Yiddish origin “schlep” has never failed to fascinate me esp. because of itz pronunciation (I must remember to blog on words whose pronunciation fascinates me) - well coming to itz usage “schlep down to the shop” as in ‘move laboriously’

Guess thatz all for now, wud b back on air soon with more words n before I go would like to ask this Q –did u know that “kettle” is a slang for watch (as in the noun form of a device to show time)?
English is so complicated and fascinating a language that if it were a man I would have proposed to him :))

y do i hate blue sometimes?

Wonder who coined the term "Monday Morning Blues"? that even the Word detective failed to elaborate on.
I always thot blue represents bright things in life - like the sky as on a beautiful sunny day and water as in the ocean.
But come Monday and the color blue revolves all around trapped in my lille head. It is of the darkest hue and shade.
The only silver lining sported on these clouds is the saying “Itz all in your mind” so I try to drive them out of my mind
N actually the day turns out to be okdokey with lotza pleasant memories like this news for example. (Harper Lee, self exiled author of the book “To kill a mocking Bird”, makes a public appearance)

song in my head today :
piya aiso jiya mein samaye gayo re
ki mein tan man ki sudh budh gawa baitein (for all those lovers of Geeta Dutt)

a decent foto

my recent fixation is fotografy n i'm jus learning the tricks of the trade,
so herez a decent foto i had shot ...

SPCA here I come

Talking about pets(of the animal variety!) is a touchy topic, which should be carefully avoided in my presence. Well I do find some dogs cute, cats chweet and all types of birds adorable but then they are good from far and far from good sometimes.
Close friends of mine would vouch about my fear of the canine species.
A special Note to all animal lovers (esp. Swamy and Pradyot)- don't mistake this as some sort of hatred campaign because I love animals as long as they walk in their path and carefully avoid treading into mine.
Talking about my fear of dogs, a series of concentric circles weave around (thatz going back into flashback as shown in those Black and white movies) and am taken back in time when a friend of mine in primary school, who goes by the name "Hema" or "lata”(what is it with names n me!), invited me to her house one bright Saturday afternoon.
Since it was only half-a-day at school, I accompanied her to her house after school.
Aunty (as all good aunties do) had served me a plateful of goodies to eat and I was just devouring my 5th piece of cake, when suddenly I see a dog darting out of the adjacent room n heading in my direction and before I cud even think, I ran out of the door and on to the terrace - note that this was an open terrace n I was all set to jump down if that devil of the dog ventured anywhere in my direction. Our eyes were locked for an instant-arrey, the animal's and mine (not so romantic actually!) and I started imaging the 14 injections on my belly n worse the scars that it might leave...simultaneously I was cursing my friend for not coming to my rescue.
Now this is what I call a "situation" - 2 whole minutes elapsed before the dog heeded to an echo of a vaguely sounding "Bruno" -aunty finally coming to poor me's rescue.
Next thing I realize is I’m scrambling all the way to my house without even bidding propah goodbye to my friend. Oh what an experience! So, like I said I do share a love-hate relationship with the animal!
Another incident about pets, I heard recently, made the non-existent hair on my arms stand. One of my friends, who moved recently to Singapore from US, was looking for a suitable tenant to let out her house in the US. She had almost given up when she got a positive response from a single woman who was all eager to occupy her house ASAP. My friend was happy and almost handed out her keys when thankfully that lady made a mention of her pet python and boy! My friend uttered a huge "Oh!!" and firmly refused. She was ready to forego the money her house would have earned ‘coz she was too scared to come back and find small baby pythons in all possible nooks and corners of her house!
Of course I’m all against any sort of cruelty towards them like this recent example - My mom had this weird idea to make decorative receptacles for flowerpots and they were stacked high in my balcony ... n one fine day the pigeons of my neighborhood discovered this heavenly home and settled comfortably.
Now my mom wanted to chase them off since they wud get used to this comfortable abode n refuse to move out so its better to turn them off but I wouldn’t hear one word 'bout it and let them stay on till one day, 2 months later, the pigeons decided to find themselves a better accommodation and I was left to clean a stinking balcony loaded with pigeon shit!

Din't I say that I love all other species apart from the homosapiens??

