A new acquaintance's idea of a compliment -
"When you were young, you must have been really pretty na! "
uahahahhahahahahhaaa
Why is Bangalore THIS cold ?
On the one hand I am glad that the winter isnt as bad as last year, where there was sweltering heat in December. But this cold is a little extreme.
Brrrrr
Everyone is in sweaters and shawls. My tea time in the canteen is cut short coz my hands are freezing !!!
Grrrrr
P.S. I'll take a cold day over a hot one anyday :)
She knew as soon as she crossed over that she had stepped into some new territory. It wasn’t the way it smelled, the way it looked, the people in it or any of the myriad senses humans posses. It was the way it made her feel. Her feet felt the forgotten emotion of treading on soft earth. Her eyes understood the explosion of colors around her. Her soul sensed the beauty that was so many trees swaying in the cool breeze, the melody in the hundreds of voices around her, the happiness in the children that were running around her. A combined assault on the senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and feeling- is this how it feels she wondered.
And the beauty of all that was it happened when she crossed over that imaginary line that was called a gate.
Jewellery in various shades, shapes and styles. Ceramic was that was colored with Maati. Absolutely beautiful handiworks of craftsmen from all the country. Each as varied as the language, the location or the peoples in themselves. Toys, jewellery, paintings, vases, flowers, metal art, clothes, pottery, cutlery, tribal art, bamboo work, leather puppets and food :)
She was at a Handicrafts Exhibition in Chitra Kala Parishath. Boy, was it funnnnnnn.
P.S. it is so worth it, my house will be filled with knick-knacks from all over the country soon … tra la lalalaaa
I saw this interesting movie this weekend. While there was a huge load of nonsense. and some un-intentional comedy, there were a couple of points that came up during it that I liked.
When in a relationship, the hero realises that he has to lie to his girl about 'Having quit smoking', 'Being friends with other women', 'Thinking about only her 24/7'. He has to lie to make her feel happy that he is shaping out to be exactly what she wants. While it is killing him that he has to lie more and more each day, he wonders if he will have to spend his entire life losing what he is bit by bit and becoming someone he should be.
Its a very fascinating observation. Worrying about the "I" while trying to be in a working 'love story'.
Well, in the movie he gives up on that relationship and later gets into another , where he says that when pushed into a corner about "adjusting" for the sake of his lady, he will try to give up his sense of self and pour in more love to be "us" over "I".
This weekend passed by as a blur of
Chocolate
Crispy Fried Veg Starters
American Chopsuey
One full Minute Maid Pulpy Orange
Mango Ice Cream
Kulfi
A full Nimbooz bottle
Gobi Manchuri
Dahi Puri
WhiteChocolate & Raspberry Cookie
2 orders of French Fries
Bun with Butter and Gulkhand
Rice with Gheeeeeee
Mazaaa
More icecream.
In short (or long), all the things I had to stop eating.
Life is so much better off when you are not worrying about eating right/ eating wholesome / eating consciously / just plain dieting :)I am dead tired of worrying about weight, what I eat and all the nonsense that goes with it. So, here's goodbye to guilt :)
I mean whats the point of feeling guilty when all the supposed dieting just results in weight gain.
What a relief this weekend has been ! Traalalalalalllaaa ...
P.S. I read the list and while it does seem I have gone a tad bit overboard, aw well, what the heck :)
Early morning classes are always hard to drag yourself out of bed for, especially when the weather seems tailor made for snuggling up. More so, if the night before had you falling asleep at 1am. Surprisingly enough, I made it before hand to see there were chairs put out around the pool with new students like me waiting already. And I was so so so glad I didn’t buy the sessy swim suit with HUGE flowers right down to the ankles. People were dressed to walk into a movie set right away. We all waited for Nisha Millet to turn up but a guy walked in instead. So much for being taught by a star. ;) And the guy was on the heavier side and right out went any notions I had about losing weight by swimming. Sigh. So much for an easy weight loss plan.
