Showing posts with label wondering and wandering. Show all posts

'Do you know how big a curse it is for a parent to let their child go away?', he asked. He was speaking about his daughter who had gone to Southampton for studies. Parents and the daughter, unable to bear the separation spoke on the internet for at least 3 hours a day, everyday, he said.

'She feels lonely and homesick. She has made no friends, She is scared to call you. Will you be an angel and call her, be a friend, somebody to talk to apart from us?', he asked. Scared? We don't even know each other! Only when he spoke I came to know this relation existed - she was my mother's maternal uncle's wife's paternal uncle's daughter. She was somewhere in the UK, homesick and lonely, and vaguely related to me - so I was expected to baby-sit her although she was around my age.

'How on earth could she make friends if you hogged up 3 hours everyday?', I thought. And why exactly should I care? If they had expected me to pick her up from the airport or search an accommodation for her or guide her on certain things or even let her stay at my place for a few days, I can understand. I would have done that. What do you expect me to do when you say 'be a friend'? If she did want a 'friend', shouldn't she initiate communication, email or call me saying 'Hi, I have heard about you from a common aunt. I am ... This is my phone number. I had a few things to ask you. Could you please help me out?'? Oh wait, I forgot, she is scared.

Did I call her? Yes. I am cynical, but not cold-hearted. I risked being a total idiot, she didn't pick up, so I left a voice mail saying 'Hey I am so and so, I spoke to your father last night and he wanted me to call you to see if you are doing OK and also to get to know you. So you can always call me back on this number when you are free, if you are not scared that is.'

That call was never returned. Did I scare her more?

'Do you know how big a curse it is for a child when their parents don't let them go?', I thought. It makes them incapable of standing on their own legs, lack confidence, weak, unable to defend themselves against a cruel world, yes it's timid girls like her who are easy victims of the society's ugly offenders.

All over the world, parents let children go, to studies, careers, marriages. To let go what they thought of as the reason of their existence, the axis around which their lives revolved, their identity, definitely must not be easy. Yet, they don't call it a curse. They do it with a smile, a suppressed tear. When those children become parents, they too let go of their children when the time comes. And I honestly don't think these parents love their children any less, if I may say, they only love their children more. It sometimes makes me wonder, what would have been more difficult for them? Going into labour? Altering priorities, lifestyles, careers to fit the little one in? Or preparing in instalments to let the child go for it's own good?

And yet the other kind of parents do exist. The ones who will have their children revolve around them as a returned favour. The child's 'responsibilities' chalked out even before they can spread their wings. Make the child feel guilty of petty happinesses that they had all for themselves. Not letting go of the children for the fear of the child 'getting spoilt', fear of a lonely ageing,  fear of what will everybody say.

Or maybe it is just a lack of trust in their own children...

My colleague M forced me to watch the movie 'Cloudy with a chance of meatballs'. I did and I loved it!
Now this scene has stayed with me.

There's a scientist in the town who can make it rain food! It's little Cal's birthday and Cal's dad arranges something with the scientist -

There was a discussion on the radio about  marriage, love, extra marital affairs, cheating, etc, etc.

One caller, who sounded like a middle-aged lady said

"I'd rather have my husband visiting prostitutes rather than have a single mistress."

I was just about to recover from that shock when another caller said

"Sex is merely the exchange of skin cells and body fluids. What is the big deal about it? I'd be OK with my partner sleeping around, but never OK with them having a best friend to share their emotions and develop a bond."


No best friend? Gah!


Sadly many women voiced similar opinions!

Am I ancient/alien in this planet or are they??? Is this what it has all boiled down to?
Scary.

I went shopping on Sunday for a dress and shoes, returned home after 6hrs with only some make-up, tired legs and a rumbling stomach. I hurried to the kitchen to make myself some Maggi, and I finally sat down (which felt like absolute bliss). I finished off the entire bowl in less than 10min. I lay on the couch like a lazy crocodile as I thought hard on why couldn't I possibly get a dress or a pair of shoes that I really wanted.

Hunting for dresses has always been a task for me. Either they reveal too much or cover too much. I have that colour or I hate that colour. It's loose or tight in the wrong places. So let's leave that aside. But I have always thought that London has the best shoes. Why couldn't I find the pair that would steal my heart?

