Muse n views

Getting used to Singapore

2011-09-11T12:45:00.001+01:00

Took me a long time to get back here!

It’s been over 8 months here in Singapore. Sometimes I wonder why I ever left London, still get the pangs when I think of it. The crisp cold air, the pet dogs, the traditions and heritage, the parks, the cute gardens people maintain (I wasn’t one of them!). I know it was just 4 years there but most of them were spent really trying to understand and explore the place so it carries that much more attachment.

I’m guilty of not having done that so far in Singapore. But I hope that would change soon, starting yesterday! After watching a delightful movie, Cars2; I took the long way around, up Fort Canning park with a lovely canopy of grand old trees, then down past Clarke Quay and the esplanade park ending up at Raffles Hotel for …you guessed it…Singapore slings! One of the rare days where the weather has inspired me to remain outdoors. The slings by the way are slightly too sweet, but well at least it’s one item ticked off the checklist! The nice long girly conversation over the slings was a great way to spend the evening!

I remember another place I liked in Singapore – the MacRitchie Reservoir. Again it was good weather when I went so it’s a nice walk along the waterside. Maybe when I build up my stamina Ill go back for a nice healthy run.
I’m also developing a slow appreciation of the sheer variety of asian cuisines in food courts. I guess travelling to those locations also helps! E.g. I like the Pho’ now – light and healthy. The one I had in Hoi An was much better, of course. That reminds me – the sheer proximity and ease of travelling to neighbouring countries is just so useful! Yup London was much loved for the same reason!

I should feel proud – staying in a luxurious condominium, which can boast not just 1 50 m pool but 2 other 25m pools, a gym, a Jacuzzi, a scenic walk along the marina, and a spacious apartment – I finally have a spare room to dump all my crap! It’s about time to be living comfortably. For who knows how long…depending on how well I do at work!

I got used to the idiot proofing in the UK. Buying an ingredient at the supermarket was easier because it came with an instruction on how to use it! But after a hiatus of 6 months, my cooking instincts are slowly kicking back in! Am no where close to trying the local recipes yet, but who knows, maybe I’ll get there!

Getting home to Mom n Dad should be easier but just haven’t done it so far. Been using up my free time to travel around –short weekend breaks! And those have been so great. Details in another post!

That reminds me – I didn’t do my travelogue for 2010. It was eventful – Mom had finally come to stay with me, so we took my damaged back and her busted ankle off to traipse around Belfast, Bushmills and Londonderry in Northern Ireland for a week. Lovely warm people, beautiful scenery, good food! The Giant’s Causeway was quite fascinating – I wonder how nature could have produced such symmetric blocks! Derry was less idyllic-too many scars; but they’re trying to hard to move on. Another good memory from the trip was the complete giggling fit mom and I had over some stupid toilet brush joke. Between our wheezing coughs and the uncontrollable giggles, it leaves me with a smile every time I think about it! Another time we managed to catch a play at Stratford Upon Avon and luckily Shakespeare’s b’day celebration parade. That was the highlight, because the play was a yawwnnnnn! Took her to Bath as well, easy sightseeing in the open top bus. An unconventional destination of holiday to Jersey later in the year turned out great – cycling, seafood and yea I finally made it to the Gerald Durrell Conservation Park! Lovely island, so tempted to take a non-ambitious job role there and live!
Another item off the London checklist was catching bit of the Wimbledon action, so glad I did that, little knowing Id be leaving end of the year! Leaving London came with its pluses – I took long walks taking photos, visited so many new places and old favourites, buying souvenirs. I promised I would be back to live sometime – I hope I can keep that promise.

Adulthood is complicated....

2010-08-03T23:46:00.001+01:00

We all say that it was all so simple when we were children. Was it? Really? I’m sure we had our challenges then. Trying to walk, learning to aim food correctly into our mouths, giving the answer to “what is your name?” to every adult guest. I wish I could recapture that actual feeling of learning something new everyday. Is it that as we grow older we stop learning new things? Or do we just stop noticing them? Or are the new things not interesting enough to even register that we learnt them?! Every day is a new day, new things happen to us everyday – how come it’s just not enough? Very few of us actually are content with where we are, what we are doing and most importantly who we are.

Or just maybe, it’s the problem of too much choice. The consciousness that every single thing we do or say has an impact – small or large. Now I know the limits I imagine upon myself are self imposed. It’s my choice to stay within them or test them. I somehow can’t see myself testing them ALL the time! If that were so, I’d live in a tent in the park one night, ride a horse in Mongolia another day, sing in a rock band the third, spend the fourth en route to Jupiter…you know where this is going. It’s not just my limits now is it?!

I have the choice to live alone, I have the choice to not work where I do, I have the choice to take care of my family, I have the choice to trust somebody, I have the choice to make friends, I choose to cross the road at that particular junction…it goes on and on and on. It’s bloody overwhelming! It’s not as if you are making a choice about important things, its every teensy weensy thing. Yes most of it becomes a routine, so I don’t consciously make a choice anymore. But WHY? Who decided that life should be about growing up, working having a family and then dying? To what end? I’m doing some of this list of things ‘to do’ and I don’t have the remotest feeling that “yes, this is why I am here” or “I’m fulfilling a purpose”. In fact, quite the contrary. Whole purpose of the bloomin’ blogpost!

So what is all this leading to? Afterlife? And all this again? I’m sure as a cockroach or as a chimpanzee I would have similar issues to deal with, no matter what life form I come back as. Finally it’s just me. I’m probably over-thinking this….but AM I? If I am put here to fulfil some purpose would it be simpler to tell me so I can set about doing it already?? Oh no, this may be a test. I’m supposed to embark on a journey in self discovery. Bah! Somehow I don’t think sitting under a tree to figure this all out would really do it.

I know each person is different and thinks differently. Isn’t that strange? If you take a few steps back and ponder - we are all talking to each other without either of us even on one occasion understanding what the other is really saying in exactly the same context. Because everyone’s frame of reference is dependent on THEM! What an exercise in futility! So basically everything you thought had happened really happened differently in someone else’s mind. WOW! So no one has a clue? We are all running in parallel universes without even realizing it! The mind boggles! It would be fun if we could actually figure out how to intersect these parallel universes every once in a while!

So…in the end? It’s still you making all the choices and the decisions that finally affect guess who? Yes, only YOU! This is all nuts. It can’t be all about the journey! Or can it?

The Long overdue 2009 travelog

2010-06-03T15:29:00.001+01:00

It’s 6 months into 2010 and now I’m racking my brain to recall my travel in 2009. I spent my 30th birthday in Hyderabad in April with my folks and grandma and relatives. Looks like I’ll be ushering all my birthdays in peacefully. Gone are the wild parties and endless orgies. Sighhh!
There were weekend trips to Wales and Lake District. Too much hassle getting visas processed to go anywhere else! Lake District serves the best lamb shank. I believe I had it everyday! Both places have similar countrysides – sprawling farms dotted with sheep. Wales had lovely seaside scenery while Lake District had…yup you guessed it…lakes! Going to such places always makes you reflect on why you’re living in a tiny apartment going through monotonies of city life year after year. Couldn’t I have just one stupid skill which I could utilize to make me some money to live by and then I could actually go and set up my little café. The charming little café which closes for season breaks so that the owner can go travelling and collect little artefacts from all the interesting places and sells them.

