Quote-Unquote

"If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney

Mental Autopsy (?)

I love myself; it’s a known fact by now. Well, here I am not being my narcissist self. But….

For some time now, I am trying to be with ‘me’ (remember my New Year’s wishes?), spending much time with ‘me’, trying to understand what ‘me’ wants from life. I am walking on the sidelines lest I am pushed into the rat race of life. I am taking time to know how ‘me’ thinks, what 'me' sees, and believes in, and I am giving ‘me’ all the attention rather than getting bulldozed into that high speed track (Oops..I surely have speedo-phobia. Is this a word in Oxford English Dictionary?).

And understanding the inner self is so very rejuvenating. It feels as if I am being born again, all fresh, just out of the womb; pink lungs and rosy cheeks and all that. Ahh!

And here I arrived at a realization. It is difficult to admit things when you see them with a not-so ‘white’ color. Yes, I have arrived at a realization about me. And I think it is always a good idea to talk about it, internalize it rather than hiding or denying it just because we are so very proud to point fingers at our own self. Accept it, it helps!!

And I find my mind play ping-pong between two words: ‘high maintenance’ and ‘difficult’.

The other day I came across an article, thanks to one of my very close friends, and it made me think a lot on the issue. It talked about how our professional and personal successes shape our personalities. I remember doing an extensive research sometime back to understand what it is to be ‘high maintenance’ personality.

I find my mind having a jolly good time playing ping-pong with ‘high maintenance’ and ‘difficult’. Ahem…

I guess, I am analyzing a bit too far and my mind has reached its saturation. I hear ‘me’ saying: ‘I need a break’.

Yes, it’s the right time for one, the weather is just right and my calendar approves my idea as this would be a long weekend indeed and I see a happy looking suitcase waiting for me.

Well, I will be back soon. Till then, see you again!

Quote-Unquote

"The future has a way of arriving unannounced." -George Will

Slice of Life

Something happens when I see this particular shade of dark purple; this shade makes me happy, makes me nostalgic, makes me euphoric, makes me feel the joy from within. I am talking about that particular shade of purple, that Cadbury shade.

At some point of my life Cadbury was synonymous with chocolates before so many other names and colors started to crowd that corner of my refrigerator. Yet, my love for purple..err Cadbury's has not died; I still jump with joy like a child when someone gets me one.

And the other day I was so very happy to find this old advertisement which is off the air now; and I relived those nostalgia and the joyous child in me matched her steps with the girl in the ad.

Such moments are truly a slice of life worth living....umm, I am loving it...the chocolate, I mean!

Condemn Condom

Damn it! Urghh..not again...

I had a very busy week and started another after a fun-filled weekend with..well..less said the better. Ummm, we had a ball..(oops!) at the conference (a lot praises are still pouring in) and after the conference and we heard a lot of stories from everybody. But I am still so very much excited about this one that I thought of sharing it on the blog..(oops, I have not even changed my clothes after the conference..too much of info..err I mean I came straight and logged into my blogspot to draft the story!) and share with you all at one shot...huh!

And now the story: its about my colleague Melissa and her tryst with condom(S) and what fun...ha ha ha. Maybe, you can read it yourself! And know there is someone called 'condom girl'!!

Oops, I did it again..ha ha ha! Melissa, I still cant stop giggling...ha ha ha! What next? caught red handed with samples of female-condom?

I say, "not again"!

Quote- Unquote

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." Mark Twain.

Quote- Unquote

“My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents" - M. K. Gandhi.

Kelvinator

" For your information, I'm staying like this, and everyone else can just get used to it! If people don't like me the way I am, well TOUGH BEANS! It's a free country! I don't need anyone's permission to be the way I want! This is how I am - Take it or leave it! "

Well, so said calvin and I like err.. love the quote.

Handle with Care!

"Handle with care".
This is something I always instruct to the airline personnel while handing over my huge suitcases loaded with...well, just to tickle someone's 'imagination buds', things I often don’t get to see in the stores in my town. And my boxes wear a happy face with lots of 'fragile' stickers on them. And these help me in identifying my luggage when they come rolling down the conveyor belt. It’s kinda routine!!

