January 1, the beginning of a year.
Yes, it's the first day of the Gregorian Calendar and we would've seen 365.25 days by the end of the cycle. Does any of that give us a reason to celebrate? Let's take a stroll around the world and see what's called as the first day of the year in all the different places that exist. Well, lets look at a few, if not all. The Earth's an awfully big place.
We can start with the obvious: India. What's common with the words Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Baisakhi, and few others I haven't heard of? They are all days the beginning of the spring season, a New Year is ushered in.
The Chinese New Year? Anytime between mid-January and mid-February. Also called the Spring Festival.
The Jewish celebrate their New Year 163 days after 'Rosh Hashanah', which was between September 8-10 this year.
The Irish celebrated their New Year at the end of the summer and called it Samhian which marked the end of summer.
Some civilizations opted to celebrate their New Year at the beginning of spring as that marked the start of seeding time. And that's quite logical since most of life revolved around agriculture. And then some associated it with other traditions that I will leave out from the blog to stop it from being a full fledged history class.
Of course, most of the population in today's world is so far removed from agriculture, that it's impossible to associate any day as the beginning of a planting and seeding season or a harvesting season.
Traditions ask that we call the first day of spring as New Year. That might make some sense in today's world. It's around the same time most working people get their raises, isn't it? And not everyone celebrates their raises. :)
That doesn't mean I wont wish people on that day. I will. Because the Gregorian calendar was formulated after some pretty serious astronomical observation and mathematical genius and there is, hidden in all of the +,-,*,/ and other mathematical calculations I have forgotten, logic in calling January 1 the first day of the year.
But, honestly, how many of us really know why there are 365.25 days in a year and why the year has to begin on Januaray1. And of what use is a 'New Year' day if it depicts nothing to us? For all my life, nothing spectacular has happened on January 1 of any year. It's just another day. Nothing more, nothing less. Does something change in our lives, no. Do we file our taxes on that day, no. Do we spend the day/night eating, drinking and making merry for no apparent reason, yes.
Tell me, if it is, why is January 1 so special to you?
This year for me, it a long holiday weekend for my husband, which makes our 'New Year weekend' great! Cheers to the 3 day food extravaganza...! And that would apply to a lot of other long weekends this year.
Anyway, putting aside all speculations, here's wishing you a very Happy New Year. Have a great time with your family and friends. My best wishes to your health, work, and life. :)
Let this be a new start to all of our old habits! :))
Friday, 31 December 2010
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
The cake that takes the cake! Thanks, mum!
Right. One of my posts explained my undying love for the all important Christmas Cake, Plum cake, whatever you wish to call it. I call it the King of Cakes. You see, when you put aromatic spices, a variety of dried fruits and nuts, rum and wine, all together, I don't see how to result can be anything short of spectacular.
So, in preparation for the annual tradition of plum cake baking, I made a trial loaf of the cake today. The verdict, YUM! And I will take only 10% of the credit for it. Simply because I moved my limbs to mix the ingredients. The true star, the person who deserves almost all the credit for this cake is my mum. Firstly, for engraving the memory of this cake indelibly into my mind. Secondly, for coming up with a recipe as great as this.
This one I will put on a pedestal and stare at, while eating it, until there's none of it left. :) A picture, that unfortunately falls short in conveying how delicious this cake is. To truly appreciate it, you must savor it.
Thank you mom for this.... Really....!
So, in preparation for the annual tradition of plum cake baking, I made a trial loaf of the cake today. The verdict, YUM! And I will take only 10% of the credit for it. Simply because I moved my limbs to mix the ingredients. The true star, the person who deserves almost all the credit for this cake is my mum. Firstly, for engraving the memory of this cake indelibly into my mind. Secondly, for coming up with a recipe as great as this.
This one I will put on a pedestal and stare at, while eating it, until there's none of it left. :) A picture, that unfortunately falls short in conveying how delicious this cake is. To truly appreciate it, you must savor it.
Thank you mom for this.... Really....!
Friday, 29 October 2010
Thank God for Eggs....!
I'm madly in love with eggs. They are, according to me, the most complete and versatile food that nature can provide. Complete because of their nutrient factor and versatile because... Well, begin to make a list of what can be made with eggs in it and the list would be long. Really long.
There's something beautiful about the runny jelly white and the golden silkiness of the yolk that beckons you to them. I can't think of a kitchen without eggs. From runny yolks that drool out of a white curtain of albumen when poached to stiff snowy peaks that make a cake batter as light as clouds. I could go on and on... But the reason I speak so highly of eggs is due to an entire pan of chiffon cake that is filling my entire home with the aroma of vanilla while rising to a dreamy fluffy texture that, when eaten, lasts for a mere second in your mouth. Folding in all that frothy egg white was the most therapeutic work I've ever done. The custard-y mix of batter was transformed into the most smooth and silky batter. Dotted with tiny dots of vanilla bean, it looked so pristine.
An entire pan of it sits cooling off in my kitchen begging me to douse them in pineapple syrup and load them with light whipped cream, to help me culminate a long hoarded dream. That of a decadent, melt-in-the-mouth pineapple pastry. Wish me luck!
There's something beautiful about the runny jelly white and the golden silkiness of the yolk that beckons you to them. I can't think of a kitchen without eggs. From runny yolks that drool out of a white curtain of albumen when poached to stiff snowy peaks that make a cake batter as light as clouds. I could go on and on... But the reason I speak so highly of eggs is due to an entire pan of chiffon cake that is filling my entire home with the aroma of vanilla while rising to a dreamy fluffy texture that, when eaten, lasts for a mere second in your mouth. Folding in all that frothy egg white was the most therapeutic work I've ever done. The custard-y mix of batter was transformed into the most smooth and silky batter. Dotted with tiny dots of vanilla bean, it looked so pristine.
An entire pan of it sits cooling off in my kitchen begging me to douse them in pineapple syrup and load them with light whipped cream, to help me culminate a long hoarded dream. That of a decadent, melt-in-the-mouth pineapple pastry. Wish me luck!
Friday, 8 October 2010
It's all about food now...
I find that the best way to spend time is by cooking. Having all this time is a huge advantage when you wanna try something new. And I honestly do not have anything else to write about presently other than what I have managed to make in the kitchen of late. So, it's just what i'm blogging about.
The star of all the latest kitchen successes is a simple and easy thing. But, had a pretty devastating, good-devastating, effect when we ate them. Presenting a mound of pillowy-fluffy-dreamy marshmallows.
Apart from having home-made super delicious marshmallows, it's being able to add flavors and colors that's so appealing. Nothing like what's home made. And oh so simple! If you wanna try these, you can get the recipe here. Alton Brown's a godsend just for this.
Another advantage of having all this time is to come up with spur of the moment ideas like making Sondesh and Ras Malai. Which is precisely what happened on a boring Tuesday. I'm so proud of these. Who knew it was so damn simple to make!
Amongst the recipes that a good cook should always having with her/him is one for a drool-guaranteed chocolate cake recipe. I went through 3 total disasters before i found one which was titled 'Best chocolate cake ever'. And aptly so. It's a mean cake... Dense, moist and melts in the mouth. This one's for keeps. And here's what it looks like. Before the ganache and after the ganache. Heaven!
For the record, my mom's the most exceptional cook i've ever seen. I think I get this food obsession from her. She has made innumerable dishes over the years. Some of which I wish she has a patent for. One of them is her recipe for a Christmas Plum cake, something we have turned into a tradition. It's made each year, either during christmas or new year's. It brings together things I love. Baking, cake, spices, liquor, and an intoxicating aroma that baking fills the home with. I could put this cake on a pedestal and look at it for hours. It's the ultimate gastronomic experience. Nothing comes close to this cake. Absolutely nothing. And I think I am ready to take on the challenge of perfecting this one. Soon... :)
Cooking's great fun. Even better when you have someone to share it with. It has almost reached a point of obsession for me. I HAVE to make something new, ever so often. And according to me, the best time of the year to cook is during winter. I have no idea how cold it's gonna get here, but as long as it's cold, I always crave a lot of food. It's good food times ahead! :)
The star of all the latest kitchen successes is a simple and easy thing. But, had a pretty devastating, good-devastating, effect when we ate them. Presenting a mound of pillowy-fluffy-dreamy marshmallows.
Apart from having home-made super delicious marshmallows, it's being able to add flavors and colors that's so appealing. Nothing like what's home made. And oh so simple! If you wanna try these, you can get the recipe here. Alton Brown's a godsend just for this.
Another advantage of having all this time is to come up with spur of the moment ideas like making Sondesh and Ras Malai. Which is precisely what happened on a boring Tuesday. I'm so proud of these. Who knew it was so damn simple to make!
Amongst the recipes that a good cook should always having with her/him is one for a drool-guaranteed chocolate cake recipe. I went through 3 total disasters before i found one which was titled 'Best chocolate cake ever'. And aptly so. It's a mean cake... Dense, moist and melts in the mouth. This one's for keeps. And here's what it looks like. Before the ganache and after the ganache. Heaven!
For the record, my mom's the most exceptional cook i've ever seen. I think I get this food obsession from her. She has made innumerable dishes over the years. Some of which I wish she has a patent for. One of them is her recipe for a Christmas Plum cake, something we have turned into a tradition. It's made each year, either during christmas or new year's. It brings together things I love. Baking, cake, spices, liquor, and an intoxicating aroma that baking fills the home with. I could put this cake on a pedestal and look at it for hours. It's the ultimate gastronomic experience. Nothing comes close to this cake. Absolutely nothing. And I think I am ready to take on the challenge of perfecting this one. Soon... :)
Cooking's great fun. Even better when you have someone to share it with. It has almost reached a point of obsession for me. I HAVE to make something new, ever so often. And according to me, the best time of the year to cook is during winter. I have no idea how cold it's gonna get here, but as long as it's cold, I always crave a lot of food. It's good food times ahead! :)
Monday, 23 August 2010
Credit Card Webs
For all the time I was working in Bangalore, I always wondered why people who earned a decent sum of money would want to live a life on credit? And who ever came up with the concept of awarding a point for every 100Rs spent is an absolute genius. Because it's so damn easy to lure people into taking loans when they can afford not to by simply telling them that they'd be rewarded for it. No matter how small and stupid the reward is. I actually thank myself for not buying a credit card. It's that one decision that helped me save a lot. And use that money on things that actually gave me value.