The menu would look something like this:
- South Indian crepes (dosas), with a choice of fillings – spinach and ricotta cheese, spicy lentils, sweet potato, mashed chilli potato, mozzarella cheese and peppers, ham, mushroom and cheese, white cabbage with toasted chopped peanuts. (Sree, you can add your ideas as well!!)
- In season grilled asparagus wrapped in parma ham with shavings of parmesan cheese
- Idlis delicately flavoured with ginger and dotted with mustard seeds and curry leaves served with coconut chutney.
- Potato and pea cakes (veg tikkis) served with watercress salad and dressing
- Roasted chicken wings marinated with lemongrass and bird chilli
- Mixed leaf salad with mango chutney and avocado.
- Wild rice sautéed with pine nuts and sundried tomato chilli paste served with carrot raita.

Slurrrrp, drooool! I’m getting carried away with food as usual! Back to travelog.
Now where was I? Well besides that was a day trip to Dover to see the White limestone cliffs and a faint glimpse of Calais across the distance and another lazy stay a bizarrely decorated BnB with a real fireplace.
Yes finally the long overdue, over planned and under prepared trip to Greece happened with the girls in Sept-Oct. After fights and huffs and shows of cool independence we reached Athens. So much history in every corner, don’t understand how people who visited there previously told us we could not spend more than 2 days. We spent 4 – at least KD and I did and moved on to Olympia on a very long winded bus journey. B & P managed to spend more time in Athens and saw some nearby islands. Olympia is a lovely town and we were lucky to stay at a very hospitable Best Western. Saw the ancient site on a quiet evening, a Bugatti convention and a friendly taxi tour for the day. We returned to Athens by an express bus this time driven by a most cranky driver who didn’t allow anyone to eat, drink, bring luggage put feet up in the bus. Well it was clean at least. We headed on to Mykonos the party island and landed up in a hotel which had gauze for curtains and was run by Punjabis from Jallandar! It had incongruously placed translucent blue rocks around the premises and salty sea water in the pool. I never got to hire my scooter but we had a wild time navigating our way in a car driven by P. (Schumacher)! I got to finally swim in the gorgeous Aegean Sea – cold though it was – a liberating experience, in more ways than one! Santorini came next and by any logic it should feature in anyone’s trip to Greece. We stayed in Oia and could not get enough of the spectacular volcanic crater landscapes. B, P & I did a long hike across the length to the town center and luckily managed to also see the Red beach. The dramatic black and red rockface against the brilliant blue green sea is one of the sights that would stay imprinted. The day cruise to the volcanic centre was a new experience. I don’t think any of the pictures I took did the sight justice. It was a wonderful 2 weeks after all. I think we all had different expectations which probably we couldn’t communicate to each other properly, but I guess we each left with so many great memories of time spent, myriad sights seen, reflections on history and culture and people and tastes.
Well that’s about it for now folks.

Found it...oh no...lost it again...

2009-05-18T22:48:00.001+01:00

So many thoughts whirling around my mind all day, yet when it comes putting some of them down, I’m drawing a complete blank. How do people tweet or constantly update their status on facebook? And why?? Are we so starved of attention that we want everyone to know what we’re doing or thinking? Or is it that we feel compelled to be just heard all the time whenever we can?

Maybe it’s true, so many ways to be connected now that we hardly have the time to connect anymore. And I’m not just talking about connected with other people. I’ve recently started attending yoga classes at my gym. I’ve attended 3 in the last week. In each I realized how difficult it is to tap into my inner self. What the heck is my inner self? How do I recognize it if I tap into it? I concentrate so hard trying to focus that I wind up with all my facial muscles all scrunched up by the end of the session. Is it so difficult to be true to myself? Or maybe we just build up that whole self actualization thing out of proportion and its right under our noses all the time!

I’ve hit 30. And a month. On my birthday, while I ushered it in very uneventfully and quietly, I did feel a slight thrill of liberation. I’m writing it here so that every time I get plagued with insecurities I can recall that feeling. That feeling of having moved beyond the past. That feeling of not having to prove myself along the lines that I had thought I had to. I was already the individual I was meant to be. I didn’t have to define it for anybody. I could certainly improve upon it…a lot… but yeah I was there. It’s a good feeling. Maybe that’s the eureka moment I’m looking for during yoga workouts.

remembering

2009-02-15T02:01:00.001Z

Just finished watching “Ghajini”. The intensity Aamit Khan brings into each of his roles gets to me every time.

I enjoy reading the Metro and the London Paper in the tube. Especially the articles where people get to comment or rather “express their views”. I’m rather impressed with the human capacity to crib. No, I’m not excluding myself from this category…unfortunately having a lifetime membership. In another 10-20 years, I aspire to be a constant on the show Grumpy Old Women, if it’s still on air. In a month or so, I could audition for Grumpy Middle Aged Women for sure!
Very rarely do I summon up my good friend’s philosophies of remembering special moments of the day, which brought happiness, or amusement. The other day however I was having one of those nostalgic phases. Maybe it was because I had booked my tickets for a holiday to go home and visit the folks. Or maybe it was reading Madhur Jaffrey’s book about her childhood that raked up those memories.
I remember vividly the scent and sight of sweetpeas growing up on the bamboo stick supports alongside our driveway. Spring in North India used to bring hoopoes, myenas, bulbuls and sparrows in the garden. Orange bar cartons in the freezer, the tiffin sharing/swapping during recess in school, ma always being there to welcome me back home after an exam, wrestling and playing with Cherie, our family holidays in the Himalayas and the lush greenery, the smell of wet mud while watering the lawn, the lazy winter mornings spent in the sunshine, rain storms and feeling the warm drops of the season’s first shower, the sound of sabziwalas and other vendors throughout the day, the sheer pleasure of stepping into an air-conditioned room after a hot dusty trip outdoors. Yep, life’s simple routine pleasures.
It may be a good idea to recall some good moments from within the last decade before Im too old and grey to!

Travelogue 2008

2008-11-27T15:39:00.001Z

Reaching the end of yet another year. Yup eventful it has been.

Easter saw me go for my first solo holiday to Cornwall. Stayed 1.5miles away from the town of Tintagel – scenic walk in the day and extremely spooky the one time I walked it after nightfall. The journey to Tintagel was a long (unnecessarily in hindsight) one by train and some bus changes, which added to that whole spirit of adventure bit. Did a considerable amount of walking around, on cliff tops (which is what one is to do in Cornwall!!), saw the rocky slopes, visited the historic castle, lazed around reading a book and taking self pictures with the mobile phone. Warmed up to the idea of clambering over farm fences for hitchhiking to reach the fairy waterfall despite the thumping heart everytime I spotted cattle. And lots and lots of Cornish cream teas!
Yorkshire was the destination for another bank holiday weekend. Stayed in Pickering, saw the Pickering castle…which was quite a hoot. The moors weren’t exactly what I would have hoped, since there was none of the mysterious purple heather covered plains, but bright sunshine. Sigh. But the BnB was delightful with the self-help bar and so were the town and the steam train ride.
Home to Hyderabad in July. Not very relaxing considering the numerous trips to eye doctor, homeopathic doctors, tailor, etc etc, but its just so good to be home and just vegetate around the house and being part of the regular routine. A two day trip to delhi turned out the way I needed it to – meeting people, eating dilli chaat and khana.
Edinburgh came next with a very memorable train journey (both ways!) crouching on the floor with another 15 people due to overcrowding. Fried sausages and fried mars bars were delicious, no matter what the calorie count was. A place called Revolution served the most innovative vodka shot flavors – was tempted to go there for breakfast. Of course saw the castle here and the museum. Oh the scotch whiskey experience was insightful.
An official trip to Barcelona helped me get my visa in place in September! This time I ensured I went to the beach and spent a lot of time exploring quaint shops. Not that there was much business that came out of the trip.
Did the Sea2Sea08 as well in October – can’t say I completed it successfully as I skipped the second day! It was fun again, some of the old gang was there, the views were spectacular but the excruciating exertion was there again, and the lack of novelty didn’t help! Nope, Im not doing it again. Maybe some other wild sport instead next year.
The visa being issued from German embassy helped me decide my destination for the year’s European holiday. Credit crunch be damned! Cologne, Heidelberg and Munich was decided with great difficulty to spend the 9 days in. Sausages and beer. Struggle for the journey from the airport, wild hunt for the hotel, Chocolate museum, Dom, high street shopping in Cologne, and the pan fried potatoes. Heidelberg was simply such a lovely town- Walnut brandy locally produced, the views from the castle, the walking tour- rare old books, marks on the wall, Austrian food and an excellently located hotel. Scenic train journey to Konstanz, glimpses of the gorgeous Black Forest, revolving Lady Imperia, beautiful facades to the shops and houses in the town, melted bitter hot chocolate. Munich brought more interesting beer varieties, a lousy beer walking tour, Dachau concentration camp memorial, a lively Viktualikenmarkt with the yummy sausages, meat shops handing put free samples, the much required body warming spiked orange punch, finally some shopping and souvenirs, eye-popping valuables at the Residenz, Deutsches Museum, croissant breakfasts. A very satisfying holiday indeed.
I guess with all that’s happening around – my shifting to a new apartment, purse strings tightening, there wont be any more holidays this year. Though the thought of checking myself into a spa for xmas/new year is so tempting.

