Happiness, as some say is a state of mind or feeling such as contentment, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. Happiness could be something as trifling as eating your favorite candy or something as momentous as meeting a loved one after a long separation. Nevertheless, it’s these moments that make you sail through the daily life and see that silver lining even in the darkest cloud. And over the last couple of weeks, I’d been in the ‘searching-for-the-silver-lining’ state. So these are the silver linings that I see as of now… or lets says, things that make me happy at the moment.

1. Coming back from office at 8 in the night and having that “I’m back early!!!” feeling. Thinking that I’ve so much time on hand that I can make myself a cup of tea, watch “According to Jim”, change my nail polish, finally wash my hair, fold the clothes that's been strewn around for a week, go get groceries, give out/pick up laundry, fill expense reports, update the blog, read the unfinished book, make a long call home and finally sleep early. But, I mostly end up having Maggi with a Breezer without even changing my clothes.

2. Finding the bed covered in crisp white cotton sheets. At the end of a long tiring day, the welcoming sight of a neatly made bed is truly gratifying. (The sheets are far from crisp but the overall visual effect is quite similar.)

3. Spending hours in the bathtub with bubbly sea salts while listening to Norah Jones and reading “Confessions of a Shopaholic”. It’s an such a girlie thing to do and I love that. (Thanks to G for lending the book…. I loved the book and the list of stores on her credit card bill matches mine, luckily not the amount.)

4. Eating steaming hot home cooked food with your fingers. I have never found dal-chawal or curd rice to be so heavenly sumptuous and never have I eaten so ravenously too.

5. Sleeping till 12 noon on a “non-working” weekend, waking up and wondering “where do I head to shop today?” (Getting a weekend when we don’t have to go to office, is an happy occasion in itself.)

6. Finding a set of neatly ironed clothes in the cupboard, ready to be worn before I rush off to work in a hurry. (It’s actually the fact that you don’t have someone yelling from the hall to the bedroom, to bring your clothes for ironing the moment you pull yourself out of bed.)

7. Getting a taxi in the morning without having to wait or walk forever in the hot blazing sun! And getting one back in the evening without having to fight with others on the taxi stand on who flagged it down. (It’s so frustrating that at times we don’t get a taxi even after waiting for an hour!)

8. Eating out in every other fancy restaurant without having to worry about the bill. And not to feel guilty even if more than half of the food is wasted. (But the guilt pang does hit when I think of the calories I’ve gorged in.)

9. Sinking in the huge velvety sofas of STARBUCKS, drowning a hot mug of “Dulce Dele Latte”* and munching on blueberry muffins. Whenever I’m alone, I get my coffee, plop on the plushest sofa, fold my legs under me to get comfy and read Stephen King. And those are some of the few times I enjoy being just on my own.

10. Fitting perfectly into in a size 14 top!!! In fact finding a mind bogglingly vast collection in plus sizes (and they don’t even call these plus sizes here). Unlike Indian stores, who probably think that being plus size takes away your right to wear designer clothes. And that you should go buy a few yards of clothe and stitch whatever you’d want to pack yourself in.

* = Whenever you go to Starbucks next time, try this!! This is frothy caramel flavored latte, tipped with whipped cream and caramel sauce. And it comes in both hot and cold version!

at 11:52 PM | 9 comments    

She was probably the most beautiful woman I had seen in a real long time (yeah… that’s if I don’t count the one who stares back at me from the mirror). I haven’t written a serious blog in a while so I better keep my funny remarks aside.I have always found Asian women to be the prettiest and most beautiful among the lot. She was an Asian, every bit Asian…. Spotless pearly white skin, jet-black straight hair tied back in a low pony, two perfect arcs for brows over kohl-lined eyes that had a smoky effect. She wore the perfect little black dress, a body hugging sleeveless knee-length A-line one with a swooping neckline and a choker of grayish black beads around her neck. I noticed her long fingers with bloody red nail color, the only dash of color on her otherwise black and white frame. Her dress, choker, hair and eyes were in such perfect contrast with her pale white skin, that it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that she exuded radiance. She sat there with a hand under her chin and eyes down scanning the menu, just like a little gal with her hands under chin waiting for her ice-cream sundae to be brought.

