Laughs for Tea

Have you ever had a picture that made you laugh every time you looked at it? No tittering, or getting nostalgic, but just giggling in a my-life-is-brilliant kind of a way? (For no explainable reason, mind you.)

Well, I have stumbled upon a picture like that. And I have been hee-hee-ha-ha-ing my way through the day!
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I don't know why I insist on having cold tea. It tastes horrid. And still, every afternoon, I conveniently forget about the tea, let it go cold, then remember, and gulp it down like cough syrup! Ughs!

When will I learn??!
***

Wonderment and Other Things

I seem to be getting overloaded with work as the days go by. I think I need to put my foot down somewhere. But up on cloud no. 9, everywhere I put my foot, it's just air. I wonder... do people actually fall off from their cloud no. 9s? It would be funny, wouldn't it, to suddenly have a person fall into your verandah (a species of room that is extinct in Mumbai middle class homes), while you are quietly contemplating how the smog levels have been rising? And you think: "I wonder how these smog levels have been rising, rising, rising..." when THUD! You've got a person sitting on your verandah floor wondering what the hell just happened!
***

Just read a post about an Alice in Plasticland. Well, it had some other name, but it was about an Alice (the one Mr. Caroll created) who lived in a land where everyone was plastic. The first two paragraphs of the tale read very well (I was beginning to get insecure about my own stories). But they lost steam somewhere. I was both -- relieved and disappointed. It is sad when a story that has promise fizzles out before you can say "Can I have some popcorn!" Such a pity!
***

Popcorm and movies go together. This weekend I went to watch Ratatouille. The point of the movie was that "Anybody can cook". And if you generalize that statement just a little more, it means "Anybody can do whatever it is that they like in the world". So Mr. Rat can cook, Miss Muffet can become a pest control advisor, Georgie Porgie can give up the stress of kissing the ladies and start leading the life of a parish priest. Aah.. so many possibilities. Maybe some day my dogs will be able to open the door instead of barking their heads off trying to get someone else to open it for them.

To Be 16 Again!

I wish I was 16 again and could just sit on my window and think and dream and snack and think and dream some more. These days there is constantly something else that needs to be done. A deadline, a book, an eye test. Really wish there was a way to get rid of all the cares and worries and get back to the days when daydreaming was a habit, and romanticizing was a way of life!

Turning Four

My littlest sister turned four yesterday. (I will turn twenty-four next year. How old is that!?) We brought her black forest cake.. but she refused to take a single piece. And when the cake got over the next day, she wanted to look inside the box. "What was the point now?" we thought to ourselves. And she took the empty box, looked inside, and said one word:
"Wow!"
:)

Bad Haircut Grumbles

I had a haircut yesterday... and am very upset. All my long luscious locks must be sitting in some garbage dump somewhere while I am stuck with a cropped version of my long do. [Sobs] To be fair, this isn't a bad haircut. It looks cute. Kinda pixie-like. But I did not want it this short. It had taken me so long to reach that length. And I am sad and upset :(

I hope it grows a little within the next month! [Boo :( hoo]

Braving the Puddles

Getting out of the pajamas and into the jeans was a good change.

Had been raining all day. Was thinking of worming out of the plans (as usual). But the call of coffee and girl chat was too strong. When I left the house though, the sun was shining over all the Kol streets (at least over the Kol street that I took). Took an auto. Sat in it for 5 minutes. The rains re-started. Got off auto while it was still raining. Struggled with umbrella. Contemplated bunking the umbrella idea and just letting the raindrops fall on my head. Forgot to stop struggling with umbrella. Lecherous man offered to help. Ignored him. Struggled more. And voila! No more raindrops on my head!

Met Jes. Braved the puddles to go and drink black currant smoothies (with ice-cream please). Chatted about people, work, some more people. Looked disapprovingly at the three noisy, spoilt kids running around the place. Checked out some Hot Wheels cars (I love Hot Wheels). Did some window shopping. Looked at tees, earrings, shoes, bags. Peeped at the price tags. Stopped looking at tees, earrings, shoes, bags. Felt poor. Grumbled. Braved the puddles again. Had fun. Should do this again sometime.

Nice weather today. Rainy. Moisture floating in on the breeze. Perfect, no-sweat, Kol monsoon weather. Love it.