Consuming is good. But it's sad that it has reached such voyeuristic proportions that people can almost not live without it. I know of a person who spent 4000Rs on a pair of trousers which he said he had not worn more than once. What's this insane temporary joy we thrive on? How genius is it that someone devised a method to make people spend and be happy about it because the expense isn't immediately reflected in their bank account. If i'd use a debit card or cash to buy something worth 1000bucks, i'd see a dip in my savings the moment I spend it. And that's pretty darn effective in making me not buy things I could very well do without. However, if one were to buy the same object and still not see a dip in the savings, and be ok with it, I know that the person's seeing a mirage.
Consider stuff like Shopper's Stop membership cards, where they are so eager to award 1 point to me every time I spend 100Rs. And after I accumulate 100 points, I can buy something valued at 100Rs. Now, there's nothing that costs 100Rs at shopper's stop that I fancy, right. So, I wait until i've accumulated 500Rs and then buy something 'worth' 500Rs and show it off with glee. All this without fully realising that i'd have spent 500x100Rs. Now, i'm happy that I wasn't ME. It was some poor soul caught in an unforgiving web of consumerism.
And it's now that i see that my aversion to credit cards holds good. The United States lives on credit cards. And how i hate that! Swipe and buy; pay later. Why would that make me happy? I cannot, for the life of me, understand that. What would make me happy is knowing that i am capable of spending from what i have saved. It gives me a sense of accomplishment in knowing that i can afford buying something. But no, that's not how it works. Buy first, borrowing when there's no necessity, slowly build a huge bill, and then realize you are in debt. Even if the debt is $1000, I'd still hate it because i know i can afford to pay that much without the damn loan.
And the irony is that we can't do away with these damn credit cards because that's how we're gonna buy anything that has any value later on. Want a house? Show me your credit score. Want a car? Show me your credit score... You see, we're driven it to a point where we must take loans to be given some loan sometime in the future. So I have to, HAVE TO, use a credit card.
We are required to prove that we have a history of clearing loans to be able to take a bigger loan. While that might make sense from some twisted angle, it's still funny. In the simple world, trusting someone who has taken a lot of loans is a no-no.
The world would be a better place without credit cards. Do it the old fashioned way. Save and spend. Making things easier to buy has led us to downfall. Can someone please learn from it already?
Consuming is good. But it's sad that it has reached such voyeuristic proportions that people can almost not live without it. I know of a person who spent 4000Rs on a pair of trousers which he said he had not worn more than once. What's this insane temporary joy we thrive on? How genius is it that someone devised a method to make people spend and be happy about it because the expense isn't immediately reflected in their bank account. If i'd use a debit card or cash to buy something worth 1000bucks, i'd see a dip in my savings the moment I spend it. And that's pretty darn effective in making me not buy things I could very well do without. However, if one were to buy the same object and still not see a dip in the savings, and be ok with it, I know that the person's seeing a mirage.
Consider stuff like Shopper's Stop membership cards, where they are so eager to award 1 point to me every time I spend 100Rs. And after I accumulate 100 points, I can buy something valued at 100Rs. Now, there's nothing that costs 100Rs at shopper's stop that I fancy, right. So, I wait until i've accumulated 500Rs and then buy something 'worth' 500Rs and show it off with glee. All this without fully realising that i'd have spent 500x100Rs. Now, i'm happy that I wasn't ME. It was some poor soul caught in an unforgiving web of consumerism.
And it's now that i see that my aversion to credit cards holds good. The United States lives on credit cards. And how i hate that! Swipe and buy; pay later. Why would that make me happy? I cannot, for the life of me, understand that. What would make me happy is knowing that i am capable of spending from what i have saved. It gives me a sense of accomplishment in knowing that i can afford buying something. But no, that's not how it works. Buy first, borrowing when there's no necessity, slowly build a huge bill, and then realize you are in debt. Even if the debt is $1000, I'd still hate it because i know i can afford to pay that much without the damn loan.
And the irony is that we can't do away with these damn credit cards because that's how we're gonna buy anything that has any value later on. Want a house? Show me your credit score. Want a car? Show me your credit score... You see, we're driven it to a point where we must take loans to be given some loan sometime in the future. So I have to, HAVE TO, use a credit card.
We are required to prove that we have a history of clearing loans to be able to take a bigger loan. While that might make sense from some twisted angle, it's still funny. In the simple world, trusting someone who has taken a lot of loans is a no-no.
The world would be a better place without credit cards. Do it the old fashioned way. Save and spend. Making things easier to buy has led us to downfall. Can someone please learn from it already?
Thursday, 5 August 2010
The revised ballot....
We're are a couple of centimeters away from becoming the laughing stock of the world. With the way the Commonwealth Games are being (dis)organized, it makes me wonder if it can get any worse. But i'm sure they'll outdo themselves, which is sad.
How in the world can one toilet paper roll cost Rs 3700? What kind of a treadmill's offered on hire for one and a half month at the price of 10lakh? As you begin to read the list of prices for these things it makes you laugh and frown at the same time. Buildings on the verge of a collapse, grounds with stagnant water, ceilings of asbestos, these are the conditions that the CWG committee has decided to provide world-class athletes. 87 trips across the world, even to countries that aren't commonwealth countries, make you see that the games were used as a means to spoil themselves with uninhibited luxury. At the cost of the nation's pride, they have far surpassed all possible notions we had about corruption. Such open misuse of the tax payer's money, such hoarding of cash has never been seen before.
Think of the number of athletes who have trained day-in and day-out for the last few years, hopeful of their next Commonwealth victory. It's unfortunate for them that Kalmadi and Co. were given responsibility to build adequate infrastructre for the games. If only they knew how incapable these people are. Now the country has to somehow, come hell of high water, build this entire thing. In 2 months!
So here's an interesting option to the ballot. Apart from the list of people we add, we must also add another option which says 'none of the above'. Quite obviously no one does anything about preventing these people trying to become leaders, we can at least do something about rejecting them all, can we not?
But to do that, imagine the 'chakravyuha' of corruption we need to get through. Daunting, so we give up. :) Unless we wanna take up the challenge and put our life, our family's life in danger. The only downside is that after these buffoons spend crores on campaigning, it'll allow some more buffoons to campagin with some more crores; thereby making space for expenditure of more corrupt money. And then these rejected candidates would reveal their true 'thug-spirit' and wreak havoc on all those who vote for 'none of the above'.
Can never escape it, can we? We now resign ourselves into folding our arms across our chest, sighing, shaking our heads in despair and sit down to discuss it over dinner.
Ending this blog with citing the most obnoxious statement made by the senile 80 year old Union Minister for Sports and YOUTH (lol) affairs, Mr. M. S. Gill, who said in the Parliament while discussing about the CWG fiasco, "Rab sab kuch sambhaal lega".
ROTFL.....! Even God wouldn't wanna get into this insane mess, Mr. Gill.....!
How in the world can one toilet paper roll cost Rs 3700? What kind of a treadmill's offered on hire for one and a half month at the price of 10lakh? As you begin to read the list of prices for these things it makes you laugh and frown at the same time. Buildings on the verge of a collapse, grounds with stagnant water, ceilings of asbestos, these are the conditions that the CWG committee has decided to provide world-class athletes. 87 trips across the world, even to countries that aren't commonwealth countries, make you see that the games were used as a means to spoil themselves with uninhibited luxury. At the cost of the nation's pride, they have far surpassed all possible notions we had about corruption. Such open misuse of the tax payer's money, such hoarding of cash has never been seen before.
Think of the number of athletes who have trained day-in and day-out for the last few years, hopeful of their next Commonwealth victory. It's unfortunate for them that Kalmadi and Co. were given responsibility to build adequate infrastructre for the games. If only they knew how incapable these people are. Now the country has to somehow, come hell of high water, build this entire thing. In 2 months!
So here's an interesting option to the ballot. Apart from the list of people we add, we must also add another option which says 'none of the above'. Quite obviously no one does anything about preventing these people trying to become leaders, we can at least do something about rejecting them all, can we not?
But to do that, imagine the 'chakravyuha' of corruption we need to get through. Daunting, so we give up. :) Unless we wanna take up the challenge and put our life, our family's life in danger. The only downside is that after these buffoons spend crores on campaigning, it'll allow some more buffoons to campagin with some more crores; thereby making space for expenditure of more corrupt money. And then these rejected candidates would reveal their true 'thug-spirit' and wreak havoc on all those who vote for 'none of the above'.
Can never escape it, can we? We now resign ourselves into folding our arms across our chest, sighing, shaking our heads in despair and sit down to discuss it over dinner.
Ending this blog with citing the most obnoxious statement made by the senile 80 year old Union Minister for Sports and YOUTH (lol) affairs, Mr. M. S. Gill, who said in the Parliament while discussing about the CWG fiasco, "Rab sab kuch sambhaal lega".
ROTFL.....! Even God wouldn't wanna get into this insane mess, Mr. Gill.....!
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
It has already gaan to the daags....!
