Tuesday, July 31, 2007

YoMo, Best of now and round the corner

  1. YoMo a.k.a Yo Monkey, a little stuffed monkey wearing a tiger-striped jacket with a hood, who hangs from a hook near my desk is a source of much joy. We picked him up at Big Bazar when we went to get a gift for Kaushik... and Dharana has been thretening to abduct him ever since. Incidentally, she's behind his christening too - 'he's so Yo! with the hood, he'll start rappin any moment' is the explanation that has been given...
  2. Now's The Time. I've been following Joe's blog ever since I started writing my own 3BTs, but somehow never mentioned him here. Today, when I catch up with his posts after having slipped on reading his blog for nearly 10 days, I rediscover my reasons for loving his blog - the rich variety of things he always has to write about, the very different culutre and life style that I get to peep into, and if I may be so bold as to say this - a strange bond that binds two so vastly different people, separated by continents and age into something akin to friendship. I again scroll down to read what he has to say in about himself - 'I was a journalist but now spend more time writing poetry and growing vegetables.' - and I'm first struck by the seeming incongruity between writing poetry and growing vegetables, and then I wonder if both aren't inherently forms of creating something and nurturing something....
  3. An email gives me a fresh perspective on success - 'success may be waiting just round the corner'. I'm told, that success will come to he that will dare to turn the corner, deviating from the straight and trodden path, onto a mysterious and unknown way, with courage. And soon, even the corners which earlier slowed him down will give him the winning edge, while the others, who stuck to the beaten 'straight' path will be left far behind. Funny. I somehow always took this phrase to mean that success was lurking around the corner, hiding from sight, waiting to pounce on me. All I had to do was manage to keep walking... but now I must turn around corners too??

Monday, July 30, 2007

Little people, happiness sale and comfy feet

  1. Listening to Atharva and Aditi's banter. Its been more than a year since I last saw the kids, and even then, had not really been able to spend much time with them. So it's awesome to see how much they've grown up. Aditi asks the cutest questions possible... ranging from why Pallavi's carrying clothes in a school bag (rucksack) to why Pallavi's cell phone doesn't flip open. Atharva, on the other hand, has grown quieter, but has more mischief up his sleeve. My greatest pleasure, however, comes from the fact that neither of the kids have forgotten me and I do not have to rebuild an acquaintance.
  2. Pune Central's 'Happiness Sale'. Its aptly named. Pallu and I pick up some great bargains.
  3. My feet are tired and aching when I finally come home after dinner ( a result of the marathon shopping spree, of course). Its so good to have them tucked into something warm and comfortable...

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Succombing, living it and the experience

  1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I finally give in to temptation and start reading it.
  2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Once I start reading it post lunch, I can think of nothing else. I drop pretense of work and plunge into the book shamelessly. I have to literally force myself to get up when its time to go home, and I immediately flop down with HP as soon as I reach home. Everything else is forgotten.
  3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J K Rowling delivers. The book is mesmerizing and the plot well rendered. Most of the loose ends are tied up nicely... I think now that the whole story is out, a systematic revision starting from the Sorcerer's Stone down to Deathly Hallows must be undertaken...

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Book time, relief and cute?

  1. Because the train is late, I get an hour's reading time in the morning.
  2. I reach office really late and really tired, and heave a sigh of relief because there isn't much work.
  3. Tanmoy has a new haircut. Not only that, today he has bothered to shave too... so with all that extra hair removed from his face and around it, he's looking young again. I tell him he's looking cute and he brushes me off (fyi - 'men' are not supposed to be cute, little girls are!), but we meet Pallavi for dinner and there's no way he can stop her from yelling 'awwwwww... loooooook at youuuu... you're soooooooooooo cuuuuute...'.. His grimace could get him an Oscar!

