Clickety-click(s)

Let's begin with a little blast from the past

Photos: Ria Bhatnagar

The first two pictures are our scribblings at Ghetto. A place that most don't like because of it's rather OTT set-up, with the neon lights, walls full of random writings, loud music, etc. I loved it, though. I loved the place. I loved not being able to see faces, except when one decided to smile and you got knocked off by the lights reflecting back from their teeth. I thought it was hilarious. I loved how they had personalised the entire place, with the walls open to be scribbled on, so everytime I went there, I'd spend ages trying to find my writings, squeezed in some corner, mostly over-written on. I liked that it was close to my work place, hence, the perfect place to rush to, after a hard days work. I liked the stools at the bar too, though I never sat on them. The pool table at the side, where I never played. I remember spending my first salary there, however, feeling so liberated and proud. My handwriting is horrendeous, which is why I won't be able to completely decrypt that lines of the second picture. The first picture's drawing is done by hotness. The third picture is of Blackie, when we were riding home in an empty bus, from Worli to Bandra, and Blackie was being her usual grumpy self. We decided taking sly pictures of her was the best thing to do. Oh, and also, to laugh behind her back, loud enough for her to hear and come around :) 

Yep, that's us.

Anyhow. This weekend was good. There was a photoshoot for a Times magazine. While the pretty models turned gorgeous inside the lenses, I hung around, behind the abominable looking lights,. It's an art, when you slide the glam and glitz away. Getting the right angle, the perfect expression, timing, clolurs, lights, etc. Infact, there is so much that goes on behind the camera, that the world in front of it, seems a little dull, and surprisingly, seems to lack lusture. Behind the lens, it's more colourful!

The wedding month has almost  begun. I'm, really REALLY looking forward to a nice vacation (of 3 days :P) and some fun time with family.

This month is going to be good, I can feel it. :)

later!

HARRY POTTER - it's never over

Obviously, like the title screams and all my facebook posts suggest, I've seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2). It's been 10 years since I've been a potter fan. TEN years. Nothing in my life has lived to be that constant- neither interests, nor hobbies, nor schools, not even my looks. Harry Potter has. Yesterday, after the movie got over, Rudy said, "Now what are you going to do? Harry Potter is over, nothing to look forward to." And I told him, "I'm going to read the books again, what else! That way, Harry Potter never dies, and is never over." Yeah, I've read each book atleast 15-17 times. So much so, in most movies, I could tell I already knew half the dialogues, cos I was so thorough with the books. I've never been so helplessly addicted, never been so horribly dependent on any book to keep me entertained and maintain an interest level that spans over a decade. A DECADE. Wow, that sounds weird. Inside the Potter world, I don't think I've grown up at all. And when I say grown up, I mean a state which is defined to be in proportional relation with getting 'over' things, fixations, and addictions as the number of years increase. When I picked up the first book, I was a little over 11. So was Harry. And since then, we grew up together. But me and neither did the Potter world grow out of the magical cocoon we were so comfortable in. I've never been embarrassed to admit that I still read Harry Potter. Well, maybe yes, of what I have 'grown out' of, is the squeamishness related to being old, and still being a Potter fan. I am one, and I say it as much.

The movie was more than just a 2 hour show of effects that zoomed across the 'reel' boundaries and came charging towards our fascinated faces, or the -wham-bam-show of curses and magical blood strewn over the black screen. It wasn't even seeing the characters walloping in sorrow and drowning in the world drenched with dark activities and defeat. It was the end of a part of me, when it comes to watching the book become a relatively tangible reality. The book and the characters still live inside the pages of black and white. The world of moving frames is, however, over. I was sitting with baited breath, my nails sinking deeper and deeper inside the huge Big Cinema's chair, waiting for the real WAR to begin. The three greatest characters that have ever lived were all going to be wiped off from the screens forever- Dumbledore, Snape and Voldermort.