I wouldn't say that sitting here, close to 8000 miles from home, it's justified to comment on the latest happenings of the city or state. However, the miracle of the internet gives us such interesting news bits to feed on that it's almost impossible to resist having a strong opinion on things....
Especially when we have our carefully selected and appointed ministers of state and their compatriots in the opposition indulging in atrocities so atrocious, that all that comes out of the readers' mind is an inaudible guffaw. Like their recent drama of luncheons and siesta in the assembly, all done to try and 'ably' oppose the illegal mining in Bellary. Iron ore illegally being mined by people who funded the propelled the current CM to victory. By doing so, they not only assured that they could carry on with more vigour than ever their despicable illegal activities, but also gained immunity from legal action as long as... well, for eternity. Coz once Yeddy steps down, there is no dearth of other buffoons we would readily elect as the next CM.
And it is quite obvious that the opposition has opposed in such an 'honourable' manner out of sheer jealousy. Given a chance, they would turn a blind eye to all the illegal mining if they were the ruling party since it would obviously provide to them a seriously brilliant way of making enough money for 10 subsequent generations to live life king-size. Either ways, it isn't going to provide any respite for the locals of Bellary who will assuredly develop serious respiratory problems due to the enormous amounts of iron ore they are inhaling.
You know how we used to hear the elders earlier say, "The country is going to the daags**...". I think the time has come to not use a past tense in that statement any more. The country has already gone to the daags... No, really. There's photographic evidence, as can be seen and read on the following link... And while you're there, do click in the 'slideshow' link on the bottom right corner of the picture.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/feast-and-feud-inside-ktaka-assembly/126622-37.html?from=prestory
My first reaction to this was "Whaaaaaaaaaat.........?! Are you serious??" It's especially funny when the opposition leader is said to have denied eating inside the Assembly. The mutton biryani, which probably came from the Taj or some place like that was eaten in the lobby man! And where do you expect them to cool their empty heads off? On the lawn? Have a heart....! It's only justified that they sleep on the Assembly floor!
It's all such a bloody mess, isn't it... The kinda world we'll inroduce our kids to. We will teach lessons of honesty and then turn on the tv to hear of a stupid money scam that people will always, unfailingly invest in despite having heard of a million and more of such scams. We will teach lessons of integrity to children and then read about corruption. We will teach discipline and then show people breaking traffic signals and causing traffic mayhem. It's a life of contradictions....
** The word 'daags' was used instead of the word dogs to not offend the canine species. It's just unfair that we always use their name while talking of politicians. Save their grace people... The dogs' that is...
Especially when we have our carefully selected and appointed ministers of state and their compatriots in the opposition indulging in atrocities so atrocious, that all that comes out of the readers' mind is an inaudible guffaw. Like their recent drama of luncheons and siesta in the assembly, all done to try and 'ably' oppose the illegal mining in Bellary. Iron ore illegally being mined by people who funded the propelled the current CM to victory. By doing so, they not only assured that they could carry on with more vigour than ever their despicable illegal activities, but also gained immunity from legal action as long as... well, for eternity. Coz once Yeddy steps down, there is no dearth of other buffoons we would readily elect as the next CM.
And it is quite obvious that the opposition has opposed in such an 'honourable' manner out of sheer jealousy. Given a chance, they would turn a blind eye to all the illegal mining if they were the ruling party since it would obviously provide to them a seriously brilliant way of making enough money for 10 subsequent generations to live life king-size. Either ways, it isn't going to provide any respite for the locals of Bellary who will assuredly develop serious respiratory problems due to the enormous amounts of iron ore they are inhaling.
You know how we used to hear the elders earlier say, "The country is going to the daags**...". I think the time has come to not use a past tense in that statement any more. The country has already gone to the daags... No, really. There's photographic evidence, as can be seen and read on the following link... And while you're there, do click in the 'slideshow' link on the bottom right corner of the picture.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/feast-and-feud-inside-ktaka-assembly/126622-37.html?from=prestory
My first reaction to this was "Whaaaaaaaaaat.........?! Are you serious??" It's especially funny when the opposition leader is said to have denied eating inside the Assembly. The mutton biryani, which probably came from the Taj or some place like that was eaten in the lobby man! And where do you expect them to cool their empty heads off? On the lawn? Have a heart....! It's only justified that they sleep on the Assembly floor!
It's all such a bloody mess, isn't it... The kinda world we'll inroduce our kids to. We will teach lessons of honesty and then turn on the tv to hear of a stupid money scam that people will always, unfailingly invest in despite having heard of a million and more of such scams. We will teach lessons of integrity to children and then read about corruption. We will teach discipline and then show people breaking traffic signals and causing traffic mayhem. It's a life of contradictions....
** The word 'daags' was used instead of the word dogs to not offend the canine species. It's just unfair that we always use their name while talking of politicians. Save their grace people... The dogs' that is...
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
How does high fashion make a movie?
45 minutes into the movie, Sex and the City 2, i realised that this stupid movie does not have a story at all! The remaining 1.5 hours were spent in looking at the watch to see if it's near 'the end' or cursing the director, producer, actors, everyone that had anything to do with this piece of nonsense.
It's a movie about 4 women, confused, who wind up in abu dhabi and the seemingly difficult puzzles of their lives are solved by appearances of ex-boyfriends, hot men and confessions in drunken stupor. And none of this could have happened in New York. They HAD to go to abu dhabi for it. And exactly who the hell wears Dior couture gowns and high heeled Jimmy Choos to a flea market?! WHO?
I so needed to vent this out somewhere....! I have never ever in my life, before this horrendous experience, considered walking out of the theater just 1 hour into the movie. I just stayed hoping that some story would appear from somewhere. How do people watch this? Even as a television series? It's neither funny nor engaging... It's just fashion. Ultimately it's an excuse to parade around in the latest collection of different designer labels... That's what it takes to make a hit tv show. :P
It's a movie about 4 women, confused, who wind up in abu dhabi and the seemingly difficult puzzles of their lives are solved by appearances of ex-boyfriends, hot men and confessions in drunken stupor. And none of this could have happened in New York. They HAD to go to abu dhabi for it. And exactly who the hell wears Dior couture gowns and high heeled Jimmy Choos to a flea market?! WHO?
I so needed to vent this out somewhere....! I have never ever in my life, before this horrendous experience, considered walking out of the theater just 1 hour into the movie. I just stayed hoping that some story would appear from somewhere. How do people watch this? Even as a television series? It's neither funny nor engaging... It's just fashion. Ultimately it's an excuse to parade around in the latest collection of different designer labels... That's what it takes to make a hit tv show. :P
Saturday, 5 June 2010
The joy of baking.....
Measure, mix, knead, rest, chill, knead, knead, knead, rest, roll, cut and bake.... There's something so therapeutic about it... Watching dough rise... The warmth from the oven.... and the sweet smell of baked dough...
It's no wonder people have pursued this art from ages. It's addictive, and makes you feel like you've accomplished something of some importance.... I'm sure anyone who bakes anything and removes it from the oven always taken a step back to admire it. :)
What have i been upto lately? Baking. Just that. And wouldn't it be lovely to use this blog post to show off a bit? :D
Courtesy the juicy, sweet-sour, deep red cherries available everywhere now - Cherry Pie!
Khara(Spicy) Biscuits... Quintessential Iyengar Bakey stuff... Was such a joy eating them. Brought back tons of memories...
And finally, much to my mom's disbelief and sheer happiness that followed... Croissants....! :) They still need a little more 'tweaking' in terms of appearance, but i'll get there.... for now, yay! croissants! :)
Aaahhh.... Now that i've done the showing off, i'm gonna sign off, relax and dream of all the things i plan to bake in the near future.... :))
It's no wonder people have pursued this art from ages. It's addictive, and makes you feel like you've accomplished something of some importance.... I'm sure anyone who bakes anything and removes it from the oven always taken a step back to admire it. :)
What have i been upto lately? Baking. Just that. And wouldn't it be lovely to use this blog post to show off a bit? :D
Courtesy the juicy, sweet-sour, deep red cherries available everywhere now - Cherry Pie!
Khara(Spicy) Biscuits... Quintessential Iyengar Bakey stuff... Was such a joy eating them. Brought back tons of memories...
And finally, much to my mom's disbelief and sheer happiness that followed... Croissants....! :) They still need a little more 'tweaking' in terms of appearance, but i'll get there.... for now, yay! croissants! :)
Aaahhh.... Now that i've done the showing off, i'm gonna sign off, relax and dream of all the things i plan to bake in the near future.... :))
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
The cricket obsession
Cricket. Wonder why people in the country are so crazy about it. So crazy that the cricket players are treated like demi-gods. It takes so much attention that pretty much every other sport fades into oblivion.
And it's not like the cricket team has done wonders in the last 27 years, since they won the World Cup that is, for us to treat them that way. Minor wins here and there, mostly matches that have only saved their faces, are literally remembered by people better than the subjects they studied back in school or college. And it's the entire country that does that. Almost every single indian boy wants to be a cricketer and all like Sachin. And i bet not many even know that other sports exist. It's not like i'm an avid sports follower. I don't follow sports with vigor, but i do enjoy watching them. Some times.
The only time i remember being fascinated by cricket is in the first T20 world cup, especially the finals between India and Pakistan. That day every single person in the country would have left early for home. But what wonders have they accomplished to even get 1/10th of the adulation they are given? Their attitude towards the sport is downright nonsensical sometimes. They bat and bowl well only if they're in a good mood or if it happens to be an especially lucky day. And there have been those rare occasions, very rare occasions, where they actually fight till the end but still end up losing, and we say "at least they tried".
Many sportsmen and women have accrued laurels worthy of a nation's admiration, but are received with such less enthusiasm that it's a surprise that they have not stopped playing. Hockey, chess, billiards, football, shooting... the list is endless. But at the end of it all, what does everyone remember? CRICKET.