(Wondering ‘bout the title? of course it is “Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals”)

Life shud come with an Instruction Manual

wat is it that they say 'bout life?? "that it comes with no instruction Manual!"
A zing in my step, a smile on my lips n life goes on with added zeal.
ppl wonder whatz wrong with this girl today? she keeps smiling for no reason!
this is when the instructions (which ones u ask, havent u read the title??)could come in handy.
Am reminded of those eyes once again :
"aapki aankhon mein kuch mehki hui si raaz hai
aapse bhi khoobsurat aapki andaaz hai... "
aap ki baaton mein phir koi sharaarat to nahin
bevajah taarif karanaa aap ki aadat to nahin
aap ki badamaashiyon ke ye naye andaaz hai"

I feel as if I'm reborn -sinking into that satiated feeling where I feel the glow of
candles all around me..

(current mood : elated )

a new song in my collection

I'd bought the cassette of "Kinara"(yup I am ancient in my ways and still stick on to my antique walkman) for the song "Naam Gum Jaayega" but was in for a pleasant surprise, another awesome song with heavenly lyrics.
Sung by Bhupinder -he sounds so heavenly and morantic -also notice that almost no musical instruments have been used in this song, he seems to be narrating a poem ...
now comes those wonderful words of the song :

Ek hi khwab kai baar dekha hai maine
tune saari main uras lee hai chabiyan ghar ki

Aur chali aayi hai
bus yoon hi mera haath pakad kar
ek hi khwab kai baar ...

Mej par phool sajate hue
dekha hai kai baar
aur bistar se kai baar
jagaya hai tujhko
chalte phirte mere kadmon ki vo
aahat bhi suni hai

Gungunati hui nikli hai naha kar jab bhi
Apne bheege hue baalon se tapakta paani
mere chahre pe chhitak deti hai

Taash ke patton pe ladti hai
kabhi kabhi khel main mujhse
aur ladti bhi hai aise ki bus
khel rahi hai mujhse
aur aagosh ko nanhe ko liye

aur jaanti ho tiku,
jab tumhara yeh khwab dekha tha,
apne bistar pe main us waqt pada
jaag raha tha....

n my search for songs like these (refers to the above mentioned song) continues.....

current mood : morantic (wat else can u be in after listening to this one?)

When Pinching helmets was a pastime and newts got painted orange

I was in deep mourning thinking of the wasted years I spent when I did not read PG Wodehouse’s works. How did I miss noticing Lord Emsworth and Jeeves and Wooster books beckoning me from their colourful covers is beyond my ken!
My memory takes me back to the days of apna doordarshan, which did indeed telecast good programmes apart from Krishi Darshan.I would have been about 13 years old and the Jeeves and Wooster series would be my side dish for my afternoon lunch –of course I think most of the British humour was lost on me then but still I think that is my first meeting with this maestro of humour.
Once again I bumped into him in college on the recommendation of gud ole Akila (mental note to myself: try to locate her) I read a couple of golf stories of his but I still did not appreciate the writer too much or perhaps it did not appeal to my then rebellious mind (which was busy devouring Ayn Rand).
Almost a decade later I started again with “The Inimitable Jeeves” and only then I really started appreciating PGW. Having just completed “What Ho! - The Best of P.G. Wodehouse”, I must say that I have a lot of catching up to do but like the saying goes “Better Late than never”! What Ho!.. has the best of PGW’s collection with an excellent introduction by Stephen Fry and came to my rescue in my long waits in airports where the weary passengers were left wondering what made me laugh so much after a 5 hour wait and a 9 hour flight!! I did pity them indeed for not being able to look at the brighter side of life through the eyes of PG Wodehouse.

sweet reminiscences of a chweet encounter

preserved in my memory forever....
(Warning: Plagiarists steer away from my poem,'coz itz not the poem i'm worried 'bout but my memories which tag along with it)

One day in an alien land
I look up and the sky seems grey
grey as in the sadness of death
felt the night in between the day

but that did not make me sad
instead i stood mesmerised
i luked at the clouds almost kissing the earth
there was silence on my lips

cant you see me dancing
oh how could you -it was my inner self!
i could feel the wind caress my face
the droplets becoming rivulets

caught completely unawares in the downpour
i managed to save myself from the prying eyes of the world
i shiver while the water drips from my hair

so long after i'm back in my land
i look towards the sky
and search for those wandering clouds
which wud revive my memories again...

my mind dances
my heart races
someone please stop it there!
I look outside the window,
The raindrops lash the glass panes,
I go back to my sleep
With those sweet dreams on my eyelids...........

