For old time's sake

An ode to my first watch

When I was in eighth class, my father gifted me my first watch. A Timex. This was literally my first watch. I dont remember if I had worn any fancy, plastic, digital kid watches before that.

It was love at first sight. I had never seen any beauty like that before. My mom had an old HMT watch-that classic gold dial with black leather strap. And I had never liked that watch. Mine was black metallic dial with pale gold interiors and diamond-like crystals at the four cardinal points. The strap was black of silicon-like material with horizontal engravings along its length. It sat pretty in my left hand and I was ecstatic.

The watch came with a stand. Something like the below image with a glass cover. I still remember, after coming from school I would dutifully strap off my watch and adjust it in its stand. This was my daily routine during my school years. One of my relative noticed me doing it and intrigued, asked me why I do it. "Out of habit, I suppose." I told her. The thinking logically, I answered "this way the watch doesnt get any dust". She thought about it and told me "No. By putting that watch in its stand you ensure that you can see the time on the watch from afar. which would not be possible if , instead, it lies." Touche, but I definitely didnt gather her point as my dainty little watch sits in the top shelf adjacent to my bed and I had a big clock in the same room.

the case in question (Image courtesy: Google images)

The watch came with a warranty of 2 years and I remember very correctly just a month passed after its 2 year anniversary, the cells went down. As the watch was not purchased from my town and the cells were not available there , I waited for good 2-3 months before I could get it repaired.

That watch has seen thousands of academic hours spent in school and college, standed the pressure test of many exams and been a witness to many triumphs and frustrations. My 10th board exams, 12th Board exams, college semesters, competitive exams- the watch can proudly say "been there, done that".More than 10 years that watch sat elegantly on my left hand.

In those 10 years, the batteries were replaced a no. of times, the strap was changed twice and one of the diamond crystals fell off but the watch remained a sturdy companion. That watch begin my love affair with timepieces. When I got job, I fell in love with another watch, a Titan Raga this time. This new watch replaced the old one and my first watch finally caught dust in the spare watch box. But as they say, the first one is always special.

Realization: Sometimes problems have a way to solve themselves out.

Complexity at its best. Patience is not my forte yet procrastination is something I live by.

I have this tendency that when I have been asked to do some thing in my capacity (officially especially) I try to do it asap, never mind if the job is big or small, urgent or not and report it back when done. Because of this, while I have come across with some compliments, I have got into trouble at times as well. Of late I have realised that instead of getting things done as and when it comes at my table, it is better if I analyse the situation and the nature of the work. 

Sometimes when problems poke their heads in life, professional or personal, and one finds herself trapped, dont panic and start breaking your back worrying/working/sorting it. Take a breath. Use your conscience. Analyse the situation. Leave it aside for an hour, a day or a week and engage yourself in your day to day life. When working with a clear head, one finds the solution. And the best part is:  Sometimes problems, given time, have a way to solve themselves out.

Irony

In these cold winter days, my grumpy mornings in bed begin hearing the boisterous sounds of the "Laughter Club" from the nearby park.
Arghh!!!

Pic Courtesy: www.imgarcade.com

Carry on Tuesday: Forwarded message

Now this is a forwarded message. I found it in Facebook and thought of keeping it here in the blog for gentle reminder on small tips to keep oneself healthy.


1. Walk for 30 minutes daily.
2. Eat a piece of fruit daily.
3. Eat whole foods instead of processed foods whenever possible.
4. Reject foods and drinks made of artificial colors or sweetener.
5. Start each lunch/dinner with salad.
6. Give your partner a hug every day before work.
7. Take a deep belly breath for three to five minutes twice a day.
8. Smell the scent of lavender to relax and sleep well.
9. Eat a handful of walnuts before bed.
10. Drink plenty of water.
11. Get 10-15 minutes of sunlight and fresh air daily.
12. Jog.
13. Run in place.
14. Have a greater variety of food. Variety means no excess of anything and more nutrients. Eat three different foods at every meal.
15. Eat slowly.
16. Have snacks between meals.
17. Watch comedy and add humor to your life.
18. Never skip breakfast.
19. Try to have seven hours of sleep at night.
20. Have a fixed bed time, preferably at 10:00 pm.
21. Increase your fiber intake.
22. Eat foods with bright rich colors.
23. Join a Yoga class.
24. Surround yourself with loving and supportive people.
25. Know that healthy food tastes great later.
26. Drink green tea twice a day.
27. Exercise till you sweat once a week.
28. Save a one year’s worth of living expenses to eliminate the money stress.
29. Have as much sex as possible … At least twice a week.
30. Do pull-ups and push-ups for 30 minutes twice a week.
31. Eat a handful of nuts 30 minutes before a meal.
32. Step on a treadmill.
33. Learn to cook and gain control of what goes into your meals … and save money!
34. Take a Vitamin D rich supplement.
35. Chew food thoroughly.
36. Avoid cold drinks with meals.
37. Take ginger.
38. Cut down sugar.
39. Don’t over-eat!
40. Don’t eat 3 hours before going to bed.
41. Fast.
42. Sit in silence for 10 minutes each day.
43. Play games.
44. Read good books.
45. Pray.
46. Meditate.
47. Don’t compare yourself to others.
48. Do work that you are passionate about.
49. Quit a job you hate.
50. Keep in touch with your family.
51. Do something good to one person everyday.
52. Don’t drink coffee twice a day.
53. When you feel tired, REST.
54. If you’re stressed, don’t try to manage it. Instead, take time off and relax.
55. Laugh out loud.
56. Quit smoking by smoking one less cigarette every week.
57. Walk in nature barefoot.
58. Spend time with friends.
59. Start a gratitude journal. Record one thing you’re grateful for everyday.
60. Ride a bike for fun or cycle to work a few times a week.
61. Read 8 Weeks To Optimum Health by Dr. Weil.
62. Wash hands with soap.
63. Avoid passive smoking.
64. Ask for help when you need it.
65. Eat calcium-rich foods like milk, cheese and green leafy vegetables.
66. Don’t sit for a prolonged time. Stand up and stretch.
67. Wash your eyes and face regularly.
68. Sing.
69. Dance.
70. Swim regularly in open air.
71. Take the stairs. No elevators. No escalators.
72. Remain faithful to one sexual partner to avoid AIDS.
73. Travel more often.
74. Wear high quality comfortable shoes.
75. Eat until you’re 80% full.
76. Cook meals with curry powder.
77. Take a 15-30 minutes nap.
78. Eat dark chocolate.
79. Eat wild salmon at least once a week (Omega-3 rich).
80. Forgive someone.
81. Call an old friend.
82. Eat oranges.
83. Sometimes, you need to say no for the sake of your health.
84. Take care of your teeth. Floss and brush your teeth twice a day at least.
85. Take honey to build up your immunity system.
86. Don’t sleep right after having a meal.
87. Don’t sleep when you’re emotionally upset.
88. Begin a garden.
89. Build your self confidence.
90. Don’t over-spend your money.
91. Volunteer in a good cause.
92. Do some strength training twice a week.
93. Eat one or two fish meals per week.
94. Find your passion and purpose in life.
95. Consider massage.
96. Don’t solve your emotional problems by eating more.
97. A garlic a day!
98. Cut back on salt.
99. Avoid negative people.
100. Herbs, herbs, herbs.

