Can’t do without….

Half cup of tea in the morning

Reading the newspaper …….books…..reading anything

Checking mail

Goofy people…goofiness galore

Listening to music

Seeing the funny side of things

Making people smile

Mum’s kadhi chawal

White Musk perfume

Thinking about getting a dog

Thinking about getting fish

Bread and butter

Animated movies……romantic comedies……all movies!

Popcorn

Best friends (S, M and S—you gals make my world vibrant and vital)

Watching programs on animals or travel or cooking on TV

Listening….and truly believing that it helps

Drama in everything, so that I can weave stories when I get old

Water

Greenery/plants

Intelligent conversation

Writing

Stationery

Procrastination

Lounging in pyjamas once in a while….doing nothing

Extended sleep on Sunday mornings

Mangoes and watermelon

Singing out of tune on purpose

Attempting to whistle

The colour blue

Silver bracelets and silver earrings

My watch

Day dreaming

Jeans

Calvin and Hobbes

Remembering trivial utterly useless GK

Asking questions

Invariably putting my foot in my mouth

British humour

Eating the cherries off cake and ice-cream

Subtle sarcasm and mild flirting

Telling the truth

Writing bad limericks

Getting ribbed…………blushing

Remembering numbers and dates

My iphone

Forgetting why I got angry

Brother’s advice

Being fascinated by lights and fireworks

Being agony aunt

Consulting…counseling…..worrying

Learning new things

The elephant God and His humourous ways to test us poor mortal humans

Never finding the right clothes to wear

Wishing I could play tennis more often or atleast watch it being played

Planning to not die till I learn or attempt to learn salsa

Thinking P G Wodehouse is the greatest author ever

Making a “things to do list”….then promptly forgetting to look at it again

Wanting to drive an SUV

Enjoying the smell of the first rains

Wanting to finish a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle

Having an opinion on most things

Being on time

Wishing I had said the right thing at the right time

Always regretting words spoken in anger

Being annoyingly optimistic

The window seat…always!

Wanting to see a F1 race someday

Believing that all things are equal and yet the balance tilts to favour those who show enough courage to want it badly

Reading between the lines…..then getting into trouble

Watering plants

Giggling

Wanting to see the world—the hills, the valleys and all that lies in between.

Logic, practicality and science….and also that some things I cannot explain

Wanting to be a student for ever

Thinking about being a photographer someday

Experimenting with cooking

Standing by the window when it rains

Coming up with every excuse to not workout

Wanting to see and touch snow

Cuddling up with pillows

Being a hopeless incorrigible romantic

Wishing I could play the piano or the guitar

Talking forever……saying everything and nothing at all

Letting go….when I can’t do anything else

Keeping the faith

Believing that hope always floats

Wanting to see a Broadway musical

The fact that what goes around comes around……and the world is a small place

Being naïve sometimes

Reading a book...never figuring out when I fall asleep

The knowledge that humour helps lessen the pain when it hurts the most

Admitting that it all happens for your own good.

Of auto fans and psychos……

I have this uncanny knack of picking the wrong autowalla no matter where I go.

In my unmatched travels in Bangalore I have come across enough specimens to be inspired enough to write this blog.

Let’s begin with a very scary auto fan/ psycho type: This guy is forever parked outside my street. He is also forever ready to go anywhere I ask him to. He never uses the meter and always charges less than what the fare would normally come up to. All this is still tolerable, until he begins asking me questions—what are my office timings? Do I work Saturdays? Can he come to pick me up in the evenings? What is my phone number? Can he call and check if he can come and pick me up in the evening? Can he call in the morning and come and pick me up from my building? Who is my watchman? Etc etc…

As you can probably understand……..I make an effort to not take this auto in the morning. If it means I have to leave a little early, little late, or from another street, then I just do it.

The second category of autowallas includes the geography gene deficient chaps. This is how the conversation usually flows;

Me: “Race Course Road?”

Him: “Eh?”

Me: “Race Course Road??”

Him: (Scratching his chin or poking his ear, looking sufficiently mystified) “Where on Race Course Road?”

Me : “Near Taj West End”

Him: (Now vigourously working on scratching that chin or digging uranium in that ear, looking positively dumbfounded!) “Which route to go?”

Me: (Controlling the urge to hit the man, wondering why they always ask you questions when you are running against time to reach work….) “Over Old Madras Road….”

Him: (Scratch, scratch or dig, dig, Oscar winning cinematic look of deep mystery and incomprehension) “After Old Madras road, which way?”

Me: (Grating teeth, wishing for something hard to hit his head with, with increasing volume…) “Over Dickenson Road, then you take a right , parallel to M G Road, then you drive straight down to Raj Bhavan Road, then you take a left at Chalukya circle, then straight down to Race Course Road!!!! The whole thing will last 30 mins ! ARE YOU COMING OR NOT???”

