This one was written when our first set of grandpuppies was born in April this year. I just couldn't gather the enthusiasm to put this up so far. Anyhoo...
Easter Sunday brought the best gifts I have ever received. I had called Phoebe into our bed in the early hours of the morning. She was panting heavily and I thought being with us would soothe her. I knew she would deliver soon, and was lazing in bed thinking of taking her for a round of pee so that she would be free to give birth. We woke to a wet spot on the bed, realizing that the first pup was on its way. By the time we could gather our wits, the boy was out and Phoebe had freed him of the cord. I barked instructions at the hubs to gather the supplies I should have kept ready in the first place. The mat and a bedsheet were placed on our bed just in time for the second one's arrival. It was a girl followed by another one. I called my animal-loving-soul-sister Apu to let her know that the most awaited event of this month was happening in my bed :P
Before the next one came, we moved Phoebe and the first-borns to her whelping area.
The fourth pup was a boy after which there was a gap in which Phoebe could rest a bit. Then came two girls in quick succession. Sadly, the sixth one was a stillborn. Phoebe licked it a lot trying to revive it, but it was clear that the pup probably never matured enough to be born alive. It was ghostly pale, as opposed to the others who were a very healthy shade of pink. We left the girl on a piece of paper on a table nearby. It took a while for the seventh one, a girl, to arrive, and Phoebe gladly had some water in the meantime. I had a hunch that the litter wasn't complete yet, so we stayed put in the whelping area. Soon enough, the last one arrived, another girl.
While the litter was making its way into this world, I kept helping Phoebe every chance I could... tearing off a couple of pups' protective sacs and helping them breathe. It just felt so... right. My girl did her job beautifully--tore off the sacs, cut the cord at just the right length, licked the pups clean and kept an eye out for intruders. Her instincts continue to amaze us. Mojo was pretty confused and kept popping in to quench his curiosity, but always remained at a cautious distance. The darling never troubled Phoebe in any manner. Maybe he dared not ;-)
When sufficient time had elapsed, I took Phoebe out for a walk, which was more like a mad dash to the road and back. She kept barking loudly at me, as if to tell me that we have to hurry. Maybe that's how they protect their young ones... by creating enough ruckus to ward off predators. She peed and pooped right in the middle of the street--quite unlike her--and ran back up the stairs at lightening speed.
I could have sat there all the time, but Apu called to say she was coming right over from Mumbai before she could even get home. Thanks to her, I gathered my wits, cleaned up a bit (thanks a bunch to the hubs for being so quick when it mattered, muuuuahh!) and even managed to have a bath in time. Apu and her husband could adore the pups only after Phoebe stopped barking in their face and settled down realizing that they meant no harm. Mojo had his fill of jumping around and running batshit crazy when they entered the door. This was the only time he got any attention that day. Except for the occasional appreciative nod and touch when hubs and I cooed over how non-nuisancy he was today.
I took Phoebe for a couple more poop-n-pee sprints, and then she had a few morsels of food at night, right beside the pups. Not being in that room was unbearable for her. Because the work week would begin the next day, I did not let hubs sleep in Phoebe's room. And rightly so. The little critters kept me up all night with their squealing. Although I did enjoy that too.
Showing posts with label Synchronicity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Synchronicity. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, March 08, 2010
I'll miss you, Robin
My manager had been battling ALS since the past few months. She fought bravely and refused to quit working and supporting her team. It was inspiring to see her. One of my regrets in life will be not getting to speak to her before she passed away.
I'll miss you, Robin, your leadership, your courage, your quick decision-making ability, your insights, your appreciation, all that made you such a wonderful manager. I guess it stems from being such a good person inside. I'm glad to have been associated with you. May your soul be in peace.
I remember feeling down in the dumps on a morning this weekend. It was soon after the unfortunate event. I'd like to believe it's the cosmic connection. Adios, brave woman.
I'll miss you, Robin, your leadership, your courage, your quick decision-making ability, your insights, your appreciation, all that made you such a wonderful manager. I guess it stems from being such a good person inside. I'm glad to have been associated with you. May your soul be in peace.
I remember feeling down in the dumps on a morning this weekend. It was soon after the unfortunate event. I'd like to believe it's the cosmic connection. Adios, brave woman.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Patterns and numbers
I just noticed that my number of blog posts
... in the first year
= p1 = 12
... in the second year
= p2 = p1 x 2 + 2 = 26
... in the third year
= p3 = p2 x 2 + 4 = 56
If the pattern continues
... in the fourth year
= p4 = p3 x 2 + 6 (or 8, I could twist it the way I want ;-))
... which means I could write 118 or 120 posts this year. Hmm. I hope they aren't all fake posts like this one.
Also, the pattern will surely not continue the next year onwards, 'coz there's no way I can write 256 posts in a year. Well, unless I decide to write about the number of boogers I pick in a day, or day to day reports about the quality of my dogs' poop, or the decibel levels achieved when squabbling with the hubby (did I beat my mother's score yet?).
... in the first year
= p1 = 12
... in the second year
= p2 = p1 x 2 + 2 = 26
... in the third year
= p3 = p2 x 2 + 4 = 56
If the pattern continues
... in the fourth year
= p4 = p3 x 2 + 6 (or 8, I could twist it the way I want ;-))
... which means I could write 118 or 120 posts this year. Hmm. I hope they aren't all fake posts like this one.
Also, the pattern will surely not continue the next year onwards, 'coz there's no way I can write 256 posts in a year. Well, unless I decide to write about the number of boogers I pick in a day, or day to day reports about the quality of my dogs' poop, or the decibel levels achieved when squabbling with the hubby (did I beat my mother's score yet?).
Friday, September 04, 2009
There's no hope for me
"It is by not always thinking of yourself, if you can manage it, that you might somehow be happy. Until you make room in your life for someone as important to you as yourself, you will always be searching and lost."
~ The Bridge Across Forever
~ Richard Bach
[Obviously, the emphasis is mine.]
~ The Bridge Across Forever
~ Richard Bach
[Obviously, the emphasis is mine.]
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Dear Richard Bach
I've thought about writing to you countless times, but I never really could string my words together. As I woke up in the middle of the night, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I had a sudden urge to read Jonathan Livingston Seagull all over again. I frantically searched through my cupboard, and was disappointed to not find it there.
And then I saw the Messiah's Handbook. I'm always at a loss for good questions at such times. I think I asked "Do I still have any love left inside me?" I think I meant "Am I capable of being in love again?" This was my answer: "What if all these levels inside you are your friends, and they know a lot more than you know? What if your teachers are here, right now? Instead of always talking, what if for a change you listen?"--I want to! But at the moment I have so many thoughts buzzing inside my head that I need to get them out to feel calm again.
[Incidentally, I also found some verses I wrote a couple of months ago and this answer also addresses the same!]
Every time I wake up like this, thinking of you, or with an urge to read your words, I am a bit spooked. I wonder why this happens, and I imagine having a direct connection with you, and I worry, is everything OK with you? I have goosebumps every time I think that some day you will pass on from this world. Although we've never met/spoken, there's this strong bond I feel, which makes me sad at the thought of no longer having you around.
So, before the possibility of you reading this is forever lost, here's what I needed to say:
Thank you! Thanks for being what you are and sharing your thoughts with us. As innumerable people must have said before: your words have had a huge impact on my life. They've helped me through many rough times, and have given me profound joy and peace whenever I felt I was losing faith in my self.
[My mind went blank for a while here.]
I've been wanting to meet you, knowing fully well that there is nothing I could contribute to your life. I only wanted to express my gratitude, but I know I would have been at a loss of words in your presence. So here it is: thanks a million for existing during my time on earth :)
Love and regards,
Pallavi
PS: After I wrote it all out, I asked "Will this ever reach Richard?" To which, I got "Know that ever about you stands the reality of love, and each moment you have the power to transform the world by what you have learned." You did really hear my first question, didn't you?
And then I saw the Messiah's Handbook. I'm always at a loss for good questions at such times. I think I asked "Do I still have any love left inside me?" I think I meant "Am I capable of being in love again?" This was my answer: "What if all these levels inside you are your friends, and they know a lot more than you know? What if your teachers are here, right now? Instead of always talking, what if for a change you listen?"--I want to! But at the moment I have so many thoughts buzzing inside my head that I need to get them out to feel calm again.
[Incidentally, I also found some verses I wrote a couple of months ago and this answer also addresses the same!]
Every time I wake up like this, thinking of you, or with an urge to read your words, I am a bit spooked. I wonder why this happens, and I imagine having a direct connection with you, and I worry, is everything OK with you? I have goosebumps every time I think that some day you will pass on from this world. Although we've never met/spoken, there's this strong bond I feel, which makes me sad at the thought of no longer having you around.
So, before the possibility of you reading this is forever lost, here's what I needed to say:
Thank you! Thanks for being what you are and sharing your thoughts with us. As innumerable people must have said before: your words have had a huge impact on my life. They've helped me through many rough times, and have given me profound joy and peace whenever I felt I was losing faith in my self.