(I think i titled this poem "In search of the cloud")

Finally a play -"Final Solutions" by Mahesh Dattani

I'm happy that Bangalore does offer a few mercies -like theatre for instance.
A theatre enthusiast wud find Hyderabad as dry as the Sahara ,so trying to look at the brighter side of my state of affairs(obviously of being badly stranded in Bangalore) i took refuge
in a play.
"Final Solutions " by Mahesh Dattani -winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award beckoned me and i fell hook,line and sinker!
A fine and warm Sunday evening it was when I started on my way to Nani's arena (don't mistake it for some boxing ring, it is a haven for the arty sorts).
People who appeared to be the 'elite' met my eye when I landed there - whoever said that the "beard doesnt make the philosopher" have to eat their words- here was a conglomeration of people who smelt of art - the women wearing sarees and dressed in ethnic fare, the men with the kurta and jute bags completed the look.I looked lost in my jeans n a funky top! anywayz that dint stop my entry does it?
The place was a small one which would accomodate only 'bout 50 odd ppl but the lighting and acoustics suggested that this is one place ideal for a play.
Well let me finally come to "Final Solutions" -this play focuses on a serious problem plaguing our nation today - communal violence.The play is about a simple Hindu family who are suddenly faced with lot of questions when 2 Muslim guys seek refuge in their house during the communal riots.This begins the quest for the truth of their beliefs by the father,mother,daughter and Bha(the grandmother).The story is juxtaposed deftly between two time periods - the present and the past and finally throws light into the beliefs of even those who consider themselves very liberal minded!this is some serious food for thought.
As to the performances, the roles of Ramnik,Bha and Javed are commendable.The girl who played the young housewife is also very sweet and adds lighter moments to this otherwise serious play.
All in all i must say it wud appease the taste buds of any theatre-goer.

old frendz and best frend

Whenever I think of my old friends and also my best friend,
I'm reminded of this poem

The Last leaf.....

Was thinking of old friends today
And how many of them have slipped away.
Moved, got married, or stopped calling so much,
Found new friends, got busy, and just lost touch.
It reminded me of falling leaves.

Every autumn the leaves fall from the trees.
Some stay longer than others, but eventually
-Each leaf must fall, I'm told,
Leaving the tree alone to face the cold.

Why is it that in the time of utmost need
The leaves would seek to leave the tree?
And when we need our friends around
We look and they can not be found?

Of course these friendships come and go
And in the spring new leaves will grow.
But I prefer autumn friends of old
With crackling laughter and colors bold.

It saddens me now I must admit
How somehow, someway, I did forget
Laughing with old friends of mine
During summers when the sun would shine.

And then I thought of you.
That one stubborn leaf that won't let go.
That clings despite the winds that blow.
Fighting ice, and snow, and winter's stings
Hanging on right through till spring.

So I guess that's what you are to me -
The very last leaf to leave the tree.I
know it seems silly, but it's true.
When I see that last leaf...I think of you.

lesser known facts of me

I'm interested in anything thatz even remotely associated with arts - painting,pottery, interior decor,dancing(folk,Indian classical,salsa,tango,waltz..),theatre,arts and artifacts...
njoy reading - strictly the fictional works and anything having a semblence to poetry suffer from a compulsive disorder of binging on ice creams and chocolates (did I say I never met a Calorie I did not like!)
writing - i do make futile attempts n Mouthshut is one place where unsuspecting people become my guinea pigs
nurture too many dreams(with eyes wide open) while listening to songs like
"simti hui yeh gadiya phir se naa bhikar jaayee" (Hope the moments i've gathered so carefully dont get scattered again!)

read at ur own risk (I mean boredom)

I thot i hate blogs ( no offence to all those regulars out here)- the very thot that someone is creeping into the crevices of my innermost thots gives me the gitters!
but wat changed my opinion ?? (a very interesting story ; read on if u dun have anything better to do)
wat is life which does not have an impossible dream in it??-n So my dream is to publish my own book - to tell a story that no one had ever told before.(whether the buk wud get sold or lies asleep in the top most rack, is another Q altogether!)
ok ok before you start cursing me lemme come to the point - itz bin so many yrs since I have been harbouring this thot but am not moving anywhere close to even choosing the plot of my buk,so i thot a lille pratice(at writing obviously) wudn't hurt .
Now haven't I bored u enuf??? but I did warn u