Thought bubbles on Monday Morning

Yesterday night I slept with a resolution: to wake up early. At 06 o'clock. So after many, many weeks, I put alarm on my mobile. I am not a keeper of resolutions, am I? The half-done tags in this bblog are a good reminder of this. I woke up today at my regular sevenish. Dum spiro spera. So hopefully by the end of this week, I will be reporting in this blog of a Saturday morning that begins at 6 in the morning.

It has been two days that my maid has not come. So I was making umpteen journeys to my balcony to look for her in my street. Not that she would deliberately skip my house if I dont check on her, but then the kitchen sink full of dishes was enough for me to wait for her. "rasta niharna" as it is said in hindi.:)

While I was slouching over the railing of my balcony, I saw the shops in the street opening up their businesses, people brooming their verandahs, landlady watering her road-side plants and the 90s bollywood music rafting in the air. I knew that song. Infact tell me any hit song from the 90s, I am sure I would have heard it and can even hum a line or two (some full). After all, I am a child growing up in 90s on the solid diet of these songs. But just by hearing that song, I was sure that some construction worker/rickshaw wala bhaiya is playing this song. No they are not those dual meaning songs that were hit then(like ilu-ilu, gutur-gutar etc.), but these are the songs of love and heartache, resplendent with Kumar Sanu's voice which screams 90s.  With few experiences of my own and with due research of my fellow friends, I have come to an conclusion that these songs are a favorite among the construction workers/ rickshaw walahs. You know, like every decade, the songs of the 90s fall in two category: the good one (like Pehla nasha, ek ladki ko dekha, kuch na kaho etc-you get the drift) and then there are songs like these. Seems "Bewafa Sanam"movie has some of the Super-hit songs.

I am a very lazy person. And when I am alone, I am usually very careless of my meals and skip a one or two. Instead of cooking even maggi, I would rather look for buiscuits to quench my hunger. Thats how lazy I am. Not a good thing. So today I  made myself butter-jam toast and green tea (whoa what elaborate breakfast :p ) and decided to do something productive. And here I am writing a blog post. Woh, I am a girl who knows her priorities right. :)

Picture from google images

As I am not able to remember more 90s songs, feel free to add more in the list.

Image Source: https://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/98133221v6601421-slices-of-toast-bread-jam-cup-of

One day

It is afternoon. And there is nobody home. For past few days, the weather has been awesome. Cool breeze with intermittent rains.
I have always longed for spending aimless afternoons at home with myself in a good weather but  work has never given this luxury to me. But today is special.
After endless internet surfing, finishing the book that I had been reading, TV-watching I lie in my bed. With my headon the end of the bed. From there, I have a view of the sun from the open door. The sky was pleasant blue with light super-white fluffy clouds all over. A part of me wonders how can such bright blue skies happen in the pollution filled metro. Afterall, I have seen such bright blue skies only in the beautiful, untouched hills.  But then who am I questioning on the colour of the sky of this big city. It might be the first time I am actually looking at the sky above.It might me the first time I have relaxed in the afternoon with no chores to do and no thoughts in my mind.
 May be in September the sky always wears this beautiful colour or may be the salubrious weather is the reason or may be today is special.
And the heart said a quick thankyou to the universe for small pleasures like this.

Kids perspective

It was a dark July morning. Dark because of the grey clouds ready to pour any minute. It had rained last night as well. Drinking my morning tea in the verandah, I overheard my niece calling out her brother. Its around 7:00am in the morning and they were almost ready for their school. They lived next door to us.

T (yelling): Apppuuuuu, come outside.

Apu (came out from their home running to his sister's side)

T: Look Apu (pointing her finger to the ground.)

 (in a mesmerised tone she added): WOW Snail!!!!!

*************************************

I was so amused with their conversation. As kids, we have such a sense of wonder for the world but as we grow old, we become so busy in the nothingness of life that we fail to notice the beauty around all of us.

This also reminds me of a poem I read long time back in internet. I found it apt for our busy lives and saved it. The post where I read it did not have the name of the author. So I dont know the author name but thanks to him/ her for such a piece of wisdom.