We started out by learning to breathe while swimming – breathe in through the mouth and out through the nose. I should have figured out right away all the happiness this procedure was going to bring to my life :D
Next, you will float automatically if you let your body go limp. And cough cough, he looks over at the ladies and says, you guys will have it easy- women float very easily. It should have made it easy but as it happens, most people floated making a straight line but few(part of whom I was of course) tilted off to the side . uahhahahaa. Luckily, vision under water is a toughie and no one could see the embarrassment or others toppling off.
The first day left me all excited. I realized I actually enjoyed being in the water and trying all the breathing stuff. Of course, when I went to office, the first question I was asked was if I had cried or not slept. Turns out chlorine water for the eyes – not a good thing. I zombie-fied around office with bloodshot drunkard eyes. Nope, no one felt sorry enough to take some work away.
Day2
Swimming wise, day 2 got us kicking water trying to propel ourselves ahead. Looked like I was making decent progress, before I could congratulate my self on that, the trainer started with freestyle.
That’s moving that hands like swimmers do. Piece of cake. Or so I thought. Just make sure your palms touch the water at 90 degrees,Your wrist upto elbow should be perpendicular while they enter the water. Push the water away right beyond your hips. Oh and while you are at it, make sure you breathe right and keep kicking those legs.
Oh, wait did I miss a teensy-weensy detail. Looks like I did. On the count of 4 strokes, pull half your body out and take your next gulp of air. No more ‘swimming’ for as long as you can hold your breath only stuff. We had progressed to , if you run out of it, get some and continue.
The day saw me get goggles from the instructor. Ah, must have forgotten to mention, I bought the cap also from him and he offered me a choice of blue or pink – I said it doesn’t matter. And for the goggles, he offered navy blue (which he dint have, but would get the next day), so I chose the fluorescent cyanish-blue. If you haven’t caught on to where I am leading , wait for it , I am that specimen in the pool with a fluorescent orange swimsuit, red shorts, bubblegum pink haircap and fluorescent cyan goggles J There, did I paint a pretty picture J No wonder the dude kept trying to get me to choose sober colors !!
Day3
Day 3 was by far the toughest. Having gotten goggles now and being able to look at the floor, I started counting the number of tiles I was able to cross with one breath while swimming (read as flailing arms and legs wildly) I made it across 2 tiles, the size of a Rubik’s cube side each. I could have cried. I furiously started coordinating the arms, the legs, the breathing and failed miserably. Turns out my hand-leg co-ordination aint that great. I should have played all those video games. They would have helped, I am sure. If I would use my hands, I would stop kicking. If I took the breath, it would be at the wrong count of by turning to the wrong side. There were times, when I would nail most of it – swim for the count of 4 , kick my legs, turn left and get back into water only to realize that I had taken the air at all. And then , tying to get the breathing right, I stopped kicking my legs and found that I was sinking. All my joy of having gotten a hang of swimming was going right out the pool. It is more distressing then one would think.
Rest is in Progress :)
Being Indian, brought up in the environment that we are and being of the more modest sex causes way more issues than anyone lets on especially when the subject at hand is the frantic search for swimwear.
Swimming classes have rules – swimsuit and cap for hair. The search was frantic since I had no idea where the stuff is sourced from. The big sports brands make only small sized suits. The local gully type of shops have weirdly shaped and designed ‘swimsuits’ if we can defile their name in that fashion.
Having successfully sourced one in fluorescent orange shade, I completely forgot about the cap. Nope, no snickering about fluorescent or about orange, try half a dozen shops and then you pounce on the thing that seems closest to what you want. And of course, I picked up football shorts too :)
I watched the latest Bella movie with colleagues from office. All of who had no idea what the series was about. It was fun explaining why a below-average-girl with no special powers has a Wolf and Vampire in love with her. How a Vampire is Vegetarian. Why are we watching this movie. Did the movie end, I was still waiting for it to finish. He he he he . We were roaring with laughter in the scene where Bella realizes (oh spoiler alert!) that she loves WolfBoy too. So, there’s VampyBoy that she loves and then there’s WolfBoy she just realized she loves. At that exact moment another wolfboy walks in , and someone says “Is she in love with him also?”