The war was epic. The directorial choices for all the major characters were excellent, seeing them fitting their characters with a brilliant ease and conviction. Seeing Snape, for the first time, in a position which was vulnerable and pitiable, and his final end, was something that, even I was stunned watching. I remember after reading the second book, I was thoroughly convinced that Snape was a good man. I even remember defending him on various fan sites. :P The guy was so convincingly dark and yet had serious  undertones that suggested not. Voldermort was more dangerous than ever, although, far more scared and insecure.

The hall was charged with energy and excitement, you could almost taste it. When Neville slashed Nagini's head with one swing of the Griffindor sword, and its head went spinning across the dark screen, the hall erupted, and the clapping was deafening. When Mrs Weasly wheeled around, seeing Bellatrix Lestrange shooting a curse at Ginny, she screamed, “Not my daughter, you BITCH," showered a series of red, green and blue sparks at that maniacal Bellatrix, who finally got hit and crumbled in the most melodramatic manner, the hall was full of screams again. I was so excited, I might've cried a little. When the movie got over, I started clapping, and the hall followed suit (HAH!).

I'll never be completely over the books, or even the movies, I know.  It's not everyday you see a cinematic masterpiece of classic literature of wonderfully and powerfully woven into fantastic movie adventures in 7 films that complete one saga that will never be forgotten.

Weekday

Goodmorrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnning DELHI (in a very and I assert, VERY un-Vidhya Balan way). I thought I'd make a quick update here, before I get down to working.

I watched Delhi belly on saturday. What a KICKASS movie, I must say. The best part being, it was commercial cinema, alright, but made in the most non-commerical, almost parallel cinema-ish fashion. No interval, 2 hours, no songs, very natural, great humor, and fantastic acting. Esp the fat one who's digestion was mostly the main plot, running throughout the movie. All in all, good fun, great time spent.

There is a family wedding coming up, next month, which is going to take us all across the country, right to the land that apparently God calls his own. I'm excited, yes, and I really hope we can make a quick tour to the hill station Munar. I'm not much of a beach person, you know. Munar is beautiful with sprawling tea gardens, through which I can run , and sing a random bollywood number and feel I have achieved something out of the trip. Also, a christian wedding is not something us Hindu's get to see very often. A hindu-christian wedding is going to be so wonderfully confused and mixed up, with some vows here and a bit of pooja there, in Mr. Burns words, I'd say "Aaaaaeeexxcellent".

I've been very interested in tarrot, palmistry and astrology recently. And I make sure I always get it done by someone who is NOT a pro. Why? because people who are professionals are always scary. They just have that all-knowing look, look at you like your life is ending and they are just full of bad news. Every predication has a "but" clause to it, whether good or bad. "YOU are going to be RICH!"...and just when the person is ready to feel great, comes the "BUT, only when you are ninety" *fake grin and the all knowing nod*. Then there's "YOU are going to DIE", and when the person is about it break down and tear his clothes and hair comes the "BUT, it'll be painless",*fake grin and the all knowing nod*. So, we're better off with those who don't know their elbow from their ass and are just predicting for the fun of it.


Well, that's it for now. More to come, very soon

P.S- Can't WAIT for weekend :D

A Little Bit of Nothing At All

I like this template. It's colourful, it's bright and it makes me want to keep openinig my blog page to see how it looks.

I've been cooking, lately. Nothing heavy-duty. Just desserts. So I bought a cookbook by Asha Khatu (who has been the field of gourmet vegetarian cooking for 20 years) called Delectable Desserts of the World. It's pretty interesting. I started with the simplest dish, called 'Brownie Pie.' I started a little apprehensive, thought I'd just end up making a disaster, the house would be on fire, we'd all die, etc etc. However, as luck and the precious and generous oven would have it, I could smell something promising after 5 mins of baking. I knew we had a winner.

It might not LOOK like a winner, okay. I had to make them into these small....balls, becuase they weren't very sticky and were falling to pieces when I started scraping them out of the container.