Big Mud Puddles and Sunny Yellow Dandelions!!!

Authour Unknown

When I look at a patch of dandelions, I see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over my yard.

My kids see flowers for Mom and blowing white fluff you can wish on.

When I look at an old drunk and he smiles at me, I see a smelly, dirty person who probably wants money and I look away.

My kids see someone smiling at them and they smile back.

When I hear Music I love, I know I can't carry a tune and don't have much rhythm so i sit self-consciously and listen. 

My kids feel the beat and move to it. They sing out the words. If they don't know them, they make up their own.

When I feel wind on my face I brace myself against it. I feel it messing up my hair and pulling me back when I walk. 

My kids close their eyes, spread their arms and fly with it,  until they fall to the ground laughing.

When I pray. I say thee and thou and grant me this and give me that. 

My kids say, "Hi God! Thanks for my toys and my friends. Please keep the bad dreams away tonight. Sorry, I don't want to go to Heaven yet. I would miss my Mommy and Daddy."

When I see a mud puddle I step around it. I see muddy shoes and dirty carpets. 

My kids sit in it. They see dams to build, rivers to cross, and worms to play with. 

I wonder if we are given kids to teach or to learn from. 

I wish you Big Mud Puddles and Sunny Yellow Dandelions!!!

And it rained today

I am not a rain person. I have waxed eloquent my dislike for rains in this post . But then life throws you into situations where you have to face your dislikes and displeasures and you have to chew your own words.

We all know how monsoon has not been favorable this year because of El-nino effect and yada-yada. June came and gone by, July is half passed but we had yet to see a good rain this year. The weather has been extremely hot and humid. Everyday temperature sour to above 40 degrees. Add to it the extreme stickiness of humidity and frequent power cuts. Every night I cried for this cruel weather and power-cuts and every morning I prayed for rains so that at least we get some respite from this situation.

And just as we finished our lunch today, ZZ yelled from kitchen ( No he didnt cook the lunch. He was just there to put his plate in sink. I know there is no need of explanation but I just want to make clear in case doubts arise in your minds :p) "It's raining. Take out clotes from the cloth line outside". I literally jumped from my seat and opened the door. It was raining!!!! I danced my way to ZZ (imagine the bhangara and jumping singing "yay!!yay!! yay!! baarish ho rahi hain".

And I did the unthinkable. I have never voluntarily danced in the rain. I never have this urge to dance in the first showers of the rain that few of my friends have. But today I just wanted to go out and enjoy in rain. And did I have fun getting wet in rain? You bet.

I have never waited for rains like this in my entire life (may be waited for rains to go away) and I have never rejoiced its showers like today. But then one gotta face this cruel hot and humid weather to appreciate rains.

Am I a convert from non-rain person to rain-person. Cant say. But yes I do understand how rains are a harbinger of hope and joy in life.

Pic Courtesy: Google images

Love at First Sight: My Beautiful Food

“Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food as you devote to your appearance. Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress.”
Charles Pierre Monselet (French journalist and author)

And what if the poem begins with the fragrance. Have you ever smell the waft of roasted cumin and cinnamon. And cardamom. And of rice. Yes rice.  So subtle, yet so strong.  Heavenly right.  I am sure no matter where you are , you would take a second long breath to seduce your senses. Hypnotised,  I inadvertently moved in the direction led by my olfactory senses towards the origin of this enchanting smell. In that small wooden table beside the kitchen of that cottage, right in front of me was the world’s best biryani sitting regal on the exquisite flat-plated glass dish. A glass bowl  of spicy mirch ka salan was sitting pretty beside it.

Oh, I was never a believer of ‘love at first sight’. I thought only blind can see and believe in such illogical sense. But if the rush of desire and radiance of ecstasy on seeing something (one) first time is the proof, I may well have experienced my ‘Love at First Sight’.

It was the pile of wealth for the hungry: enticing and so tempting. The aromaThe tri-coloured rice some of the long thin grained basmati rice have taken the colour of turmeric, some with the hint of saffron and some pristine white, was  interspersed with the choicest of seasonal vegetables. Well garnished with roasted cashews and fresh green coriander leaves, thinly-sliced ginger and green chillies lie atop the mound of divinity. The orange of carrots and the green beans were hiding in-between the flavoured rice along with the supple paneer and mushrooms. The pretty yellow and red bellpeppers were  adding vibrancy to the visual delight. Thin round slices of onion and tomato spread around the biryani as if a fort is surrounded by moat. The mirch ka salan was garnished with mint and coriander leaves. The transparent glass plate on which the biryani was plated was adding to the whole glamour of the dish.  The whole plate looked like a page straight out of food-magazine cover.

But just as love fizzles out if there is no inner chemistry, only outer appeareance, in the same way there can be this case of love lost. But love makes you yearn for more, makes you hopeful, makes you exuberant of your next step.

I hesitated to disturb the equilibrium of the canopy of biryani but then how could I resist my temptation. I served myself a plateful of the deliciousness personified. I could see the roasted bay leaves and black peppers among the rice grains. I can imagine how the bay leaves must have danced with noise when thrown in the hot oil with onions. And how heavenly must the whole cottage have smelled when the choicest spices were added in the hot pan.

                As I took the first spoonful of the divinity, I sighed a pleased moan. This was perfection. I have never tasted a biryani so delicious in my whole life. As I was about to eat another spoonful, I heard the jolly voice of my dinner host Kavi, “When did you come? Of course I invited you for dinner but at least you could have waited to say ‘Hello’ to me..” And she laughed. I grinned sheepishly and before I replied, I ate another bite and with immense gratitude of a beggar who have ate his full,  I  could fumble only two words “Thank You.” Thank you for accepting this glutton of a friend for this dinner. Thank you for cooking this amazing legen-wait for it-dary Veg biryani that changed my whole world. Thank you for making me believe in “Love at First Sight”. Thank you for introducing me to the world of Borosil.