So what if Vishwanathan Anand won the World Chess Championship after a 40 hour car journey to Sofia due to flight inavailabily on account of volcanic ashes? We don't care. All we're worried about is the Indian cricket team bad performance in the World T20 championship. Who cares if any other team or sports person of any other games wins or loses? We're still worried about the poor cricketers, who are so fatigued from making shit-loads of moolah off the highly corrupt IPL system that they can't play against other countries in a world championship.
Even news websites have a 2 sports sections. One for cricket. And the other for all other sports. I think that goes to explain how biased we are towards a bunch of pot bellied nonathletic 'sportsmen' who smack 4s and 6s only if they have had a good party or a good meal of butter chicken or something like that.
God help you cricket fanatics. Please go find another sport to follow. Coz the Indian cricket team really wont do well unless a miracle takes place and you will also find that people in other sports actually do win games and tournaments! Go figure! :)
And it's not like the cricket team has done wonders in the last 27 years, since they won the World Cup that is, for us to treat them that way. Minor wins here and there, mostly matches that have only saved their faces, are literally remembered by people better than the subjects they studied back in school or college. And it's the entire country that does that. Almost every single indian boy wants to be a cricketer and all like Sachin. And i bet not many even know that other sports exist. It's not like i'm an avid sports follower. I don't follow sports with vigor, but i do enjoy watching them. Some times.
The only time i remember being fascinated by cricket is in the first T20 world cup, especially the finals between India and Pakistan. That day every single person in the country would have left early for home. But what wonders have they accomplished to even get 1/10th of the adulation they are given? Their attitude towards the sport is downright nonsensical sometimes. They bat and bowl well only if they're in a good mood or if it happens to be an especially lucky day. And there have been those rare occasions, very rare occasions, where they actually fight till the end but still end up losing, and we say "at least they tried".
Many sportsmen and women have accrued laurels worthy of a nation's admiration, but are received with such less enthusiasm that it's a surprise that they have not stopped playing. Hockey, chess, billiards, football, shooting... the list is endless. But at the end of it all, what does everyone remember? CRICKET.
So what if Vishwanathan Anand won the World Chess Championship after a 40 hour car journey to Sofia due to flight inavailabily on account of volcanic ashes? We don't care. All we're worried about is the Indian cricket team bad performance in the World T20 championship. Who cares if any other team or sports person of any other games wins or loses? We're still worried about the poor cricketers, who are so fatigued from making shit-loads of moolah off the highly corrupt IPL system that they can't play against other countries in a world championship.
Even news websites have a 2 sports sections. One for cricket. And the other for all other sports. I think that goes to explain how biased we are towards a bunch of pot bellied nonathletic 'sportsmen' who smack 4s and 6s only if they have had a good party or a good meal of butter chicken or something like that.
God help you cricket fanatics. Please go find another sport to follow. Coz the Indian cricket team really wont do well unless a miracle takes place and you will also find that people in other sports actually do win games and tournaments! Go figure! :)
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Easiest chocolate mousse
Easily almost everyone's favourite dessert, and this is easily easy to make. 3 ingredients, 10 mins and the mousse is ready to be chilled. I wanted to share this because it's so easy to make and it's, mousse! Perfect to make if you need a quick to make dessert or have a chocolate craving because it's so quick. Oh also, this has no cream and that is a big blessing. You don't need gelatin or anything.
Here's what you'll need. This makes 1 cup of mousse. So if you want more, you can do the math. :)
-1 egg
- 2 teaspoon heaps of sugar
- 1/3 cup semi-sweetened cooking chocolate cut into small pieces
Here are 2 things i'd like to say before describing the preparation method.
1. Amount of sugar is variable. Each person would have his/her own preference of sweetness. Amount also depends on the type of cooking chocolate you'd use. Sweetened or unsweetened.
2. Amount of chocolate is also variable. You can begin with 1/3 cup but if you like it more chocolatey, go for it!
Separate the egg yolk from the white. Beat the egg white to stiff peaks and keep aside. Melt the chocolate. This can be done in the microwave. Just put the cut-up cooking chocolate in a cup and microwave it for 1 minute. Now whisk the egg yolk with the sugar and then add in the chocolate and mix. It may become a little stiff if the chocolate is still warm, that's because the warmth will cook the yolk very lightly but don't worry about that.
Now add the beaten egg white. Mix thoroughly and pour into cups or glasses and leave to set in the refrigerator, which would take an hour or so. Once the hour's up, pick the glass up, spoon the mousse out and enjoy! :)
And here's what it'd look like once it's chilled. Sorry about the steel spoon though... :P
Here's what you'll need. This makes 1 cup of mousse. So if you want more, you can do the math. :)
-1 egg
- 2 teaspoon heaps of sugar
- 1/3 cup semi-sweetened cooking chocolate cut into small pieces
Here are 2 things i'd like to say before describing the preparation method.
1. Amount of sugar is variable. Each person would have his/her own preference of sweetness. Amount also depends on the type of cooking chocolate you'd use. Sweetened or unsweetened.
2. Amount of chocolate is also variable. You can begin with 1/3 cup but if you like it more chocolatey, go for it!
Separate the egg yolk from the white. Beat the egg white to stiff peaks and keep aside. Melt the chocolate. This can be done in the microwave. Just put the cut-up cooking chocolate in a cup and microwave it for 1 minute. Now whisk the egg yolk with the sugar and then add in the chocolate and mix. It may become a little stiff if the chocolate is still warm, that's because the warmth will cook the yolk very lightly but don't worry about that.
Now add the beaten egg white. Mix thoroughly and pour into cups or glasses and leave to set in the refrigerator, which would take an hour or so. Once the hour's up, pick the glass up, spoon the mousse out and enjoy! :)
And here's what it'd look like once it's chilled. Sorry about the steel spoon though... :P
Monday, 26 April 2010
The thing about nursery rhymes....
Remember those nursery rhymes that we learned, eons ago? I remembered a few today and what struck me is that most nursery rhymes are negative and pretty destructive. Nursery rhymes are meant to be happy or to impart some sort of moral. Problem is, very few are. Most of the ones that we remember are probably the following:
1. Humpty Dumpty
2. Jack and Jill
3. Twinkle Twinkle little star
4. Baa baa black sheep
5. London bridge is falling down
6. Little miss muffet
7. Ringa Ringa roses
There are others which we would remember only if we read them again. Not stuff we can recall from memory. What's the problem with these, you ask? 5 out of 7 are sad.
Let's see... Humpty Dumpty was a shell which cracked when the poor guy fell off the wall, which could not be fixed.... Jack and Jill had a plan to get water from up the hill. Instead Jack broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after... London Bridge just FELL... Nothing would keep it up. Little miss muffet was scared away by a spider while she was peacefully eating her curd and whey. We all know, at least the girls do, how ringa ringa roses goes. All fall down at the end of it, literally. And 'ringa ringa'? Really?
Why would kids be taught these? Why can't only 'twinkle twinkle little star' or the baa baa black sheep be taught ? Makes no sense to me at least. No wonder many kids like cracking and breaking things, push other kids down or perhaps get scared by spiders. :P
And to see little kids bob their heads with sheer glee to sing a rhyme about a egg-with-legs that cracked and could not be fixed is well, just sadism. Don't you think? :)
1. Humpty Dumpty
2. Jack and Jill
3. Twinkle Twinkle little star
4. Baa baa black sheep
5. London bridge is falling down
6. Little miss muffet
7. Ringa Ringa roses
There are others which we would remember only if we read them again. Not stuff we can recall from memory. What's the problem with these, you ask? 5 out of 7 are sad.
Let's see... Humpty Dumpty was a shell which cracked when the poor guy fell off the wall, which could not be fixed.... Jack and Jill had a plan to get water from up the hill. Instead Jack broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after... London Bridge just FELL... Nothing would keep it up. Little miss muffet was scared away by a spider while she was peacefully eating her curd and whey. We all know, at least the girls do, how ringa ringa roses goes. All fall down at the end of it, literally. And 'ringa ringa'? Really?
Why would kids be taught these? Why can't only 'twinkle twinkle little star' or the baa baa black sheep be taught ? Makes no sense to me at least. No wonder many kids like cracking and breaking things, push other kids down or perhaps get scared by spiders. :P
And to see little kids bob their heads with sheer glee to sing a rhyme about a egg-with-legs that cracked and could not be fixed is well, just sadism. Don't you think? :)
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Funny thing about our marriages is....
....that no one's really around for the important stuff. No wait. There's a bigger point. No one really knows why things are done in a certain way. Seen race horses? Or the tanga ones? With those things, what ever they are, tied to the sides of the eyes to prevent them for looking around lest they change their course of movement. That's exactly the way we have been brought up. Or some people have.
It's all symbolism. That's it. Just a symbol of our culture. Nothing really happens if you don't do it.
Why does only rice have to be put onto another's head? Why does anything have to be put onto another's head? Why did i have to bear the heat with 2 garlands atop an already heavy silk saree? What would've happened if i had taken off those garlands? Would it have been the end of the world? What would have happened if i didn't put my right foot forward by instead put my left foot forward? What would have happened if i didn't wear the basinga, which left nice pink imprints on my forehead? What would've happened if i hadn't used the right hand to pour water? Would the Gods, whom we call the givers of our body and soul be offended by something they themselves created? What change did sitting to the right of Sandeep after the tied the thali make? What makes anyone think that i have never sat to the right of his side ever? Why do we play akki-aane, uppina-aane games still, especially when the purohit himself said it has no significance?