Pajama Poojo

I have been making and breaking plans like crazy. 3 reasons:
1. My pajamas are way more comfortable than anything else in my suitcase. (Been back in Kol for over a month now and am still living out of my suitcase! That's coz the books I brought have taken up all the place in the cupboard given to me. Now that I'm not a permanent resident, I don't get all the old priviledges like a whole cupboard to myself. I get some shelves here and there.)
2. Going out costs money and I'm in one of my stingiest-ever phases. Is that good or bad for me? I don't know. But the stinginess is one of my prime reasons for not venturing out of the front door.
3. I think (but I'm not sure) that I'm in a I-don't-want-to-meet-people mode. So the thought of meeting people in person, as opposed to on my chat window, seems like too much work. I guess I'm just a lazy bum.

However, I realized that I have been acting overbearingly lazy (if one can act in such a way). So I finally refilled my phone, called up some friends that I have been ignoring for awhile (because of low cash), and made plans for the weekend. One definite; the other kinda iffy. Well, it is a start. Maybe I will wear something other then pajamas tomorrow!

Second Thoughts on August 16

Went for an one-day-belated Independence Day program. Was pleasantly surprised to see male classical dancers that were not at all effeminate.

I'm not sure I understand classical Indian dance too much. As in I get which people are playing the elephants and which are playing the jewels. But it gets a little difficult to figure out when the jewels become the land and the elephants become the people. Maybe someday I will understand it all better.

There was this lady (and I've forgotten her name after trying to memorize it so many times) who performed excerpts from a play which looked at the final battle of the Mahabharata from the point of view of the widows and the child-bereft mothers. It really was goosebump worthy. The woman in the play asks, "Did Gandhari take off her blindfold to count all her dead sons?" Then she recounts that another woman (Dushshala, if I'm not mistaken) ran helter-skelter looking for the head that had been severed from her husband's body. At the end of the day, it was a plea for "Let's Do Away With War", and it worked. After war, comes peace. But what kind of a peace is it if all that is left is destruction and loss?

All this is very dark and deep, like Robert Frost's woods... The one where he had all those promises to keep, and miles to go before he slept. So to lighten the darkness, here are six lines from a Bing Crosby song:
When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

Count your blessings instead of sheep... Have tried it, it does put you to sleep faster. But then I usually have great trouble counting sheep. Takes too much concentration, and all the sheep look alike! Blessings are easier to count (1, 2, 3, 4,...) and they aren't quite as similar either!

Connecting the Dots

Just read Steve Jobs' commencement speech called 'Connecting the Dots'. Just read it and am feeling a little speechless, dreamier than usual, and ready to take on the world. He talks about how every little thing you do in life, every little step you take, takes you that much closer to finding your ultimate destiny.

It is like those connect-the-dots books we had as kids. At first it was all just a jumble of numbers. But as we connected the first dot to the second, the second to the third... the thirty-seventh to the thirty-eighth, and the thirty-eighth to the thirty-ninth, a picture emerged. It could be anything -- a zebra on a hippo's back, a boy eating an iced candy, a "Keep Off the Grass" sign. But there was always a sense of achievement, once you found the ultimate picture.

Nothing is ever disconnected is it? Some invisible thread from somewhere links us all together. It's a small world, and maybe if we try hard enough, we can have affected everyone living in the world. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." How would you live your very last day on earth? Would you still do what you are doing now?

Would I?

Escaping Through the Window and More

I feel like running away somewhere... Just me and Thomas (my cat) maybe... Just sit somewhere and think about God-knows-what. Thomas does that all day anyway. Maybe I just need a little practice and a lower workload.

Haven't been sitting on my favorite window for two days because of the rains. The rains come down and my window leaks. Sit there for too long while it's raining and you're bound to get wet. It's not raining now so have plonked myself there. I can see so many people just sitting/standing downstairs looking around doing nothing.

There's this man standing next to the egg-store thinking of crossing the road: "Should I cross? Should I just dilly-dally here for a little longer?" I turn my head to look at the fellow sitting outside the dhobi's shop digging his nose. By the time I turn back, the dilly-dallier is gone.

There goes another old man, wheeling his cycle down the road with really heavy-looking bags weighing down his run-down mode of transport. What is the point, I wonder, of having a bicycle if you're not going to ride it? And even before I finish wondering, he's on his bicycle and off to work. I think he's carrying potatoes in those sacks of his.

Have to babysit my baby sister for a while now. It has been two minutes and she is already making a mess. She's opened the jigsaw puzzle box and is creating great chaos on my already messy bed. In twenty minutes I will be chasing her away, and she won't want to go. Threats, shouts, and pleas will follow. And finally I will drag her out of my room and shut my door! As usual!