       This post is written for the Indiblogger Contest "My Beautiful Food".

Oh the joy

Oh the joy when you find a soul who loves the same book/ movie/ place/ moment as much as you do.

So on our way back home with a office friend, the topic moves to the kind of movies we watch.

And she remarked ‘I readlly loved that movie of Milind Somen’.

My eyes sparkled with joy. “Oh the one with the curly-haired girl’.

“Yes-yes. It is my favourite movie. The only Milind Somen movie worth watching. He is looking so delish.”

“Oh how much I loved that movie. That movie has such good songs. Oh God, we spent beautiful college days listening to those songs and dancing away in them”

“All its songs were nice. Even the slower version of few songs.”

“I am unable to recall the name of the movie..But it was so ahead of its time. The narration style, yada yada..”

“Even Tanuja as Dadi was a good cast. Name of the movie ?? hmmm.."

And talking about the movie and humming the songs we parted ways to our homes.

Back home, when I connected my phone to wi-fi, there was a deluge of messages in the Whatsapp group of my college friends. These are the same friends with whom I have spent the joyous years of college hostel. I asked them the name of the Milind Somen movie with the song “Aise Pyaar ke naam”. Why google when you can connect to the friends who have the answer and the nostalgic tit-bit information about things. Same happened and friend A replied “Pyaar ka Superhit Formula” and this is the same song in which you used to dance in our hostel room. Sheesh! Friend M quipped “Rules”. And I got the name of the movie. “Rules-Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula”.

So many happy afternoons and evenings may be nights or mornings have been spent listening to these songs and dancing to its tunes.

I searched the songs on the internet next day and listened to it. To my amazement, I still
remembered almost complete lyrics of two of my favourite songs.

Here is to old time's sake.


Pic courtesy: Google images

my kind of weather

7:30ish in the evening
sky was blue
partly overcast with orange clouds
away from me.
my part of sky was clear
and I saw stars above.
The moon played hide and seek
 with the clouds
in the cool breeze.
I sat down in the roof
and gazed for long at the sky above.


Today after many weeks, I stepped in my roof terrace and the weather was so nice. Clicked some photos with my phone.

construction around

one is star, another light from passing plane

moon above, star below:p

Bullets of my March

• ·         I noticed the “100 Day Happy Challenge” in some blog where one has to post Happy things/ quotes/ pictures in their blog/ facebook etc for 100 days. I got interested as I thought it would be a great way to you know, smell the roses along the busy rushing life. But knowing myself, I know it would be hard as no matter how much I admire happy people like my mother but I know that I am not a one. You know the kind of people who are always positive, cheerful in their disposition and don’t panic/ overthink a situation and just go with the flow, I am not the one. I have my days where I sulk over something which is not actually there and get miffed over petty issues. Thank God I have a husband not like me, or else some days would surely be very hard. Then I came across this very happy song by Phharell Williams and watched the  Oscar performance. I downloaded and this song has been a part of my playlist since then. I was informed that United Nations and Phharell Williams have organized this competition where people have to post “Happy” video of their city. I watched some videos of the entries in youtube.  Lovely thought. Enjoy the song:
• 
  
• As I was washing my hands in office washroom today, I realized what my problem is. The problem is of “ACCEPTANCE”. Hmmm, this got me thinking for like a minute but then other important things came up like watching Arjun Kapoor in "Locha-e-ulfat" song from his upcoming movie for the fifth-time of the day. What a nice song and choreography. Benny Dayal is awesome and well I could keep my eyes off Arjun Kapoor. He is looking so nerdy and handsome. Here's the video of the song:

• ·         I love reading but have not subscribed or opened account in any reading website. Bust many days back, I finally succumbed and opened my account in Goodreads. I consider myself a good reader but was appalled to notice that even after forcing my memory to remember the names of books I have read, I was not able to cross the 100 books that I have read mark. I tried to be very honest with my list and mentioned only those books of which I have clarity that I have read them. Today is an important day. As per Goodreads, I have read over 100 books and I am actually pretty elated. Last few months I have done some serious reading  and I hope to continue it this year.
• 
  
• ·         Watched “Queen”. My first movie of 2014 that I watched in movie hall. Went ahead to watch it after reading some rave reviews in FB and blogs. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie.
• 
  
• ·         Half-watched “Highway’ at home. That means I have not yet seen the pretty mountainous drive of the Himalayan towns. Definitely going to finish it today.
• 
  
• ·          Whenever I have to travel a new place, I prefer researching online about it. And one of the sources that I search specifically are blogs as the blogs give a personalized perspective and nitty-gritty info which major websites fail to give. I was in a hill state for a vacation and there I saw women laborers working side by side with men clearing and building the road at height more than 12000 feet above sea-level. That day happens to be Women's Day. I saluted those women. Border Roads Organisation, which works for the maintenance and building of roads in the border areas of the country is doing such a tough job. Really, if making roads in those mountaineous terrain is not a difficult work, maintaining those roads in between umpteen landslides, rains, continuous traffic, tourist influx is sucha large part of their jobs. Whenever I travel in these roads, a sincere thanks goes to the people and this organisation responsible for the connectivity to the nature's beauty.
• 
  
• ·         I have never mentioned but I have received free gifts through my blog. Three times. Shampoos and conditioners sponsored by Sunsilk on participating in Indiblogger contests. No I did not win any position/ prize on my writing , it’s just that they hand out gifts to every participant and this is where I get lucky;).
• 
  
•     There have been many times that I have purchased a book based on the review/ feedback I read on some blog and downloaded and watched movies based on recommendations in blogs. April Snow, a Korean movie tops the list on my mind which I watched after reading rave reviews in one of my favourite blogger’s post. And I was not disappointed.