And that's just one-tenth of the number of questions in my head. My 'take-away' from the ceremony. I know i'm making it sound like a big drone. The ceremony had it's amazing fun filled moments which i will iterate later. But the other aspects somehow over-shone them.
-Rice is a staple in India. Hence the importance. But hey, don't we eat more pasta and bread nowadays? How about throwing that as well over the head? :P
-I don't believe anything has to be put onto anyone's head. I made my hair look like it was clawed upon by 3 birds.
-Garlands must be avoided. Especially in summers.
-Right hand or foot is what most people use. That's the only reason it's given importance. Which is pretty demeaning for left handed people. Which is why so many people have a stigma against it. It's just the human genes at play. No one has control. But no one has an understanding of it. Hence the need to meddle.
- I still have no clue about the basinga. In fact, no one did! :)
- I wonder if God would get offended if i put a flower onto the idol with my left hand. Such a contradiction. We credit God for our body and yet we decide what is right and wrong with it. Again. No understanding, hence the need to meddle.
- I sat to the left of Sandeep and had food yesterday. It went down pretty well with me, the food that is.
- Wearing thaali and toe-rings are just an indication of a married woman. Paraphernalia. I am not unmarried just because i take them off.
Such complications. Hardly any clarity about them. Cut the frills out people and enjoy! Purity of intentions is required. However, i dount if the couple getting married even knows what the rituals are 'intended' for. Such a shame.
It's all symbolism. That's it. Just a symbol of our culture. Nothing really happens if you don't do it.
Why does only rice have to be put onto another's head? Why does anything have to be put onto another's head? Why did i have to bear the heat with 2 garlands atop an already heavy silk saree? What would've happened if i had taken off those garlands? Would it have been the end of the world? What would have happened if i didn't put my right foot forward by instead put my left foot forward? What would have happened if i didn't wear the basinga, which left nice pink imprints on my forehead? What would've happened if i hadn't used the right hand to pour water? Would the Gods, whom we call the givers of our body and soul be offended by something they themselves created? What change did sitting to the right of Sandeep after the tied the thali make? What makes anyone think that i have never sat to the right of his side ever? Why do we play akki-aane, uppina-aane games still, especially when the purohit himself said it has no significance?
And that's just one-tenth of the number of questions in my head. My 'take-away' from the ceremony. I know i'm making it sound like a big drone. The ceremony had it's amazing fun filled moments which i will iterate later. But the other aspects somehow over-shone them.
-Rice is a staple in India. Hence the importance. But hey, don't we eat more pasta and bread nowadays? How about throwing that as well over the head? :P
-I don't believe anything has to be put onto anyone's head. I made my hair look like it was clawed upon by 3 birds.
-Garlands must be avoided. Especially in summers.
-Right hand or foot is what most people use. That's the only reason it's given importance. Which is pretty demeaning for left handed people. Which is why so many people have a stigma against it. It's just the human genes at play. No one has control. But no one has an understanding of it. Hence the need to meddle.
- I still have no clue about the basinga. In fact, no one did! :)
- I wonder if God would get offended if i put a flower onto the idol with my left hand. Such a contradiction. We credit God for our body and yet we decide what is right and wrong with it. Again. No understanding, hence the need to meddle.
- I sat to the left of Sandeep and had food yesterday. It went down pretty well with me, the food that is.
- Wearing thaali and toe-rings are just an indication of a married woman. Paraphernalia. I am not unmarried just because i take them off.
Such complications. Hardly any clarity about them. Cut the frills out people and enjoy! Purity of intentions is required. However, i dount if the couple getting married even knows what the rituals are 'intended' for. Such a shame.
The Great Indian Wedding... Speaking as an experienced soul
From the mallneeru, hoovelya, naandi, varapooje, reception, dhaare, sobalakki.... The rituals are mindboggling. And that's just a simple expression one can give to it. The innumerable small items, which are at the end only a representation of our culture are given so much importance with their sheer presence, that it makes you feel the marriage ceremony cannot proceed without it.
There is an apt kannada adage for this. "Mane katti nodu. Maduve maadi nodu". Which means that one must build a house and arrange for a marriage to truly understand what difficult tasks are. And boy is it true or what?
We are called the generation for 'instant gratification' not without reason. It's painful to go through it.
It's just much ado about nothing. That's the feeling i came back with post the wedding. It all boils down to the boy and the girl making promises of companionship to one another. And for this there are 25,749 rituals! Everyone's tired, and spent in energy.
Frankly speaking, and reflecting on a previous blog, Sandeep and I just performing an agni homa and taking oaths of togetherness would have sufficed. Both families went back with tons of exhaustion. The need for it was never there at all. I honestly feel the same as i did prior to the marriage ceremony. I was a companion to Sandeep then, i still am now and i will always be. The was the will of destiny. Having a ceremony did not make a difference to us. It only stressed us out.
Marriage ceremonies are a social obligation. I'm probably not as happy as i would've been if this had been a sweet simple affair. Point made, blog written. Moving on to the next one. :)
There is an apt kannada adage for this. "Mane katti nodu. Maduve maadi nodu". Which means that one must build a house and arrange for a marriage to truly understand what difficult tasks are. And boy is it true or what?
We are called the generation for 'instant gratification' not without reason. It's painful to go through it.
It's just much ado about nothing. That's the feeling i came back with post the wedding. It all boils down to the boy and the girl making promises of companionship to one another. And for this there are 25,749 rituals! Everyone's tired, and spent in energy.
Frankly speaking, and reflecting on a previous blog, Sandeep and I just performing an agni homa and taking oaths of togetherness would have sufficed. Both families went back with tons of exhaustion. The need for it was never there at all. I honestly feel the same as i did prior to the marriage ceremony. I was a companion to Sandeep then, i still am now and i will always be. The was the will of destiny. Having a ceremony did not make a difference to us. It only stressed us out.
Marriage ceremonies are a social obligation. I'm probably not as happy as i would've been if this had been a sweet simple affair. Point made, blog written. Moving on to the next one. :)
Saturday, 27 February 2010
Why our marriage ceremonies make no sense in today's world...
Here's a perfect example of how redundant most customs are in today's generation but are still followed with feverish stupor. I've been trying to understand all the rituals that will take place in our wedding. I do not know whether the others will have relevance or not but here are 2 which just make me laugh.
Ritual 1. Kashi Yatre: Now there are 2 variations to this story.
(a): The boy packs his bags and heads off to Kashi to pursue studies. And in olden times, pursuing studies meant treading the spiritual path and sacrificing worldly bonds. So his family persuades him to stay back and finds a suitable girl for him to marry. So the entire 'ritual', would include bringing the boy back and getting him prepared for the wedding.
(b): Now this is a funny one. The boy gets upset that his family is not getting him married and packs his bags and begins to leave. This is when the maternal uncle of the girl steps in, persuades him to not go and says that he will get him married to his niece.
I have a problem trying to effectively apply this to now. Neither is Sandeep packing his bags to pursue his studies nor is he upset that no one's getting him married. The love of my life is right now enduring a 24 hour flight journey, currently en route over the Atlantic to reach Bangalore for his wedding. To think that he'd come here only to pack his bags and leave for Kashi is so ridiculousy funny! And i don't think any guy would want to walk away from his own marriage.. Hehe... :)
Laughable, yes. Applicable, no. Endurable, yes. Relevant, no.
Ritual 2. Jeerge-Dhaare : This one says that the first time the boy and girl see each other's face is when the antara parde held up by the purohits is let down. At this time, the fistful of jeerge-akki that the couple hold in their hands must be put onto the other's head.
- Exactly who holds the impression that the first time that Sandeep and I would be seeing each other will be at that moment?! Please, meet me. I promise i will drive that notion away for you. Perhaps the akki-jeerge is a symbol of warding off evil or something like that. I am yet to understand what it's for. But i know one thing for sure. In today's world, where the boy and the girl meet often prior to the wedding, this is a redundant thing. It's like pretending that there's no enemy because you've put your head in the sand. Essentially, no one does this with complete belief. Through all this, a whole new twist to the ritual has been made. That who ever, groom or bride, puts the akki-jeerge first will be the dominant one in the relationship...!
Laughable, yes. Applicable, no. Endurable, yes. Relevant, no.
Ritual 3. Bidadi Mane: This is where a room in the choultry is used to keep necessary household items for the bride to set up home by herself. You know why this has no relevance to us now?
- We wont be setting up home here. The utensils kept will not be carried back by us. And since it wont be of much use to us the whole thing will be done just for the heck of it.
Ritual 4: In olden times one party of the marriage would arrive from another village and stay in someone's house. Under these circumstances they were provided with all items for daily hygiene such as soap, comb, oil, etc. Now, in today's times i would believe that most people come to a marriage hall with all these items packed. Simply because one does not go for an overnight stay unprepared. Arranging for all these items and giving it as part of some 'shastra' is so peculiar. "Here's your toothbrush, toothpaste, oil, comb, powder...."
What is really relevant and is done with eyes blindfolded? Sapthapadi. This is where the girl takes 7 steps and the boy makes promises to her at each step, sealing the promise with a toe ring. Why the ring on the 2nd toe only, i do not know. But i would take this to be the most relevant 'ritual'. However, in today's world, most couples would just do it with absolutely no idea of the mantras the purohit is saying and thereby the promises they are making to each other.
It's sad that the one day the couple thinks so much of is reduced to something that's tiring. I've heard enough of 'you'll have no idea of whats going on'. I'm sure it'll hold it's weightage well too...
This is what the tumultuous affair does. Once it begins it just makes you want to 'be done with it'. It may be inevitable, but i sure hope i don't come out of it with that feeling...
Ritual 1. Kashi Yatre: Now there are 2 variations to this story.