Well, the movie was ok in the sense a Mills and Boon is ok. Ie, if you are in the mood for not using your mind and if you just want a teenage love story.
I had watched Inception 2 days before this one and there was definitely a contrast. I must confess I was worried if I would be in the pile of people who didn’t understand the movie at all. There was so much talk about it. So many people talking about mindblowing moments. So much praise for the the elaborate set ups and layers and hidden meanings. I did like the movie, but I wasn’t blown away by it. I think the entire concept of Inception (while it is fascinating and obviously was a labour of love&effort) happens in daily life all the time. You don’t need three layers of dreams to plant an idea and not be caught doing it. A normal face to face conversation with a generous amount of twisting of words can easily help in planting doubts, creating new thoughts and nudging people where you require. It’s called Manipulation.
If I remove that thought from my head, well then, Inception was a nice watch. I loved the scene where the guy figures out it is a dream based on how the carpet feel against his skin. I think the guy from “3rd Rock from the Sun” had some amazing fight sequences in no gravity. And trying to create a “I am falling backwards jolt” when there is no gravity was an interesting question. There is something very captivating about movies where the minutest details have been thought out and planned for. I still hear that there a lot of things that you don’t notice at the first viewing, so I may end up watching it again and try to peel the onion a little more.
Couple of days back, I had just gotten the green and had crossed road when to the right I saw this guy on a bike who had combination of tan skin and light green eyes(has to be rare). And he was cute to boot. While I was just realized that , the actual cute thing happened. The girl behind him was talking to him and she must have said something interesting, because he blushed and she actually pinched both his cheeks and he broke into a sheepish smile. It was such an amazing moment. There is something about seeing someone happy that can put a spring into your step.
And today morning, I saw this old lady, the plump grandmotherly type, sitting at her doorstep, drying her hair in the sun. It’s a very normal sight, but she looked so peaceful and she had this smile on her face as she turned to talk to someone next to her. It made me realize that what you actually need in life is just happiness within. :)
I am sitting on bed by the window, looking out on a forest - its greeeeeeeeeeen and its raining. I see the drops landing on the puddles already formed and creating lovely ripples in them.
There's something amazingly calming and beautiful, fascinating and breath taking about rain. About water too generally.
It reminds me of me long long ago, doing exactly this. Writing a blog post, with a cup of tea by my side while looking at snow fall slowly to the ground.
I was in the US of A then and I am in the US of A now. But now, the world has shifted along the axis, an axis I don't recognise.
I have come a long way.
I am still finding my path around that, for now, orbiting around my little puddles.
Its going to be 2 years.Two full years. And I have NO idea where 24 months went, I can still remember my wedding preparation like it was yesterday. I cannot believe I have been married for all of 2 years. It is darned funny.
My friend got engaged yesterday, my besssssssstest wishes to him ... here's wishing you P - a love story that lasts forever. Cherish all the happiness, the little things, the big ones, keep the smile on and share it with would-be Mrs P and turn her into one pucca loos character like you ....
What's with this movie. What's the point. I went purely to see the magic of SRK and Kajal inspite of pathetic reviews. I didn't get to see the normal SRK, but Kajal was AMAZING.
While looking at the movie, I realised something. Turns out, it is so obvious, since it's staring you right in the face, that you miss it.
There's always support for being a Muslim, it's always Hindus who seem to be shown in the wrong light.
Take Mr and Mrs Iyer, we get to see Hindu extremists murdering the old helpless Muslim couple.
My name is Khan shows a young Khan hearing about crimes Hindus perpetrated crime against Muslims.
Fiza again is about how a Muslim kid turned to terrorism due to Hindu-Muslim riots.