[My mind went blank for a while here.]
I've been wanting to meet you, knowing fully well that there is nothing I could contribute to your life. I only wanted to express my gratitude, but I know I would have been at a loss of words in your presence. So here it is: thanks a million for existing during my time on earth :)
Love and regards,
Pallavi
PS: After I wrote it all out, I asked "Will this ever reach Richard?" To which, I got "Know that ever about you stands the reality of love, and each moment you have the power to transform the world by what you have learned." You did really hear my first question, didn't you?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Stealing a bloggie game / tag / meme / whatever-you-call-it
... for the first time ever, from Double-Dolphin, my one and only commenter for the past few months. Thanks for this, dude! I sooooooooo wanted to do a fun post today. So here goes...
Here are the rules:
did could do:
But some of the quotes do make a meaningful / fun poem when mashed up together like this:
A verbal contract isn't worth a good five-cent nickel! Beat that!!
...and what can I say, I'm very mythical :) (Line 3, you dummies!)
AGO S.I
Everything in the world may be endured
as much as you please
No matter how rich you become
you are disbelieved
A myth is a religion in which
you don't stop biting your fingernails
A verbal contract isn't worth
a good five-cent nickel
You can observe a lot
that would suffice
as much as you please
No matter how rich you become
you are disbelieved
A myth is a religion in which
you don't stop biting your fingernails
A verbal contract isn't worth
a good five-cent nickel
You can observe a lot
that would suffice
Here are the rules:
- Go to wikipedia
- Hit "random"or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
- Set the title of the first random wikipedia article that appears as the title of your poem
- Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
- Select the first three or five words of the very first quote on the page for the first line of your poem
- Select the last three or five words of the next quote on the page for the second line of your poem
- Select the first three or five words of the third quote on the page for the third line
- ...and then use alternate quotes until you’ve made it to the last quote
- Go to flickr and click on "explore the last seven days" or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
- The fifth picture, no matter what it is, should be your poem image; this is optional
- Accessed to wikipedia
- Clicked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
- Set the title of the first random wikipedia article that appeared as the title of my poem
- Clicked http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
- Used the first
three or fivefew suitable words of the very first quote on the page for the first line of my poem - Used the last
three or fivefew suitable words of the next quote on the page for the second line of my poem - Used the first
three or fivefew suitable words of the third quote on the page for the third line of my poem - ...and then used alternate quotes until I made it to the last quote
- Flickr and Picasa are both banned in my office, and so are most of the picture / photo websites
- ... so I simply used a picture that I had just
stolendownload from my arty friend's blog this week, because I wanted a picture even though this was optional
But some of the quotes do make a meaningful / fun poem when mashed up together like this:
A verbal contract isn't worth a good five-cent nickel! Beat that!!
...and what can I say, I'm very mythical :) (Line 3, you dummies!)
Beautiful quote(s)
... that I came across when I was hunting for Calligraphy courses online.
"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value."
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection."
~ Thomas Paine
I don't whether they were quoted in continuation, but they do seem to go together.
(Hubs, you got to think about the second one.)
"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value."
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection."
~ Thomas Paine
I don't whether they were quoted in continuation, but they do seem to go together.
(Hubs, you got to think about the second one.)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Belated wishes for a long-lost friend
Almost a week ago, on Feb 21st, me and hubby happened to go out and have chhole-bhature. While waiting for the food to arrive, I narrated to him the story of my school lunch times.
I had a friend named Jasmine, who used to bring the world's most amazing puri-bhaaji in her tiffin. She used to like the pohe mom sent along in my tiffin. So, when this combination occurred, we used to simply switch tiffins and gobble up the goodies.
Although we were part of a 20-strong gang of girls from our division, Jasmine and I always had lunch by ourselves--for all the 3 years that we shared our school life. I think we gravitated towards each other because we had both transferred to Mt. Carmel from other schools. During the last year though, her ex-schoolmate Gita (now Carmeltie) used to join us. I was sometimes jealous because of their comfort level with each other ;-)
Anyway, the point is, I thought about Jasmine after a long time on Feb 21st, which was her birthday. I realized this coincidence only a few days later. Somehow I do remember her birthday, and although I haven't met her in years, every time I pass by the area where she lived, I feel tempted to go check whether I can trace her back.
Dear Jassi, wherever you are, I wish you a very happy birthday and a fun-filled life. Lotsa love.
I had a friend named Jasmine, who used to bring the world's most amazing puri-bhaaji in her tiffin. She used to like the pohe mom sent along in my tiffin. So, when this combination occurred, we used to simply switch tiffins and gobble up the goodies.
Although we were part of a 20-strong gang of girls from our division, Jasmine and I always had lunch by ourselves--for all the 3 years that we shared our school life. I think we gravitated towards each other because we had both transferred to Mt. Carmel from other schools. During the last year though, her ex-schoolmate Gita (now Carmeltie) used to join us. I was sometimes jealous because of their comfort level with each other ;-)
Anyway, the point is, I thought about Jasmine after a long time on Feb 21st, which was her birthday. I realized this coincidence only a few days later. Somehow I do remember her birthday, and although I haven't met her in years, every time I pass by the area where she lived, I feel tempted to go check whether I can trace her back.
Dear Jassi, wherever you are, I wish you a very happy birthday and a fun-filled life. Lotsa love.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Lucky 'levens
February 11 seems to be a day of significance for me or people I like(d).
This day, 14 years ago, I met my first boyfriend (whom I totally disliked then, btw, just like I do now).
Today, I helped ("pushed," to put it in his words) my lovely hubby earn 11 grand before 11 am on the National Stock Exchange :D (and I'm still gloating about it)!
This is also the day when The Redneck Mommy is going to meet her new son for the very first time. I'm soooooooooo happy for her and Boo, Fric, and Frac. Congratulations, you beautiful people!
Pssst! And guess what? This is my 111th post :D I'll be grinning for the rest of the day. She'll understand why.
This day, 14 years ago, I met my first boyfriend (whom I totally disliked then, btw, just like I do now).
Today, I helped ("pushed," to put it in his words) my lovely hubby earn 11 grand before 11 am on the National Stock Exchange :D (and I'm still gloating about it)!
This is also the day when The Redneck Mommy is going to meet her new son for the very first time. I'm soooooooooo happy for her and Boo, Fric, and Frac. Congratulations, you beautiful people!
Pssst! And guess what? This is my 111th post :D I'll be grinning for the rest of the day. She'll understand why.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The witness
A fun conversation from How Long Till My Soul Gets It Right by Robert M. Alter and Jane Alter (Yes, that's my current dig. Apart from Through Time Into Healing by Dr. Brian L. Weiss.)...
"I had so many thoughts, feelings, and scenarios playing through my mind during meditation that I couldn't meditate at all."
"How do you know you had all those thoughts, feelings, and scenarios playing through your mind?"
"What do you mean?"
"Who knows, and is able to report to me, that you had all those thoughts, feelings, and scenarios playing through your mind?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Are you confused right now?"
"Yes."
"How do you know you're confused? Who knows that you're confused?"
"I do."
"You know that you're confused?"
"Yes."
"And who's reporting it to me?"
"I am."
"And what are you reporting that you know?"
"That I'm confused."
"Who's 'I'?"
"I am."
"And you're confused?"
"Yes."
"I thought you just said you're the one who knows that you're confused."
"I do."
"Well, which is it? Are you the one who's confused or are you the one who knows he's confused?"
"I am confused, but I also know that I'm confused."
"Then you're two beings. You're what you are, which right now is confused, and you're also something inside that seems to know what you are, and that knower is not confused."
Of course, the response was: "Now I'm really confused." But the point is the previous statement. So perfectly put!
Also, as I was typing this, the conversation somehow reminded me of the twisted yet amazingly simple style of Joseph Heller in Catch 22. Not that the books are comparable. Just the way he presents his scenes from every character's perspective. I couldn't complete that book in one go. I guess I picked it at the wrong time--when I was busy preparing for my wedding, and during all the train travel involved. But, another try shall be made some day.
"I had so many thoughts, feelings, and scenarios playing through my mind during meditation that I couldn't meditate at all."
"How do you know you had all those thoughts, feelings, and scenarios playing through your mind?"
"What do you mean?"
"Who knows, and is able to report to me, that you had all those thoughts, feelings, and scenarios playing through your mind?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Are you confused right now?"
"Yes."
"How do you know you're confused? Who knows that you're confused?"
"I do."
"You know that you're confused?"
"Yes."
"And who's reporting it to me?"
"I am."
"And what are you reporting that you know?"
"That I'm confused."
"Who's 'I'?"
"I am."
"And you're confused?"
"Yes."
"I thought you just said you're the one who knows that you're confused."
"I do."
"Well, which is it? Are you the one who's confused or are you the one who knows he's confused?"