And so is the case with me, I suppose. Well, I am not talking about luggage or fragile items in my boxes onboard. Its about handling the ‘I-me-myself’.

Its difficult to handle me, that’s what I was told. Well, not too directly actually. A friend brought to my notice an article on a daily about how men are having a tough time handling fragile suitcases…err tough women (yawn, yawn). Oops, I mixed it up again….it shows how much I am in 'travel mode'.

And I do remember a lot of phrases which were coined by people as synonym for ‘I cant handle’ her before flying off the handle. Ha ha ha!! And I know what must have happened when the nicest girl one ever meets can be so difficult to handle….ahem!

Hmmm, I gotta say this one more time as I hand over my suitcase for yet another trip: handling too much, you see! Bon voyage to me!!

Lucky lEAps

Lucky lips are always kissing
Lucky lips are never blue
…. ….. …… …….
.. …… …….
And here I am leaping my way to a vacation
Oops, it’s a leap year too!
(hey, is not that rhyming?)

Someone had not seen an update on my blogspot and as always the ‘pampered-me’ is woo-ed. And it shows.

I am in transit as I draft this post. It reads well past 2 am on the watch on my delicate wrist and I am banging furiously on the keyboard (are you fighting with keyboards, asks another from the other end over a long distance conversation). And I go with the keyboard with break-neck speed sitting in front of an open suitcase. It is lying ajar; a few bottles of gels and creams and a few tubes of lotions are peeping at me from that transparent travel kit. And I could see that yellow sticky glaringly looking at me with a reminder that I have to send a print out to dad to process my application (ahh, hell…I need to hit the button to start printing).

Ufff….multi-tasking at its peak; in leaps and bounds. Music, blogging, phone calls, packing, advance planning, you and I...blah..blah blah...

And I feel lucky (me and not my lips, ouch!) as I ask how many times you have gotten a free vacation? Well, some people are born lucky, isn’t it?

And at last with that lucky…err..happy thought there will be an update on my blogspot. Someone will see an update till I get back with more…what, I ask? More of …well, keep guessing!!

Laa káwn!!

There's something about Rahul.....

He is awesome! And I have been saying this eversince I have seen him.

Well, where? Where else? Onscreen, of course.

Way back as a school girl, on that late-night serial in English which was one of the first English program on Indian Television (read: Doordarshan). And then more prolifically on bigscreen and I guess I have seen him from distance in some event. And I am yet to meet him....

I know what you will say, and I am gonna agree to that. I am crazy for him and its like hero-worshipping this man from Kolkata err Mumbai.

And suddenly I am all so gung-ho about him after his latest offering 'Anuranan'. If I could say, I was salivating with my eyes. His performance was awesome and he so effortlessly went into the skin of an understanding husband, a terrific human being.

Are 'you' really like that off-screen?

I have a feeling you are...dont know why...I gather that feeling from 'Mr and Mrs Iyer', 15 Park Avenue' and Chameli.. Why always I feel so moved every time I watch you onscreen, I wonder whether its to do you or your work or the content of the movie?? I ask why, I feel so very connected deep inside me whenever I set my eyes on you onscreen???

I dont know I could ever meet with him and chat with him and be friends with him...but the woman in me surely loves the Rahul on-screen.

Here's wishing you all the best for life. And I am wishing me luck (dont ask me...wont tell you)!!

And here is a crazy thought: who knows...may be 'you' are reading it....

Would love to meet you in person and talk, discuss and see the real 'you'...

Note for readers: Dont pass it off as some work done under influence, its real and I am all awake, sober, happy-giggly and completely in love with.... And with the load of grey matter I have up there I dont have to churn out 'brainy' stuff all the while. And most importantly, I have all the right to say what I feel...even if that means telling, I love Rahul, I mean Rahul Bose!! At least, it makes sense...And here's this one for one and only: Rahul Bose. Cheers!!