Never Again

2008-11-27T14:30:00.001Z

Never again

I read that on a plaque at the Dachau concentration camp memorial site 2 weeks ago. That stuck in my mind.
I’ve been recalling that same phrase all morning while following the news on the war like situation in Mumbai. The endless discussions that ensue in office and with everyone else on the situation is getting on my nerves, especially since no one knows any better and it is just so easy to blame the government/security agencies/etc etc. I guess the real anger stems from the realization of how helpless we are in counteracting these terrorist attacks. I rage inwardly about not having any useful contribution to figure out how to systematically and constructively put an end to such attacks. Hence I don’t feel like even discussing the disturbing news with anyone. The least we can do as ordinary citizens is be vigilant. And this time stay away from the blame game. Pray that this ends soon.

Race for time!

2008-03-18T16:36:00.002Z

We seem to be rushing into everything too early. Even mid life crisis! That’s a depressing thought considering life expectancies are increasing. Which means that we shall have multiple mid life crises? Ugh! Part of the reason could be that so much of what used to be bracketed into black or white is merging into an ugly shade of grey. You see things, hear things, and do things and finally rationalization makes everything wryly acceptable or tolerable. You are supposed to become clearer about what you want out of life as the years go past. Not happening. Is it just me?

2007:Travelog

2008-01-14T16:30:00.000Z

Another year…no ode this time for 2007.

The year brought plenty of opportunities to travel some of which I fortunately siezed with both hands!
Norway, ostensibly to see the Northern Lights but managed to spend most of our time en route – saw a bit of each Oslo and Bergen there. Luckily it was a gloriously pristine countryside with all its frozen fjords. So much snow everywhere! Expensive trip but a learning on how to plan travel schedules better.
Got a brief idea on what student life can be in campuses of Oxford and Cambridge. They definitely are a league apart!
Paris was an idyllic trip during Easter. Spent a leisurely 5 days there catching the sights and spending afternoons at roadside café sipping kir. Unfortunately my stupid camera let me down. So much for my plans to become an intrepid adventurer and travel the world with my camera!

Summer literally is a breath of fresh air in England. I never believed it when people told me I was moving to UK at the wrong time when I did in November 2006. But I only understood when I saw the vivid colors and vibrancy in the country during the few summer months.
Cycling around Salisbury was pleasant – it makes for a relaxing weekend destination. They’ve kept the surroundings of Stonehenge as far as possible conducive to the entire mystery of the place. Brings amateur Astronomy to life. Bathspa was nice as well. Typical English countryside with some history and plumbing lessons!

October saw a very challenging, gruelling and at the same time an exhilarating ride from the East coast to the west coast of Northern England – 135 miles on a cycle (Whitehaven to Sunderland). Have a new found respect for painkillers. Something to be said about being with the elements – rain and wind on your face, sound of the wheels on the road and leaves in the trees, smell of pure clean air bursting with health and nothing else around for miles. The sound of my panting and wheezing did break the peace many a times but the rides downhill at speeds of almost 40mph made it all worthwhile. A fun loving group with amazing fitness levels made sure of that!

Sri Lanka in December was a surprisingly wonderful place. Maybe we went expecting an extension of India and therefore not much (!) but the airport with its clean shiny floors and polite uniformed staff set the tone for the rest of the trip. A beautiful country with friendly people. Somehow felt more civilised, sad to say. Guess we shouldn’t compare and crib! And well, holidaying with parents feels comforting.

Now I feel like Doogie Howser MD, pausing to think of a suitably profound ending to a post. Can’t think of any except “I am therefore I need to travel”

This n that

2007-09-21T17:01:00.000+01:00

If I were a rich girl….I would do something zany like the guy in Hyderabad, who got a house built with a roof made of beer bottles. Looks really neat, and no prizes for guessing what it’s named. Cheers. Guess I wouldn’t even mind if the contractors would keep coming back with extra supply requirements as well ;-D

I read somewhere they’re planning to phase out “killer” Blue line buses in Delhi. If I remember they had removed the “Killer” Red line buses some years ago and introduced the blue ones. Can somebody tell them it’s the idiots behind the wheel that’s the problem and not the colour of the bus??? But then if there is a poll being taken for color preferences of new buses I want the next ones in shades of turquoise, jade green and mauve…in checks. And once those are phased out, shades of a flame – reds, oranges and yellows – in diagonal stripes. Ooh and then we can bring in a whole series in animal prints – camouflage! People wouldn’t know what ‘hit ‘em’! And for a sales pitch we can say they are a memento of many species become extinct. Then we’ll never have to phase THEM out!

So much talk about carbon trading. Somehow we may never get the better of the power struggle. Industry is moving to developing nations and so are the pollution levels. Great- we can talk about the power equation changing and some of the third world countries becoming the powerhouses in the coming decades. How to ensure that doesn’t happen as effectively? Ergo…introduce carbon trading. Since polluting manufacturing facilities are no longer in the developed countries they sit on positive carbon points, while developing nations are on negative. They will then need to buy the carbon credits from the same countries which they thought they were advancing ahead of. Am I too pessimistic? Ok on the positive side maybe some bright Indians will make money out of this trading.

No woman no cry

2007-03-05T17:28:00.000Z

It wasn’t intentional that I happened to be writing this on the eve of Intl Women’s Day, in fact, it wasn’t remotely on my mind. Despite the fact that I would not be spending the evening this year with at least some of my close women friends as I’ve tried to do last few years. Hopefully I’ll remember to call them at least.

No, this actually came about while I was reflecting on the so many women centric books I have found myself reading last few weeks. Started with “The Colour Purple”, by Alice Walker – an immensely powerful albeit simply written book about a Black woman’s life in the South, and of the other Black women who come into her life. Then Meera Syal’s “Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee” came in about Indo-Brit women and their lives and marriage and juggling of expectations and lifestyles and conflicting mindsets. Joanne Harris’s “Chocolat” and “Five quarters of an orange” were deliciously absorbing with emotions woven into food, flavours and scents all with central female characters. “The Adultery Club” by Tess Stimson did bring an interesting and neutral perspective to understanding circumstances and thought processes of the age-old unwilling club formed by a wife, mistress and the adulterous husband. And most recently, finished this afternoon – “Sex and the City” by Candace Bushnell.