No jokes will be entertained on its presentation, kindly. It tastes delicious, let me assure you.
Here it is :)

THIS is why Delhi has no comparison

Around the city, while I walk about, I see things that make me smile and whisper under my breath, " Sigh....DELHI."

No I don't hate the city, no I don't love it. It's very typical and that's what sets it apart.
Anyway, here are some pictures you'll like (or dislike) viewing. In any case, this is what I call a REAL show

That was outside a paan shop. Pretty interesting, huh ;)

Here are two classic pictures, that everyone has seen, zipping on the roads of the capital.



WOW.

....aaannndd here's another one



<3

Last but definitely not the least
Seen in a public toilet


Favorite

Fun, right? That's what I thought.
Stay tuned in for more of these...soon.

All the love
:)

Promise You Will Resume Work

Rudy says he was made to tease us. How true is that.

I've been thinking of getting new pets. A guinea pig, a hamster, and a turtle. Ofcourse, it won't be allowed. But imagine what a riot that would be.

Till then, I shall watch this one and feel miserable. And happy. It's a cute overload that I cannot possibly take.

Thankyou animation and cartoons. You make the world a really magical place :)

Zzzzzz...

                                                         photo credits: Aditi Sharma

Just bury your head into a deep dark world,
and forget that needs to be forgotten.

Sleep away, sleep away,
just sleep away like a headless chicken.

Swimming thoughts

mmmmm.....What would I not give to just sail away, on a long boat like this... with the sinking sun, on the silent sea....away for a deliciously long and satisfying weekend.

All I do these days is google unrealistic trips, look for packages for a Europe tour, a trip around the world, only to find skyrocketing prices that make me go back to making environment pages. Bah. What a downer. This world of greed and gluttony for green and consumerism. Sightseeing is like window shopping- why should I pay for it then?

Bila-bong, bila-bing

Sometimes I can most certainly hear a minute kkkrkrrrrrrrrrrrrrr from my brain, with the rusted parts peeling away, when I work tirelessly, for a gigantic machinery, with a gazillion employees, all killing themselves for peanuts to make three strangers super rich. The three stangers who I might never meet in my life, and those three strangers who might never know me in their entire life. It's a strange relationship of warped gains and value. Why do we spend all our lives, and exhaust our precious creative juices, to make some beings in a far off land look good. The corporate is an entire world of its own. A planet within a planet. Why do we torture ourselves, every morning, in the suicidal heat, being pushed and shoved by the scurrying public, all in the need to please someone who they'll never know. They'll never meet. Not even a handshake. Or an eye contact. They're people we only hear about, wonder about, admire, respect, hate, envy, love, despise. We still owe our lives to their mercy of green. The crisp green. It is a hypocritical relationship. Sometimes, just sometimes, when we think beyond the given, the obvious, the not-so-talked about and sense the cosmos that sustains itself 'between the lines', we'd know. The virtual world and the real don't have much of a difference. One, only lives inside the wired world. The other, lives close, but is at a constant disconnect.

I wish there was a world where 'freedom' was an all-encompassing word. Where freedom not only ment of the mind, but also actions. Can I pick up my bag this instant and go off to the Himalayas for a random, unplanned trip? Can I walk away from the everyday suffocating play of words, numbers, and politics, and live a day in just silence? Can we talk facts instead of faff? Can we love and not label?

How loosely is the word 'freedom' used. How loosely are most of the powerful words used. We really are a breed that knows nothing of mosly...everything. However, the irony of it all still prevails- ignorance is bliss. But it really isn't.



     

Another song, another post

I know I've been posting a lot that isn't my copyright. But these things are either funny, inspiring, or just a great read.
Here's one song you must listen to. Before that, do lead the lyric.