Monday, July 23, 2007

Granny, stolen moments and reward for no sleep

  1. Meeting Granny. She's tired, and doesn't keep all that well, but she won't let me go without eating something! It's good catching up.
  2. The train's 4 hours late. The few extra hours at home are precious...
  3. I'm not able to sleep soundly in the train, and happen to wake up at 6 in the morning. As I look out of the window, I realise that the sun is just rising, and I'm lucky enough to have a window that's facing eastward. A serene dawn greets me - there's a mist clinging to the ground and the delicate sun rays colour it a pretty pink at places. The air is sharp and cool.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Bride, Groom and photographer

  1. The long awaited wedding finally takes place. Meenal is now married. She makes a pretty bride...
  2. Anup's ever-ready smile, that's always lurking just below the surface, ready to pop out anytime a slight chance presents itself. He's got a great sense of humor too... one, that I hope will go a long way in making life a pleasant journey for the two of them...
  3. Because I'm always taking photographs, and because of my camera, the official photographer notices me, and strikes a conversation. He's more than happy to give me tips, and when I recollect some of the great pictures he has taken at Manjiri's wedding, he obliges me with a few pics of me too! Needless to say, for once, my pictures have come out lovely! ALL it takes is a good photographer!

Maroon, yellow and black

  1. My mehendi (and indeed, every one else's too) has coloured a beautiful maroon, rich and smooth. And now that the henna paste has dried and fallen off, it smells different - more earthy and heady, more a part of me. The way the mehendi's colour changes from a pale red to a rich dark red when the henna has been removed, is amazing...
  2. The groom - Anup takes the haldi ceremony very sportingly, even though all of us go wild and literally smear him with the turmeric paste. I'm secretly thankful when I see that he has managed to get all the yellow colour off before the evening ceremony, or Meenal would've killed us!
  3. I finally wear the black silk saree with the maroon n copper border I bought last year - it had been lying untouched all this while. Mom's garnet necklace goes with it perfectly... and as someone remarked just today - there's no pleasure like wearing your mom's jewellery!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Home-coming, henna and wedding

  1. Looking through the train's window and catching a glimpse of Papa almost immediately, inspite of the crowd. He hasn't seen me though, and is still searching... and then when we reach home, getting out of the car to open the gate and looking up to see mum and Aaji waving from the window...
  2. The smell of henna... and the way Meenal looks happy at being a bride...
  3. The news of another wedding in the offing...

Friday, July 06, 2007

Cool n fresh, unexpected appreciation and misty weekend

  1. After being cooped up inside the house all day, the clean, cold evening air feels good on my face and in my lungs...
  2. Dharana tells me she likes my blog. I'm flattered - she usually never likes any reading I recommend!
  3. Looking forward to the weekend at Mahabaleshwar. The resort looks promising... and the weather's just perfect for this kind of a trip - some leisure, some sight seeing... I'm so looking forward to the jacuzzi at the resort, and also to the legendary mist that's supposed to be so thick in this season that one can't look beyond one's nose (that would be good, I'm thinking. I know a lot of people who don't need a mist to do that, and they generally look pretty happy with themselves!)

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Veil removed, callers in the night and camaraderie of sloth

  1. Just as I turn to look out of the window, I see a wisp of cloud passing over an almost full moon. Its an enchanted moment.
  2. Tanmoy and Pallu land up after dinner and we sit talking about various things late into the night.
  3. Everyone in office seems to agree, that of all days, it was especially difficult to get out of bed today morning. Everyone's late to office and everyone seems lost and half asleep... Smiles are exchanged everytime someone yawns...

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Quality viewing, borrowed beauty and returns

  1. Discovering that Zee Cafe is airing all the old serials we used to love as kids - Wonder Years, Doogie Howser M.D. And of course, there's always the ever-green Full House!
  2. Wearing Pallu's brown Bandhani suit... it's pretty... I have a good mind to not return it at all! he he...
  3. Getting the first returns on my investment and efforts. Feels good!

Monday, July 02, 2007

New paths, open and stuck in the rain

I'm ranting at Rant Factory. Nothing like a good ol' bitchy rant to vent off some steam and get the load off your chest. Clears the way for the good things in life, I say...

Oh! and it's good to be back....
  1. I take a different route to work today. Its slightly longer, but the road's in good condition, and quite safe in the rains too. It takes me the same amount of time to reach office by this route, as by the one I usually take, but I arrive in much better spirits, because the commute has not been tranformed into a battle today.
  2. Talking to someone with an open and receptive mind. Its such a pleasure, when one doesn't run up against mental blocks.
  3. Its raining quite heavily outside and I'm stuck in office. This is good because firstly, I take the time to just stand and watch the rain, and secondly because, after a long time, I can post to this blog (the internet connection at home hasn't been working for sometime now, which explains the lack of activity here...)