"I am confused, but I also know that I'm confused."
"Then you're two beings. You're what you are, which right now is confused, and you're also something inside that seems to know what you are, and that knower is not confused."
Of course, the response was: "Now I'm really confused." But the point is the previous statement. So perfectly put!
Also, as I was typing this, the conversation somehow reminded me of the twisted yet amazingly simple style of Joseph Heller in Catch 22. Not that the books are comparable. Just the way he presents his scenes from every character's perspective. I couldn't complete that book in one go. I guess I picked it at the wrong time--when I was busy preparing for my wedding, and during all the train travel involved. But, another try shall be made some day.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Serendipity
...was aired this evening
...four years after first hearing about the film, yearning to watch it, and not being able to
...this very evening!!
This is either the best example of mixed signals that the universe throws at us, or probably the most clear signal I've ever received.
'Nuff said!
...four years after first hearing about the film, yearning to watch it, and not being able to
...this very evening!!
This is either the best example of mixed signals that the universe throws at us, or probably the most clear signal I've ever received.
'Nuff said!
Monday, February 02, 2009
Lesson of the day - I
This morning, as I switched on my workstation, I failed to notice that the keyboard was kept on the table as opposed to the keyboard trolley where it is normally placed. I went to the pantry to fetch some water, and when I got back, I noticed the logon screen. As I pulled out the trolley to type in my credentials, I noticed that the keyboard was not in there, but above it, where it should have caught my eye. My immediate thoughts were: "Who the hell left it up here? Must have been the cleaning guys. Nutjobs. Can't even remember to put things back in place."
Then, as I typed in the credentials and the default startup applications were busy loading, it occurred to me that the keyboard was there for a reason--to remind me that I need to login before heading out to fill my water bottle, so that by the time I come back, the computer is ready to take my commands. Drat! There goes my chance of being a private detective. I could not even detect a bloody misplaced keyboard.
Then, as I typed in the credentials and the default startup applications were busy loading, it occurred to me that the keyboard was there for a reason--to remind me that I need to login before heading out to fill my water bottle, so that by the time I come back, the computer is ready to take my commands. Drat! There goes my chance of being a private detective. I could not even detect a bloody misplaced keyboard.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
'Twas time to Goa
...this past weekend, with very little planning. If I ignore the fact that I had arranged for my mom to come there from Bangalore by train a couple of days before and stay on after we left (which included booking a bus ticket and then canceling it and then booking the train tickets). And also the fact that my uncle wanted to join us but had to let it pass, because he had to report to work, which is why my aunt could tag along. Her son was supposed to join us, but declined at the last moment (although he wanted us to pay for his fuel so that he could ride his bike alongside us; bugger). Anyway, we surfaced calmly from all that confusion and hit the road at 2:00 pm on Friday.
We were to follow our neighbor M, who has a home in Goa that he visits frequently. The dude being an ex-airforce person, was probably finding it difficult to restrain himself at ground speed. Which is what I offer as explanation for his Hyundai Getz (1086 cc) being unfollowable by our Maruti Alto (796). Or it could be that his is the Prime make (1341 cc) which is way beyond what we can dream of beating. (Of course I want a better car now! Not larger, just better. Something like Maruti Estillo would do--although I hated its shape initially.) The bugger would hit the brake in traffic and then zoom away in microseconds while we only kept hoping that our little car would pick up enough speed in time to spot him while he navigates the next turn. We didn't see him for about 150-200 kms, which is a little less than half the journey.
To spice things up a bit, I dropped hubby's phone while we made the first halt for tea. Someone spotted that, picked up the phone and rang the last dialed number. It turned out to be my aunt's who was with us. We didn't mind waiting for half an hour for the blessed soul to come by and hand the phone over to us. Hubby was fuming, a tad mildly, but all was soon forgotten, because we HAD TO keep M in sight. Soon after the sunset we left the highway and turned to the villages-and-ghats section of the road. It was pitch dark in a few minutes, and the absence of street lights made it even more difficult. But that was for M, not for us. All we had to do was switch off our brains and pursue him. I was struggling to not let any other vehicle come in between us, because if we missed him for about 4 seconds and he took a turn before we saw him, we'd be lost in the wilderness for good. The network coverage wasn't too good obviously, so he couldn't reach us if he noticed that we were no longer at his tail.
M must have been zooming past 90 kmph on those treacherous roads, because I often had to push beyond 80 to keep up with him. However, I was enjoying the ordeal thoroughly, and so were hubby and my aunt. We were entertaining ourselves with stories and jokes about other people, because we didn't have to give a dang about whether we were going in the right direction. M was our God at the moment. Anyway. We reached Vasco, our destination, around 10:45 pm, and had to part ways because M's home was in a slightly different direction. I went ahead for about 3 kms and noticed a certain building that made me jump. I had no visual memory, but the name struck me as something I heard from my childhood stories that my aunts keep narrating every few months. I immediately knew where we were and where we had to go. In another 20 minutes we were home, luggage and all.
We spent the night at our old landlord's place (where I lived as a child). It was a bad night for me, because the mosquitoes attacked me like they were my soulmates from a past life. What else could it be? They left the rest of the people in the house alone! Grrr.
So. Morning dawned and we had some more conversations with our host about our memorable stay there, more than two decades back. It mostly consisted of my pranks and how I thought I ruled the place. We then headed out to explore whatever we could, without being baked in the sun. Here are some pictures...
After lunch, we headed to this district called Ponda, which houses the Mangeshi temple. Mom and aunt went ahead to the main temple, while and a hubby sat in the cool shade of another small adjacent temple. The journey was interesting. We missed a turn just before every destination, and had to turn back a few hundred meters to reach the correct spot. But it was fun! We even had sugarcane juice before we went to the wax museum!
Once the temple visit was done, we headed southwards to find the Colva beach. We had bought a map as soon as we headed out in the morning, and were doing a great job of navigating with its help, except for spots that weren't marked clearly. It was the best me and hubby ever coordinated at driving.
We walked along the shallow coast for a while, ignoring the life gaurds' announcements asking everyone to stay clear of the waters past sunset. Then we lay on the sand for a bit, while mom and aunt had a little nap. We were exhausted by the time we reached home, but we all enjoyed the Baskin' and Robbins ice-cream we took along for our host.
Hubs and I woke up at 5:00 the next morning, changed and rushed to the nearest beach--Bogmalo. It was still dark, and we tentatively stepped into the water, a bit scared when waves crashed loudly and unexpectedly. We were surprised at the warmth of the water and then spent the next hour or so walking in knee-deep water along the shore. Once the sun came up and lit the waters and people started trickling in, we locked the car keys into our finger rings and dived in. To put it in hubs' words, for the next hour or so, we were experiencing weightlessness. That lasted only until the moment we decided to walk out of the water. Then, we were almost drooped with the weight of the seawater in an on us. Needless to say, I involuntarily gulped in a few sips of water through my nose when a couple of unexpected waves pulled me in. The fun part was the feeling of being pushed and pulled by the huge waves--this particular beach was deeper than Colva--you just had to walk in about 7 or 8 feet to be fully immersed.
When we felt a bit satisfied with all the soaking and sinking, and it was time to return, we dried ourselves by the car. Hubby changed in a lonely spot, but I was too impatient to change. So I warpped the front seat with plastic and drove us home. We had to rush through bath and breakfast so we could move on to the next destination: Panaji. Our next hosts were the landlady's son and his family. They live in a prime area of Goa's capital amidst bungalows of politicians and rich people in general. Their own bungalow is pretty well done. I'd posted one of its pictures earlier. Upon reaching there, we spent a while indoors, chit-chatting, and then left for the Dona Paula beach.
It was a bad decision. It was sweltering hot outside, and we spent 20 minutes finding a space to park. To top it, there was no direct access to the water. People could only walk up and down a ramp. As soon as I parked, I bathed in the sunscreen lotion, but I think it had an adverse effect. I felt my skin burning more than ever. Nevertheless, the little market distracted me, and I ended up buying a couple of trousers.
We learned from that experience and headed straight home, abandoning the plan to visit another beach before lunch. It felt so nice to change into cooler clothes and spread out on the sofas and watch TV for while. After a while we had lunch and then napped. It was 5:30 pm by the time we freshned up, had tea, changed and stepped out again. Not such a good time to leave, because it took us about an hour to reach the next beach: Vagator. Our host led us through roads where we saw signposts for almost all north-Goa beaches but went towards none. We thought he was about to take us back home after showing only the signposts. That's when we turned in to the parking lot of the Vagator beach.
This one was shallow, like Colva, and we'd reached there a few minutes after sunset. With no enthusiasm left for clicking pictures, all we did was walk amidst knee-deep water. Then we stood rooted to a spot for a long time, trying to see how long it would take for us to be sucked into the earth, due to the sand beneath our feet being carried away with each wave. In about 1o minutes I was a foot underground. Then, for a while, I let people go their own way and stole a few minutes for myself to talk to the powers that be--for a safe trip so far, a comfortable stay, and the great time hubby was having.