The first place I went to had this gorgeous black beauty. I wore it sitting down and admired my own feet. Surely, this pair was the most flattering of all I'd seen or worn. The price was reasonable too! Happily I got up, to walk a small distance to gauge my comfort. As soon as I got up, my legs fitted in beautifully. No tight corners, no biting edges. Those shoes were kissing my feet. I smiled and took the first step. A tearing pain shot straight up my leg till it reached my tail bone. 'Muscle pull' I thought and I took another step. Another shooting pain on my other leg. One more step I took, I thought I'd get paralyzed now! I made a run with my old loyal shoes for the exit!

After failed attempts in very many shops, I finally found a pair, that was decent, didn't try to chew into my legs and definitely let me walk without 'muscle pulls'. This pair had a cute badge on the sides which had stones embedded in them. One of them had a stone missing. I asked the shop assistant to get me another pair in the same size. They didn't have one, so she said she'd give me a 10% discount. 'Why would I want to buy defective shoes?', I asked her. Just as I was about to leave, I asked if she could find out if any of the neighbouring branches did have it in their stock. No luck there. Then I asked if she could do something about it, say replace that badge with another from some other shoe. She refused and reminded me about the discount yet again. And I sulked and went home.

'Mumbai sure spoiled me', I thought, having finished my Maggi. If you go into any shop in Mumbai on the street, not in a mall, and you have proved that you are a potential customer, not just a window shopper, things would be so different. From my past experience, had this situation happened in Mumbai, this is how it would have been...

I'd walk into a shop, a salesman would let me scan through all the shoes. I pick 4-5 shoes and sit down. He'd then bring those shoes to me, in my size and help me put them on. Then he'd praise the shoes and how they fit. His manager or another salesman would offer a cold drink or tea or coffee. When I'd politely refuse, he'd insist and send a boy to get a 'Mangola'. Say I liked a pair and it had a stone missing, he would first try to sell something else, something similar. Seeing I have my heart on it, he'd ask me to wait while he replaces the badge. If it's not in his capacity to replace it, he'd make me wait and ask the boy to go and get it from some 'godown'. If there is no such 'godown', he'd politely tell me the address of another branch nearby that might have it. In the worst case scenario, he'd tell me another shop, not their branch, where I can find it.

Yes, he would. It has happened so many times. Agreed the salesmen in Mumbai are quite pushy, but when it comes to shopping, you are sure made to feel like 'Customer is GOD'.

Oh, how much I miss being so important to random strangers!

PS: I spoke only about Mumbai as I have rarely shopped in any other city in India. If you know any place that makes you feel good about losing your wallet's weight, please share  :-)

Conversation between AB and a guy at a hotel who was drinking a lot of wine but was not drunk.
AB: 8 glasses of wine! That's bad
Guy: Errr for whom?
AB: Your health of course
Guy: I know and I still choose to drink. Why should anybody be bothered? Who made these rules of what is good and bad? No offence to you, but do you know where the understanding of good and bad originated from? Like, do you see that lady doing office work on her laptop on the other table? Will you say it is good or bad to just lift her skirt up?
AB: Of course bad!!!
Guy: If I say she went to the swimming pool 10min ago in a bikini, then?
AB: She wore a bikini by her choice, your lifting her skirt up will be against her will, so disrespectful!
Guy: I see... So if according to her will, she sits here in the lobby and does her office work in a bikini, wouldn't people mind it?
AB: Yes... But...
Guy: Who is this person who made all these rules?

The example he gave might seem silly, but the issue is not. Who decides 'this is what is expected out of a good woman/man', 'what is good/bad for children', 'what religious practices can be allowed in this country', and so on... So when AB came home and told me what happened, I thought hard and long (I even downed half a bottle of wine with the excuse of putting myself in that guy's shoes). I did come up with my own theory though. Most of the rules do look like they were made for convenience rather than morality... But that's for later. Now I want to know your take on it.

Whoever made random rules whenever, why do we follow them(or not)? Are we always rational about every belief of ours?

asks my colleague J.

He says after marriage, men are in a lose-lose situation. If the wife stays, she ends up ruling your life and making you live as per her standards, if she leaves, she turns you into a pauper, leaves after looting you of your wealth. Apart from the free house keeping (it's cheaper to get a maid) and sex(ahem, which you don't get a lot of anyway after you are married), marriage offers nothing to men according to him.

As for kids, he believes people should do this planet a favour, not increase the population more than what it is and he can't appreciate India and China enough for restricting the number of children one can have.