Cast No Shadow- Oasis

Here's a thought for every man
Who tries to understand what is in his hands
He walks along the open road of Love & Life
surviving if he can

Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say
Chained to all the places that he never wished to say
Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say
and as faced the sun he cast no shadow

As they took his soul they stole his pride
As they took his soul they stole his pride
As they took his soul they stole his pride

Here's a thought for every man
Who tries to understand what is in his hands
He walks along the open road of Love & Life
surviving if he can

Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say
Chained to all the places that he never wished to say
Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say
and as faced the sun he cast no shadow

As they took his soul they stole his pride
As they took his soul they stole his pride
As they took his soul they stole his pride

And as he faced the sun he cast no shadow


All the love:)

Here's a rant you think you know ALL about

I'm at work, trying to read up on the climatic crisis that's affecting our world, and its economy. I'm trying to think BIG, and smart and .... nerdy. But what am I really thinking? I'm thinking about taking a short trip to some unfamiliar place. I'm thinking of doing an all-girls trip to Goa. I'm thinking of the Audioslave playlist songs that are on a loop, in my mind. I am also noticing my flingers flying across the keyboard, showing flashes of bright yellow. Yes, that's the colour they're painted in. As I type, my mind is still wandering. I'm craving candy floss. And also, my mom's chocolate fudge. I'm also wondering, why my favorite blogger is not updating on a regular basis, and when will my fav blogger write about something really funny. Also, most importantly, why is my fav blogger suffering from self-esteem (read: are my blogs REALLY good) issues.

Anyway, so I've been considering free-lancing now. Not so much as 'I love to write' issue. More of, I want more money sort of a thing. There are days when I can take time off and do the free lancing bit. There are days I'd swear loudly and curse myself for signing up for it. Right now, we're at the former. So, I need free lancing assignments. I don't know whom to contact. So, maybe I'll get down to that once I am done writing some gibberish here.

I have thoughts, revelations and weirdly-true-but no-one-cares-to-say-so quotes streaming out of me, all the time these days. No, I doubt if I'm getting smarter. I think my mind is just getting too over-excited with the world it see's around. Here are some things I thought of. IF you try and knock off any of these to decorate on your blog, I'm going to KNOW. Believe me I will *waves fist*

1. The first self-made dish always turns out bad. The magnitude of bad increases with the number of people who wait to taste it.That is, they are directly proportional. 10 people= bad dish. 100 people= GROSE dish. 1000= Puke, possibly food poisioning, maybe death.

2. Women staring at you, even smilingly, are not thinking of your beauty at all. They're wondering when you got your last wax. True story.

3. The slangs you used in school got lost when you went to college. They come up again, strangely so, later in your life and you can't believe you ever used them.

4. You can have a decent conversation with yourself in your mind. If you're caught talking to yourself, you usually pas it off by casually whistling or pretending to sing. You can also stare angrily to show you do NOT appreciate being stared at.

5. Google is the answer to all your questions. I mean, seriously!

6. It's better to be ignorant than smart. You make friends faster.

7. Everyone wants a good listener around.

8. Please nod when someone tells you something.

9. Washroom is full of awesome gossip.

10. It's so cool to have your own extension number.

11. It's funny to watch an awkward couple on a date.

12. A glass of soda can set all your troubles away.

13. It's difficult to smile when the food you eat is not of your choice.

12. Everyone is paranoid about having their email hacked.

13. Dogs always eat your favorite toys.

14. Red lipstick can make you look incredible or horrendeous.

15. Ever wanted to stand up on your desk and scream in an extremely quiet room?

16. Cursing is like anger management.

17. The manufacturing of goodlooking men stopped sometime during 1945..AD'ish. A few inhabit the earth now.

18. How I Met Your Mother has no ending. Seriously. It's like 12 seasons of prank, and you SO got fooled!

19. It is easier to pick on a pimple than to wait for it to subside. Wait, easier? Better, I mean.

20. If you feel fat, you ARE fat. So stop asking and start exercising.

That's it for now. Later maybe, soon.

Tada!