We decided to dine outside, and went to the Delhi Durbar restaurant on M. G. Road. (I just looked it up. We're just not ready to go beyond M. G., C. S., J. N., and I. G., are we? [Only Indians will understand what I'm talking about; if you are one, and if you don't, well, I can simply conclude that you were extremely poor at History. :P]) The food was okay and our hosts were urging us to have more, all the while stuffing themselves. That was the only point where I had to control my sarcasm and not point out how they really needed to eat less, and leave us alone--as it is we are carrying an average teenager's extra weight as a couple (meaning, between me and hubs, we have about 25-30 kilos extra).
Anyway, I also picked up a bottle of port wine (Vini Cola) for a friend, before we turn to go back home. On the way, we made a pit stop at Miramar beach, just to fill up our quota of beaches, and because the night air was so tempting. It was another couple of hours before we actually got to sleep. There was a lot of confusion of who would sleep where, because the house had only two bedrooms and there were 11 of us. We ended the bedlam by taking over the hosts' master bedroom because that would help us wake up early the next day without diturbing the others.
Republic day (Jan 26) dawned without any feeling that remotely resembled what it used to be 20 years ago, and it has been so ever since I finished school. We were ready in time, but spent a few minutes longer bidding farewell to our hosts. I was in a hurry to get us out of the city and onto the highway as soon as possible. Our target was to cross half the distance by noon or earlier. We wasted about 20 kms (and 30 mins) looking for a petrol pump, but that didn't deter us from achieving the target. The drive was almost as good as the one where we followed M. Aunt and hubby took turns sleeping in the backseat, while I enjoyed my time behind the wheel.
We crossed a distance of about 460 kms in 8 hours. Luckily, we noticed a Mc Donald's drive-in on the highway and picked our lunch from there. I was stuffing my face with a Mc Veggie, fries, and coke, while speeding between 90-110 kmph--not an ideal thing to do, but then I was never a good girl. It was good to have a fun and confident-in-me aunt and a cool as a cucumber (read who-isn't-crazy-about-driving-and-prefers-his-comforting-pillows) husband, who never bothered me even once with such lame instructions as "slow down" or "watch out" or "don't overtake." Bless their souls! The even switched seats (aunt moved to the backseat and my almost-6-ft hubby moved to the passenger seat beside me) inside the 4 ft tall car, while I was speeding at 80 kmph on the highway!! They totally rock.
Special note to hubby: mmmmmmmuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaahhhh!!
We were to follow our neighbor M, who has a home in Goa that he visits frequently. The dude being an ex-airforce person, was probably finding it difficult to restrain himself at ground speed. Which is what I offer as explanation for his Hyundai Getz (1086 cc) being unfollowable by our Maruti Alto (796). Or it could be that his is the Prime make (1341 cc) which is way beyond what we can dream of beating. (Of course I want a better car now! Not larger, just better. Something like Maruti Estillo would do--although I hated its shape initially.) The bugger would hit the brake in traffic and then zoom away in microseconds while we only kept hoping that our little car would pick up enough speed in time to spot him while he navigates the next turn. We didn't see him for about 150-200 kms, which is a little less than half the journey.
To spice things up a bit, I dropped hubby's phone while we made the first halt for tea. Someone spotted that, picked up the phone and rang the last dialed number. It turned out to be my aunt's who was with us. We didn't mind waiting for half an hour for the blessed soul to come by and hand the phone over to us. Hubby was fuming, a tad mildly, but all was soon forgotten, because we HAD TO keep M in sight. Soon after the sunset we left the highway and turned to the villages-and-ghats section of the road. It was pitch dark in a few minutes, and the absence of street lights made it even more difficult. But that was for M, not for us. All we had to do was switch off our brains and pursue him. I was struggling to not let any other vehicle come in between us, because if we missed him for about 4 seconds and he took a turn before we saw him, we'd be lost in the wilderness for good. The network coverage wasn't too good obviously, so he couldn't reach us if he noticed that we were no longer at his tail.
M must have been zooming past 90 kmph on those treacherous roads, because I often had to push beyond 80 to keep up with him. However, I was enjoying the ordeal thoroughly, and so were hubby and my aunt. We were entertaining ourselves with stories and jokes about other people, because we didn't have to give a dang about whether we were going in the right direction. M was our God at the moment. Anyway. We reached Vasco, our destination, around 10:45 pm, and had to part ways because M's home was in a slightly different direction. I went ahead for about 3 kms and noticed a certain building that made me jump. I had no visual memory, but the name struck me as something I heard from my childhood stories that my aunts keep narrating every few months. I immediately knew where we were and where we had to go. In another 20 minutes we were home, luggage and all.
We spent the night at our old landlord's place (where I lived as a child). It was a bad night for me, because the mosquitoes attacked me like they were my soulmates from a past life. What else could it be? They left the rest of the people in the house alone! Grrr.
So. Morning dawned and we had some more conversations with our host about our memorable stay there, more than two decades back. It mostly consisted of my pranks and how I thought I ruled the place. We then headed out to explore whatever we could, without being baked in the sun. Here are some pictures...
A small island, a few hundred feet from the main road that exits Vasco. 
A common view around the shoreline villages. 
Another larger island, about a kilometer away from the previous one. 
This was connected by road, possibly built by the Portuguese missionaries (notice the church to the right), which is being restored now. This is also where we had our first and only interaction with a local drunkard. He approached us asking if we wanted to go see the church. The stench was overwhelming, and his became more aggressive by the minute. We had to shoo him away. He followed us all the way back to our car that was parked on the main road! 
We headed to Old Goa, looking for the church where St. Francis Xavier's remains are located. We found a spot to park, but the first thing we noticed was a Wax Museum nearby. It's created and owned by a software engineer as a hobby. With no other funding, it is managed by the owner himself (I wonder how), possibly with the money that comes in through exhibitions (which means expenses to move the statues between cities) and sales of candles and other stuff.
A nice map of the world heritage site where the centuries old churches are located.
The Bom Jesus church.
The statue of St. Francis Xavier inside.
From the pews. Hordes of tourists were thronging in, and I was enraged at the way people were behaving. A lot like what MM wrote in this post. Seriously, all that is expected of you in a church is silence and respect, if you can't give that, why bother entering a place of worship?
The atrium of the church, which was turned into a beautiful little garden with very cute sprinklers. I mean the sprinklers were okay, but their jets flew out beautifully. Notice the large bell at the top--no access to it now.
The flowering trees outside the church. There was a little market beyond, where I bought some cute bracelets. Beside it was a restaurant, which was full of people and almost void of stewards. We reluctantly ordered some food, because we didn't know where we could get anything edible before we ran out of energy. After a painfully long wait, we ate whatever was served, without thinking much. All the while, I was trying to suppress my embarrassment caused by my mom staring are the almost bare foreigners and young locals. It was so hot outside, I wish I'd lose some clothes too.
After lunch, we headed to this district called Ponda, which houses the Mangeshi temple. Mom and aunt went ahead to the main temple, while and a hubby sat in the cool shade of another small adjacent temple. The journey was interesting. We missed a turn just before every destination, and had to turn back a few hundred meters to reach the correct spot. But it was fun! We even had sugarcane juice before we went to the wax museum!
Once the temple visit was done, we headed southwards to find the Colva beach. We had bought a map as soon as we headed out in the morning, and were doing a great job of navigating with its help, except for spots that weren't marked clearly. It was the best me and hubby ever coordinated at driving.
As we entered the Colva beach...
A closer look.
The speedboat was towing paragliders and zoomed away.
Hubs and I were sooooooo excited, and we jumped at the opportunity to do some paragliding. The sun ahd gone down by the time we went up, so we couldn't get a great view, but it was fun. That's me returning from the flight.
A fleeting parachute.
We walked along the shallow coast for a while, ignoring the life gaurds' announcements asking everyone to stay clear of the waters past sunset. Then we lay on the sand for a bit, while mom and aunt had a little nap. We were exhausted by the time we reached home, but we all enjoyed the Baskin' and Robbins ice-cream we took along for our host.
Hubs and I woke up at 5:00 the next morning, changed and rushed to the nearest beach--Bogmalo. It was still dark, and we tentatively stepped into the water, a bit scared when waves crashed loudly and unexpectedly. We were surprised at the warmth of the water and then spent the next hour or so walking in knee-deep water along the shore. Once the sun came up and lit the waters and people started trickling in, we locked the car keys into our finger rings and dived in. To put it in hubs' words, for the next hour or so, we were experiencing weightlessness. That lasted only until the moment we decided to walk out of the water. Then, we were almost drooped with the weight of the seawater in an on us. Needless to say, I involuntarily gulped in a few sips of water through my nose when a couple of unexpected waves pulled me in. The fun part was the feeling of being pushed and pulled by the huge waves--this particular beach was deeper than Colva--you just had to walk in about 7 or 8 feet to be fully immersed.