I didn't know what to say! I dared not to use words like 'love', 'emotional security', 'companionship'. Like they say, a fool's question sometimes can't be answered by a 100 wise men, or is it the other way in this case?

So guys out there, do you agree with J and girls, help me out here please!



PS: I have to admit, I sometimes do wonder should anybody - man or a woman - get married at all? Isn't being in love enough?

PPS: J is unmarried, has no kids, no girlfriend in the present and above 50 years old

It's been a year to the gory, inhumane incident which shook the spine of the shiny city of Mumbai, opened the eyes of India to what an incompetent and unprepared defence system it has, and worse yet, challenged the our faith on humanity. The media has covered the Mumbai terror attacks enough for you all to know stories - of lives lost - in some cases, the earning member of a family dead, and in some, the earning member lived like the manager of Taj hotel, but lost mouths to feed, people with candles praying, ministers questioned, police officers' deaths, 'Where was Raj Thakrey then?' slogans, heroic sagas and so on.

What I am going to share with you here is a few such stories unheard, facts that happened to friends, acquaintances, people I knew...

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Last year, living in my house were AB, Obi and Paps - all ex-employees of the Taj Hotel and Ally, who was with AB in college. That day when we came to know the news, we were glued to the news channel. The guys started making calls to know if their friends are OK. That sleepless night was a night I will never forget.

Ally's cousin C was working in the Taj then. Ally didn't want to call him in the mayhem, so called his parents and they hadn't heard from C. So Ally called C on his mobile. C picked up and said he along with a manager and some guests hiding in a room, hearing firing noises and had no clue as to what exactly was going on. Ally gave him all the info we had gathered from the tele. Cmade Ally promise to call him every half an hour. He needed that strength as he said he just could not speak to his parents. So call we did, every half an hour throughout the night, half to make him not lose the hope to live, half in the hope of finding him alive when he picked up the phone.

"The police have entered, you'll be out soon" Ally informed him after a few hours. Soon after the police did reach his room.
"A cop has come here man, and he is in a mood to joke! He's carrying an antique gun and is assuring us that he'll save our lives!", laughed C sarcastically in his state of hopeless despair.

The cop started to free all of them, guests first, staff later. Why be so formal? Are staffs' lives not equally important? It's a terrorist attack for God's sake, not a leak in the hotel's pipe! I can understand children, elderly and women being rescued first but customers before staff? Unacceptable. Almost all of them had stepped out safely and the firing started again. C and his manager were pushed back into the room. The cop said he will come for them. They sat there even more terrified, doubting their destiny. Will the cop come back to save just 2 lives?

He did.

At the break of dawn, they were rescued and they came out, physically unharmed. C was overjoyed.
"Did you see me on the TV when I came out?" he'd asked us with excitement!

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Ally and AB had a classmate Y when they were in college. I remember her as this sweet, small, frail little girl with lovely hair. She was working in the kitchen on that fateful day. If you remember, the firing had first started in the kitchen.

When she heard the noise and saw people running, she ran too. Ran hard. Went on running without looking back, until she hit a wall. There was a window overlooking the lobby and the height was as good as 2 storeys. She had no choice, without thinking any further, she jumped. She got up and started running again. She ran out on the streets and didn't stop even when her mind said she was safe now. She ran till she reached home, her safe nest.

Well done girl!

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This particular incident had me thinking for hours. The next day after the attacks, Obi called his ex-colleague and friend X to check on him. X said he and his colleague Y ran from the terrorists to hide in 'walk-in' freezers which were side by side. After a while he heard them coming, heard them open the door of the freezer his friend was hiding in, heard them shut it, heard his friend's mobile ring, heard that door open again, heard bullets being shot, heard his friend die.

He then heard them open his door. Seeing no one they left. They didn't fire in the room assuming somebody could be hiding here as well. It was as if he was destined to live.

Who called his friend Y? Why did his mobile ring? Was it a crying parent, worried wife, terrified child, concerned family/friend calling to know how he is? Or was it a wrong number or a marketing call? He cannot be blamed for not switching off his mobile phone when he was busy running for his life, can he?

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Editted to add - 
This post has been selected by blogadda for their Spicy Saturday Picks!!!

Plastic has replaced metals in the kitchen, cloth for bags, and currency for ease. Did we realize it got into our behaviour, courtesy, smiles, laughter all for the same reason - a convenient alternative?