Been there....done that... :)

Letter home from school...

Dear Dad,

$chool i$ really great. I am making lot$ of friend$ and $tudying very hard. With all my $tuff, I $imply can't think of anything I need, $o if you would like, you can ju$t $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you.

Love,
Your $on.

A week later..... a letter from "home"

Dear Son,

I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmics, and oceaNOgraphy are eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student busy. Do NOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task, and you can never study eNOugh.

Love,
Dad



Source: deardad.pen.io

So THAT'S new!

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." is a grammatically valid sentence in the English language, used as an example of how homonyms and homophones can be used to create complicated linguistic constructs

The sentence is unpunctuated and uses three different readings of the word "buffalo". In order of their first use, these are

• a. the city of Buffalo, New York, which is used as a noun adjunct in the sentence and is followed by the animal;
• n. the noun buffalo, an animal, in the plural (equivalent to "buffaloes" or "buffalos"), in order to avoid articles;
• v. the verb "buffalo" meaning to bully, confuse, deceive, or intimidate.

Marking each "buffalo" with its use as shown above gives:

Buffalo^a buffaloⁿ Buffalo^a buffaloⁿ buffalo^v buffalo^v Buffalo^a buffaloⁿ.

Thus, the sentence when parsed reads as a claim that bison who are intimidated or bullied by bison are themselves intimidating or bullying to bison

Helllooowwwww thereeeeee

My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It's better to burn out
Than to fade away
My my, hey hey.

Out of the blue and into the black
They give you this, but you pay for that
And once you're gone, you can never come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black.

This track is a find, honestly. If you haven't heard it, then please open its youtube page and let it buffer while you read on.
I just got back from Jodhpur, from a friends wedding. Its werid how I remember my childhood days so well, the minutest, most unimportant details, of how people around me looked, how they talked, their quirks, the roads, the shops, etc. I've been in Jodhpur for two whole years, and that part of my memory is a complete blank. Was I an unhappy child back then? So much so, that all those days have been completelty rubbed off from my mind? It felt like I was visitng a completely new city, and I was as wonderstruck, and as amazed, as my other friends, visiting places, walking through lanes, driving on a empty roads. Oh yeah, empty. The first thing that struck me was the lack of traffic. What a relief. I could breathe on the roads and know there was minimal carbon going inside my already adultrated lungs.

The marriage was just how I had imagined, actually. I knew the set up would be dripping with all the Rajasthani traditions and customs, all the one's that make me happy, secretly, knowing I belong to the same culture. What was more fascinating and appealing was to watch people dressed in Jodhpuris, bandhgalas, etc. and conversing in the native language which oozes royality. Rajasthan is such a rich state, in every sense of the word. The culture, the languages, the food, the clothes, etc. The usual tease and the cheek which is the trademark of mostly all weddings was plesantly absant in this one. We were a part of a bigger, more dignified wedlock, which was so charming, minus the essential ingredients that are indespensible in a Delhi, or UP sort of a marriage. We weren't flowing in non-exhaustive supply of alcohol, the conversation among the most excited and important were tame and the only thing that was supersonic was when the speaker volume reached a prohibitted level for a second and a half, accidently. It wasn't a wedding. It was a marriage. I'm definitely not drawing a parallel in terms of preference. It's great to be a part of a ceremony which isn't like the usual. I don't mind, either, personally!