Him: (In deep thought for over a minute, working out on that chin or/and ear)“ No madam” (cheesy grin)

Me: “ THEN WHY THE HECK DID YOU ASK THAT MANY QUESTIONS???”

Him: (another cheesy grin)

Suddenly another auto draws up almost running over your toes……

Him2: “Where to madam?”

Me: (hopeful again, there is a lord!) “Race Course Road?”

Him2: “Hmm”….scratch……

And life goes on…………..

The third category belongs to the virgin autowalla. Rare and very hard to come by, this auto walla doesn’t know a single place in Bangalore. He asks you if you know the way (bloody gall I tell you!) and as is the superior human tendency of non auto drivers; you smirk and tell them that of course you do! Then begins the jolly ride, where you realize that this absolutely cunning and shrewd fellow has made you his Bangalore guide for the day………he insists on knowing when the Ulsoor lake came into being, or when a particular street became one way, or why old Madras Road is called that, one guy even asked me what the price of a film ticket was when we passed a mall! All in all you are mentally drained, not to mention pocket empty, by the time you reach your destination.

The fourth and final type of autowalla are found dime a dozen. They wait till you are seated and then say; “20 rupees extra”

Smart these fellows are! They know you cannot jump off a moving vehicle and that you are sufficiently and psychologically cornered into accepting. Yet I have learnt after a lot of fighting that this need not be an all encompassing losing battle for you….I usually say, “WHAT!!Stop this auto immediately”

Ah ha! You have realized that their weakness lies in not having a scene (here is where you feel like grinning goofily, but since you are having a fight, you must look distressed and agonized enough…)

He persists and tells you, “You won’t get any savari (customers) from there!”

You retort with, “So? Is that my fault?”

You have managed to stump him! Hurray!

The euphoria doesn’t last too long. He says, “Madam, what is 20 rupees to you? We have to come back empty from there….”

You reply, “So that gives you a right to cheat people?”

Again you have come up with a winner! (Pat on your back my friend!)

He says, “Ok madam, 15 rupees, not yours or mine”

You: “ You think you can cheat people is it? No 15 rupees! You want to come for 10 rupees then come otherwise stop this auto right now!”

That my friend, is when it strikes you that you have comprehensively lost an extra ten rupees for absolutely no reason. It is then that you should just meekly accept that the laws in this auto filled world are conspiring to constantly win against you and your silly little brain. Just give up and lead a peaceful life.

Life without drama, like I always say, is no life at all.

Heat , rain and some candles......

.....life.

I am usually, almost incorrigibly, definitely annoyingly optimistic about most situations that come my way.
I stand defeated and very alone today.

Vacation?

I was feeling a bit frustrated last week. There was no particular reason really.....I just wished I had a little more "patience" to step back and see any situation from a third party perspective. I wished I didn't jump to conclusions or get emotional about the whole thing, so quickly! This invariably lead to hurting oneself. I have learnt that there isn't much that is worth this kind of involvement...

The bigger picture gets lost when you deal with trivial--and as you will later realise, utterly useless--by-issues. I have to keep telling myself--more often now, when something makes me angry--that this is just a small part of your life and not your entire existence! Don't give situations undue credit especially when it isn't due...

"Compartmentalising" you life is hard. It is not entirely impossible though. Boundaries are lost over time and some things gather all the priority they don't deserve. Trying to avoid mixing bogies is a full time job.

Phew!
What a roundabout way to say I NEED A VACATION! :)

WHY?

Why do things happen?
In the way in which they do....
If we could see the outcome,
Would there be a sadder few?

If you could see Tomorrow,
Would you be really glad?
Imagine seeing the future
and all that can be had!

But Stop for a moment and think like this....
the Future is but a lump of clay,
if you didn't know the shape you are meant to have,
you may mold it any way!

Unputdownable, fantastic read!

Needed some patience to get through this book.
Certainly have mixed feelings about the writing.
PS- Thanks to someone special who wrote me a few lines in this book........it's the only reason that really kept me motivated to reach the end. :)

A few pictures from a recent Lalbagh trip............certainly has the old Bangalore charm still....
The little black dog followed me where ever I ventured........always dutifully a few paces behind, and posed like a professional for the photograph and then mysteriously disappeared at the gates......

I have always liked what Jeffery Archer has written - this book is no exception.
Long live British authors!

My latest temptation!
Soon my room will have more books than it can handle :)
Getting lost in a bookstore is by far the greatest thing to do - it is also my favourite thing to do in this crazy world.