After some scuffle and laughs among the waiters one of them went up to take her order. She took a few long seconds to raise her eyes from the menu to look at him and for me it was like watching her in slow motion. She looked at him with such a flirtatious gaze and smile, that it would have cut through even the most abstemious man. Her eyes were perfect blacks and shone with a twinkle. Even if it was the reflection of the lamp, I’d still say it was her that made them look like two glistening opals.

Her very entry into the hall had caused quite a flurry among the waiters and the dining customers (including us). And the reason for it was not her breathtaking beauty but the fact that everyone had identified her to be what she was. Yes, she was a hooker. But that’s got nothing to do with what I’m saying in this blog. I could not look at her as a hooker or even as a woman, for me at that instant she was a pure object of beauty. A compelling sculpture or painting that takes your breath away renders you numb for a while. I might sound like a love-smitten guy crooning about his gal but again I don’t think what I felt can be equated to the feminine emotion of the same fervor (to put bluntly, this was by NO means a lesbian admiration. Which I’m sure my friend G who states that ‘All women are 10%-20% lesbians by nature’ is gonna suggest). I don’t know if I would have felt differently if I were a guy… (Maybe I should ask the men who were with me who had also seen her.)

I could easily fit her as the beautiful princess or the lovely peasant gals in all the Asian/Japanese/Chinese folktales and myth lore I’ve read till date. I was so mesmerized by her that I stared at her for probably a long time. Now I find it so stupidly awkward, as it was would have been such an obvious ogling. She was seated completed behind me and I sat with my head turned to look at her, like someone sitting in back seat of a car with an arm over the seat and turning himself to look behind at the vehicles behind. That day I’d anyway done many things to embarrass my friends so this act went unnoticed by them. (Embarrassments include A. Eating cold thin crusted pizza and garlic bread out of my hands instead of using the silverware. B. Folding my legs under me on the chair, dehati style!!! What’s the big deal you ask? Duh!! I was dinning with Bond.)

She would be one woman I’d give 10/10 for her looks. She could have been a perfect inspiration for an artist – a poet, a painter or a sculpturer. I am neither of these yet she moved me….

Coincidently, my player is playing “You’re beautiful” by James Blunt and this goes to that beautiful Asian girl….

* As always writer’s block hits me hard when I’ve think of a title for the post (which I always do in the end). I didn’t see her on the subway but in a Pizza place. I just borrowed the subway from James blunt to make the title read better….

at 8:29 PM | 8 comments    

Last week Bijesh and I were waiting at the HSR Layout signal when I saw a familiar face waiting at the bus stop. This was the second time I had spotted her in the crowd of Bangalore. I’d been hearing from our mutual friends right from the time I moved to this city that she too was here in Bangalore. Somehow I didn’t get myself to make any efforts to get in touch with her, not that I did not want to but just that I just could not. That’s all. From being one of my closest friend and confidant in college, she has now turned into someone who was just a mere acquaintance at one point of time.

The first time I spotted her in Bangalore was in BTM, couple months back. Again I was struck in the traffic and she was walking on the footpath in the opposite direction. That time I excused myself thinking that calling out to her will gather quite a bit attention towards me. And I’d have looked funny sticking my head out of my bus screaming out. But this time she was hardly 10 feet away from me and I was right there waiting in front of her on the bike. She was looking through me but as I was wearing a helmet she could not have recognized me. But I had seen her, recognized her too and it was very easy for me to stop and say hi. But this time again I did not do it.