Life is back to the usual. Work, work, and more work. I never thought I'd say this, but I am really excited for tomorrows match. CRICKET match. The world cup final happens tomorrow, and not a single Indian can mask the excitement or contain the patriotism. It's in the air and no one can escape it. We're all infected. It's a great feeling. I was travelling in the train when the semi-final was upon us. A SEMI-FINAL with PAKISTAN. A doublly important match mixed with the already infectious excitement that the new religion, cricket, brings with it, had me downloading the match score application on my phone. 6 of us, huddled over my phone for some four hours, bursting with nervous excitement and constant prayers for the country to have its name in the finals list, was something I thought I would never be a part of in my life. I was. I really was. The train was quiet, and the lights were off. We could hear the rhythmic snoring, shifting and shuffling as we bore our eyes on the scorecard, waiting for the steady increase in the column that showed "wickets". Everytime it went one number up, we'd whoop and scream, but not loud enough, still. We were waiting for the last second. After that pandemonium would reign, surely. Before my phone could update the score, one friend got a call, and we knew we the world had burst at that very point. There was only screaming, and as the voices carried through the train corridoor, the sleepy eyes and tired bodies sprung up with an energy which seemed to be hibernating within them for what seemed like years. The entire train screamed in one single "YAY". We were in the middle of nowhere, but we didn't feel it. We were in India, and everywhere, everyone around us was a part of one common link that brought us together- cricket.

Cricket is not a sport. It might not even be a religion, since that too is reaching redundancy. Maybe it is an overwhelming feeling, a super natural power that has the capacity to bring us together. There is nothing bigger, more important than making each and every individual of a country feel proud of their identity, the soil which gave them life. I don't know what cricket is. No one knows what cricket is.

On another topic, Coke Studio. That's another one highly recommended. Please do give it a listen. There's nothing more soulful (for now!)

 Im hungry. I had lunch just a while back. Im still hungry.

It's a friday. There's music in my room. Not the annoying sort, ofcourse. Good. Old classics. I like very much. It really isn't that bad an idea to work with light music for light work.

The king is gone but he's not forgotten
Is this the story of johnny rotten?
It's better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.

-Hey Hey, My My- Neil Young

More later.
Love

Jibber and Jabber of Everyday

Wow, another entry, so soon, my my!

So, I've been working, and the weekend just goes by like it never came. I know my social life is at a stand still. I know I am to be blamed. I know I'm practically doing nothing about it. I know this needs to change.

A friends wedding at the end of this month is something I am really looking forward to. It's going to be a much-awaited reunion and there's nothing else that's being talked about, for the past one week. My clothes are undecided, I hope  my leave is really sanctioned, and I know I'm leaving at a terrible time- the first cut of my magazine will be out by then. I will miss the most exciting days. But what the heck. It's not everyday a friend gets married. It's not everyday you go to Jodhpur. It's not everyday you bunk work for reasons other than laziness and lack of motivation.

I'm also looking forward to Rudy's visit , for next month. I am more than looking forward to it. It's leading to a lot of happy day dreams. It's feels like forever since we met. It always feels so.

My office room has had some highly exciting changes in its occupancy. It's become a competely edit room. All the trash (read: media sales) herd has been shooe'ed away. Its mostly habitable, to say the least. The volume of dialogues has gone down. The varying pitch of different voices are very tolerable, and post luch, its mostly quiet. I just remembered, I haven't done any decoration (pined up interesting stuff) on my desk board. Which is funny, since I used to have a lot of interesting material, write ups and sketches sitting in my drawer, in my previous company, hoping to find a place to be advertised.

Here's a disclaimer, by the way, in case you're planning on getting a blackberry. It brings down your privacy to zero. It connects you to people you need to be connected to.It also connects you to people you need to disconnect with. It's a very confusing package. It can lead to indecisive depression. It can also lead to a crazed up elation. Take your pick, so.

I have no new music again. I heard almost all that Rudy sent me. I;ve been listening to Death Cab..again. And it reminds me of those bus rides during monsoon, from Bandra to Worli, duing my office days. I love that feeling. I like making those connections, I like joining those dots.

Chalo, I need to get back to work. I've eaten into my work time, yes, guilt free, though, but now I really must go back to ....what? WRITING. HAH! Yes, thats my profession and I get paid for it. How's THAT! (P.S- really, its not all that fancy. The writers block becomes more pronounced when you take it up as a profession. Blogging is the best thing that happend to us, really)

Soon then.