It is quite an array of female characters and times and circumstances. None of the women were portrayed in extreme dark or white shades, just every day normal women, we all come across every day. Some we may want to befriend, some we feel protective of, some we want to shake up and make them ‘smell the coffee’, some we may envy, some we may downright dislike, and worse some we may pity. I don’t think I could relate to even one woman character in a complete way or to any acquaintance of mine. But somehow they all felt so familiar. One wouldn’t even fathom the layers possible in a woman unless one took time to notice. The most unassuming can have a past of tremendous courage, most hard nosed can have the most vulnerable sides…or not. But as the years go by, I find myself ensuring I have a circle of female friends. It’s no rocket science, and nothing new – but the best friend a woman can have is another woman. Yeah men are not bad – in their own place!

But seriously, isn’t everybody noticing the increasing trend of women stepping out for all-girl evenings? The much sniggered about kitty parties are nothing but women getting together and drawing strength from each other. Where else can you just talk, exhibit different personas, really let down your hair and your inhibitions? Would you want to tell a guy, that you want to stay in a marriage that’s in name only because you’re scared your folks won’t give you space and immediately look around for another match? Would you tell a guy that you may be more ‘promiscuous’ because you’ve been sexually abused as a child? How many men can truly understand your worry over your career – most, unconsciously do believe a woman always has a fallback option – a man. Would they understand the terror you feel about having to decide on settling down – giving up a single life, compromise to some extent on your career prospects? Would you discuss with a man, nuances of your sex life which reflect (or you interpret as reflecting) the emotions you and your partner feel? Would you share with a guy the insane desire to be completely swept off your feet- that’s’ a childhood dream right, brought upon by reading one too many romances?! Can a guy understand how important chocolate in the house is for ‘emergencies’; why only 23 pairs of shoes are not enough; why you really want separate rooms even when happily married?! And the gem "you're like one of the guys" - only a guy can think of that as a compliment! You disagree or you agree with the above. But you do get my drift.

So here’s a toast to all the women in my life – my mother, my sister, my grandmas, my cousins, my aunts, my close friends, my not-so close friends, my colleagues, etc etc – more power to you!! And hope you always have a circle of women friends around you who care and respect you for you.

An ode to 2006

2006-12-11T14:22:00.000Z

Another year coming to a close
“Hold on!” I say, “hold it at bay!”
Out of habit, reluctant and even wary of change.
And then I recall, with the start this one had,
It just HAD to end!

Another set of plans thwarted,
Flushed down the drain.
Ambitions sidelined, compromises made,
At work and at play;
Relationship dynamics altered…

All just have to be forgotten with time…
Maybe its ‘cause there is better to come.

Because the year also brought,
First time experiences
of yet more of Nature’s limitless wonders;
of binding family ties that never should loosen;
of renewed starts to old associations,
of new friendships and so many fresh sights to see.

Wider horizons, greener pastures beckon…
But in the next year will I see
a greater clarity of purpose?
Will I make a difference, for the better;
At the very least, for me?!

Oh I hope so, fervently I chant!
But then when I look back
this year has not been half bad
I should be glad; I made it through and intact!
So it’s all for the best
That for December 31st 2006, still some days are left.

Maybe I can get in an early start
To all that the new year has to offer
And practice writing a less crappy ode
For the next year!

London ahoy!

2006-12-06T17:47:00.000Z

3 weeks so far in London – my achievements, you ask?

Finding an apartment which matches at least 50% of the initial requirements you start off with would be one. You start making new requirements as you go along, like no carpets in the loo, at least 1 window in the bedroom, and after I’ve moved into mine..i realize I next time I should look for an apartment which has a doorbell. As for staying within planned budget - hah!

Of course managed to “fokk” up my laundry – twice. I am now saddled with a bunch of grey unmentionables- ok, maybe I can call them oyster gray collection and pretend they were the same color to start with. Ok, so strike that off the achievement list. But at least they’re still the same size as when they went into the machine.

Got mooned in the tube escalator. At least it was a clean smooth cheeked moon!

Got someone to sell me something. Really sell, and not just give me what I have searched hunted and researched for. So far, I have been sold on a membership form to donate to some worthwhile charity. Haven’t yet filled it, but took it, just because the guy at least tried. Otherwise, everywhere else – restaurant/shop, it’s the same story. I walk into a certain mobile service shop, ask them why they’re better than a certain other service, or at least what features would be a plus with them, the sales rep looks at me as if I’m balmy, and says, I work for so-and-so, how would I know about the other services. Wish that approach worked in my company and on my customers.

Speak English and people understand you the first time without you having to repeat yourself. Happened a few times now – with the Indian shop staff. sighhh. But beggars can’t be choosers eh, when it comes to counting measly achievements!

Next on the agenda, buy one of those spiky boots and sashay stylishly along like the rest of them here. Coming from someone who can sprain her ankle wearing flats, walking on level ground - that by no means will be a small feat!

Great place, this. Seriously. You don’t even need your own Ipod here. Go in the tube and you’ll have a range of them to choose from, you can surreptitiously lean closer to – from pyar kiya toh darna kya to something that rattles your cells from all the way in the opposite seat. You can get free newspapers here, and people leave them in tubes for the next person to read. Surprisingly the weather has been nice, cold and damp not withstanding. It’s invigorating in fact. Since every second person here is a foreigner as well, you fit right in, unlike some other parts of Europe. And the best part is, one need not conform to local styles completely. So that’s what the “English sense of fair play” is all about.

For those with craving to see sights of karol bagh or jalandhar, go straight to Southall. “Khaan, peen te mauj manaoon” at Glassy Junction pub or dare I call it ‘theka’?! I hear one can pay in rupees there! Love the sound of boots clicking on the pavements and love the overcoats and the leggings. Bunch of us can sit together and plan very convincingly our social calendar for the year – you know for instance Belgium/Amsterdam in Jan, then Greece/Cyprus in April, Italy in July oh and of course Scotland with the family in summer. And the best part is, it is so doable!

Yep, liking London so far.

Dhoom 2 was like….

2006-11-29T12:14:00.000Z

ok types…

An out and out Hrithik showcasing…and he was GOOD…like! Carried off all the different looks with panache. Esp liked the long hair lower lip stud look…I like I like…. Abhishek needs to stop the grumpy bit (Big B’s act in Sholay), it’s seriously wearing thin ...like…. He did a good job in Shararat, Sarkar, and was the best character in KANK, but this grumpy cynical is like…so NOT funnny guy types….like.

Uday was surprisingly entertaining. Bipasha looks hot again, never stopped in my opinion…but fitter. Much better and more fun as the Brazilian twin than the cop. Rimi was as usual unnecessary. Aishwarya…..aarrrrghhhhh….watered out stuck up version of sassy like…so NOT cool and attitude like…cold fish like….has lost tons of weight and slathered on tons of bronzer…but naaaah…I no like...not at all....! barely managed to muster up a bare pucker during a scene which should have been passion simmering like...hrithik of course did well there too...like....

Robberies were well staged, though the opening one was quite unbelievable..literally, but the remaining were pretty neat..like....

Overall Movie …One time watch like…

stuff

2006-11-08T08:07:00.000Z

In an attempt to cheer myself up this morning, was trying to remember a few interesting things/sights I’ve seen/observed over the last one month:

1) On Dusshera, pavements (whatever crumbling bits are available) in Hyderabad are swamped with marigold flowers. The vendors sell them by the kilo during the festive season, since people deck their houses and their vehicles with it. Looks like molten lava along the streets.