So I missed yet another chance to meet this friend of mine after five long years. She was someone with whom I’d spent literally every college-day for three whole years. She was a year senior to me. After she passed out we were constantly in touch through emails. In the initial few months we caught up once in a while. And then slowly calls and emails ran out. And then came the stage when we only heard about each other from our mutual friends. Many times I thought of mailing her and mail not call as I felt somewhat uncomfortable talking to her. It was the same uncomfortable feeling that stopped me from meeting her on the above two occasions. The only reason was whoever took the initiative to get in touch would be treated to a string accusations for being out of touch. “You never mailed me”, “How could do this?”, “It’s been XYZ year”, etc. etc. etc. On my part, I have not and will never do that to someone. Because this is precisely one thing I absolutely hate doing to someone or someone doing to me.

It takes two to fall out of touch. So when someone actually decides to get in touch, why should he/she be subject to this finger pointing and uncomfortable accusations? It’s not just between friends sometimes the same happens when you call some relative of yours and they go on about how you never called them to 59000 years and how you always cried to be with them when a kid. For Christ sake people!! Stop cribbing and whining! Half the time I give a call periodically to all my relatives just to ensure that I don’t leave the ‘long gap’ in between calls. At times, I get to so frustrated when I hear their complaints that I think to being plain rude and snap back saying “And the last time you’d called me was when I was in diapers. What do you say for that?”

Anyway, I can go on ranting about this. All I wanted to say to my friends out there whom I’d been out of touch for quite sometime… “Please don’t ever start do this if I ever get in touch with you after a long hiatus.”

at 10:42 AM | 7 comments    

Flash: “Abhinav Bindra wins Olympic gold in 10m air rifle”

The news was flashing almost everywhere. Every news channel was playing this news in seemingly infinite loop. On the office newsgroup people were cheering the young man and discussing the amount of money he’s going to get. I started getting email and sms forwards from friends who thought every else other than them lived in Bora-Bora islands with no access to any media and hence wouldn’t have heard the news. A few friends had their gchat status set as “Olympic gold”, “We’re proud of Abhinav” or similar variations. Orkut statuses and videos were full of Abhinav and Olympic gold details.

I wondered what the heck???? What’s the big deal?

In India how many of us follows Air rifle or even know what the sport or it’s rules is all about? How many of us even know the members of 2008 Olympic team from India? Most of us would either vaguely remember Abhinav Bindra from occasional news items and photos in the newspapers or not know him at all. He probably didn’t have 1/10,000th of the fan following and media attention that our cricket team or Sania Mirza enjoy. But with this single event he was the star!!!

We won’t even remember that he’s a winner of Arjuna Award and Khel Ratna award. Or noticed that he’s good looking enough to launch brands and has got a smile perfect for toothpaste ads too. I am sure we’re going to see a lot of Abhinav during commercial breaks in the coming days. I can go on and on to say how Abhinav never received all the respect and attention a player like him deserved. Or probably, lack of all that media attention is the secret of his success.

I’m not blaming the Indian junta who ignored a gem like him, cos I too belong to the same crowd. But at this moment I can sincerely feel what 1.1 billion people of this country feel. As I watched the award ceremony of Abhinav, I felt proud of this man who accomplished something very big for all us Indians. As they played the national anthem I had genuine tears in my eyes. They were the same tears that I have every time I watch documentary on our freedom struggle, the time when I visited the Cellular jail, or whenever I watch the movie ‘Kalapani’ for the nth time.

It is one thing to feel proud of an olympic gold and another, to watch the world stand up in reverence for your country’s national anthem. You gave us that moment Abhinav, and for us that’s more precious that your gold!

We’re proud of your achievement Abhinav!!!

at 12:09 PM | 2 comments    

I saw this on one of the blogs I frequent and found it to be a pretty good timepass. So just thought to having it on mine too... so here it goes..

1. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATER:
Race – Saif looked real great!!! Nice twists in story. It’s a good thriller.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
“The Japanese Wife” By Kunal Basu. It’s a short story collection. And Aparna Sen is making a movie out of it with Rahul Bose (who else). Frankly, after reading two stories from it, I don’t think it’s any great. Lets wait and see if Sen’s screenplay and dialouges can make any good out of it.

3. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
I love Scrabble but of late all the players I play against win. Esp my hubby and my bro. So now, I don’t play Scrabble anymore for two reasons one, they find out if I cheat and second, I hate losing.

4. FAVORITE MAGAZINE?
Hmmm… I like Vanita (malayalam) even though I can’t read Malayalam properly. But they have a lot of great recipes that you can try at home. A lot of fashion that you can follow unlike what’s showcased in their counterparts like Femina, Society et al. So I read and decipher it with my struggling Malayalam reading skills or make mom read it to me.

5. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Smell of mullapoo (Jasmine flower).
Smell of a lemon. It’s so refreshing. I love Liril and Cinthol cos of that.
Smell of earth after a rainy day. (Retaining from Dhanush’s list)
Smell of Fish Fry especially if the fish is Ayala or Maththi. (Exactly!! Esp. when fried in coconut oil)

6. FAVORITE SOUND? Of MUSIC?
I love the sound of raindrops falling on roof. The sounds you hear when you wake up early in the morning, esp. when I’m in my hometown, it includes the crowing of roosters the cries of calfs, the stream nearby.
I also love the chenda-mellam in temples.

7. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
I’m very moody. I swing between emotional extremes without any reasons or triggers. I get very irritated and annoying at those times. Those are the lowly moments that I feel.

8. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP
Should I work from home today? (On weekdays).
Ah… it’s a weekend…I can sleep some more (weekends)


9. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
Hmmm… In Bangalore I don’t have any, till now. Surprising isn't!!! yeah, actually i like the katti rolls wala place at Monday to Sunday Supermarket, if it can be called a fast food place.

10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME?
Well, I’ve many names and all of them are in pairs. :-)

11. FINISH THIS STATEMENT. "IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I'D...?
I’ll first get a nose-job. I hate my nose eating up most of space on my portraits. (Ok, I’m not really serious about it).
I’d probably stuff them in my mattress and sleep over it like how they show in movies.. (this time I'm serious)

12. DO YOU DRIVE FAST?
Yes, in college days I used to drive my Kinetic Honda at 30Kmph sometimes at 40 too. Man! I was a daredevil back then...

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
I used to… but no more. Waiting to buy a huge Winnie the Pooh so that I can push out the other occupant out of my bed.

14. STORMS-COOL OR SCARY?
I’m not scared of storms but don’t like them too. But I’ve an unforgettable memory of an approaching storm. When we were honeymooning in Andamans in the months just after the monsoon, we were caught in the storm. Suddenly the sky was overcast and there was this very strong wind blowing with heavy rain. And we were the only two souls on that beach. It was thundering and lightening. We hid behind the huge Mahua trees, waiting for the storm that lasted only 15-20 mins to pass. I saw the storm so close, jus over the sea... All i thought of was "Will people write about us in newspaper, if we get carried away in storm? Hope mom gives a good photo for them to put in papers!"

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
First Car is yet to come. I like swift, a red one. But somehow I want a car in Plum color. Plum which is a mix of purple and cherry red, not he color of the plums we buy from market.

16. FAVORITE DRINK?
I love Nescafe!!! Irish Coffee from Coffee Day. I also love the Ginger tea I make. Ice tea with Lemon n peach flavor.

17. FINISH THIS STATEMENT, "IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD.....
and if I’d the lots of money. I would want to travel the world. Visit the pyramids of Egypt, the tulip gardens of Netherlands, the fairy-tale castles of Scandinavia, see the cherry-blossoms in Japan, sun-bath in Hawaiian beaches, go to Disneyland to meet Popeye and more...