As a kid, I could easily recognize the plastic smile that my loved ones gave others. I told myself, I will never do that. But hey, never say never! Growing up I realized, I am being sucked into the plastic world whether I like it or not! (Fortunately I have not used it so far with the ones I love.)

Don't even get me started at how many plastic smiles I throw at work everyday - 'How can I help you? Do you want coffee? Good job. Err that's called Object Oriented programming you see' - all with a dash of plastic.

Now, whenever I am cornered with a sticky situation where I don't want to answer or comment, I usually laugh out loud. 'HA-HA-HA-HA-mmmm' is how it goes.
A few months ago I met a distant relative of mine.

Uncle: I remember how little you used to be. Now you are all grown up, working, standing on your own feet.
Me: Thanks uncle
Uncle: So, how much do you earn per month?
Me: (:O) Err, I am not very experienced, but I earn enough to support myself (start looking away)
Uncle: Now won't you tell your favourite uncle the figure?
Me: HA-HA-HA-HA-mmmm
(Favourite uncle? Do I even know your full name? Are you looking for a post retirement job of a 'market researcher'?)

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A pesky neighbouring auntie at a gathering
Auntie: You look so pretty, we have to look for a handsome guy for you, or have you already looked for yourself?
Me: HA-HA-HA-HA-mmmm
Auntie: One can never say anything about kids these days. They don't like their parents' choice at all!
Me: HA-HA-HA-HA-mmmm
Auntie: If you do have any boyfriends or make new ones, don't forget to tell me OK?
Me: HA-HA-HA-HA-mmmm
(Now why would I do that? What on earth would actually leave me with no option but to possibly confide in you? Wouldn't it be a tad bit easy to get a saw and just chop off my hand?)

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My SIL-to-be(STB) over the phone
Me: Did you know 'so-and-so' gave birth to a baby girl.. How sweet! AB told me.
STB: Of course, I was the one who informed AB
Me: Oh great, do you know if they have decided her name then?
STB: That's done on an auspicious day by the child's aunt
Me: Yeah, but these days things ...
STB(cutting me off): I am going to name your kids
Me: ?????!!! (Was there an earthquake just now? Did anybody else feel it? I could imagine a close up of my face shown from 3 different angles with a lightning background score as in the silly daily soaps!)  HA-HA-HA-HA-mmmm

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Gosh, can you imagine how the world would be without it's 'plastic'? Do we really want to live in a completely honest world? If we do happen to, is it good or bad? Wouldn't we end up hurting people for no good reason? When somebody says 'I am very frank', what do they exactly mean?

My darling friend Ally moved in with us a few years ago. He brightened the atmosphere at home. Being a top-notch chef, he used to cook lip-smacking dishes, with his lovely sense of humour, we all were laughing and joking all day long.

He had one annoying habit though. Everyday when I came home, he would ask me for a chocolate. Every single day. When I said I didn't have, he used to say 'Look in your handbag. There might be one or two.' And I used to say 'Ally, how can a chocolate get into my handbag unless I put it in? Trust me, I have no chocolate!'.
And he would ask again after a few hours...

I know girls love chocolate and so do I. But I am not chocolate-crazy enough that I constantly keep one in my handbag. And I don't remember the last time when I bought chocolates for myself... I bought him chocolates many times, but he'd still insist I give him a chocolate everyday after I come from work.

'Do I look like a chocolate vending machine to you?' I'd ask. He still wouldn't stop. Eventually, in the months to follow, he changed his habit. (Now he asks once in a few weeks!)

I went to India after a few months, and visited his mom when I was there. I casually mentioned "Aunty your son is a big chocolate freak, isn't he? He keeps asking me to scan my handbag for chocolates!"
Hearing which tears brimmed her eyes as she said "You see dear, I work in a school. Everyday some kid or the other gives me chocolates for their birthday and I keep it in my handbag. Whenever Ally came home, he would first scan my handbag for them. This has been going on since he was a little kid. Maybe now he is missing me..."

Awwwwwwwwwwww.