(a): The boy packs his bags and heads off to Kashi to pursue studies. And in olden times, pursuing studies meant treading the spiritual path and sacrificing worldly bonds. So his family persuades him to stay back and finds a suitable girl for him to marry. So the entire 'ritual', would include bringing the boy back and getting him prepared for the wedding.
(b): Now this is a funny one. The boy gets upset that his family is not getting him married and packs his bags and begins to leave. This is when the maternal uncle of the girl steps in, persuades him to not go and says that he will get him married to his niece.
I have a problem trying to effectively apply this to now. Neither is Sandeep packing his bags to pursue his studies nor is he upset that no one's getting him married. The love of my life is right now enduring a 24 hour flight journey, currently en route over the Atlantic to reach Bangalore for his wedding. To think that he'd come here only to pack his bags and leave for Kashi is so ridiculousy funny! And i don't think any guy would want to walk away from his own marriage.. Hehe... :)
Laughable, yes. Applicable, no. Endurable, yes. Relevant, no.
Ritual 2. Jeerge-Dhaare : This one says that the first time the boy and girl see each other's face is when the antara parde held up by the purohits is let down. At this time, the fistful of jeerge-akki that the couple hold in their hands must be put onto the other's head.
- Exactly who holds the impression that the first time that Sandeep and I would be seeing each other will be at that moment?! Please, meet me. I promise i will drive that notion away for you. Perhaps the akki-jeerge is a symbol of warding off evil or something like that. I am yet to understand what it's for. But i know one thing for sure. In today's world, where the boy and the girl meet often prior to the wedding, this is a redundant thing. It's like pretending that there's no enemy because you've put your head in the sand. Essentially, no one does this with complete belief. Through all this, a whole new twist to the ritual has been made. That who ever, groom or bride, puts the akki-jeerge first will be the dominant one in the relationship...!
Laughable, yes. Applicable, no. Endurable, yes. Relevant, no.
Ritual 3. Bidadi Mane: This is where a room in the choultry is used to keep necessary household items for the bride to set up home by herself. You know why this has no relevance to us now?
- We wont be setting up home here. The utensils kept will not be carried back by us. And since it wont be of much use to us the whole thing will be done just for the heck of it.
Ritual 4: In olden times one party of the marriage would arrive from another village and stay in someone's house. Under these circumstances they were provided with all items for daily hygiene such as soap, comb, oil, etc. Now, in today's times i would believe that most people come to a marriage hall with all these items packed. Simply because one does not go for an overnight stay unprepared. Arranging for all these items and giving it as part of some 'shastra' is so peculiar. "Here's your toothbrush, toothpaste, oil, comb, powder...."
What is really relevant and is done with eyes blindfolded? Sapthapadi. This is where the girl takes 7 steps and the boy makes promises to her at each step, sealing the promise with a toe ring. Why the ring on the 2nd toe only, i do not know. But i would take this to be the most relevant 'ritual'. However, in today's world, most couples would just do it with absolutely no idea of the mantras the purohit is saying and thereby the promises they are making to each other.
It's sad that the one day the couple thinks so much of is reduced to something that's tiring. I've heard enough of 'you'll have no idea of whats going on'. I'm sure it'll hold it's weightage well too...
This is what the tumultuous affair does. Once it begins it just makes you want to 'be done with it'. It may be inevitable, but i sure hope i don't come out of it with that feeling...
At Lasts... :(
My life now is filled with a lot of 'lasts'. Like, last day i spend before the marriage with my parents, last day i have coffee before the wedding, last day at office, last this and last that... It is also filled with a lot of 'firsts'.
It is such a juxtapose of feelings! I've also been having these thoughts which say 1 week from now i'll be doing this, one week from now i'll be there, one week from now i wont get to do this and that... It simply does not fail to amaze how quickly one day, one moment can change my life. Not change. Change is a very simple world. Let me rephrase...
It simply does not fail to amaze how quickly one day, one moment can take the only life i'm accustomed to, put it into a mixer, add many many more ingredients to it, whiz it up, and make a concoction i am supposed to immediately love without complaining.
I'm perhaps being too cynical but i'd rather be that than get into this whole thing thinking it's gonna be a bed of roses. I like the anticipation though... The anticipation of Sandeep's arrival, of opening all my gifts (yey!), of the beginning of the rituals, of the entire marriage although it is going to be a pretty tedious affair...
The worst of the list of 'lasts'? My mum saying this: "Tomorrow will be the last day you'll spend with us alone before the marriage." This is what i hate! Why can't i have the best of both worlds?! :(
It is such a juxtapose of feelings! I've also been having these thoughts which say 1 week from now i'll be doing this, one week from now i'll be there, one week from now i wont get to do this and that... It simply does not fail to amaze how quickly one day, one moment can change my life. Not change. Change is a very simple world. Let me rephrase...
It simply does not fail to amaze how quickly one day, one moment can take the only life i'm accustomed to, put it into a mixer, add many many more ingredients to it, whiz it up, and make a concoction i am supposed to immediately love without complaining.
I'm perhaps being too cynical but i'd rather be that than get into this whole thing thinking it's gonna be a bed of roses. I like the anticipation though... The anticipation of Sandeep's arrival, of opening all my gifts (yey!), of the beginning of the rituals, of the entire marriage although it is going to be a pretty tedious affair...
The worst of the list of 'lasts'? My mum saying this: "Tomorrow will be the last day you'll spend with us alone before the marriage." This is what i hate! Why can't i have the best of both worlds?! :(
Monday, 15 February 2010
My country is better than yours....
Does anything work in order out here?
Nothing works. The mobile phone network doesn't, the internet doesn't, online websites don't, nothing does.
On the way back home from work today, i was on call and the call must've dropped a million times. I get back home and the internet wont connect at once. I must try 3 times or more to connect to it. Whats worse? It wont connect at all after 10pm everyday. And i pay for more download capacity after 10PM.
For the last 3 days i have been on call with the great Reliance people where this extremely patient lady reminds me how important my call is and that i must stay on the call because i am such an important customer. Then, when she finally allows me to proceed, another lady tells me how i can check the data usage on the Reliance website. Well lady, exactly how do you expect me to check the data usage ONLINE when you stupid network wont connect to the internet?
And this irritating circus plays out every single day! Everyday!
When i see these management honchos and business tycoons raving about how India is moving closer to be a global force to reckon with, maybe someone should ask them to go take a stroll through the numerous slums in every city, take a deep breath inside the city and get through one call when you realise that suddenly the network is just not there.
As Sandeep said today, the CEOs of these mobile network companies should be made to get onto call to strike a business deal and talk about how stable their network is, only to have the call dropped off at that exact instant. That's apparently the best way to make them realise how poor the services they provide are.
How do they call our country great when the most basic amenities aren't made available to all? How do they call our country great when the monthly income of most of the nation is probably less than 1000rs? How do they call this country great when volvo buses disposed of by the Europe countries are dumped into cities here and we rave and rant about it?
Our refusal to understand and adapting to a changing world will leave us stuck in the same rut as we are now. We are still stuck to blind faiths, century old customs which have no relevance to the current era and maintain enough public hygiene to give a housefly some disease.
I was reading this interesting article in the newspaper. More a situational article:
3 Indians and a foreigner were sitting in a train compartment. The Indians kept asking irrelevant questions to the foreigner such as the train system in his country, the food available there, the language spoken there, etc. And by some inexplicable logic arrived at a conclusion that India is much better in those aspects, especially in culture, than his country is.
After reaching this brilliant conclusion, they crushed the paper they had used to wrap some food and threw it on the floor, dropped the plastic cups onto the floor and slept.
The poor guy looks down only to see what was a neat floor turned into a garbage bin, sighs and goes to sleep.
So much for our culture, huh? Is this how we define ourselves?
Anyway, that was the article.
The reliance lady is still telling me how important my call is by the way... Isn't she bored. For the number of times i've heard this over the last 45 minutes, i should feel like the President of India.
Nothing works. The mobile phone network doesn't, the internet doesn't, online websites don't, nothing does.
On the way back home from work today, i was on call and the call must've dropped a million times. I get back home and the internet wont connect at once. I must try 3 times or more to connect to it. Whats worse? It wont connect at all after 10pm everyday. And i pay for more download capacity after 10PM.
For the last 3 days i have been on call with the great Reliance people where this extremely patient lady reminds me how important my call is and that i must stay on the call because i am such an important customer. Then, when she finally allows me to proceed, another lady tells me how i can check the data usage on the Reliance website. Well lady, exactly how do you expect me to check the data usage ONLINE when you stupid network wont connect to the internet?
And this irritating circus plays out every single day! Everyday!
When i see these management honchos and business tycoons raving about how India is moving closer to be a global force to reckon with, maybe someone should ask them to go take a stroll through the numerous slums in every city, take a deep breath inside the city and get through one call when you realise that suddenly the network is just not there.
As Sandeep said today, the CEOs of these mobile network companies should be made to get onto call to strike a business deal and talk about how stable their network is, only to have the call dropped off at that exact instant. That's apparently the best way to make them realise how poor the services they provide are.
How do they call our country great when the most basic amenities aren't made available to all? How do they call our country great when the monthly income of most of the nation is probably less than 1000rs? How do they call this country great when volvo buses disposed of by the Europe countries are dumped into cities here and we rave and rant about it?
Our refusal to understand and adapting to a changing world will leave us stuck in the same rut as we are now. We are still stuck to blind faiths, century old customs which have no relevance to the current era and maintain enough public hygiene to give a housefly some disease.
I was reading this interesting article in the newspaper. More a situational article:
3 Indians and a foreigner were sitting in a train compartment. The Indians kept asking irrelevant questions to the foreigner such as the train system in his country, the food available there, the language spoken there, etc. And by some inexplicable logic arrived at a conclusion that India is much better in those aspects, especially in culture, than his country is.