.. have finished reading all the books present in my bookshelf before I buy anything more. (Retaining this line from Dhanush’s)

18. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
I hate the very sight of Broccoli. It looks like the green moss that grows inside the ponds back in my village..sort of dirty velvety green!! Yuck!

19. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?

I always liked burgundy.. But I like the jet black more, maybe I’ll just get burgundy streaks….

20. NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN.
Chennai, Delhi, Secundarabad, Pune, Alapuzha, Pathanamthitta, Tiruvalla and Bangalore.

21. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Don’t like sports as such….

22. ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU.
I read this on Dhanush’s blog. Well, he’s an amazing photographer. I love the pics he has on his blogs. His photographs are always full of life. And he writes good stories too. Keep clicking and blogging dude!

23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?
I always have couple of books by my pillow, so that I can pick up whichever the mood wants me to read, a bottle of vicks, my charging cell phone.

24. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN?
Yes, I love myself a lot. I would want to be born again as me and do all the things that I wanted to and couldn’t do in this life. And find biju and marry him again, for this lifetime is not long enough to live with him. Ahh… that got pukingly sweet… I’ll marry him again and take revenge for all the things I couldn’t in this lifetime. Make him wash all the pickle/jam bottles he leaves without washing day after day.

25. MORNING PERSON, OR NIGHT OWL?
I’m both. I can get up early on some rare occasions when there’s something really interesting or when I’m really scared that I’ll flunk in the paper next day. I can sit up late to watch a good movie or read my fav book. I spent two sleepless nights to finish reading Deathly Hallows…

26. OVER EASY, OR SUNNY SIDE UP?
I didn’t understand this question… Never mind… Pass.

27. FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX?
I love my home, the comfort of my bed.

28. FAVORITE PIE?
I like Apple Pie.

29. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
I like Alphonso Mangoes and Strawberry.

30. OF ALL THE PEOPLE YOU TAGGED THIS TO, WHO'S MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
Of course, Biju… He hasn’t updated his blog in a real long time.
Biju – Well… Let me see how many answers are as I predicted/guessed J
Anu – I know that you’ll have some sweet lovely answers.
Skely – For all the fantastically funny things you’re gonna answer.

at 2:28 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: fun, personal

Learning ‘tables’ was an important activity in the summer vacation, thoughtfully added by my dad to our to-do list, followed by a stern warning “You will go to play only after you recite it without a single mistake to you mom”. I was expected to learn the tables so well that “You should be able to recite them in one breath even when woken up from a deep sleep” according to mom. Then I would think if my parents were also forced to learn tables like this by their parents. And my smart 10-yr old mind would reply, “How could they? The tables go like twelve one ja twelve, twelve twos ja twenty four… their parents didn’t know English.” As this realization dawned on me, I concluded with much anger that my parents were never forced to learn tables, all the more in their summer vacations. I hated them for making me learn.

I knew the tables at least till 25 by heart while in high school. I can’t really recollect if they’d been of any real use. Right from those days I used to feel that this was a wasteful activity but then I didn’t have strong reasons to prove it. As a student I always did a rough multiplication, addition or division in the right corner of the answer sheet, as I never believed in picking up from own memory (not that I didn’t trust my memory, just that I didn’t wanted to take the risk). In high school, the logbooks were given so out went rough calculations. Those were faster but again another wasteful learning. How many grown ups in college or at work, do we see using Logbooks?? So, why teach students to use logbooks when they’re not going to use them in “real-life”. In came calculators, now that must be the thing that must be taught how to use!!! To be honest, I still don’t know how to store formulae in calculators. I mugged up the formulae and values of some damn-blasted constants whereas though ‘well-versed in calculators’ stored them in it. I strongly feel that in college or school their should be session on “How to effectively use your scientific calci’.