My boss has been pleased with me for meeting the deadlines this month. Last month everything had been too disorganised. My guess is that he is quite relieved now. "Whew," he must be saying to himself, and flicking away an imaginary sweat drop from his air-conditioned brow. He works very hard; that man really does! Every two days I get a project from him at about 3:23 a.m. in the morning! There's a reason why he's the Boss after all!

....

I'm part of a very noisy family. Taken one by one, we are all quiet fellows and fellees. But put us all together, and get ready for chaos, confusion, and commotion. What with all the screeches and babies dancing in circles and dogs chasing cats and cats stealing bones and people ringing doorbells and dogs barking at the door and people pushing out the dogs to open the door.

Today's a Sunday and I worked all day… and I mean ALL day! One of the side effects of working from home and taking one day off mid-week to go and get sloshed! But I'm free now and am finally feeling like it is Sunday.

The smiley face persists. I hope I don't end up looking like my warped Orkut picture eventually! Yeah… The warped pic has been getting a lot of attention… Far more than my pretty pics do… There really is no accounting for taste these days!!!

Kol is too humid these days. I need to run off to the Alps or something.

And I think I will go and do some serious writing now. Have been pretty lazy of late! Get back to work girl!

It's raining elephants now. This is what I love most about the monsoons. Strong winds. Lots of thunder and lightning. The coolth that the less dramatic seasons lack. My favorite season of the whole year. Makes me want to fly. Sing into the clouds. Dream my secret dream. Sit on the window and just think and do nothing else. The monsoons -- exciting, passionate, alive, angry, intense, magical, dramatic -- I love 'em!

The Complicated Life

Life sure is complicated. And things just never get easy. Just as you walk to the bus stop thinking this is going to be the boring-est day ever.. Heads up! A piano might just fall on your head from some cloud.

That seems to be my state of mind today. Have been in a smiley daze all day. Am just about managing to get out of it. Actually... not quite. I still have the silly smile tugging at my face. I'm trying to keep a straight face. I suspect that the effort is making me look grumpy.

Have had such a great day today. My vaastu is getting back into form I think. And I like it this way. :)

Poojo the Party Animal?

... When did that happen?

Went out clubbing last night. It was Roush's bday. We boozed lots. Broke a glass while dancing. A friend broke another. Someone else mistimed landing his bottle on the table. Eventually emerged out with ringing ears and voices that seemed to emerge from our heads and legs that felt like either jam/jelly/chutney.

I'm very boring when I drink. I don't fight or sing loud or try to climb walls or anything. I feel strange inside my head. But that's about it. I don't talk crap either... except when friends suggest I'm still in love with the one ex that I have managed to get over completely. Then I launch off into 5 minutes of philosophy. But that's about it. And it's no more than 5 minutes.

My life quality has improved suddenly. Yes, I am beginning to get joined to my comp. But I did go on my first date after 2 years. And then suddenly, I was off partying. Again, after 2 long drearily dull years!

But today I'm too tired to do much else other than get joined to the comp again. It's a lot less tiring than a lot of things.

Dopey's Song

Am grumpy. No real reason for grumpiness, except that I'm sleepy. Ooooooh sooooooooo sleeeeeepyyyyyy...

Woke up at 4 this morning to meet a deadline. My fault for thinking "I'll do it tomorrow" on Saturday and Sunday, and actually having to say "I'll do it tomorrow" on Monday! There could be no more "tomorrows" after Tuesday. Must send a mail to the laziness bug:

Dear Lazeee Bug...
Thou cause me to work harder than I should. Will write the remaining complaints tomorrow. Think I'll go and veg out on my window for now.
Luv and Luc
Lazeee Bum

By the way, one of the songs that I sing to entertain myself when I'm down and irritate others when I'm bored is 'Tomorrow' from Annie:

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!

....

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!

I am acting kinda doped. Am feeling doped. But I can't allow myself to sleep before twelve. 10 p.m. seems so early!! I want to finish reading Wodehouse's Pigs Have Wings. I think I've read it before. But I just feel a slight deja vu; it must have been a long long time ago. (Feel almost ancient when I see school kids these days. Though I do get mistaken for one on and off... a cause of both amusement and annoyance depending on my mood).

Enough nonsense I've written. I'm shutting this comp and getting myself to snooze land. ZZZzzzzzzzz.....

Sigh...

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................................................................................ :)

And no more for today!

Overate Again!

I tend to do that often... Eat too much that is. Have just been eating since afternoon. Went and hogged at KFC this afternoon with Ma and Aani.