After reaching this brilliant conclusion, they crushed the paper they had used to wrap some food and threw it on the floor, dropped the plastic cups onto the floor and slept.
The poor guy looks down only to see what was a neat floor turned into a garbage bin, sighs and goes to sleep.
So much for our culture, huh? Is this how we define ourselves?
Anyway, that was the article.
The reliance lady is still telling me how important my call is by the way... Isn't she bored. For the number of times i've heard this over the last 45 minutes, i should feel like the President of India.
Friday, 12 February 2010
The things a bride-to-be has to go through....
For someone like me who lives to eat, staying away from chocolates, fried food, baked food, cheese, and so on, can be quite torture. Considering my marriage is 3 weeks away, i HAVE to stay away from such heavenly food because of this thing called - acne.
Why do they appear on the face? Big blotches that give away the latest indulgence in culinary sin. Can't wait for binging during the wedding and after too...
Pani puri, chocolate cake, ice cream, pizza with lotsa cheese, bajji bonda, masala dosa, pakoda....! Mmmm...! Damn stupid acne...
And i still cannot stop watching these food shows! And what am i watching now, for the third or fourth time? There's this ice cream place in New York called Serendipity. They have a 1000$ ice cream which is a sundae that has the best vanilla ice cream, madagascar vanilla, exotic fruit, passion fruit caviar, the best chocolate in the world and finally, edible GOLD! I don't think i'd ever buy this but i love watching it being made! Ha!
Money can surely buy happiness sometimes... :P
Why do they appear on the face? Big blotches that give away the latest indulgence in culinary sin. Can't wait for binging during the wedding and after too...
Pani puri, chocolate cake, ice cream, pizza with lotsa cheese, bajji bonda, masala dosa, pakoda....! Mmmm...! Damn stupid acne...
And i still cannot stop watching these food shows! And what am i watching now, for the third or fourth time? There's this ice cream place in New York called Serendipity. They have a 1000$ ice cream which is a sundae that has the best vanilla ice cream, madagascar vanilla, exotic fruit, passion fruit caviar, the best chocolate in the world and finally, edible GOLD! I don't think i'd ever buy this but i love watching it being made! Ha!
Money can surely buy happiness sometimes... :P
Monday, 8 February 2010
Hmmmm....
From 8 months to 3 weeks... I don't know where all that time has gone but i'm glad it has. It's just not setting in. I love watching all this time passing by. It always does, yes. But with an occasion as eventful as i'm heading toward, it's more like seeing something exciting unravel. The best part? The number of days for the wedding are reduced with each day. :)
I especially enjoy going to our wedding website and seeing the number of days getting lesser and lesser. I think i am more excited with Sandeep coming this month end than i am about our wedding.
It all seems so surreal, magical almost. I keep thinking about what i'd be doing a month from now and it all is so drastically new, obviously, from my current pretty mundane life. Yes everyone goes through this but it's new to me. So please bear with this while i vent it out. It's hard to think what life would be like after March, 7th. Let me know if you have an idea or would like to share it. :)
I have no idea why i'm even writing this. It isn't 'blog' material right? :)
I especially enjoy going to our wedding website and seeing the number of days getting lesser and lesser. I think i am more excited with Sandeep coming this month end than i am about our wedding.
It all seems so surreal, magical almost. I keep thinking about what i'd be doing a month from now and it all is so drastically new, obviously, from my current pretty mundane life. Yes everyone goes through this but it's new to me. So please bear with this while i vent it out. It's hard to think what life would be like after March, 7th. Let me know if you have an idea or would like to share it. :)
I have no idea why i'm even writing this. It isn't 'blog' material right? :)
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
The times gone by...
I'm in freepool. Free as a bird! :) Standing in front of the Performance Testing Lab and looking at the same haphazardly arranged chairs and desks stranded with papers and pens, i am instantly reminded of the days when 5 of us began our careers there.
After receiving out initial training at the M G Road office, we were asked to go to the newest building (then) at the Electronic City campus. Construction at the 5th floor, and the floors above the 6th (where the lab is) was still in progress. And the best part, none of the managers were keen to leave the office at a location as convenient as MG Road and come to EC. Imagine what that equals to to a bunch of freshers after 3 months of vigilant training. Bumper Lottery!
I went out to the balcony of the building on that floor and was nostalgic.. The number of days we spent there, pretending to work, bearing the unbearable stench of foul smelling socks and feet of a rather experienced guy who was sent later on to keep and eye on us... Our schedule was like this...
- Reach the campus at 830am . Have breakfast until 930am.
- Get to the lab and sit for 10 mins. Tea was from 10am - 11am
- Check emails from 1100am-1130am, and discuss on 'work for the day' from 1130am-1230pm
- Begin getting people to leave for lunch, 1230pm-1pm
- Lunch from 1pm-2pm
- Do some work from 2pm - 3pm
- Tea from 3pm - 430 pm
- Send emails on 'work done' from 430pm onward and leave at 530pm coz it takes half an hour to reach the bus stand! :P
With a day like that and no supervisor, until geynda arrived i.e., it was no wonder that we had a fanstastic time there. Multiplexes were dutifully visited to watch the latest movie, good business was given to coffee day and barista in the campus and no birthday went by without a huge party and moisturizing the face with the cake...
We surely did that a great time in those 2-3 months. Slowly we all were placed into our projects and all this waned away. Now, each of us are in different locations with destiny changing the courses of our life. Even if we do meet, the same fervor would be missing.. Way too much time has passed by. All that's left are happy memories and pictures...
- Clemy refusing to display his ID after the security person threatened to throw him out when the building caught fire and the dude was right in the middle of the action to capture pictures on his cellphone. Lol...!
- Suman, 2 words--- "I Think...." :)
- Seema, expert in Tedweb and an addict of wipro's webmail :P And oh, the mindblowing PJs... B***s off to you... Rotfl... Sorry seema.. Just too priceless to not mention it :D Shanthosh would agree... :P
- Shanthosh. Ever seen a question mark on a face? Meet Mr.Shanthosh and say something complicated, and he shall demonstrate the expression... hehe...
- Your's truly... Can't believe i had that haristyle and wore that stupid white and blue striped salwar kameez although i hated it...! Interesting anecdotes on me anyone? I can't be anymore self-deprecating. :D
After receiving out initial training at the M G Road office, we were asked to go to the newest building (then) at the Electronic City campus. Construction at the 5th floor, and the floors above the 6th (where the lab is) was still in progress. And the best part, none of the managers were keen to leave the office at a location as convenient as MG Road and come to EC. Imagine what that equals to to a bunch of freshers after 3 months of vigilant training. Bumper Lottery!
I went out to the balcony of the building on that floor and was nostalgic.. The number of days we spent there, pretending to work, bearing the unbearable stench of foul smelling socks and feet of a rather experienced guy who was sent later on to keep and eye on us... Our schedule was like this...
- Reach the campus at 830am . Have breakfast until 930am.
- Get to the lab and sit for 10 mins. Tea was from 10am - 11am
- Check emails from 1100am-1130am, and discuss on 'work for the day' from 1130am-1230pm
- Begin getting people to leave for lunch, 1230pm-1pm
- Lunch from 1pm-2pm
- Do some work from 2pm - 3pm
- Tea from 3pm - 430 pm
- Send emails on 'work done' from 430pm onward and leave at 530pm coz it takes half an hour to reach the bus stand! :P
With a day like that and no supervisor, until geynda arrived i.e., it was no wonder that we had a fanstastic time there. Multiplexes were dutifully visited to watch the latest movie, good business was given to coffee day and barista in the campus and no birthday went by without a huge party and moisturizing the face with the cake...
We surely did that a great time in those 2-3 months. Slowly we all were placed into our projects and all this waned away. Now, each of us are in different locations with destiny changing the courses of our life. Even if we do meet, the same fervor would be missing.. Way too much time has passed by. All that's left are happy memories and pictures...
- Clemy refusing to display his ID after the security person threatened to throw him out when the building caught fire and the dude was right in the middle of the action to capture pictures on his cellphone. Lol...!
- Suman, 2 words--- "I Think...." :)
- Seema, expert in Tedweb and an addict of wipro's webmail :P And oh, the mindblowing PJs... B***s off to you... Rotfl... Sorry seema.. Just too priceless to not mention it :D Shanthosh would agree... :P
- Shanthosh. Ever seen a question mark on a face? Meet Mr.Shanthosh and say something complicated, and he shall demonstrate the expression... hehe...
- Your's truly... Can't believe i had that haristyle and wore that stupid white and blue striped salwar kameez although i hated it...! Interesting anecdotes on me anyone? I can't be anymore self-deprecating. :D
The Auto Driver attitude!
You're driving down the road in the city, and you see that a friend is driving towards you. You both wanna chat for a while? Well, who said you need to park your vehicle to the side of the road and get down and talk? Make it as easy as possible na... After all, bangalore wasn't named the pensioner's paradise for nothing, at least if not for it's laidback attititude. Learn from these auto drivers... As nonchalant as they can get...
They stop adjacent to each other after spotting each other, right at the center of the road with traffic plying on it, next to the buses which depart every 2-3 mins, turn sideways to face each other and gossip away... Oh and the third guy joins too, but only for a few seconds. Never mind the cars passing by... After all, 'swalpa adjust maadi' is the city's slogan.... :D
They stop adjacent to each other after spotting each other, right at the center of the road with traffic plying on it, next to the buses which depart every 2-3 mins, turn sideways to face each other and gossip away... Oh and the third guy joins too, but only for a few seconds. Never mind the cars passing by... After all, 'swalpa adjust maadi' is the city's slogan.... :D
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Sunshine time!