Now, I’ve not yet told you all what I am driving at. The culprit behind reminding me of this long-forgotten table roting system is the bunch of 38 Rupee vouchers in my sodexo booklet!!!! Adding 75, 50, 20 or 10 is easy but adding or multiplying 38s, that too on the spot is not so easy. And you wouldn’t want to make a fool of yourself by taking a long time or making a wrong calculation, or still worst taking out your cell phone to use calculator. Esp. when you’re standing a queue at the supermarket and folks behind you are all looking at you to move out. Once I we’d this little kid standing with his mom behind us in the queue as hubby and me were putting both our brains to sum up the 38s. He gave us a nasty “can't-you-do-basic-math” look after witnessing our struggle to sum up. Thank goodness! He didn’t embarrass us by shouting out the answer before we could. After that I decided to rote the 38 table to save ourselves from such embarrassments.
So ask me what’s 38 X 7?

at 11:13 AM | 4 comments    

Ahhh... it's been a long time since I blogged last. There have been lot of updates: New house, new name and of course, a new official name.

Made couple of interesting trips, worth writing a travelogue on. Finished reading a few books, watched three good movies. Now, must find time to write about each one by one.

at 10:33 AM | 0 comments    

This is the third Paulo Coelho book after 'The Alchemist' and ‘Eleven Minutes’ that I'm reading. Like all Paulo Coelho book this book too teaches you a thing or two about life, things that we always knew but never really thought would matter much. The protagonist Veronika tries to commit suicide, for a reason that almost all of us would find absurd – her life has no change. She is blessed with every thing a young girl of her age can ask for beauty, admirers, loving family and a steady job. Still, she's not happy or say, not content with her life and decides to end it. Contrary to the title, the story is not about how ‘Veronika decides to die’ or dies, but about how she learns to live. Veronika takes a high overdose of sleeping pills and as she lies awaiting her death she reads an article wittily titled “Where is Slovenia?” Slovenia is the country where the story is based. An angry Veronika now decides to blame the article and the fact that people don’t even know where Slovenia is, as the reason for her death. I too was hearing of a country called Slovenia for the first time in this book and believed Slovenia and its oddly-named capital Ljubljana to be some made-up names by the author till the Wikipedia enlightened me on this.

Veronika lands herself in Villete, the famous mental hospital in Slovenia, after her failed suicide bid. Here she is told that she has only a week more to live as her heart is heavily damaged by her suicide attempt. The story takes us through these 7 days and how Veronika rediscovers the desire to live. How her tragic state impacts other inmates of the mental hospital and brings about changes in them. The story is also shown through the lives of other characters - Zedka, Mari, Eduard and Dr.Igor. During the course of reading there will be times when you would relate yourself to one or the other character or the situations they’d been in. Be it the friendly Zedka, who drives herself to clinical depression thinking of the lover she always dreamt of or the motherly Mari – traumatized by panic attacks or the young handsome schizophrenic, Eduard who had lost his mind between the choices of his heart and that of his parents. Living with these people in the mental hospital, Veronika discovers that the world madness to be completely different from what’s known to the ‘sane’ world. Surprisingly, the inmates there don’t run around screaming, tearing clothes or laughing manically. In fact Veronika realizes that Zedka and Mari talk more wisely than many others outside the walls of Villete. Through Veronika the author conveys the message how being different is written off as madness in the ‘normal’ world.

In Villete, Veronika find out that she is at freedom to do whatever she wants as she will not have to face any criticism. “Mad people can do anything”. She falls in love with Eduard, sheds her inhibitions and decides to do things she always wanted to without care in the world. It portrays a completely different meaning of madness and insanity. How the author goes on to say that there’s a little bit of madness in all of us. The book is said to be based on Coelho’s personal experiences in mental institutions. The book teaches you how to live every moment of your life in spite of what it appears to be. It proves the truth that life indeed in very mundane and it is up to us to see how we want to live it. How every moment of life is precious and how it’s always a choice that we have to make between living and dying. A book that leaves a soul-stirring impact on you and makes you look at your life in a different view.

at 10:12 AM | 5 comments    

Labels: books