The news is filled with images of crimes against Muslims during the Gujarat riots or even the Mumbai ones.
There is a definite exposure to the world when it watches Indian media - be it the entertainment movies or the 24 hour news channels- I am not surprised if all they see is that Muslims suffer at the hand of Hindus in India because it is a predominantly Hindu country. But in each scenario, I am sure even other religions suffered.
The media may not realise it, but doesn't the world need to know that too. If we do not represent all aspects of our society, won't the world too see us that ways.
We are republic, secular and democratic and proud of it aren't we. We have had people from myriad religious backgrounds lead the country, lead our second religion[ cricket ], be the entertainment stars and what not. Why then the need for separation on basis of religion.There's no movie on India's democratic life is there
I applied for a marital status and address change in my passport on dec 17th 2009. I waited 45 days to hear from the police for the verification, then hubby made a trip to the 'round the corner police station.
He came back home to tell me, I need to go there too.
I went. We got sent back for a phone bill from 2009.
We returned. We got sent back for a phone bill from the previous address in 2008.
We returned. We got sent back for .. you get it, we went to the police station, home and back 4 times.
Then, turns out, since I had submitted all those documents at the time of passport application - we needn't have gone back and forth even once.
Finally, the writer guy sits to write down the information. In the meanwhile, I saw him insult a guy because he was from Tamil Nadu, being rude to a girl who didn't have any other address proof other than a rental agreement[true], try to hit a guy with a paper weight when that guy did not understand where he was to sign. He made statements about if he doesn't finish an application in 15 days, the commissioner pulls them up - what about 45 days in my case I wonder.What about police needed to come to the house and verify on their own, what about them calling up people if they can't find them. It's their job, isn't it. When Vc said, I thought you would get in touch with us , he said 'will you pay for my personal calls to all the people who applied for passports'
I used to believe that a police station is what wrong doers need to fear, but being there for 2 hours just waiting on people[police] to just sign a paper, a weird fear grew within me, I didn't want to be there, it was like my skin was crawling, like I had put my foot into crap, like I was in a stinking spot and the stench was attaching itself to me.I didn't want to look at that sick,slimy writer, it's was frustrating to keep a calm face and talk to him, anything so as to not displease him, just so my application passes.
Then, he says, the SI isn't here , come back in the evening.
I came home, took a bath to get the sick feeling off.You needed to be there to feel it.
We went back in the evening, dreading even going there, turns out he wasn't there. We had to settle down for another hours wait. Slimeball people walking in and out, staring like 'beep beep beep's. And then, the worst moment of the day, I heard a scream come from inside, a real heart wrenching sound - why , why as a person who needed passport verification did I have to be subjected to hearing a person being tortured .WHY . WHY . WHY. I almost puked right there.
Shouldn't they do it as defined by coming to my house. Shouldn't they learn to be polite to people who come to the police station. Shouldn't they know how to treat people who are not criminals. Shouldn't they know that they can't expect women to spend 4 hours in a police station. Shouldn't they know that they need to respect women, at least show respect.
I never thought I would say it, but I find it hard to believe that people who are to protect us are the ones I am afraid of.
It's feb 20 2010, more than 2 months since I applied and I still don't have my passport - just a marital status and address change.
Started with my new company, it is indeed a strange feeling to be in a building full of people you have never seen, never met.
Lots of waiting in the reception area later, I met the HR, my new Team Manager, team mates. Looks like a whole new beginning. It seems like every beginning is an opportunity for infinite possibilities, a fresh start where you can do things differently or the same way again ;0
New cubicles, a lovely terrace pantry with a beautiful flower garden and a nice view, a library that actually stocks Rd, nice people - the manager asked me to join his group for lunch, the building looks awesome, well what else, oh yeah, I dont know any of the things that I am supposed to be working on- eowwwwwww - back to books and learning for me.
Well, wish me a wonderful beginning and a wonderful time here ..
And I wish the same for you for the new year ahead.