Then met Madz for "HAPY FRANDSEEP DAY" outing. She forgot to get the band, but gave a gift and a card. How sweet is that! I gave her a smile and that's all. How cheapra is that?! However, I rescued her from her iced tea, and gifted her my masala soda. Such a nice buddy I am sometimes (And also my own greatest fan! :D) After the non-alchoholic booze it was biriyani time. We walked to the biriyani joint, only to be greeted by gone-completely-beserk rain!! But we braved the monsoons and walked on. Stuffed ourselves with biriyani. And then went our ways.

The instant I came home dinner was served. Rolls. I ate again. Watched the middle of KANK. Now catching up on the work i should have gotten over with over the weekend. That's the problem with neing lazy. Deadlines loom larger than ever.

Sigh... I wish I was one of my dogs... spending my days eating, dreaming of chicken bones, staring out of the window, sleeping again... you get the drift.

Chomu Maharaj called. Had been worried that he was pissed with me for not taking his call that one time. Apparently not :D. For those that don't know, Chomu Maharaj is my all-time favorite guy. Ever ready to propose to the next girl he sees. And stealing chicken from whichever idiot looks behind to look at the Red Indian grinning at him. Great cook also. And he sent me a very nice "HAPY FRANDSEEP DAY" message. He deserves this paragraph.

And my life is a true comedy of errors. (This last statement pertaining to only the last hour of today. Will regularly recharge phone card from now on. That's a solemn swear.)

August 4 in Bullet Points

Have done next to nothing today... except:
-chat on and off
-fidget with the blog
-stare at my phone
-try to watch a distant plane with the naked eye
-read Wodehouse's Pigs Have Wings
-chuckle over Wodehouse's Pigs Have Wings
-write two silly kiddy stories (one of which I like)
-worry that I have Monday deadlines to meet
-nag myself to go work on the book
-try to worm out of a meeting with a friend
-decide to not worm out of the same meeting
-decide to break singledom resolution
-be glued to the idiot box to an even more idiotic movie
-curse myself for watching the idiotic movie
-still watch the idiotic movie
-harrass the dogs
-harrass one cat
-irritate two younger sisters
-get irritated with two younger sisters
-fidget with my blog
-get curious about other people's blogs
-remake singledom resolution
-wonder if I should actually break it
-get exhausted by the thought
-complain about the heat
-nag myself to go work on the book (again)
-be laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazyyyyyyyyyyyy
-wish every day could be like this
-mentally hug myself for being such a sweetheart
:D

Update 1 hour later:
-did work on the book
-Mr. Wodehouse helped the writing look more lighthearted, less depressed (Thank God! Was getting quite scared.)
-spoke on the landline after ages

Stage One -- Done!

And Stage 1 of the blog metamorphosis is completed! Sigh... at least it no longer looks like an overweight toad trying to hide on a lilypad. It has now turned into a cute-ish frog.

The next step is to turn it into a prince. (And maybe find one of my own)

Makeover Woe!

I don't know what's wrong with this stupid blog. I changed the template. The settings show that I have changed my template. But the stupid blog remains as stubborn as an ox. It refuses to transform from a dirty ol' toad to a toad with a makeover!!!

Deleting Ugliness

This has to be the ugliest blog in the history of bloggerama! I need to fix it. This has to be the ugliest green. The font is all wrong. There are no pictures. Aaaargh. Ugly! Ugly! Ugly! Ugly! And I am the caretaker of this stupendous ugliness!
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I finally decided to delete somebody from my life. After years of telling myself that people are generally nice... I decided to cut this dumb wannabe dude out of my list of "Nice" people.. and hence, outta my life. (Sounds corny when I write it. Doesn't sound at all corny in my head.)
P.S.: I did hesitate a little before hitting the final delete button.
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My kuttis are sprawled over my bed. One is flat on her back with her legs up in the air. Sigh.. I wish i were a dog.
Change that. I wish I were a famous dog.
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I need to get a boyfriend. Its been ages since i went on a date... Over a year at least. Is it time to break my oath of loyalty to singledom? And who will i break it with? Now that is the real question.
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Getting My Goat!

Some people really get my goat. Insensitivity drives me wild even when I'm in my best moods. Now if only that wasn't just a goat. I wish it was some manic-psychotic, scum-chewing, flesh-pricking ghoul that specialized in bad jokes and smelly farts. Sigh... Then all those insensitive blokes would know better than to get MY goat!!