2) Watching a pretzel being made - looks remarkably easy and fresh warm ones taste yummy.

3) Saw plenty of natural wonders during my recent trip to the States:

a. Natural Bridge Caverns – preserved formations almost 200 ft below ground level of natural limestone formations – stalagmites, stalactites, curtains, chandeliers, even fried eggs – in the photos I took they look like leftover goo from horror movies, so no illustration with this. But google zindabad…
b. Dinosaur footprints preserved by a river bed. And even better footprints of a carnivorous dinosaur tracking and attacking a huge herbi one have been preserved. Can almost picture the action sequence – a 13 ton toothy one trying to bring down a 30 ton humongous one! Outskirts of Dallas.
c. And of course one of Earth’s 7 natural wonders – the spectacular, totally humbling (drumroll) Grand Canyon. Takes one’s breath away – for good, if you lean over precipices too far – that’s why my bro-in-law was holding on to my waist belt while I was being the intrepid (read idiot) photographer!
d. Saw what a Joshua tree looked like. U2 fans will know it from an album cover, but then I’m not one, so I got to see the real stuff instead, nyah nyah! In fact I got to see a 900 year old Joshua Tree FOREST.
e. Performers of Cirque De Soleil. Am categorizing them as natural wonders, well…because I wanna - they were jaw-droppingly good.

4) A shop full of things that change color when exposed to UV rays. Right from designs on T-shirts to key chains, to nail polish, watches, slippers and even cultured pearls. And they don’t change into just one color, they even have options there. This is a shop right outside the Alamo in San Antonio. Yes, I learnt what history is behind the phrase “Remember the Alamo” too!

5) Amazing sculptures at a cliff side restaurant near Austin – Lake Tavern (did I get that name right?), called the Oasis. Had burnt down when lightening struck and they’ve reopened it. Popular stop, good food, lovely view of the lake off the edge of the cliff. Very animated looking sculptures, placed seemingly casually, but blend in so naturally with the surroundings that a lot of thought must have gone into it. Giraffes reaching out to eat leaves from a tree, kids playing on a tree branch, even a skeleton wearing sunglasses floating in a bathtub in the pool!

6) Halloween decorations outside people’s homes – from neon cobwebs to the usual scary pumpkins to Count Dracula’s at entrances! Even more fun are the shops selling these.

7) Gamblers at Las Vegas, can be amazingly superstitious. As if mathematical probability can be tweaked ever so slightly more in your favor.

8) You can do plenty in Las Vegas (on The Strip), and not even touch a slot machine.

9) Godiva Ice cream bars – dark chocolate covering a white choc filling with raspberry swirl inside. Mmmmmm!
(Yeah yeah, I know….try as I might I can’t not mention food!!)

10) Downtown Dallas, the Art Street, has a hedge next to the pavement, they’ve put speakers in the ground, concealed of course with lovely music. Good place to wait, or just sit and read maybe! Innovative idea I thought. Gives a peaceful feeling while the rush hour traffic goes by.

11) A sign painted on one of the barricades on the roads here– “On the event of Gandhi Jayanti, MCH dedicates 150 toilets for your convenience” – gee thanks. Any more volunteers, in whose sacrifice rest of the population gets more loos?

am bringing sexyback yeah!

2006-10-30T07:40:00.001Z

Long hiatus between last post and this! It has been an eventful time – what with a holiday involving spectacular natural wonders and gambling and bonding with family and also planning another move of my cabooze – to another country, not just a city this time. More about that later.

A, G, A (Dos) and R were pretty hard nuts to crack, but my brilliant analytical and people reading skills prevailed.

A: Superhomemaker. Runs house in tip top order, keeps a place for everything and everything in its place. Stocks sprays, wipes for any purpose and is always handy with instant household tips. Cooks, decorates, cleans, knits, sews, crafts, medicates, folds, giftwraps, etc etc all perfectly and in perfect timing – ne’er a hair out of place.
Ugh don’t even want to describe the psycho further.

G: I could tell you about A, but then I’d have to kill you. Oh well…A is The secret agent. Gambles with panache at Vegas and drinks margheritas by the yard and yet ready to spring into action when duty calls and sprint off to new territories and unexplored terrain armed with the latest gizmos and combat skills to fight evil and the bad guys. (Hmmm wonder if any guys are left, in that case). Spy, mercenary, multiple identities (yeah sub groups of A!) et al.
Deepti’s life is an open book, where gizmos are greekmos. She gambles (albeit clumsily) in vegas, drinks margheritas by the yard and finds plenty of bad guys too…but definitely does not ‘spring’ anywhere, and seems to like the creeps instead of crushing them!

A (Dos) – Aum…..the Spiritual One. In touch with Inner self and knows her destiny and purpose of existence in this lifetime. (Methinks her previous lifetimes would have been more fun, what with all the burden of wisdom and virtues to observe in this one!!). Oh, A (Dos) doesn’t need to wear light colored clothes or reflectors on her vehicle at night, since the halo and glowing aura does the job instead. People seek her out for guidance and emotional support and feel at peace in her company. Knows how life came into being on Earth, the mythologies, true rationales behind beliefs of mankind, knows the scriptures and the holy books of the religions and can practice all the commandments and learnings too.
I seriously don’t need to get into explaining what Deepti does, do I?!

R – A walking, talking resource center – of everything and everybody. Not an annoying types know-it-all but extremely useful. Knows where to get the best deal/bargain on anything, what to sightsee or eat on any trip, remembers everyone she has interacted with and is updated about them and THEIR circles of people’s activities, what species of insect is smashed up on the windshield, what coin could be of good value, which precious stone was unearthed where – yeah she’s sorta like E, but more info at fingertips to provide others sort of way.

So that’s the MPs I promised. Yeah more letters are definitely required, but then no point in spoiling the fun of the mystery, is there?!

I'm every woman!

2006-08-29T12:24:00.000+01:00

I hope to have MPD (multiple personality disorder). Actually strike out the ‘D’ altogether – not a disorder the way I see it!

Let me introduce the characters:

1) D – The enthu cutlet. She wakes up bright and bushy tailed, goes for an energizing workout in the morning – yoga/ cardio – and comes back raring to go the rest of the day, goes to office on time, comes back, plays basketball/squash, martial arts, all the while watching what she eats (and likes it!)– keeps the body healthy and clean on the inside too. Gives Deepti ample time to loll about in bed and catch more Z’s, pig out and have some drinks and smokes in the evenings.

2) E – the erudite knowledge seeking one. Always looking for an opportunity to read more about things – the arts, history, geography, nature and wildlife, sciences, etc. She likes to enroll in language classes because she (ugh!) actually likes and is good at them. She has mastered Vedic maths and is reading up on metaphysics. Her current passion is astronomy – is getting a new star named after her, incidentally. Reads books, can quote poetry and obscure writers from Timbuktoo. Deepti gets to read her Archies and Calvin’s and watch Friends, Oprah etc in the meantime.

3) E2 – (thought against naming her ET!) – the high flying workaholic corporate exec. Very ambitious, perfectionist- knows exactly what she wants out of her career - of course has opted for the best moneymaking career - and is getting it –the penthouse in Manhattan, swiss chalet and beachhouse in Goa, fleet of cars – you know the routine, one for office, one for the house help to do provision shopping, weekend sports model and of course a SUV for the adventure holidays, has write-ups in all the big shot magazines and is scripting her success story for all the aspiring MBA fledgings. Her empire makes Presidents and politicians scramble to meet her and her employees stand in awe. Deepti is meanwhile content running her small café in Goa in tourist season and sipping port/beer on the beach during the off seasons.