Resonance

“As we pass through the numerous crossroads of life we come

across many who accompany us in this journey of myriad

experiences. Underlying this is a resonance, a chord

which strikes between two people.” Anuranan, Circa 2007

It was a letter, a hand written one with a portrait- a la-Titanic style. And he was trying to make sense taking examples from life’s jigsaw puzzle. Like with a piece in jigsaw many other pieces can be tried but there is just one unique combination that makes it perfect. And before that perfect picture is obtained many combinations can be tried and these are worthwhile. These makes the ‘piece’ more experienced. And there he tells 'her' that not every relation has to have a name.

Such is life. When memories turn olden they become meaningful.

It was when he was zipping through those mustard fields driving that Merc, 'she' was transported to a different place with 'her' eyes glued on the 70mm. Memories of mustard fields from the land of Vikings came alive. But 'she' did wake up at the sight of Big Ben and did realize that was London and he was zipping through the lovely country side of London.

Eto anuranon kano? 'She' asks herself.

The father comes looking for his daughter as she has just moved to the city after staying away for so long and he looks for her and her husband. And he calls for him. 'She' was surprised as that reminded her of a name.

Eto anuranan kano? 'She' asks herself.

While still in front of the 70mm 'her' mind was taking wandering trail through different timezones, different landscapes, different space and time and 'she' did find herself asking:


"Koto anuranan, koto spondon
Koto jigyasha, koto bhalobasha
Somoy egiye jaye, jibon kete jaaye
S(m)riti aar bis(m)riti hoye jaaye ekakar
Ei jibon e koto anuronon, koto spondon" (copyright-Solna)

Fijian Delight

Its so beautiful, so awesomely beautiful. It has to be seen to be believed. He told her. And she nodded in agreement.

Golden Moments

Its a lovely wintry evening and she is heading for some cozy time. It was a busy day and she has been criss crossing the town from the early morning. And something cropped up in her mind and she remembered.....

And the very next moment she finds herself infront of a florist's shop busy selecting flowers...err red roses for a bouquet she wants to make.

A bouquet of red roses: a bouquet which is so precious, an emotional statement, a symbol signifying deep love. She goes around the shop and picks up the best of the bunch. And she instructs the florist as he gathers all the sticks for a nice bouquet.

She gets the bouquet and she heads straight for the occassion.

Its late in the night and she is still up. She is happy and she is wearing that enchanting smile. O'lala a...and after a hearty meal she goes to bed happily admiring the everlasting bond playing with her unruly locks which is shining with some silver lining...and she hums the 'everlasting....

On her bed, in her cozy room she is admiring the love, the bond the old couple has been sharing for so long. A life full of togetherness in all the twists and turns life has taken. She is mersmerized in her thoughts as she admires the old couple she shares her life and soul with. The same couple who brought her on this earth.

Bon Anniversaire!! Love you for everything my old couple...

Nostalgic Hallucination

It’s been a week now- seven long days since she had sore throat; seven days since she had flu. It has been seven days she has been asking why life presents such occasions.

It’s been seven days since she saw him last. She saw him from distance in that foggy morning; she found him standing just in front of her office. Yes, it was him, so unmistakably him! And it’s been seven years since she first saw him.

And it’s been seven days she is living in daze (this has nothing to do with foggy mornings, though!).

She thinks aloud in the middle of a busy day in her new office space, a dark (read no sunlight) room which she turned into a lovely work-station (thanks to her sense of harmony and creative ideas) which is doing rounds in her office building (that landmark building everyone wants to get into) and making a few colleagues to land up for inspection (or for inspiration, who knows?). And in her new husky voice (thanks to that recent flu she had) she ponders (as she discusses with another friend) whether finding him at her office gate was a coincidence or part of some plan. And more she thinks about it more surprised she gets.

Her mind laden in nostalgia and emotion takes her to the time when she would plan a rendezvous with him when one such was unthinkable and she would silently long for a meeting. And now, when a surprise meeting is taking place there is no splash of emotion…how things change, how we change….And she pinches herself.