When we felt a bit satisfied with all the soaking and sinking, and it was time to return, we dried ourselves by the car. Hubby changed in a lonely spot, but I was too impatient to change. So I warpped the front seat with plastic and drove us home. We had to rush through bath and breakfast so we could move on to the next destination: Panaji. Our next hosts were the landlady's son and his family. They live in a prime area of Goa's capital amidst bungalows of politicians and rich people in general. Their own bungalow is pretty well done. I'd posted one of its pictures earlier. Upon reaching there, we spent a while indoors, chit-chatting, and then left for the Dona Paula beach.
It was a bad decision. It was sweltering hot outside, and we spent 20 minutes finding a space to park. To top it, there was no direct access to the water. People could only walk up and down a ramp. As soon as I parked, I bathed in the sunscreen lotion, but I think it had an adverse effect. I felt my skin burning more than ever. Nevertheless, the little market distracted me, and I ended up buying a couple of trousers.
The view on one side of the beach... there were lots of speedboat riders.
The pier with the tiny market on it. It must look lovely in the evenings with all those lights on.
The other side of the pier... so calm, and void of people!
We learned from that experience and headed straight home, abandoning the plan to visit another beach before lunch. It felt so nice to change into cooler clothes and spread out on the sofas and watch TV for while. After a while we had lunch and then napped. It was 5:30 pm by the time we freshned up, had tea, changed and stepped out again. Not such a good time to leave, because it took us about an hour to reach the next beach: Vagator. Our host led us through roads where we saw signposts for almost all north-Goa beaches but went towards none. We thought he was about to take us back home after showing only the signposts. That's when we turned in to the parking lot of the Vagator beach.
This one was shallow, like Colva, and we'd reached there a few minutes after sunset. With no enthusiasm left for clicking pictures, all we did was walk amidst knee-deep water. Then we stood rooted to a spot for a long time, trying to see how long it would take for us to be sucked into the earth, due to the sand beneath our feet being carried away with each wave. In about 1o minutes I was a foot underground. Then, for a while, I let people go their own way and stole a few minutes for myself to talk to the powers that be--for a safe trip so far, a comfortable stay, and the great time hubby was having.
We decided to dine outside, and went to the Delhi Durbar restaurant on M. G. Road. (I just looked it up. We're just not ready to go beyond M. G., C. S., J. N., and I. G., are we? [Only Indians will understand what I'm talking about; if you are one, and if you don't, well, I can simply conclude that you were extremely poor at History. :P]) The food was okay and our hosts were urging us to have more, all the while stuffing themselves. That was the only point where I had to control my sarcasm and not point out how they really needed to eat less, and leave us alone--as it is we are carrying an average teenager's extra weight as a couple (meaning, between me and hubs, we have about 25-30 kilos extra).
Anyway, I also picked up a bottle of port wine (Vini Cola) for a friend, before we turn to go back home. On the way, we made a pit stop at Miramar beach, just to fill up our quota of beaches, and because the night air was so tempting. It was another couple of hours before we actually got to sleep. There was a lot of confusion of who would sleep where, because the house had only two bedrooms and there were 11 of us. We ended the bedlam by taking over the hosts' master bedroom because that would help us wake up early the next day without diturbing the others.
Republic day (Jan 26) dawned without any feeling that remotely resembled what it used to be 20 years ago, and it has been so ever since I finished school. We were ready in time, but spent a few minutes longer bidding farewell to our hosts. I was in a hurry to get us out of the city and onto the highway as soon as possible. Our target was to cross half the distance by noon or earlier. We wasted about 20 kms (and 30 mins) looking for a petrol pump, but that didn't deter us from achieving the target. The drive was almost as good as the one where we followed M. Aunt and hubby took turns sleeping in the backseat, while I enjoyed my time behind the wheel.
We stopped only once, at the Amboli ghat, for breakfast--wada paav, kaanda bhaji, and chai. Here's how the moutainside on our right looked.
Here's the valley on the other side. The roads were winding and steep, and there was average oncoming traffic. I noticed all vehicles from MH01 through MH15, except MH05, and then some (those are registration number prefixes for the Maharashtra state, where each series represents about 259974 vehicles)!
We crossed a distance of about 460 kms in 8 hours. Luckily, we noticed a Mc Donald's drive-in on the highway and picked our lunch from there. I was stuffing my face with a Mc Veggie, fries, and coke, while speeding between 90-110 kmph--not an ideal thing to do, but then I was never a good girl. It was good to have a fun and confident-in-me aunt and a cool as a cucumber (read who-isn't-crazy-about-driving-and-prefers-his-comforting-pillows) husband, who never bothered me even once with such lame instructions as "slow down" or "watch out" or "don't overtake." Bless their souls! The even switched seats (aunt moved to the backseat and my almost-6-ft hubby moved to the passenger seat beside me) inside the 4 ft tall car, while I was speeding at 80 kmph on the highway!! They totally rock.
Special note to hubby: mmmmmmmuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaahhhh!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
It's that simple (or not)
The answer to the many questions that have caused me many a swollen eye over the past 3 days:
"The problem of the mind is that we have one"
"... and that it has a natural tendency to spend a lot of its time thinking a steady stream of distressing thoughts that make us feel bad about ourselves and our lives. When there's something inside us that spends a lot of its time making us feel bad about ourselves and our lives--and it's out of control, to boot-- that's a problem."
- How Long Till My Soul Gets It Right (Robert and Jane Alter)
"The problem of the mind is that we have one"
"... and that it has a natural tendency to spend a lot of its time thinking a steady stream of distressing thoughts that make us feel bad about ourselves and our lives. When there's something inside us that spends a lot of its time making us feel bad about ourselves and our lives--and it's out of control, to boot-- that's a problem."
- How Long Till My Soul Gets It Right (Robert and Jane Alter)
Friday, January 16, 2009
100th post in a special guest's honor
Ta-daaaaaaaa!
Presenting Jaanu. My (not-so)-little-(any-longer) cousin Shaanu's newborn.
Arrived at 10:05 pm on Jan 15th, 2009. After making her mother run out of water (literally)!
I was sooooooo eager to see her perfect little fingers. I always knew she'd have beautiful hands!
I almost had them up my nose trying to ogle at those gorgeous nails... sigh!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Time for new lessons
Over the past few months I was going through a stage where I had almost lost faith in all the good things.
About four years back, I went through a totally opposite stage, where I had a euphoric belief in God, and could see miracles everywhere around me. Then, I reached a point where I was in the best mindset ever in this lifetime. I had the right attitude towards life, the right people around me, and the opportunity to plan and buy all the materialistic things I'd want. From that point onwards, however, everything went downhill. Whenever I thought back about it, I could see the exact events when I went wrong. But that did not give me the inspiration to go set it right. All I've been doing, so far, is brooding about it.
But since the past few months, I've been noticing a series of events that are leading me in a certain direction. Well, I've noticed it only lately. At the onset of this series of events, however, I was totally clueless about what was happening to me and why. Everything was so foggy--I should have realized it was the dawn of a new day full of lessons for me.
Four years ago, I had just finished a previous, very long day of lessons. It was clearly an emotional rebirth of sorts for me. The next angel taught me a lot in a really short time, and it was fun. Then came the long period of stumbling down the hill. I doubt whether I could have steadied myself even if I wanted to. Maybe this was necessary to break my ego, which had built itself up while I was reaching my mental / emotional high-point.
In the past few months, I had to sort of unlearn all that I had learned before. All my myths about love and life came shattering down to the point that I was becoming bitter and rotten from within. Then, slowly, without me noticing, the regeneration process began. This time, my angels appeared not in the form of people, but as books. Oh, wait a minute! What am I saying? Of course, there was a person. You know who you are. Thank you.
Then there were my darling books: Curious Lives (Richard Bach) and Many Lives, Many Masters (Dr. Brian Weiss). I had bought these books months ago: just around the end of my four-year-long-day-of-lessons. But, as I truly believe, books come to me (read: I happen to read them) at a time when I need them the most.
Curious Lives was the first to intervene: like I said, I was losing faith in all the good things in life. I felt like rebelling against every custom / tradition set by people around me. When I began with the book, I wondered to myself: how could people be good to others and themselves all the time? That would make the world so boring! This was contradictory to what I wanted, what everyone else seems to want, but can't care enough to work at: world peace, or peace in general--the absence of strife--especially in human relationships. The book cleared any doubts I had about the possibility of a fun life inspite of all the goody-goody behavior. Richard Bach is surely one of my most important teachers in this lifetime. A silent thanks to you my reluctant messiah!
Many Lives, Many Masters revived my belief in the existence of the soul and the concept of reincarnations--to learn the lessons we need to reach the all-knowing and wise, God-like stage of tranquility. A friend had recommended it long back, but I knew it would come to me when I was ready.