• 
  

Condition Serious Hain (in a non-serious way)

Seriousness is a very serious disease. And when I checked that Indiblogger.in have brought out this contest with Cadburys India to blog about your encounter with people jinki #conditionserioushain, how can I be left behind. This is my entry for this contest. 

If you have encountered such people, then this post is right for you. You can also head out to the Facebook Page of Cadburys 5 Star which is made for people like us and people jinki #conditionserioushain.

I am a woman. Brought up in a world where emphasis is given to your education and career and well, also marriage. At every phase of life one meets such people who nag, poke their nose in our personal affairs and blurt out without thinking and feeling about other person's feelings and emotions. Through this medium I have tried to share my encounters with such people at every stage of life.

जब हम छोटे थे तब वो पूछा करते थे

"बड़े हो के क्या बनोगे"

पढ़ लिख कर जब बाहर निकले फिर बोले

"तुम नौकरी कब करोगे"

उफ ये जालिम दुनिया सच में कितनी curious हैं

बच ले बेटा इनसे, इनकी #conditionserioushain

जब नौकरी मिली तो हम खुश हुए

की अब हैं दुनिया कदमो में

पर माता-पिता से ये पूछ के

उन्होने फिर हमे डाल दिया सदमे में

"चलो नौकरी अच्छी मिल गयी, बच्चा ambitious हैं

शादी कब करोगे इन्ही, ये उमर बड़ी precious हैं"

पर हम शान से चले

बेफिक्री से नौजवानी जिये

और फिर कुछ सालो के बाद

हम भी शादीशुदा हुए

पर क्या काहे उनके बारे में जिनकी #conditionserioushain

एक महीने बाद ही पूछ बैठे "बेटा गुड न्यूज़ कब हैं"

हम समझ गये हम जान गये

इनके सवालो का अंत नहीं हैं-

गुड न्यूज़ इनको दे भी दे तो फिर ये पूछेंगे

बेटा पेहला तो हो गया, दूसरा कब हैं

अगर हम मोटे हैं तो पूछेंगे

"तुम पतले क्यू नहीं होते"

और जो हम पतले हो तो कहेंगे

"घर वाले खाने को कुछ नहीं देते"

सच में इनके सवालो से हम भी थोड़े furious हैं

भगवान बचाये इनसे, उफ इनकी #conditionserioushain

An excerpt from Siddhartha

"When someone is searching," said Siddhartha, "then it might easily

happen that the only thing his eyes still see is that what he searches for,

that he is unable to find anything, to let anything enter his mind, because

he always thinks of nothing but the object of his search, because he has a

goal, because he is obsessed by the goal. Searching means: having a goal.

But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, oh venerable

one, are perhaps indeed a searcher, because, striving for your

goal, there are many things you don't see, which are directly in front of

your eyes."




Hmmm. Makes sense.

Realization series continues

On rush days like Valentines Day, ALWAYS book your table in advance in your preferred restaurants.

(Ran in the rain from the restaurant to the parking with ZZ. 10 seconds of happiness:))

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Knowledge is Great

       

       Like every other child in middle-class home in India in 1990s, the only professions that I aspired were Medicine/ Engineering. If the child is good in life sciences, medicine was the way to go and if Maths is the subject one loves, Engineering was the aim. Those who did not have any inclination towards any subject were not considered bright. Today things have changed. We are living in interesting times. With exposure of the world and job opportunities, a child is exposed to different subjects and branches and is channeling one's studies in new directions.

        When I was a child I used to write diary. The description below my name used to be something like this:

                 Noble Prize Winner- Mathematics  (This was my favorite Subject then and I didnt know Mathematics is not any category for Nobel Prize)
                  Noble Prize Winner- Peace  (Oh that must be the Miss India in me speaking)
                  Noble Prize Winner- Literature  (The wish of the writer)
                  Oscar Award for Best Actress (uhmm the girl  sure had dreams. She still has.)

          I grew up to become an Engineer with an heart for all things Art and Humanities. If I could study/ specialize in my subject, it would be Sociology (Humanities) from the second oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the world's third-oldest surviving university.As per this website, University of Cambridge is the 6th best educational institution in the field of Humanities and the best in UK.I have always been interested in the psychology of man , psychology of society and what better way to channelize my interest by studying the subject and that from this renowned institute. The study of Sociology would help me in understanding of the public policy and social beliefs and the parities that exist among different societies.Sociology provides the rich picture of how the social world works.
          I read about the Cambridge university in some English story-book (I reckon it was part of the biography of Jawahar Lal Nehru of his young years- a part of our English textbook curriculum) in my childhood and being the dreamy person I used to be and I am, I have imagined many a times of myself studying in the prestigious institution.
            To me, Cambridge University is the ultimate university. The university where each stone speaks of history, where every path was taken by the intelligentia who influenced the world,where the classrooms and laboratories are filled with legends, where the air is enriched with the lives of its great students- from Srinivasa Ramanujan to Stephen Hawking, from Charles Darwin to Amartya Sen, from Charles Babbage to Salman Rushdie. Be it any field, the alumni of Cambrige have made their mark.

           And if the history itself is not enough, look at the view of one of the colleges of Cambridge University

The panoramic view of King's College, Cambridge

           It would be such a dream-come-true moment for me if this happens. And if its academia, architecture  and heritage is not enough, the current Duke and Duchess of Cambridge elevate the charm of Cambridge in itself.
          Knowledge is Great is a great initiative by British Council. Please click on the link http://knowledgeisgreat.in/ for more information.