Yes, you can’t act here, there are certain things which are spontaneous and they cannot be forced upon. There are certain things which are mutual and cannot be felt otherwise. And there are times one just forgets to respond. And she learnt that a week ago in that foggy morning in front of that pathway strewn with lilies and tulips.

Frozen mind and foggy vision.

It’s been seven days since. Seven days. Seven is such a mysterious number, oops…

reNEWal

A new year has begun and this has been really a new year for her already. So many "new" things has rolled into her life.... and most importantly, a new SHE!

This is no surprise, a renewal was long overdue and she is happy to undergo a transformation: in mind, body and soul..well...no comments on the last! Not in a position to comment. She knows for sure her body is behaving in a 'new' fashion as every time she walks like a child (read...running while walking) her bones tell her to 'walk like a lady'!
Well, age is catching up...Is it?? Her mind does not seem to agree to what her body tries to tell. And still she goes on talking all gibberish like a teenager when she meets her group of friends. She talks non-stop and does not mind even if she is labeled 'the most talkative'. She does not feel embarrassed as she does not take her age seriously and still goes on the way she used to be in her tunics.
Here she remembers what she was told by an old friend when they connected on the New Year: "Oh, you are still the same, same old madcap. And you still giggle non-stop. Don’t feel bad if people think its funny. Don’t change yourself." And she thinks for a while and tears roll down her eyes, big, bright eyes.

May be, its time to CHANGE- Änderung-Changement- and call for a reNEWal.

Change is the name of the game and this is the reality of life.

PHYPA WEN RYEA!

It has been a hectic month and I could not really spend much time with my blogspot for a while now. But what I can gather looking at the calendar that this would very well be the last post I would be writing this year unless I have a change of heart before midnight and write another. But, it seems unlikely as I am running late already for, first, a birthday party and then the New Year eve party and I don’t take things for granted when it comes to dressing up for an occasion, you see!

So here's wishing a brand new year, a very successful and bright, a very fulfilling and satisfying year for all of you. Wishing peace and prosperity; joy and happiness; smiling faces and laughter; strength in the tiring times; and will power to stay put when things look gloomy and dark. And much more of 'me-time' and lotsa time to discover yourself to know the real 'YOU'.

And here I remember a saying which is so very meaningful to me: 'Success is a journey not a destination' and similarly I put it for life: its a journey, its about growth and the name of the game is to go on and not stop as its more than just reaching a destination.

Let’s say cheers to the New Year as we pop the bubbly.........PHYPA WEN RYEA!!!!! Hic hic....that’s all jumbled up as I try to say ....(may be I am already drunk)....HNY!

Saying Goodbye!

Just the other day I was discussing ‘this’ when I and a friend (the most down to earth guy I know for all his successes) decided to catch a movie to treat our eyes after treating ourselves leisurely over a lunch and some Australian wine.

That was a luxury for me. First I was at home all by myself and not traveling. And then it was a Sunday, a nice wintry December Sunday afternoon. And then the movie was a true blue bollywood blockbuster and a chartbuster of the season.

While we were casually chatting about the directorial lapses, and exchanging some such critical bytes after the movie we did touch upon the changing cityscape. How this city is transforming day by day which is almost like desperately going under plastic surgeon’s knives. And how multiplexes are becoming a big time favorite with the common people and the businessmen and the people in power alike. And how old cinema halls are standing like a sore point in this oh-so perfect hairline…err…cityscape.

As if someone heard us talking about it and lo and behold…almost in a few days I read an announcement with a heavy heart that this much loved movie hall, a classy address would soon go under the bulldozers to make one of those huge malls with multiplexes. One of those places where you don’t have to plan for a movie as one of those would anyway be showing what you want to watch just when one is in the mood. These days multiplexes are giving such options that planning for a movie sounds oh-so old-fashioned! Life is becoming oh-so convenient!