4) P – the socialite – wakes up late, has a leisurely brunch with “the girls” at Indigo, Marriott and the likes, and then the usual parlor and shopping for the late night event ahead. Loves to drop the “dah-links” and the air kisses all around. Her outfits are the envy of the event and P gets her P3 airtime all the time! She can name the brand of her favourite under eye cream and leg makeup. The bling bling is her thing (affordable courtesy E2)! Oh might I add she has not needed any botox or lipo so far thanks to D’s exertions! Not your regular airhead – since E ensures she can have witty repartee with anyone under the sun. Deepti enjoys her quiet solitude and can relax in out of shape T’s and tracks at home, no need for threading/waxing and nail polish on the toes!

5) T – the bitchy vamp – no rules. Her way, her terms. Can chew up the best of them and spit em out! Does what she wants, when she wants, with whomever she wants!! No one dare give HER any crap – NO ONE! She can turn on the heat for any guy she wants and leave them panting for more. It helps that she is so totally hot! The women all hate her and want to be her. She can have one night stands/flings and not go the whole regret/guilt rigmarole. Has no expectations from people and is so self sufficient – needs to be! This leaves Deepti with no one standing in the way of her hogging, reading and general chilling out in life.

6) I – little miss adorable. Now she’s a doll. Everyone loves her, her family, her friends, perfect strangers. They all coddle her and never want anything to hurt her. She is full of life, cheerful, not a trace of malice, remembers small details about everyone she meets, can name all her distant relatives, a complete people’s person. Since I does all this, Deepti can blissfully ignore them all – not make polite conversation when she doesn’t want to or cant, and not have to worry about forgetting birthdays and names of relatives she cant for the life of her even remember meeting!

7) S – the adventurous one. S is all into traveling and trekking and the likes. Can rock climb with the best of them, does parachuting for fun. She loves nature and wildlife and is running her own conservation society. Nat Geo chases her for her photography and begs her to write for them – on the various tribes in most inaccessible parts of the world that S has spent time with. On quiet days she loves taking her tiger out for long walks around the reserve and wrestles with her pet pythons. S can pack up and set up camp anywhere and has been doing that all her life and loving it! Her favorite possession is her sailboat which she built herself and looks forward to take out at sea, especially during the freak summer storms. Deepti is a taurean to the core, loves the material comforts of a stable home and everything familiar.

Next post, will introduce you to A, G, A (dos) & R. By now, you should know you can’t rush Deepti into doing so much work at one time!

for the deprived foodie in me

2006-08-17T10:11:00.000+01:00

**SOS SOS sirens**….help! need distraction desperately. I can’t seem to shake off visions of pizzas, brownies, kaju katlis, french fries, cheese …anything with cheese….from my mind. To give you a brief background, have commenced with my monthly project of GM diet today. For the reference of those fortunate enough not to have to go through it, it is a 7 day meal plan which goes as follows:
day 1-fruits (no bananas), day 2 – veggies (breakfast is 1 glorious lone potato), day 3 – fruits and veggies, still no bananas and no potatoes this time, day 4 – 6-8 bananas and 4 glasses of milk, day 5 – 6 tomatoes and 1 cup cooked rice (am stressing on the cooked as I once made the mistake of rejoicing in 1 cup uncooked rice, which basically amounted to more cooked rice than I have on a normal day!) day 6 – veggies and 1 cup rice, day 7 – veggies, 1 cup rice and fruit juice.
Sounds depressing? It is. Trust me. Mom and I slightly bend the rules on the numbers of items with the assumption that it is made for an American audience (GM and all), hence the size of fruits and veggies will be much smaller in the Indian context, and thus sustain ourselves thru the day by increasing the quantities:-D! I also content myself with the knowledge that I have tempted some friends to go through this and now have company in my misery. The miracle diet promises to remove 4-5 kgs in one week AND keep it off. Yeah suuuure! But every 500gms counts, since the gym workouts aren’t helping (refer earlier post ‘Gym’).
So what distraction would help? Movie – na, popcorn beckons. Shopping – no, wallet doesn’t beckon. Music – no, stereo busted (last 4 years, since a certain friend/wolf who promised to repair it never did). Books – well, reading is so much better with some munchies, so no, not an option. * sob* I’m doomed!
Might as well resign myself to writing about yum foods I remember having eaten of late. Kebabs, etc at Barbeque Nation in Bandra (the dal makhni inspires ecstatic moaning with every spoonful), Belgian Choc something at the Thai restaurant in Bohemia, Juhu (now that was positively orgasmic), all sea food dishes at Martin’s in Goa, Belo’s beer in South Goa, Tamarind Chicken in Goa (the place has shut down), curry sauce dipped French fries at Mocha, pepperoni pizza at Trattoria, strawberry cheesecake ice cream at Haagen Daaz, Tiramisu at Hyatt coffee shop oh and almond flan in Las Palmas and cinnamon something dessert in Barcelona. I think I’m rambling on and the keyboard is getting submerged anyway, so ill stop here.
Someone provide diversion puhlleeeezze!!

gym

2006-08-16T08:14:00.000+01:00

Had a friend give me an interesting take on blogging, basically how he finds the entire exercise impersonal and to quote “There are obvious limitations to how much one wants to share and that makes it meaningless and counter intuitive to its object in the first place…all the time trying to make it exciting enough for the reader but not giving away anything…” unquote. (Now this chappie should write his own blog!)True, that’s how I felt when I started, and still do. But it’s still fun. So here I am again.

Went to the gym after many days’ gap. Felt as if I was starting from scratch – again huffing on the treadmill, looking at the exer-cycle with complete distaste and wanting to strangle the guy who was doing ab crunches with such merriment and ease. Twit.
And to top it all, the trainer comes up to me when I’m on the stepper (one of the more silly machines) and advises me to “enjoy” the exercise and then only results would show. Bah! I’m proud of the way I only smiled back and didn’t respond the way I actually wanted to that comment. Well, maybe the fact that if I opened my mouth I’d lose the last few remaining breaths contributed to that remarkable feat of self control.

But seriously, that day was one of the rare off-mood days at the gym. Usually I quite enjoy my time (when my stamina is up to par). The place is quite entertaining. Try to visualize a place where all odd shapes are scurrying around and the occasional good ones (who should be banned from the premises) – screws (guys who only exercise the upper body, pity considering I’m an ass/legs woman myself!!), potatoes, pears – I do get hungry at the gym! I have more fun watching the guys though. They have their own dynamics at the gym. Women just come, do their workouts seriously and leave, only some of the younger teeny bopper types do sometimes sashay in and do a semblance of a workout. Contrary to the general stereotyping of the sexes, where women are regarded as the more self conscious, I wonder how many of the men will turn up if there weren’t so many mirrors in the gym. Most observe the following rules:
1) One pump of the biceps (or of anything else) is almost always followed by an equal preen of the overall physique in the mirror. (muscles develop instantaneously, you see)
2) A general walk around the premises to see and be seen has to precede the actual workout.
3) And of course the usual my weight is bigger than yours. Dumbells. Pun intended.

Besides all the above described scene, working out is good fun, especially when results show! Though I’m pretty sure they set their weighing scales higher than what the actual weight should be, and in my case keep setting it higher every week. Given my current state of employment – the economists had a term for it – underemployment - the virtuous feeling about having worked hard at something during the day helps!