        This post is my entry for the indiblogger contest "Knowledge is Great".

Pic courtesy: Google Imges & wikipedia 

Lessons to remember

The trip was planned two day in advance. The weather had been nice for these ywo days and we were looking forward to a sunny weather on the day of trip as well. The morning of the trip begun late. and by 8'o clock when everyone of us was ready, I looked outside. It was a cold grey day and had started drizzling. My first reaction was that of anger and annoyance. "Why!!! Its raining. Why does it have to rain today only. Its going to be a cold day.Bah. Why???!!" ZZ was non-chalent but wondered "It seems that it is going to rain continuously". Mummy was cool and pondered how nice it would have been if the weather were nice like the previous two days. I usually blame my irritable behaviour to my father. Oh its always better when you think you are not responsible for your behavious but its the fault of your genes;). Papa in his calm demeanour said " Its good that it has rained. It will provide the much needed moisture to the soil. Let's wait for some time and then start this journey."
Oh and we did start the journey within 15 minutes and the rain left us midway to our destination and the sun shone later.
And I was left wondering of the positive thinking of my father. Oh high time that I stop complaining and act positive.

Late Bloomer

Today I am sharing some secrets here...

I watched "The Sound of Music" after my marriage.

I read "Charlotte's Web" last year.

I got to read "The Little Prince" this January only.

"Daddy Long Legs" is the book which I started and finished in a day and that is today.


I went through the passage of childhood without the oppurtunity to read these books and movies. I have yet not a read a single "Fantastic Four" series or "Agatha Christie" or other young adult book. It was not that I was not into books in my student days. I had my monthly dose of youth magzines, comics and I used to read english stories from the course books of my friends of other schools and curriculam. But I never got exposed to the classic children literature. May be it was location factor as there never were such book shops or good library and I never had peers and cousins who had read such books themselves. But better late than never. And slowly and stealthily I am reading my share of children literature and loving every second of it. I have said it earlier but let me say it aloud again-"One is never too old to read children book and watch animation movies". I downloaded the pdf format of "Daddy Long Legs" and read it in my office today and finished it at home just now. And I loved it. Every.single.line. I may count it in the list o my favourite books. The book inspire me to read "Little Women" (I have already seen the movie) even if possible in abridged form.

So if you have any more good books to recommend to a woman in the last pedestal of her 20s, please feel free to comment and share. You would definitely make the child in me very happy.:)

What do they say in Marathon lingo for those who completes the race? A finisher?

"I am a finisher".

Yes, I am. A finisher of this "Blogathon 2014".And I am so proud of it.

I have always been in awe with the bloggers who could churn out post almost every day, and that too of quality which makes you addicted to their blogs.Not that quality is my forte here, this thought alone gives me jubilation that I was able to remember to post everyday and posted every even though it has been one-liners for a day or two. I have always wanted to write regularly and this project give the impetus I needed to write.

And for this momentous feat, I would like to thank:

1) the BSNL broadband connection which nver acted the entire month and without which I would not have been able to blog.
2) ZZ for being the best support. Downloaded Blogger app(which helped me blog on days I was travelling) and never rolled his eyes when mostly at cooking time I would declare "oh, I have to write the post for today" and occupy the laptop for some more time.
3) all those bloggers whose blogs inspired me to write my own blog.
4) bloggers I am subscribed to who are also participating in this blogathon
5) opportunity to find this Blogathon link in www.dreamymommy.wordpress.com and Maya, the blogger behind this blog for starting this "Blogathon 2014" project.

Just like first post, first blog comment, first tag invitation, first blog award, this First BLOGATHON is special.

I would like to be there..

As I was running short of ideas to write about, I looked back at the Blogathon 2014 meme at this post and here I am.
"If I were allowed to travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?"

Let's change it to "f you were to be anywhere else in this very moment, where would it be?

Many years back I saw this photo while browsing the net. I think this photo was on some newsletter's photos of the year or Photos across the world.
The lilac flowers, the carefreeness of the girl and the closeness wth the nature-all makes this pic so beautiful, so lovely. It almost looks like a painting. Hats off to the photographer who captured this beautiful image. I normally dont do this, but I liked this photo so much that I saved it in my laptop. The photo is still with me:

So if I can be anywhere at this moment, I would like to be there among the lilac flowers, in the sunshine and cool breeze.


Photo Courtesy: Google/ (I would love to have linked the source but I have completely forgotten in which webpage I found this picture)

Peek-ten-boo(ks)

Thank You Jeeves: This novel deals with the adventures of Wooster and Jeeves. The novel begin when Jeeves threatens and leaves his job of butler from Wooster household on account of the cacophonous noise of banzo that Wooster plays and is soon taken in by a friend of Wooster. Wooster himself has to leave his housing society on account of the noise that his banzo-playing creates and incidently was invited by the same friend to live in his county. Adventure begins when love blossoms, misunderstanding happens, revenge sought and well because of those plannings of Wooster and Jeeves. Loved reading it.

Psmith in the city: Already written about it here.

A Damsel in Distress:  Reading this novel was like watching a movie. Seriously, the story-line makes for an full-on commercial pataka rom-com movie. The kind of 70s movie with a simple landlore, his lovely daughter  who loves some outsider and therefore prohibited to go outside her castle, her aunt who wants  her to marry her step-son, the step-son who loves the secretary of land-lord, a successful music director who has love-at-first-sight with the land-lord’s daughter when she sneaks out of town for a day, the misunderstanding in landlord’s family who mistakes the music director to the American man their daughter loved, the seep-loving butler and housemaids and the adventures that follow. Read this fast-paced book and have a feeling of watching a movie. Loved it absolutely.