To top it off, Evan Almighty was aired on TV this evening--a movie I would've put off watching as just another sequel that rides on the success of its ancestor. The hubs somehow kept it on instead of flipping channels as he usually does, and it got me interested minute-by-minute. Now, it's not a great movie by itself. It just came at a special time to me. Thanks for all the hints, my angels.
Besides these, the other significant pointer for me was a sort of reconciliation with a friend, whom I had almost lost, along with my previous unlearning. He was an angel during those lessons--now he is probably a classmate. Another thing that fell into place was my plan to reestablish myself as the morning-person that I always was. I asked for my late evening conference calls at work to be rescheduled to the mornings, and it was accepted in a jiffy. At the same time, my one-month freeze on the gym membership got over, and I started swimming already! Also, for some reason, the hubs and I did not pay our regular visit to the cinemas this weekend. Instead, we did some housecleaning, fixed the bicycles and had a couple of nice rides together. As a bonus point: we haven't had a major squabble in the past two weeks (then again, maybe it's just me consciously avoiding them). If that isn't an indication of the positive changes in my life, I don't know what is!
During this lesson, the changes in me are subtle, and hopefully longer lasting. I have also been noticing every single, small little help that the angels give to push me closer to what I want to be, and what I want to do with my time. I will become more efficient and consistent as time goes by, and hopefully not take things for granted any more. Never let me lose faith again, my guardians.
Nov 19, 2008, 0008 hrs :)
About four years back, I went through a totally opposite stage, where I had a euphoric belief in God, and could see miracles everywhere around me. Then, I reached a point where I was in the best mindset ever in this lifetime. I had the right attitude towards life, the right people around me, and the opportunity to plan and buy all the materialistic things I'd want. From that point onwards, however, everything went downhill. Whenever I thought back about it, I could see the exact events when I went wrong. But that did not give me the inspiration to go set it right. All I've been doing, so far, is brooding about it.
But since the past few months, I've been noticing a series of events that are leading me in a certain direction. Well, I've noticed it only lately. At the onset of this series of events, however, I was totally clueless about what was happening to me and why. Everything was so foggy--I should have realized it was the dawn of a new day full of lessons for me.
Four years ago, I had just finished a previous, very long day of lessons. It was clearly an emotional rebirth of sorts for me. The next angel taught me a lot in a really short time, and it was fun. Then came the long period of stumbling down the hill. I doubt whether I could have steadied myself even if I wanted to. Maybe this was necessary to break my ego, which had built itself up while I was reaching my mental / emotional high-point.
In the past few months, I had to sort of unlearn all that I had learned before. All my myths about love and life came shattering down to the point that I was becoming bitter and rotten from within. Then, slowly, without me noticing, the regeneration process began. This time, my angels appeared not in the form of people, but as books. Oh, wait a minute! What am I saying? Of course, there was a person. You know who you are. Thank you.
Then there were my darling books: Curious Lives (Richard Bach) and Many Lives, Many Masters (Dr. Brian Weiss). I had bought these books months ago: just around the end of my four-year-long-day-of-lessons. But, as I truly believe, books come to me (read: I happen to read them) at a time when I need them the most.
Curious Lives was the first to intervene: like I said, I was losing faith in all the good things in life. I felt like rebelling against every custom / tradition set by people around me. When I began with the book, I wondered to myself: how could people be good to others and themselves all the time? That would make the world so boring! This was contradictory to what I wanted, what everyone else seems to want, but can't care enough to work at: world peace, or peace in general--the absence of strife--especially in human relationships. The book cleared any doubts I had about the possibility of a fun life inspite of all the goody-goody behavior. Richard Bach is surely one of my most important teachers in this lifetime. A silent thanks to you my reluctant messiah!
Many Lives, Many Masters revived my belief in the existence of the soul and the concept of reincarnations--to learn the lessons we need to reach the all-knowing and wise, God-like stage of tranquility. A friend had recommended it long back, but I knew it would come to me when I was ready.
To top it off, Evan Almighty was aired on TV this evening--a movie I would've put off watching as just another sequel that rides on the success of its ancestor. The hubs somehow kept it on instead of flipping channels as he usually does, and it got me interested minute-by-minute. Now, it's not a great movie by itself. It just came at a special time to me. Thanks for all the hints, my angels.
Besides these, the other significant pointer for me was a sort of reconciliation with a friend, whom I had almost lost, along with my previous unlearning. He was an angel during those lessons--now he is probably a classmate. Another thing that fell into place was my plan to reestablish myself as the morning-person that I always was. I asked for my late evening conference calls at work to be rescheduled to the mornings, and it was accepted in a jiffy. At the same time, my one-month freeze on the gym membership got over, and I started swimming already! Also, for some reason, the hubs and I did not pay our regular visit to the cinemas this weekend. Instead, we did some housecleaning, fixed the bicycles and had a couple of nice rides together. As a bonus point: we haven't had a major squabble in the past two weeks (then again, maybe it's just me consciously avoiding them). If that isn't an indication of the positive changes in my life, I don't know what is!
During this lesson, the changes in me are subtle, and hopefully longer lasting. I have also been noticing every single, small little help that the angels give to push me closer to what I want to be, and what I want to do with my time. I will become more efficient and consistent as time goes by, and hopefully not take things for granted any more. Never let me lose faith again, my guardians.
Nov 19, 2008, 0008 hrs :)
Monday, October 06, 2008
To RB
...my favorite author. Your words are like life boats that appear out of nowhere when I'm lost in the raging seas, only to maroon me on an island. An island whose every speck magical. A place where I find inspiration and a quiet confidence in myself. This song is what I would dedicate to you:
Killing Me Softly With His Song
(Roberta Flack)
[http://www.geocities.com/bjaes.geo/lyrics/rflack.htm]
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style.
And so I came to see him to listen for a while.
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on ...
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He was strumming, oh, he was singing my song.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
With his song ...
Killing Me Softly With His Song
(Roberta Flack)
[http://www.geocities.com/bjaes.geo/lyrics/rflack.htm]
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style.
And so I came to see him to listen for a while.
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on ...
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He was strumming, oh, he was singing my song.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
With his song ...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Random weekend plan - IV
Updated inline.
I'm putting it here so that it compels me to stick to it. The plan, of course.
First and foremost, we have 3 movies lined up, starting this evening. In a couple of hours to be precise. That's because 2 possibly good movies (Rock On and Wanted) and 1 definitely great movie (Wall E - what else do you expect from the makers of Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille?) are releasing this weekend!! And also because while I am in California for 3 weeks, my darling husband won't venture out anywhere without me, except possibly for food.
Rock On was brilliant. Why the hell did Farhan Akhtar not oblige the camera all these years? He sings well too. I liked the way he played the part of a performer on stage when presenting Pichhle Saat Dinon Mein. Four words for Arjun Rampal: Aankhen, Don, Om Shanti Om (although the wig was ridiculous), and Rock On (please try to pick roles / scripts like these). Purab Kholi and Luke Kenny played their parts to perfection. Prachi Desai was a doll, not an actress--could have been better. Shabana Goswami as Debbie kicked ass. The music inspired me to finally get an audio system fitted into my car. A year since I bought it, and all the poor thing has heard is me cackling.
Wanted was passable, although, any James McAvoy fan should not miss it. He was very different from what he looked /played in The Last King of Scotland and Narnia. Well chiseled body. And the twinkle in his eye. Oh my!
Wall E was our treat. Perfect Pixar entertainment. The way Wall E and Eva called out to each other was absolutely adorable (me and hubby tried to mimic them all through the remaining weekend). So was their attempt to clean up and rehabilitate the earth. The movie was so cute and funny all throughout, that I could successfully keep myself from crying inspite of all the mush. I know I'll be watching it at least 5 more times within the next year.
I'm never sure whether to be glad about it, or push him into being a bit more social. Mostly I settle on letting him do what he likes most--play games incessantly on my laptop (which, I believe, has seen more action with him that I have :P), watch TV like there's no tomorrow, and SLEEP for as long as he likes with the bed all to himself.
Between Wanted and Wall E tomorrow, we have 6 hours during which we plan to get laptop's USB ports fixed, and also help my colleague at office settle into my parent's house, where we lived last year. She's renting it out for a while. As I said, these absolutely boring details are being laid out here so that I am pushed to follow through the plan.
The night after Rock On, I couldn't sleep. Socha Hai just didn't leave my brain until I put the plan (of buying the car audio system) on paper, besides listing a few other tasks, so I wouldn't forget. And guess what? The next morning, I forgot to take the To Do list along with me. Beat that.