I've finally seen 3 Idiots. Finally! Loved the movie, as did millions of others. I guess it is something we all feel deep within our hearts? Give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance, i wanna grow up once again....
And our situation was probably far better than the kids who go through the rigors of the education system today. If someone weighs the backpack most kids carry to school today, it would outweigh their own weight! Seen the results of late? 99.7% 99% 98.8%.... Most teachers give marks to projects based on their liking towards certain students. Everyone has to be the best, come first and earn the most.
In effect, we are teaching ourselves and the Next Gen to always compare their standing with someone else's standing and evaluate their own self. Forget about individualistic thoughts, it has no space in today's web of confusion. About 10 years ago, everyone had to do a BE + secure job. Now, its a BE + MBA + high salary + posh lifestyle... And that's mostly because everyone else has it and it's easy to drift into the same state of mind.
Our lives our stereotyped, our minds are stereotyped, our values are stereotyped... we are stereotyped. We are mere xerox copies of each other with different faces.
3 months ago i took a decision which has changed my life, almost. 3 years of working in the way we do, i had lost myself. Apart from putting on enough weight to scare the the living daylights out of me, i had turned into someone i could not identify with. When i stopped and looked, i saw people who were afraid to speak their minds out and kick some assholes in their rear because they feared losing their jobs. I will never forget being stranded at 10PM in the office campus when virtually everyone had left on account of a transportation strike and the manager did not think it was important to alert me. He instead picked up his bag and walked out. Whats worse? Another manager who knew i was working there canceled his meeting and left early as well. And the same duo sniggered at me the next day. I cannot believe someone like me would continue working under these circumstances but i did. Thats where i had begun losing myself.
And i know, that those who read this will also have experienced the same. At least most of them. You gradually get sucked into this world where it's all about how much you earn, how secure your job is, how well equipped you are to build a house by the time you're 30, where you can put your kids to school. The sad part is, in our country these stupid things matter! How many of us chose IT as field worth pursuing because we knew what it was? We knew Infosys and Wipro, that's all we knew. :) Some in the army of high-salary hopefuls began enjoying it. But as far as i know, 99% do not enjoy it. They do it for their salary and lifestyle.
So exactly what is a child supposed to pursue in this complex world we have created? Literature? Chemistry? Law? Biology? Science? Music? Who cares? What one pursues is a plush job. That doesn't necessarily need to be defined by any vocation.
Or do we learn from our not-so-uplifting lives and refrain from making such mistakes going forward?
It's sad that we have built this vicious circle where we have to be in this damned rat race to be able to afford the most basic necessities. Or maybe it's all in our mind. Maybe we will achieve some semblance of peace when we begin listening to ourselves rather than what society tells us....
And our situation was probably far better than the kids who go through the rigors of the education system today. If someone weighs the backpack most kids carry to school today, it would outweigh their own weight! Seen the results of late? 99.7% 99% 98.8%.... Most teachers give marks to projects based on their liking towards certain students. Everyone has to be the best, come first and earn the most.
In effect, we are teaching ourselves and the Next Gen to always compare their standing with someone else's standing and evaluate their own self. Forget about individualistic thoughts, it has no space in today's web of confusion. About 10 years ago, everyone had to do a BE + secure job. Now, its a BE + MBA + high salary + posh lifestyle... And that's mostly because everyone else has it and it's easy to drift into the same state of mind.
Our lives our stereotyped, our minds are stereotyped, our values are stereotyped... we are stereotyped. We are mere xerox copies of each other with different faces.
3 months ago i took a decision which has changed my life, almost. 3 years of working in the way we do, i had lost myself. Apart from putting on enough weight to scare the the living daylights out of me, i had turned into someone i could not identify with. When i stopped and looked, i saw people who were afraid to speak their minds out and kick some assholes in their rear because they feared losing their jobs. I will never forget being stranded at 10PM in the office campus when virtually everyone had left on account of a transportation strike and the manager did not think it was important to alert me. He instead picked up his bag and walked out. Whats worse? Another manager who knew i was working there canceled his meeting and left early as well. And the same duo sniggered at me the next day. I cannot believe someone like me would continue working under these circumstances but i did. Thats where i had begun losing myself.
And i know, that those who read this will also have experienced the same. At least most of them. You gradually get sucked into this world where it's all about how much you earn, how secure your job is, how well equipped you are to build a house by the time you're 30, where you can put your kids to school. The sad part is, in our country these stupid things matter! How many of us chose IT as field worth pursuing because we knew what it was? We knew Infosys and Wipro, that's all we knew. :) Some in the army of high-salary hopefuls began enjoying it. But as far as i know, 99% do not enjoy it. They do it for their salary and lifestyle.
So exactly what is a child supposed to pursue in this complex world we have created? Literature? Chemistry? Law? Biology? Science? Music? Who cares? What one pursues is a plush job. That doesn't necessarily need to be defined by any vocation.
Or do we learn from our not-so-uplifting lives and refrain from making such mistakes going forward?
It's sad that we have built this vicious circle where we have to be in this damned rat race to be able to afford the most basic necessities. Or maybe it's all in our mind. Maybe we will achieve some semblance of peace when we begin listening to ourselves rather than what society tells us....
Friday, 1 January 2010
Hang on!
Happy New Year...!
We were sitting have dessert a few mins back when my dad made this statement very casually, "See, already Jan 1st is over.". Do you have any idea what that does to someone whose life is gonna take a total flip in 2 months time? All this while, when it was still 2009, marriage was still 'next year. lotsa time!'. Now it's more like 'it's this year'. So essentially, casual statements like this make me panic.
I think i know exactly what plants and trees feel like when they are uprooted. It's the same you know. I've known one kinda life. My parents, my home, my room, living room, kitchen, the locality, the city... For a quarter of a century i've breathed it. And now overnight, literally, my ENTIRE existence is going to change. I remember asking a friend who got married last year, what it felt like to know that you'll be married in a week's time. I remember her saying that it's scary and weird. Back then i thought that i wont feel that way because i'll be with Sandeep and things will all be hunky dory. They definitely still will. But you know, when the most important things that have kept your life normal all these years aren't around? It's gonna be strange...
- Not waking up in my room.
- Not hearing the neighbors talk loud enough for me to lose sleep at 1AM
- Not getting up and groggily walking into the kitchen for some coffee
- Not seeing my parents early morning. This is gonna be difficult man. How? I mean, the two people on whom a child lays implicit trust in are far far away.
- Not seeing the garden every morning.
- Not cussing at people who get their dogs to poop right in front of people's gate
- Not seeing the flower thieves who go about plucking flowers from other people's gardens.
- Not falling asleep on the couch with my mom and dad patiently waking me up for tea. Dad eagerly waiting for me to get my butt off the couch so that we could all have some tea
- Not thinking about the menu for dinner before we even have breakfast
- Mom and I collapsing in a fit of laughter while dad loudly proclaims that we are insane!
These things, seemingly mundane make such a profound difference by their absence. I must admit that i did not usher in the new year with complete happiness. It's not all happy happy for me. I'm gonna be so far away so very soon from mom and dad - the backbone of my life. People should stop making technical analysis of 'how much time is left for what'. It's nice to be ignorant of it sometimes.
So now, instead of waking up and seeing them, i will see them on webcam. Listen to their voice on telephone only. Sad is the only word one would get to describe this.
But, as my dad says, one must always move on. No point being too attached to things.
So here's to a new year! It's gonna change my life, like crazy! But hey, am I looking forward to the adventure or what?! :)
We were sitting have dessert a few mins back when my dad made this statement very casually, "See, already Jan 1st is over.". Do you have any idea what that does to someone whose life is gonna take a total flip in 2 months time? All this while, when it was still 2009, marriage was still 'next year. lotsa time!'. Now it's more like 'it's this year'. So essentially, casual statements like this make me panic.
I think i know exactly what plants and trees feel like when they are uprooted. It's the same you know. I've known one kinda life. My parents, my home, my room, living room, kitchen, the locality, the city... For a quarter of a century i've breathed it. And now overnight, literally, my ENTIRE existence is going to change. I remember asking a friend who got married last year, what it felt like to know that you'll be married in a week's time. I remember her saying that it's scary and weird. Back then i thought that i wont feel that way because i'll be with Sandeep and things will all be hunky dory. They definitely still will. But you know, when the most important things that have kept your life normal all these years aren't around? It's gonna be strange...
- Not waking up in my room.
- Not hearing the neighbors talk loud enough for me to lose sleep at 1AM
- Not getting up and groggily walking into the kitchen for some coffee
- Not seeing my parents early morning. This is gonna be difficult man. How? I mean, the two people on whom a child lays implicit trust in are far far away.
- Not seeing the garden every morning.
- Not cussing at people who get their dogs to poop right in front of people's gate
- Not seeing the flower thieves who go about plucking flowers from other people's gardens.
- Not falling asleep on the couch with my mom and dad patiently waking me up for tea. Dad eagerly waiting for me to get my butt off the couch so that we could all have some tea
- Not thinking about the menu for dinner before we even have breakfast
- Mom and I collapsing in a fit of laughter while dad loudly proclaims that we are insane!
These things, seemingly mundane make such a profound difference by their absence. I must admit that i did not usher in the new year with complete happiness. It's not all happy happy for me. I'm gonna be so far away so very soon from mom and dad - the backbone of my life. People should stop making technical analysis of 'how much time is left for what'. It's nice to be ignorant of it sometimes.
So now, instead of waking up and seeing them, i will see them on webcam. Listen to their voice on telephone only. Sad is the only word one would get to describe this.
But, as my dad says, one must always move on. No point being too attached to things.
So here's to a new year! It's gonna change my life, like crazy! But hey, am I looking forward to the adventure or what?! :)
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