All the love

The TIMES, They Are a Changin'

Hellooo HELLooooooo!

It's so ironical, that only y'day I was wondering how people find time to blog at their work place. And then I vaguely thought I'd only have time during weekends to update here. Numerous weekends have gone by, and this space has remained untouched. It's a thursday morning, and I know I have certain important calls to make. And I am doing what? I'm chilling (in the giuse of working). My computer screen is a little turned towards a blank stretch of wall today, so no one knows what I am upto. There's a good chance that they might just know anyway, since no one in my room works. That's another story.

YES, I have a job now, and TOI is going to make me rich (rich= pay my own mobile bills, incessent shopping and make secret trips across the country for "work"). Therefore, this is good.

I like my work.I'm so gald I started work in the wrong profession so I could understand and like my , now, work even more. Actually, come to think of it. There are so many things in my life that I am glad were just bad decisions, so I could appreciate the good ones more. hmm hmmm.

I sit next to the media sales people. And they are all born with woofers fitted inside their vocal cords. Most of my enerygy and concentration goes in trying to block out all the unnecessary jabbering and screaming. It's also rather unfortunate and sad that I share the same working space with two women who truly have dung brains and their converations reflect a negative intellectual graph.

I've been high on Avial music for the past two weeks. I wish I could really understand the language, and speak it. Malayalam is very interesting.

I miss Bombay, a LOT, but certain things about Delhi are highly endearing. I'm so torn between the two cities, that I need to move soon. To either Hyderabad or Banglore :P

My music classes are going okay, (I guess), but I know my music teacher might start paying me to not attend the classes. I usually go completely unpracticed, with just a sheepish smile and a request "can we run over what we learnt in the last class again.........plis..."

There's an important family wedding in August, in Kerela!! Our khandaan is ready to come for this one, it seems, since for the first time, the venue is not the same that has been repeating for almost a century.

There's a lot more that has been happening, but I need to jet.

More sooon-ish.

Love.

It's Never Too Late For A HAPPPY NEW YEARRR!!

Last December I was on tenderhooks, since the year was coming to a promising end, and I was more than impatient to get on with the new year plans. 2010 has been the worst year, they all say, and I am sure they'll be hardly who wouldn't agree. Rest assured, though, my new year was fabulous.

Goa is the most beautiful little place I've been to. I miss the candle lit dinners, the breakfast and lunch at the beach shacks, the long aimless walks on the beach, with the sun  right above our heads, and us, watching people doing water sports at a distance, while lazily sipping away brightly coloured drinks. Every night we'd make a sand castle or draw funny faces in the sand and hope to find it the next day, lying on the beach, untouched! And the drives...oh the drives..seeing the tall happy plam trees drunk-swaying at the distance on one side of the road, the wilderness sprouting in the form of green and yellow grass on the other side, and the road ahead, with scanty traces of humans and machines. We'd pull down the windows, and smell the air around us, so fresh , and intoxicating, like the environment was just freshly laundered.

I didn't empty my pockets, seeing the bizzare clothes and attractive curious, hanging outside shops, luring the bright eyes, waiting to be bought at ridiculous prices. It was fun, and rather amusing, seeing people jabber away in rapid french, german, or english, trying to strike a bargin for thing I hardly expected them to use. Frankly, though, I could've bought a souvenir too, something to remember this trip by. But I'm not complaining. I took back enough to be worrying about anything else ;)

The food was.... Divine. No, there's no other word for it. I might've over eaten most meals, but I can safely a say, I ate enough. A lot. More than I usually do.

The new year wasn't how I had first imagined it. Only because Goa was over flowing with humans. I wanted to go down to the beach to bring in the new year. As we walked down the Tito's lane, there was a happy, inebriated crowd that walked with us, and there was a happy, inebriated crowd that walked towards us, all screaming out incoherent, nothings. We reached the beach, but we saw nothing of it, except more humans.  So they decided to put on their best (worst) behaviour and made life wonderful (miserable) for people around them. SOooo we decided to walk back to Tito's lane, and found ourselves in a relatively less noisy and crowded, little bar. With just a drink , lots of conversation, and the cheerful people filling in the background, we had the best new year I'd have ever imagined.