Chanakya theatre would not be there in future. The name which is synonymous with movie outings from childhood. It also meant good momos any time of the year. And it meant a convenient landmark where people from different parts of the city could gather when we plan re-unions and catch a movie over some yummy kebabs and entertaining bytes from friends. A lot of nostalgia of those idyllic moments spent would be bulldozed along with the movie hall.

For me at this point, it’s an end of a nice hang-out spot. And its end of a year as well which brought much changes and new beginnings. Hope Chanakya also gets a new beginning in future.

And I thank my friend for mentioning about a movie that Sunday while I was happily sipping that exotic variant from Oz or else I would have missed an opportunity to catch a movie at Chanakya one last time. Do I really have enough time to catch another before it shuts down for ever, may be Will Smith’s latest…err I am legend, what do you think?

Speak Up!

Speak up. Say it loud and clear. It helps.

It helps as it does not keep a residue within your mind and you don’t get to hold your grudges for long. It helps as the other gets to understand your point of view and indirectly helps you resolving the matter, if that is so. Or otherwise it gives you an idea what to do next. It helps a great deal.

This is about one of my friends, a female whom I had met many moons ago at work and became friends, became almost like a family. And she would always be loving and polite and would take me as I am without any offence. She would never feel bad when I would correct her or for that matter advise her or rebuke her. I knew she likes me for my point of view and for my clarity. And this way I had become part of many discussions and her family.

But I used to get troubled at times as much of the times she would not mind my blunt ways. I had uneasy moments after commenting harshly sometimes which would make me think for sometime but I still spoke my mind all the time knowing how close we are.

But I do not have to feel bad again. She spoke up.

I am happy that she spoke up. She said the way her mind told her and she did not bother to think how I would feel. Somewhere it was not a good feeling but at a different level I felt she is no more that meek and indecisive person any more. And somewhere I felt good as now I don’t have to tell her the way I think about things she does and now she knows and she would not ask another for decision. I will feel less guilty after I speak my mind.

Well, I will remain the way I am anyway, some things just don’t change! Except one thing- my admiration for her. Now I admire her more than before.

Hey ‘you’, thanks for that verbal ‘deuce’ you lobbed at my court the other day, honestly it felt good. It’s good to be open and say things the way it is and I like it this way!
And it’s good to see some changes at least. And you scored a point there!

Will you find HappYness?

I am a morning person and I am at my creative best when its sunrise time and I am at my productive best in the morning. And today was no different and I had to put an imaginary lid on the pot where all the thoughts were brewing for my next blog, for the recipe I would try tonight, the dress I would wear over the weekend when I attend that reception and things like that.
And then there were influences all around, we humans are just like blotting papers at soaking up ideas, moods, and vibes; only difference being we can regulate our selection unlike a sheet of blotting paper which without failure would soak anything it is thrown on!

Well, to tell you the gist there were a good number of influences around me this morning which triggered my thinking process on this blog, and it was at that time when the daily planner at my desk was flashing a colorful collage!

First it was Will Smith, (this man is surely addictive) and then the film called The Pursuit of Happyness and then that sudden encounter with that bitchy colleague of mine, and the group discussion at work as we are planning to relocate our office space and then….well, that’s something within my mind which got into that ‘deep thinking’ mode!

And I was thinking how tough it is to be humble and be genuine about it.

In this competitive world its difficult to scarf insecurities and often the inner bitch peeps out and we transmit a vibe unknowingly. I feel it’s a great quality to be humble when you are sitting at the highest rung of that ladder. And only those could flash it genuinely who have reached there after traveling rough patches in life. It shows through your eyes, through your actions, voice AND you can’t act there.

We all are running in this game of life, whatever is our goal, however successful we are, wherever on the ladder we are placed. Running is the name of the game. And we do it, its habit, you know it or not.

And there I read this: "I couldn't tell you that we were homeless, I just knew that we were always having to go. So, if anything, I remember us just moving, always moving". That’s what Chris Gardner tells when asked about his life on which the film is based played by Will Smith.

Wish we knew its just so for everyone: YOU, I and everyone, may be it’s a different track, on a different lane. So gear up, on your mark…GET-SET...and Goooooooooo