A dose of philo

2006-07-28T11:12:00.000+01:00

It’s been an eventful week. Had gone for a week to Mumbai, in an attempt to combine work with fun, or was it the other way round?! Managed successfully too, when I look back at it. Work entailed attending a presentation skills workshop, seems inane at this age, but after having to sit through a video recording of myself doing a presentation, I changed my mind – it was a desperately required session! And it turned out to be fun too, a group of 11 of us. These kind of sessions usually make me muse over how human beings interact in various settings. It’s interesting how in just 2 days you can manage to connect on some level, need not be to any lasting effect, but connect nevertheless, to almost everybody in the group. How, many of us tend to be our own worst critics, sometimes to our own detriment. And how generous in praise and tolerant we can all be of others’ mistakes when there is no “pressure” on us. And if lucky enough, find people who also share your passion for certain beliefs/interests.

As for the fun part, things didn’t go as planned. Maybe the secret to fun is not to plan it or expect everybody else to share your enthusiasm. Met up with some old friends, met some who started as colleagues and became good friends instead, couldn’t spend enough time with some due to logistics issues that Bby throws up (or other reasons that I can’t delve into, for my own sanity!). Of course that’s a convenient excuse– we have all used it on occasion, unfortunately I also confess to the crime, and therefore now accept it from other people.

All in all, a good trip. Despite the realization that life and people can move on, and oh so dismayingly fast. A city and a life you spent 7 years in, can suddenly feel alien while at the same time achingly familiar. I go through that every time, and have become better at handling the emotions over time. The trip served to finally bid goodbye to one phase of life – may return to Bombay sometime, but that would be a new chapter, no turning back the pages. But then, (I comfort myself) for someone who has lived in various different cities, I have the advantage and the opportunity of being able to pick the good things the city has to offer which unconsciously stay with me always and am lucky to leave behind not-so-good aspects.

What are those, you might want to ask – I shall reveal. Sometime…

weekend -on the rocks

2006-07-17T10:49:00.000+01:00

Weekend started with watching “Golmaal” on fri evening - the new one, with Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal, Sharmaan Joshi and Tusshar Kapoor. Slapstick fare (‘slap’ being instrumental in the movie!). Still got a long way to go to compare with Jaane bhi do yaaron or even Andaz apna apna, but a very entertaining flck nevertheless. Worth a watch. Let me add, Sharmaan Joshi makes for a ‘hot bird’ (as Chops would put it)!Tusshar had another good role (played a mute), and Rimi Sen is completely unrequired - thats about as kindly as I can count her contribution to the movie.

Saturday was grandpa’s 10th death anniversary, so visited the old age home and Missionaries of Charity home for the Dying and the Destitute to make the usual yearly donation on behalf of my Grandma, who couldn’t go herself this year. Nothing works better than a visit to the latter place to recount your own blessings.

Yesterday (Sunday) was fun. Mom and me went on our second trip with Society to Save Rocks to Shamirpet. (http://www.saverocks.org). About 8 cars (approx 40 people, all ages) congregated at St Anne’s in S’bad and then drove for an hour to Shamirpet. Lovely drive, past the cantonment area (they usually are based in the best places!). Since in the rest of the city I barely get to go above third gear for more than 2 mins at a stretch, this was bliss. Lot of greenery, meandering, smooth and almost-empty roads. Stopped at a place beyond Shamirpet lake and then split up. The area was full of amazing rock formations. Learnt a new term - Bouldering – and practiced it a wee bit too.

I guess it’s the prelims to actual rock climbing, and its a horizontal movement compared to the vertical movement in rock climbing. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouldering for more info. Needless to say, am having a little problem sitting today, and collected my usual quota of scrapes. I would also like to erase mental pics of my bum up in the air while clumsily trying to get my leg up over the damn boulder with my fingers feverishly clutching at some imaginery grip! There seriously has to be an easier way to climb down than slithering down on your behind! Well, decent attempt (I comfort myself), hopefully will get better with time, and thick-bottom pants!
As of now, will snooze through my Monday blues. For those missing their daily share of my PJs - If Im blogging while Im snoozing, can I call it “snogging”instead??!!

Job hunting...and I'm the roadkill!

2006-07-14T08:40:00.001+01:00

A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go, hey di hi ho, a hunting we will go…….

U all been there, done that...where you go for interviews and speak very nonchalantly, “you should want me, I’m the best” while inwardly thinking “Take me, take me, oh please take me!” Even if you’re giving the interview jus’ for practice types, you still want to be selected so you can retain the option to turn it down later!

Took me 3 years to even get around to it. Spent over 10 days preparing my resume, and chewed at least half a dozen people’s brains over it. And then was quite happy just having emailed a few consultants. Felt as if my work was already done! (Still mentally humming the above ditty). My first interview - gave a telephonic interview – had a lovely surreal experience (could afford to, since it was over the telephone!). For a profile which I’ve been not wanting to pursue much longer, here I was, so enthusiastically spouting off to the guy about why I plan to continue with it for a few more years because blah blah blah, and more blah blah about all the positives that I would bring (in answer to his questions of course). One part of my brain telling me “are you kidding me???” another part saying “don’t screw it up ". The sense of relief in being told to move to next round felt almost shameful! But now I'll have to concentrate the next time I meet the guy! **Groan**

Goes against my grain, being in sales reduces you to pure numbers you can bring in and churn for your employer. “broaden your outlook, man” I want to scream. Basically I want that guy to meet me and think, “no she’s amazing, doing only sales shall not do justice to the great mind” he will then proceed to find the perfect fit for me in the company (which would obviously encompass a range of activities), and it would by a miraculous turn of events be my calling in life and I would rise to great heights. Yup, the strange dude should know me better than I know myself!

It was so peaceful being in school, goals are clear, choices are easy – they depended on how well you did the previous year. Now you got to decide what you want to do now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now and start working towards it. I know what I want to do – be paid pot loads of money, get to travel all over the world, meet loads of interesting people, get time for long paid leaves, time for volunteer work on my favorite causes and develop hobbies. (don’t we all). If it wasn’t for the first factor, I would probably do, what this guy I met once at a cafe in Las Palmas did – a Sri Lankan, studied for some time in Switzerland, got bored and then worked his way around Netherlands, Germany, Spain – odd jobs, mind you – enough to survive and Europe being what it is, had enough time to explore each place he was in. Need grande bolas to do that though!

Sigh… for now, on to contacting more placement consultants, doing the same boring routine of giving politically correct interviews…ugh.

….I’m embarking on my journey….cant say how long ill be gone…whether ill survive….will I emerge stronger than ever…but I promise ill be back….dragging my weary bones back to the keyboard….

PS: can someone pay me for my blogs instead :-D

blind as a bat - I think not!

2006-07-13T18:49:00.000+01:00

saw something interesting on AXN tonight, on 'Ripley's believe it or not' - had to share it. Echo locators. Bats use 'em, dolphins use 'em, and apparently some extraordinary humans use 'em too! Bats use echo location, similar to sonar, for locating food and navigating through the darkness - essentially a high pitched sound emitted which bounces off objects which helps bats identify the location, shape, density, etc of the object. A guy blind since age 1, uses tongue clicking to the same purpose, so much so, that he is now teaching others to use this just as effectively. one of the guys could identify a shape of a tree, and another could navigate his way through a parking lot and into a mall to find a particular store. And, get this, this was the first time he visited the mall. they also go on dirt biking trips. awesome, awesome, AWESOME!!!

Mumbai Commuter Community

2006-07-05T08:10:00.000+01:00

Nope, this isnt going to be about Mumbai trains and the community that forms there, even though that is pretty interesting too. I never really became part of it - story of my life – part of everything and not at the same time! It is definitely interesting – the difference in harbor, central and western lines – the choice of activities in those three, language etc. Heck even the catfights have a distinctness to them!