I want to go back. Goa is addictive.

Three most adoreable little pups live right outside my colony gate. They're beyond cute and fat. However, fat pups just look cute. One looks like Buffy Jr. Same colour, same coat, and same amount of fat. One pup is the Poop King. The moment he sees me he starts wagging his tail and poops there and then. Sorry, he can't contain his excitement. He likes to poop all the time.

Guitar classes are going well. Earlier when I strummed my guitar, it sounded like noise. Now if you concentrate a little, you might just be able to hear traces of melody. So , there, that's going somewhere.
Yes, he's not been christened yet. Don't worry, Mr. Guitar, you will be. Sooonn--ish.

So that's all..All the love and mush and all that.

Tchus.

Happy Christmas!

It's already Christmas and soon, we're going to turn to a new calander. Honestly, I'm really glad this year is over. Its's been an extremely eventful one, but not always for happy reasons. The luck department seems to be on an all-time-low. The new year better give it good business!

Christmas, although, is the happiest time of the year. I love it, and I've always done something new, different or fun, on every single christmas. We still maintain the tradition of decorating the christmas tree, and I always hang a sock, which no more gets filled with surprise gifts, but it's fun doing it all the same. This year we went to an orphanage, close to my place. What an expreience it was!

It's strange how we picture a gloomy setting, with depressed kids dressed in white gowns, sitting in a dining hall, waiting to be fed , when we say the word "orphans". It's probably because we think them as unfortunate and decide to sympathise/empathise with them. This feeling of supremacy masquerading in the guise of pity, is such a typical  "higher beings" feeling. I'd say, I've never seen a happier bunch.

Around 40 of them, tearing the house down with their scheeches, laughter, and innocent madness , only reminded me of my childhood. What is the difference between me and them. Seeing them, the difference seemed like a thin line. But a very noticible one, ofcourse. They were survivors, they are fighters. And they, are truly happy to be alive.

A group of volunteers were there to celebrate christmas with them. A rather (underfed) looking Santa was jumping on the balls of his feet, puncturing the constant babble with a "ho ho ho!", and an over excited and fascinated child would go poke his tummy at regular intervels, with his mouth open. They were  rounded up later and taught the christmas carols, in Hindi. How they translated and made the hindi version of all the carols, is beyond me. But it was such a delight to watch it, all the same. While the lady who runs the place was telling us about the magnitude of her responsibilities and her the constant struggle to get these children to go to regular schools, I was torn between  floating emotions of sadness and a mad desire to laugh. Who can imagine these little nutters going through any problems at all! They seemed more happy than I ever was, when I was little. Plus seeing all 40 of them, together, looked like a perpetual, non-exhaustive party.  Remember Mr. India? :)

I'm really looking forward to new year. It's going to be awesome, I already know it (like tradition goes, I'll never say it). That's one thing I was looking forward to. There's another thing. My music classes. My guitar sits in front of me the whole day. It's dark marronish. It's pretty hot. But it's rather upset at the lack of use. Worry not Mr....Anonymous (you will be christened soon, I promise), you're going to be singing a new tune, EVERYDAY.

That's all for now. I shall be updating soon. All the love and hugs and all that jazz.

Tchus.

Mary Elizabeth Frye

I came across this beautiful poem. And I couldn't resist posting it here, because I do not intend on forgetting it.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,


I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there. I do not die.

The inside and outside of Facebook.

I came across this article, which just aptly reflects my thoughts and doubts about one's life inside the facebook page, and outside it.  A good read, which incidently also talks about another interesting topic- The Imposter Syndrome.

Read it at lesiure.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/11/change-your-life-online-friends