Thankfully, we did most of the chores we planned to, and more. We upgraded the laptop's RAM and got the USB HDD's casing replaced to fix the loosened port. Then I left the hubs at my grandmom's place, conspired with my uncle and his kid, and asked them to drive me around while I left the car at the accessories store to get the audio system fitted. It's a smart Sony Xplod MEX-BT 3600U with Subwoofer / Speakers, which accepts USB and Blutooth input as well. This was my surprise for hubby, and for a change, I was sure he'd be pleased, not shocked with it. Besides it would save me the trouble of singing for 6 hours straight while we made the long trip tomorrow.
Sunday still seems a little daunting, because of my own idea to drive to Panchgani / Mahabaleshwar and back. That'll be the farthest I've planned to drive so far. Between 100-120 kms one way. The only thing that makes me look forward to it is that my sweetest, cutest hubs agreed to the idea without a second thought, in a split second. It's so rare to get such a quick response from him that I almost did a double-take. But I like it :) I might even let him drive :)
Although, the factor that might keep us from executing this plan is the condition of the roads. If they're not good, we might be tempted to turn back even if we're half-way through. I'll upload pictures if we make it, and share some virtual strawberrys and ice-creams with you ;-)
Yes, yes, we made the trip. We started at 7:30 instead of the planned 6:30, but it was only because Angels and Demons kept us awake well past midnight. I'm reading the illustrated, hard bound version to the hubs these days, thanks to a colleague who lent it to me. The beginning of the trip was slightly rocky, because we fought about how much cash we should withdraw from the ATM. Once that fight was out of our way and we hit the highway, things chilled out. We had a good breakfast, and that possibly calmed the hubs down even further.
I drove all the way up to the table top, halting intermittently for pictures. Once we reached Panchgani, and before we headed to the volcanic plateau, we made a pit stop for some deliciously perfect strawberry and fig ice-creams. It was mostly cloudy when we reached the top, so the shade helped us explore in peace. There were a lot of monkeys and I was thrilled to see them, but they didn't give me much bhaav, possibly because I wasn't carrying any food, and wanted their pictures for free. A while later, the sun began beating down on us, but we found respite in one of the cool ponds. Within an hour or less, we turned back to the parking lot, where we had a fresh nimboo sharbat before plonking our arses into the car. I wasn't really sure whether we should spend more time driving 20 kms ahead to Mahabaleshwar, and spend more time in the sun, visiting a couple of popular tourist spots. We turned back instead, and I let the hubs drive. A full 60 kms and 2 toll booths later, he did the mistake of asking me if I wanted to drive. I have a bit of motion sickness, and even sitting in the front passenger seat can be nauseating at times. So I galdly accepted.
Once we were home, we spent some time reading (obsessed that I am, to finish the book before I leave for the U.S.), then showered, and dozed off. Then my uncle who had been on the same route as us since morning, only traveling as far ahead as Kolhapur, called up to warn that heavy rains had disrupted traffic close the Katraj ghat, the southernmost tip of Pune city. We were happy we got home before even the first big hint of rain showed up (if I let go the exact 2 drops that pelted our windshield, out of the blue). Ha! Here are some pictures...
That's Pratapgad, a grand view from the table top.
The ridge of the volcanic plateau and the town below.
We did enjoy some walking-on-the-grass.
Yes, those are white tiger statues (or probably stuffed toys) on the roof of the entrance to the theme / water park. They also had blue water fountains. No idea why.
The father, son, and the holy white cotton balls. :P
My lovely Sahyadris.
I'm putting it here so that it compels me to stick to it. The plan, of course.
First and foremost, we have 3 movies lined up, starting this evening. In a couple of hours to be precise. That's because 2 possibly good movies (Rock On and Wanted) and 1 definitely great movie (Wall E - what else do you expect from the makers of Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille?) are releasing this weekend!! And also because while I am in California for 3 weeks, my darling husband won't venture out anywhere without me, except possibly for food.
Rock On was brilliant. Why the hell did Farhan Akhtar not oblige the camera all these years? He sings well too. I liked the way he played the part of a performer on stage when presenting Pichhle Saat Dinon Mein. Four words for Arjun Rampal: Aankhen, Don, Om Shanti Om (although the wig was ridiculous), and Rock On (please try to pick roles / scripts like these). Purab Kholi and Luke Kenny played their parts to perfection. Prachi Desai was a doll, not an actress--could have been better. Shabana Goswami as Debbie kicked ass. The music inspired me to finally get an audio system fitted into my car. A year since I bought it, and all the poor thing has heard is me cackling.
Wanted was passable, although, any James McAvoy fan should not miss it. He was very different from what he looked /played in The Last King of Scotland and Narnia. Well chiseled body. And the twinkle in his eye. Oh my!
Wall E was our treat. Perfect Pixar entertainment. The way Wall E and Eva called out to each other was absolutely adorable (me and hubby tried to mimic them all through the remaining weekend). So was their attempt to clean up and rehabilitate the earth. The movie was so cute and funny all throughout, that I could successfully keep myself from crying inspite of all the mush. I know I'll be watching it at least 5 more times within the next year.
I'm never sure whether to be glad about it, or push him into being a bit more social. Mostly I settle on letting him do what he likes most--play games incessantly on my laptop (which, I believe, has seen more action with him that I have :P), watch TV like there's no tomorrow, and SLEEP for as long as he likes with the bed all to himself.
Between Wanted and Wall E tomorrow, we have 6 hours during which we plan to get laptop's USB ports fixed, and also help my colleague at office settle into my parent's house, where we lived last year. She's renting it out for a while. As I said, these absolutely boring details are being laid out here so that I am pushed to follow through the plan.
The night after Rock On, I couldn't sleep. Socha Hai just didn't leave my brain until I put the plan (of buying the car audio system) on paper, besides listing a few other tasks, so I wouldn't forget. And guess what? The next morning, I forgot to take the To Do list along with me. Beat that.
Thankfully, we did most of the chores we planned to, and more. We upgraded the laptop's RAM and got the USB HDD's casing replaced to fix the loosened port. Then I left the hubs at my grandmom's place, conspired with my uncle and his kid, and asked them to drive me around while I left the car at the accessories store to get the audio system fitted. It's a smart Sony Xplod MEX-BT 3600U with Subwoofer / Speakers, which accepts USB and Blutooth input as well. This was my surprise for hubby, and for a change, I was sure he'd be pleased, not shocked with it. Besides it would save me the trouble of singing for 6 hours straight while we made the long trip tomorrow.
Sunday still seems a little daunting, because of my own idea to drive to Panchgani / Mahabaleshwar and back. That'll be the farthest I've planned to drive so far. Between 100-120 kms one way. The only thing that makes me look forward to it is that my sweetest, cutest hubs agreed to the idea without a second thought, in a split second. It's so rare to get such a quick response from him that I almost did a double-take. But I like it :) I might even let him drive :)
Although, the factor that might keep us from executing this plan is the condition of the roads. If they're not good, we might be tempted to turn back even if we're half-way through. I'll upload pictures if we make it, and share some virtual strawberrys and ice-creams with you ;-)
Yes, yes, we made the trip. We started at 7:30 instead of the planned 6:30, but it was only because Angels and Demons kept us awake well past midnight. I'm reading the illustrated, hard bound version to the hubs these days, thanks to a colleague who lent it to me. The beginning of the trip was slightly rocky, because we fought about how much cash we should withdraw from the ATM. Once that fight was out of our way and we hit the highway, things chilled out. We had a good breakfast, and that possibly calmed the hubs down even further.
I drove all the way up to the table top, halting intermittently for pictures. Once we reached Panchgani, and before we headed to the volcanic plateau, we made a pit stop for some deliciously perfect strawberry and fig ice-creams. It was mostly cloudy when we reached the top, so the shade helped us explore in peace. There were a lot of monkeys and I was thrilled to see them, but they didn't give me much bhaav, possibly because I wasn't carrying any food, and wanted their pictures for free. A while later, the sun began beating down on us, but we found respite in one of the cool ponds. Within an hour or less, we turned back to the parking lot, where we had a fresh nimboo sharbat before plonking our arses into the car. I wasn't really sure whether we should spend more time driving 20 kms ahead to Mahabaleshwar, and spend more time in the sun, visiting a couple of popular tourist spots. We turned back instead, and I let the hubs drive. A full 60 kms and 2 toll booths later, he did the mistake of asking me if I wanted to drive. I have a bit of motion sickness, and even sitting in the front passenger seat can be nauseating at times. So I galdly accepted.
Once we were home, we spent some time reading (obsessed that I am, to finish the book before I leave for the U.S.), then showered, and dozed off. Then my uncle who had been on the same route as us since morning, only traveling as far ahead as Kolhapur, called up to warn that heavy rains had disrupted traffic close the Katraj ghat, the southernmost tip of Pune city. We were happy we got home before even the first big hint of rain showed up (if I let go the exact 2 drops that pelted our windshield, out of the blue). Ha! Here are some pictures...
That's Pratapgad, a grand view from the table top.
The ridge of the volcanic plateau and the town below.
We did enjoy some walking-on-the-grass.