Every day for the last two weeks, every time I have been out, I have seen an ambulance maneuver in traffic...........very scary and sort of unsettling :(

Birthdays!
My 26th birthday is a week away. Quarter century completed without any major destruction to self and others :)
I hope it's normal to feel like a theatre mask.
Have decided that growing old is great just as long as it doesn't happen to you.Sure, you want to cross over and be taken seriously but being a kid forever has its own advantages. You are mostly allowed to get away with everything. Now some rather idiotic concepts of the future begin to disturb an already diminishing quantity of grey cells.
Yeah yeah.............let the "old jokes" and fun begin!

Grumble grumble grumble,
But old age knocks on the door,
You may as well enjoy it now,
B'coz it can't be ignored any more.

The week that was...........
Some interesting places and lots of rain :)

Ever since I have been a little girl, every saree would seem like an extension of some bed spread.........until I went shopping a few days ago and bought these for my mother.......I dont know exactly when but somewhere in between the entire experience ( I made the poor saleslady remove every saree she had to show hence building up this little mountain right under my nose) and actually buying, I fell in love with this glorious and graceful attire...........Someday I hope I can wear these and carry them off.........
Hmm........maybe it is true........maybe I am growing old........

Happy New year once again to every passerby.........
That time of the year again when resolutions are made and broken.
When you believe everything is going to start afresh.
When no matter how the past has been you believe the future can only get better :)
Brand new slate and squeaky chalks..........write whatever you want.........
A joyful, naughty, perfect year for everyone! ;)
Happy New Year '08!!!!

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Merry Christmas everyone! Time to forgive and forget......stay happy, healthy and eats lotsa plum cake :) may the spirit of this season last forever!

I was talking to someone very senior at work and we were discussing the faith and zeal one puts in the jobs given to them.

He likened it to something very remarkable……

“Every job,” he said, “is like a sufficiently long train journey to somewhere.”

“You enter the compartment and see your co passengers. How you behave towards them and how they behave towards you will determine how pleasant the journey eventually becomes.
The destination may be something you can’t help but the journey and how much fun it can become is entirely in your hands.”

“You have a stake in everything you do. You may not consciously think about it but you do. The deeper your stake the better you do the job,” was his conclusion.

Ever had that feeling when a tiny bulb comes on in the camouflaged nook of your head?
This was one such moment for me :)

THE WEEK THAT WAS............

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.

-- Bertrand Russell

#####

* What a song!!!!! *

Bitter Sweet Symphony- The Verve

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life
Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah
No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change,
but I'm here in my mold, I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mold, no, no, no, no, no

Well, I've never prayed,
But tonight I'm on my knees, yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind , I feel free now
But the airwaves are clean and there's nobody singing to me now

No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change,
but I'm here in my mold , I am here with my mold
And I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mold, no, no, no, no, no

(Well have you ever been down?)
(I can't change, I can't change...)
(Ooooohhhhh...)

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life
Trying to make ends meet, trying to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah
You know I can't change, I can't change, I can't change,
but I'm here in my mold, I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mold, no,no,no,no,no
I can't change my mold, no,no,no,no,no
I can't change my mold, no,no,no,no,no

(It justs sex and violence melody and silence)
(It justs sex and violence melody and silence)
(I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down)
(It justs sex and violence melody and silence)
(I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down)
(Been down)
(Ever been down)
(Ever been down)(Lalalalalalaaaaaaaa...)
(Ever been down)
(Ever been down)
(Have you ever been down?)
(Have you ever been down?)
(Have you ever been down?)

#####

Been listening to Linkin Park, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Metallica, Creed and Nickelback all of last week

I have to end off with a cheesy line so here goes……….

In the End, apart from the tingling in the ears I am quite Numb to everything and Nothing else matters. :)

#####

Does lowering your expectation about something/somebody make you hurt any lesser when it doesn’t happen?

I don’t know…………..it seems like no matter what the expectation, the intensity of hurting is just the same…………..

#####

Traveling by buses everyday is a new experience. The streaming multitude of unknown hoi polloi and the comfort of being unrecognized and nameless among them is such a freedom.

Sure you get pawed and pushed sometimes, but I don’t think such a potpourri of life can be seen and experienced in any other way.

#####

Walked in the rain- exhilarating!!

*The fever and cold that follow don’t make any sense though*

#####

A close friend said this about my father last year

Of manners gentle,
Of affections mild,
In wit, a Man
In simplicity, a child.

I would like to add on that he was and always will be all this and much more.

Miss you pops, and I love you even more.

#####

I Wonder.

I saw the moon the other night, distant and tranquil,
It caused a quiver somewhere and a little sigh
I wonder if he feels it too?

A mellow zephyr infringes the deliberation,
A thought occurs and a heartbeat misses,
I wonder if he feels it too?

Everything stands frozen for that ephemeral instant,
Brings the memory of a stolen glance and a shy smile,
I wonder if he feels it too?

Love doesn’t happen in the unvarying talk,
It happens over the million moments of silence,
And I wonder if he feels it too.