The remains of the day:  5 star. Loved this book and already wrote about  it here.

Of Mice and Men: I have a phobia of reading classic books. Name it as a classic and I fear that I would not be able to read/ complete it and do justice with the book. It has happened earlier.  “Midnight Children”, “One thousand years of Solitude”,  “Little Women”..I have started them all and my vain brain was not able to finish it. But “Of mice and Men” was different.  First of all it was a novella and not very serious on subject. So I successfully finished it. And John Steinback is a Nobel Laurete. His two other books also features in Classic books, and this book gave me hope that I can read them.

Come On Jeeves: A book of short adventured of Jeeves and Wooster.

The Little Prince: I have heard so much of this book. It is termed as children’s book but then you are never too old to read children’s books or to watch Disney animation movies. I loved “Frozen” so much. But let’s go back to this book. Just read the first page and you know you are in for a masterpiece.

My Man Jeeves: A book of short adventured of Jeeves and Wooster. I can never get bore of the Jeeves and Wooster series.

The Metamorphosis: My brother had gifted me short-stories collection of Franz Kafka to which I frowned as the font style of the book was not very reading-condusive and I have neer read Kafka earlier. But ultimately it was in pdf format that I read this book. The book tells the story of a man who overnight has been metamorphosed into a reptile and how he and his family deals with this metamorphosis. A compelling book and you wonder how would you have dealt with this had you been Karl or one of his family member. I was unsure of ending though.

The Museum of Innocence:  I started this book long time back. This had been my nightstand fixture for a long time. I finished few more books before finishing it. But ultimately, one day I decided enough is enough and I got to restart it. And it seemed I had never left the world of Kemal Bey and Fusun. It is the love-story of a rich man and poor girl with an age-difference of 12 years who fall in love then part ways and then meet almost everyday for 8 years in her home during the period of which the guy kept on picking up little things that are linked to Fusan and ultimately made a museum of all those articles. The story is told in the form of guy’s narrative and I get amazed of reading about his perseverance and obsession with the girl. The love story didn’t terminate in a happy ending but in the end Kemal Bay wanted the readers to know that he led a very happy life. One of the chapter is titled “Sometimes” and all the sentences of this 5-page long chapter started with the word “Sometimes”. I was so amazed to see this and liked it so much. This was my first Orhan Pamuk and the fattest book I had read till date and I am ready for more.

home dynamics

         Have you heard the songs of "Highway" yet? A R Rehman has created magic.Every-time I hear its songs playing on some music channel on TV, I decide to download its songs. I had asked ZZ to download its songs, but since the guy is busy downloading and watching season after season of "Breaking Bad", my wish went on deaf ears. So I have still not downloaded the songs. Currently I am listening them on saavn.com.

       Downloading a movie or song is not a big task. But inadverently instead of downloading something from internet myself or upgrading to latest version of software in mobile, I look for ZZ to do that for me.So this made me thinking about all the chores which I can do without any trouble but ask/plead/want/leave it to ZZ to do it for me and vice-versa.

        So while ZZ is involved with downloading and upgradation of phone and computer softwares, I am the one who is entrusted for logging broadband complaints, if any. It is he who takes garbage out of home and washing clothes and sorting/ folding after they are washed and dried is my duty. It is he who fills the fridge bottles every day and cooking/ making tea is my duty though at times when I am too lazy to cook we swap our duties. Here I have to admit that ZZ is far far beter at organizing than I am. His wardrobe is always better organized and in case it is not, then there are heavy chances it is because of the presence of my clothes thrown among his.

           Both ZZ and I have been brought up in the families where our fathers help women in kitchen and home in general. I wonder how does the dynamics work in your household. Any special tasks you leave it to your partner even though you can do it yourself?

Pondering

"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings." so said Jane Austen and how accurately it defines my today and maybe life.

65, 728, not 14

So while in the last post, I struggled for the title of the post, today I have this super title for this post.

65: Happy 65th Republic Day friends!! Even if I say this to the only reader *myself* who reads this blog. Today I sort of made a record by waking up so late in the morning. The morning began with watching the Republic Day parade on TV. Since childhood I wait for bated breath to see the tableaux of my home-state and other states. This time, when the tableux of Assam state appeared on screen, the atmosphere was mixed with the grave and mesmerizing voice of late Mr. Bhupen Hazarika. The beautiful profound song that was being played was this. I youtubed the song and thought of sharing the song in the blog as well:

728: The no. of pages of the fattest book I have read till date. I finally finished the epic "The Museum of Innocence" by Orhan Pamuk today. The book review is due but that is the post of another day.
   

not 14: I am a Rafa fan and was rooting for his 14th Grand Slam Title at today's Australian Open final. So was dissappointed with his injury and his loss but tomorrow is another day.

i wasted 15 minutes to think for a title of this 10-minte post

I had almost forgot to post for today and just now at 11:15pm I rushed out of my bed when thankfully it striked me that I have to post. Yaya to the Blogathon 2014 spirit.


Just a snippet of our conversation today evening while shopping:

Wife (showing her husband one dress *kurti* to be specific): Look, I am getting this dress for 40%!!!!!

Husband (nonchalently): uhh, ok.

Wife (showing off her tact in looking for good deals) : See, we went to Biba but they didnt have this on sale. Then in Shoppers Stop, they had this same kurta for 10% discount only. Online I was not getting my size. Pantaloons always have better discounts than others. (Husband and wife had roamed to these stores prior to coming at Pantaloons store)

Husband (with a straight face and sarcasm dripping with every word spoken): You have missed to check the prices in Lifestyle store. May be now you should  check there.