Yes, those are white tiger statues (or probably stuffed toys) on the roof of the entrance to the theme / water park. They also had blue water fountains. No idea why.
The father, son, and the holy white cotton balls. :P
My lovely Sahyadris.Monday, June 30, 2008
Rain, car, greenery, movies, cooking, pizza, books, love
...a recipe for a good weekend (in random order). This was by far the most relaxing weekend we've had in our life together (despite the fact that I did nothing as planned). It began with me submitting my work status reports on time this Friday--something that I've not been punctual with since the last few weeks.
Nanny Diaries was planned for Saturday morning. We had an disagreement and melted into tears as I usually do when I don't want to yell at him. We ended up spending half an hour in the bed--me talking to him, and asking him to be more vocal about what he feels. At the end of it, we barely had time to dress up and rush for the movie. It turned out to be well worth the rush. We had lunch at Mc D's, then did an errand for mom before heading home.
The weather was so wonderful, I didn't want to waste my time trapped inside the four walls of either the house, or the office, or anywhere else. So we took off on the Mumbai-Pune highway, and eventually hit the expressway.
...thanks to the kickass 3.2 Megapixel camera on my Nokia 6500. Mmmmmmmuaaahh!
Just before we reached home, our dear car crossed the 10,000 kms milestone. Hurray! (Now it's due for servicing :-P)
I had planned to attend the book reading for 3, Zakia Mission, but was too euphoric to drive myself into a gathering of people, after enjoying the wonders of nature. So we just chilled out at home. Hubby got me the CD of Jab We Met, because I've been missing it whenever it was aired on TV. And guess what?! It was being shown on one of the movie channels at the same time! We only realized it after we put on the CD, and were surfing channels while I got the food ready.
Sunday dawned for us just an hour before midday. MIL called up around the same time, expecting us to wake up late (at least they know that much about us for sure). I prepared lunch while the hubs cleaned the house (partially, as always, before he got all sweaty and abandoned the work to have a bath). I was disgruntled and didn't respond when called out to cuddle after his bath. He got the hint and tidied up a little more to please me :D Once the food was ready, I took my shower and then snuggled up to him. He complained a little, but I diverted his attention to food.
After putting a lot of thought into how we should spend the rest of the day, we moved into one of the bedrooms where we began a new chapter of our romance--namely, reading A Brief History of Time. Sigh! You know the proverb about the way to a man's heart being through his stomach? Well, my man's different. I need to bore a hole in his brains to get to his heart! Scientific explanation of natural phenomena thrill him no end, and I have some cosy time in his arms after his brain is well-fed.
Three chapters later, we both had enough, and went out for a stroll around the neighborhood. It started raining pretty heavily, so we had to chicken out and run homewards. Before that, though, I found this and this on the colony's noticeboard! Didn't know there were folks in here who were intersted in Gouri Dange's book too! Will find out sometime (maybe). Once home, I spent some more time watching TV, while the hubs played computer games.
Then I headed out to buy some stuff for the pizza I planned to make at home (of course, with a readymade pizza base). That constituted my shopping this weekend. Back home, I made a garlic-chilly-onion-sweetcorn-cheese pizza topped with oregano. It turned out OK according to me (less baked than I wanted) and amazing according to the hubs (see why I love the guy?) We washed 3 pizzas down with Blue Curacao (the mocktail version I made out of the crush-concentrate and soda) while watching Bend It Like Beckham. It turned out to be a little private party for two!
Okay, now this is personal, but somehow I feel like sharing. As we crawled into bed for a slumber trip, I snuggled upto the hubs, held his face in my hands and looked at him for a long while, before asking him to kiss me like he did for the first time. And the idiot went on to ask why I keep asking him for that (I guess this was the third time in the 3 years that we know each other, but he thinks it's quite frequent). I held on to my courage and reasoning (so that I could explain to the code jockey in his terms) and said, "...because it's like re-booting. The first time a person kisses another, it's a fresh, pure feeling, devoid of all the emotional experiences that affect the couple later in their lives. When we have spent a few days or years together, we know each others' shortcomings and irritating habits, and those primarily affect our attitude towards the other person. By kissing like we did the first time, we make an attempt to erase all those resentments, and start over. It's like falling in love again." What I didn't say to him was that I yearn every now and then for the skip-of-a-heartbeat or the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling one experiences when one falls in love, or kisses for the first time. I'm a sucker for those moments.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nanny Diaries was planned for Saturday morning. We had an disagreement and melted into tears as I usually do when I don't want to yell at him. We ended up spending half an hour in the bed--me talking to him, and asking him to be more vocal about what he feels. At the end of it, we barely had time to dress up and rush for the movie. It turned out to be well worth the rush. We had lunch at Mc D's, then did an errand for mom before heading home.
The weather was so wonderful, I didn't want to waste my time trapped inside the four walls of either the house, or the office, or anywhere else. So we took off on the Mumbai-Pune highway, and eventually hit the expressway.
We were surrounded by clouds and greenery
...on either side of the road.
We even went through showers that left welcome messages on the windshield :)
We passed through tiny tunnels
...and longer ones
...and finally turned to Lonavala.
We drove straight past the town and took an about turn where the road merges into the expressway again.
Oh, for the record, I relaxed, put my feet up (literally, as you can see)
...and let the sweet hubby drive (who didn't go past 80 kmph on the expressway until I
teased him about being a sissygently reminded him that he could do so)
We went past the Lonavala dam
...past the hills (there were tiny streams of water running down most of them)
...and on the way back, stopped to ogle at the lovely lake with the little island in between.
A simple kaala-khatta made the hubs' day
...and I was thrilled just to be alive and to be able to enjoy these things with a cute partner-in-crime!
I couldn't resist taking pictures even when I took back the driving console in my hand :D
...thanks to the kickass 3.2 Megapixel camera on my Nokia 6500. Mmmmmmmuaaahh!Just before we reached home, our dear car crossed the 10,000 kms milestone. Hurray! (Now it's due for servicing :-P)
I had planned to attend the book reading for 3, Zakia Mission, but was too euphoric to drive myself into a gathering of people, after enjoying the wonders of nature. So we just chilled out at home. Hubby got me the CD of Jab We Met, because I've been missing it whenever it was aired on TV. And guess what?! It was being shown on one of the movie channels at the same time! We only realized it after we put on the CD, and were surfing channels while I got the food ready.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday dawned for us just an hour before midday. MIL called up around the same time, expecting us to wake up late (at least they know that much about us for sure). I prepared lunch while the hubs cleaned the house (partially, as always, before he got all sweaty and abandoned the work to have a bath). I was disgruntled and didn't respond when called out to cuddle after his bath. He got the hint and tidied up a little more to please me :D Once the food was ready, I took my shower and then snuggled up to him. He complained a little, but I diverted his attention to food.
After putting a lot of thought into how we should spend the rest of the day, we moved into one of the bedrooms where we began a new chapter of our romance--namely, reading A Brief History of Time. Sigh! You know the proverb about the way to a man's heart being through his stomach? Well, my man's different. I need to bore a hole in his brains to get to his heart! Scientific explanation of natural phenomena thrill him no end, and I have some cosy time in his arms after his brain is well-fed.
Three chapters later, we both had enough, and went out for a stroll around the neighborhood. It started raining pretty heavily, so we had to chicken out and run homewards. Before that, though, I found this and this on the colony's noticeboard! Didn't know there were folks in here who were intersted in Gouri Dange's book too! Will find out sometime (maybe). Once home, I spent some more time watching TV, while the hubs played computer games.
Then I headed out to buy some stuff for the pizza I planned to make at home (of course, with a readymade pizza base). That constituted my shopping this weekend. Back home, I made a garlic-chilly-onion-sweetcorn-cheese pizza topped with oregano. It turned out OK according to me (less baked than I wanted) and amazing according to the hubs (see why I love the guy?) We washed 3 pizzas down with Blue Curacao (the mocktail version I made out of the crush-concentrate and soda) while watching Bend It Like Beckham. It turned out to be a little private party for two!
Okay, now this is personal, but somehow I feel like sharing. As we crawled into bed for a slumber trip, I snuggled upto the hubs, held his face in my hands and looked at him for a long while, before asking him to kiss me like he did for the first time. And the idiot went on to ask why I keep asking him for that (I guess this was the third time in the 3 years that we know each other, but he thinks it's quite frequent). I held on to my courage and reasoning (so that I could explain to the code jockey in his terms) and said, "...because it's like re-booting. The first time a person kisses another, it's a fresh, pure feeling, devoid of all the emotional experiences that affect the couple later in their lives. When we have spent a few days or years together, we know each others' shortcomings and irritating habits, and those primarily affect our attitude towards the other person. By kissing like we did the first time, we make an attempt to erase all those resentments, and start over. It's like falling in love again." What I didn't say to him was that I yearn every now and then for the skip-of-a-heartbeat or the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling one experiences when one falls in love, or kisses for the first time. I'm a sucker for those moments.
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