I wanted to write about BEST bus drivers and conductors. And also the auto rickshaw-wallahs. Now that was my community. I had a regular route from Oshiwara to Malad during 2002-2003. I used to like one of the routes; I think it was 259, the bus used to pick me up at 8:50am. This particular conductor, like all the BEST bus conductors used to wear his clean ironed uniform with badge in place and go about collecting the cash from the passengers. It used to amaze me that everyday, with almost each person, he used to have a comment to offer which used to break the usual serious Bombay commuter expression into a smile. I don’t know about them, but it used to make me more cheerful in the morning going to work– and that’s something!! I should have written an appreciation letter sometime – I admit it, I’m hopeless at these right things to do bit!

Anyone who has traveled in buses in other cities – I have, in Delhi and Hyderabad – Bby buses are heaven! Of course if you are female and have traveled in Delhi buses, anything is an improvement. In a place like Bombay, in a crowded bus even, you realize the concept of personal space, something you don’t get in an empty bus in Delhi! If you get onto the bus and want to get off at a particular stop just gotta tell the conductor once – he will remind you himself two stops prior to the one you need to get off on. These guys carry authority well – no one disregards them as “only” bus conductors – and they work bloody hard.

Bombay roads are terrible, and the traffic sense has deteriorated to a state, where I felt Delhi traffic sense is better – I never thought I’ll see the day when I would even think that, let alone say it AND PRINT it for all the world to see! But tell me, how many BEST buses have you seen scraping another vehicle – major accidents are rare since going above third gear is an achievement in most cities – very few, if at all, right? I have seen none. In all my 7 years in Bombay I have seen none. I need to repeat it to believe it. Kudos to BEST bus drivers, is all I can say.

I have a love-hate relationship with the auto-guys in Mumbai. Could not write much more than generic stuff about the buses, but autos – ah, now this becomes a one-to one interaction na, so there are much more insights to share!

When I moved to bby, it was such a novelty to get into the music wala autos! And some of those near college used to also keep English cassettes. The new guys, from UP etc and all the young ones, who I’m sure are driving without a licence have spoilt the orderliness with which the auto wala industry used to operate. I’m referring to the waiting in lines, lane driving, courteousness – the old guys if you’re fortunate to run into (not speaking literally of course!!) still have it. I do make it a point to appreciate their driving after I get off, so they don’t lose it!!

why love-hate? here's some reasons:

I hate the driving sense; I love the fact that Bombay auto guys are the only ones who will dismiss away 1-2 Rs if you don’t have change.
I hate the bumpy rides; I love that the drivers can double up as DJs and will change music/radio channels to your liking.
I hate that some of the talented intelligent ones, college dropouts, can only do this for a living; I love that you can chat up with almost any one of them and enjoy their travel tales.
I love the fact that if you had a nice chat with one of them and happen to have visited their hometown sometime, they take you to your destination and refuse to take your cash, and you have to force them to take it.
I hate the auto walas from the airport who start whining for more cash than the meter stipulates; I love the plastic sheet cocoon they make of the autos in the monsoons.
I love the fact that you can find a glowing red or blue one near your house even at 3 in the morning.
I love their popping out a cellphone and officiously hanging up as they are busy with a customer.
I love it when you are going alone at night and trying to be less visible to some peering eyes in a passing car, and the auto guy slows or changes lanes to ensure less access to the peeping tom.
I love their business sense, only in Bombay can you have a regular morning office wala auto, which waits for you, so that he knows he will definitely get that one assured sawaari to start with.

Yes, Bombay is all about finding your comfort zone. And you know what? You can find a comfort zone anywhere, anytime in Mumbai. Even in a bus or an auto or a train!

How come it took me so long to make my own blog?

2006-07-04T09:01:00.000+01:00

Well, simple – trying to decide which of my thought processes, worldly wisdoms, observations made as I go along life, would I want to analyze and write in detail and then make the effort to upload AND be alright with other people reading it and making THEIR own analysis about it –would obviously take time, about more time than it took for you to read it!! Before you say it, yes, my teachers in schools used to insist I write shorter sentences. But hey, what’s a blog, if I can’t write the way I want to?!

I remember one creative writing article I wrote for class (class VIII) – The Art of Eating a Pizza – mom’s idea and her inputs sprinkled throughout like the assorted toppings I mentioned in it. At least it was an original topic. Come to think of it, probably I should get mom to make her own blog! She made my style of thinking and writing more creative than I would ever have on my own.

I remember keeping a diary – Betty Cooper style – but considering the age I started it, it only used to be filled with extremely silly sounding ramblings on the numerous crushes I had over the teenage years (and heh heh a wee bit after teenage years too!)! Now of course I wish I wrote more about the places I visited and the people who touched my life, like for instance my grandfather’s friend – used to call him ‘Tata’ – that’s what we call our grandpa in Andhra Pradesh. He used to delight in my growing tall and was quite happy the day we stood shoulder to shoulder as always to compare and I had crossed his height! He helped me make a clock out of old cigarette packets (he was a chain smoker) – charms brand, as I recall, pretty blue thing, hexagon shape. Of course I being the impatient soul that I am managed to crush it carrying it from Delhi, where I went to visit them, back home to Chandigarh (I grew up in C’garh) in the train itself, and same day as I made it. But I remember the clock – maybe one day I’ll practice making it again – will need to smoke much more than I do to accumulate the requisite cigarette packet stock ;-D !!

I also remember our visit to rock garden in Chandigarh where we met Nek Chand – (really appreciate that man’s work and dedication). He gave us a souvenir for the visit – for the life of me, I can’t find it and don’t even remember now what it was! I think sometimes there should be a handicam following us everywhere for future reference! Wouldn’t that be interesting and in some instances utterly mortifying!!?

Tata used to keep describing a coastal town in AP – Kakinada – where they had a base – and used to keep telling us to visit him there. Especially after they did some construction – in fact I had wanted to buy property there after he showed me the blueprints and plans and gave such a solid sales pitch, but never ended up doing it. I finally did visit Kakinada, a very pretty little coastal town in AP, but after Tata passed away. Thought of him during the entire trip. Ammamma (his wife), again refer to her too as my Grandma, though we are not directed related, whom we stayed with and she took mom and me around the town and some adjoining villages. One of those was Uppada, where you get Uppada work sarees, we visited the weavers – and I considered NGO work as a possible future option (in fact I still do, but that’s another story).

Though I have not gone back to see for myself, I’m told the 2004 Tsunami had destroyed that village. Maybe I WILL go back, now that I have moved to Hyderabad – AP has lovely backwater regions of its own – not marketed well obviously (and in some ways luckily). One interesting sight I saw during one of the drives near Kakinada was this field of tall willowy trees, all growing slanting – same direction away from the sea. Found it so unusual – apparently they have been growing like that since the cyclone in early 1970’s!

Though I didn’t start out intending to write about them, I seem to have done so. And now that I think of it – I pat myself on an excellent choice of topic for my “first”! Both of them, extremely loving, cheerful (Ammamma’s laugh is so hearty and she always seems to be giggling), ambitious go-getters, outgoing, and full of life. They made an impact on whoever met them and Ammamma continues to do so. And boy they used to travel – that itself is an influencing factor on me! She keeps picking up little knick knacks for people – some people have the gift – they find little things, need not be expensive, but so well suited to the people they gift them to – and here I struggle to even shop for myself when I travel! They had all these little thingies in their home too in Delhi. I prefer those styles to any interior designer designed house – so full of individualism and personality and memories!!

Hmmm, hey my “diary writing” has improved to better topics!! Well, that’s it for now. Until my next attempt, whenever that is.