Wife:




Image courtesy: Google images

Today..

• Today morning I read an article in newspaper on how bad posture can lead to neck and back problems in future and how Yoga is an easy way to attain good posture. I resolved to do it from today onwards. more than 12 hours have passed, I have eaten my dinner and watching a movie and plans to go to sleep soon after that and I realize hat my resolution for yoga today has gone kaput. A resolution that didnt stay for one day. Shame!!! And this remind me that doing physical exercise and yoga everyday was my New Year 2014 resolution and that too didn't stay even a day. Double shame!!! I blame the cold weather for this. When the weather improves, I will surely stick to it. And the point is even while writing it, I know that this is not going to happen soon.
• Rafael Nadal won his semifinal against Roger Federer. Yippie!!  
• For the first time, I watched any video from my office-seat Yes few glimpses of the aforementioned match.
• Something I was looking forward to got cancelled. And strangely, I am not reacting over it as I thought I would. Yes, I am getting there..The Zen stage. lol.
• I made creamy pasta for dinner.
• The Sale season is going to end soon. I have plans to raid malls this weekend.

           Oh there are people who can write pages after pages even on topic like "What to write?". I distinctly remember, in Hindi language there is a classic essay on "Kya Likhu?" which used to be in our syllabi. Which class? I dont remember. But I am just a mortal. When I wonder about what to write (for today's post ofcourse), I am not able to wax eloquently like them. I just jot down the happenings of my day in bullet-points. 

Observations on Shopping expedition

With this “Sale” season going on, my mind knows what to think about. I love Sales. It is just that I don’t exploit it to my benefit as much as I want. So while I can share my shopping woes some other day, let me share some of the moments which I have experienced during mall-hopping.

Light-bulb moment:  There are a lot of young parents who carry their oh-so-young kids in strollers all around the malls. Even at crazy places like Big Bazaar stores. Earlier I used to judge them and  wonder why do these guys bring such young babies to these places where there is so rush and noise. The babies lie flat on their strollers and there can be chances if something drops over them or somebody collides with the stroller, or so I used to thought. But then on my another excursion through mall on seeing those parents and kids, the light-bulb in my mind lighted and I realize they bring their babies for shopping etc with them because they had to as they might not have support at home to look after their kid. And with this wisdom I realize how difficult is parenting. Who knows someday I myself would be the one carrying my baby in stroller roaming around malls.

Oops moment:  This kind of incidents have happened with a lot. I would loiter around the collections of different brands and find something good in one of the racks. Unable to find my size, I would look around to find the sales representative. I would go to the sort-of uniformed guy in black sweater to ask him if x size is available for that particular item. That guy would try to ignore me. I push myself ahead to ask him again the same question. The guy would stare back at me and blankly say “I don’t know.” Then I would realize that this guy is not the sales guy but some random shopper like me. It is definitely embarrassing to both of us. And I resolve that next time before thinking anyone as sales guy, I will triple-check.Have something like this happened to you? You, the-random-reader-who-has-lost-his-path-in-blogosphere-and-still-reading-this-piece.

Eureka moment: You are browsing the stores when you find something which is in your to-buy list but which is not something you are here for to buy and that too at a good discount. The happy-dance in your heart moment. The Eureka moment. I experienced this moment when I found my shopping bag from Mango for less than Rs.1000/-.

WTF moment: When you go to buy jeans for yourself and in the trial room realizes that you are able to fit neither in the size that you normally wear nor in jeans one-size bigger. *true story*

Sigh-of-relief moment: You can fight the parking woes during sale time, even rush ahead to snatch your likes (in your size) from the racks but oh how the patience is tested when one have to wait for long in the queue  in front of trial rooms. The trial rooms where there are women who after every trail came out of the store and go all the way to the entrance of the trial section to get the opinion of their husbands, friends, mothers. So the sigh-of-relief moment comes when you get the trial room empty and don’t have to waste your time standing in queue or you finally get thfruit of your patience and at last got the trial room.

Upset moment:  When you plan to expand your wardrobe and  do a lot of shopping and collect hordes of clothes for trial but came out with none, if lucky one, piece that actually fits/ suits you.

Happy Moment: When you plan to expand your wardrobe and  do a lot of shopping and collect hordes of clothes for trial and amazingly you have selected the best that fits/suits you.

Right now, "Notting Hill" is coming on "Z Studio".Love this movie..

Image Courtesy: Google images

Love quotes

     The month of February is approaching and the shops have started displaying the Valentine Theme promptly all-over. So let me jump on the bandwagon and share some of my favourite love-quotes from movies:

1) "Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivalgates at the Heathrow Airport. General opinion starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I dont see that. It seems to me that Love is everywhere.Often it is not particularly dignified and newsworthy, but it is always there-fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, old friends. When the plane hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls were messages of hateor revenge- they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I have got a sneaky feeling that love actually is all around."
                                                                                                                                         -Love Actually

2) "The fame thing is not really real you know. And don't forget I 'm also just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."
                                                                                                                                          -Notting Hill

3) "It is good to have a beautiful mind, but an even greater gift is to have a beautiful heart."
                                                                                                                                 -A Beautiful Mind

4) "I have always believed in numbers and the equations and logics that lead to reason. And after a life-time of such pursuits, I ask whattruely is logic? Who decides reason? My question has taken me through the physical to the metaphysical, the delusional and back. And I have the most important discovery of my career, of my life. It is only in the mysterious equations of lovethat all logical reasons can be found."
                                                                                                                                   -A Beautiful Mind
5) "When You Realize You Want To Spend The Rest Of Your Life With Somebody, You Want The Rest Of Your Life To Start As Soon As Possible"
                                                                                                                     - "When Harry Met Sally"