It was only then I wondered, do all of us have some silly habit that we picked up at the cradle but would leave us at the grave? Not what we already know, but if we ask our parents/siblings, some really interesting answers come up!
I asked Amma about mine -
"When you were little you used to jump and pat my hair which was tied into a bun high up my head and open it just to annoy me. Now you still do it, and you don't even have to jump!"
And I don't even remember doing the silly thing when I was a kid :P

AB's mom says "Whenever I did 'aarti' he used to fix his eyes on the 'aarti' plate and his head would go round and round. He still does it!".
I noticed it too! He still does it :-)

So fellas, don't introspect, go ask your parents/siblings about yours'! If you remember an interesting habit about your sibling that would do too. And please share it :-)

Editted to add - 
This post has been selected by blogadda for their Tangy Tuesday Picks!!!
I am so glad :-D

Across the road,
Standing outside my door,
I saw him with heavy pockets,
A kid in the candy store.

Smiling as he saw
Many options more,
Happily confused was
The kid in the candy store.

I checked my pocket
With a heart sore,
I frowned unlike
The kid in the candy store.

There were no coins
But candies four.
All broken, I envied
The kid in the candy store.

I heard mother
Yell out a chore,
So I quit staring at
The kid in the candy store.

With chores I earned
Two candies more!
I thought I'd look at
The kid in the candy store.

He still was there
Trying to explore...
'Any other flavour?' said
The kid in the candy store.

Only then I thought
I had hit a better score,
With satisfaction than
The kid in the candy store.

I don't want more choices
Than I can endure,
Even if life's not as luxurious as
The kid in the candy store!

I am totally nuts about taking pictures. So much that I gifted myself a Panasonic TZ5 last year for my birthday :P With this awesome camera of mine I cannot stop clicking. I take pictures of anything - water, a single leaf, flowers, my shoe strap, bugs, and my present favourite - my fish :)

Sometime ago, AB and I had been to a mini zoo with animals in cages. I didn't like the cages but was overjoyed to start playing with my favourite toy again, my camera!

I took many pictures from many angles. I took so much effort, bending, stretching, getting cramps in my legs to get the perfect animal shots.
Here are a few samples -

Meerkats family photo

Media shy monkey


















Penguin guarding his castle and the king












Otter planning his escape











While I was sweating on one hand, I looked at AB from the corner of my eye. He signalled me to come near him - near the cage he was standing next to.

A leopard was on the back of another - yes-yes, they were errr.... hmmmmm.... humping like crazed rabbits! The one on top, obviously the male, had held her neck with his jaw and happily doing the wild thing (pun intended). And they were not even adults, I would not even classify them as adolescent, they were mid-way between babies and adolescent! That age where you kind of know things but are not sure... Well, we only fished for information in that age, this leopard fished for a partner to hone his skills! Bad kitty... I was just about to take a picture, that he sensed our presence and moved away. Gah! Civilized leopards, don't go away, it's not like I threw stones at you, only switched on my camera...

Well AB took a picture with his phone. Although I feel the picture would have been tonnes better taken from my super-cool camera, he did score more than me (none compared to the leopard's score though :P). After all, photography is not just about the perfect resolution, it's about the perfect timing, isn't it?

Fadya, my fishie died on Sunday.

His presence in my life was for a month. For a whole month, he gave AB and me a taste of parenthood. We cleaned the tank together, played together, took turns to feed them, every morning, as soon as we got up, we would control our morning pressures and run to the tank to see if all the four were there, alive swimming and happy. For the first few days we didn't even have any other topic to speak to each other. I have clicked 400 pictures of my fishies in a month. Why did he die then? Why did we let him die?

For a few days before he died, other fishies especially Gordon was bullying him, nipping his tummy. Others would just swim around and form a gang. Poor Fadya would get scared - you could make out. I kept the lights off so that he could hide and they leave him alone. That was all I could do. AB would tap the tank to scare the other fish away when they neared him, that didn't help either. Saturday, he looked huge. He had puffed up and couldn't swim. He kept sitting on things, and later that evening, he started to hide and go away from the others. They had stopped bothering him, but he kept away. He was dying. So he secluded himself. Brave fish. And I watched him helplessly.

My only consolation was Govinda. This little baby was a source of our strength. The whole of Saturday Govinda didn't swim merrily around the tank like he does everyday. He was with Fadya. Not poking him, not chasing him. Just sitting by his side. He didn't even leave his side to eat! For some time, I thought maybe he too wasn't feeling well. But he was as fit as a fiddle. He just chose to sit by his dying friend. Fadya tried to avoid him, he wanted to be left alone, suffering. He was hiding and running away from everything and everyone, but Govinda was that annoying little friend who wouldn't let him be alone, suffer alone. The kind of friend who clings to you, glues to you and says 'hate me if you want, but I will not turn my back on you'.

We were surprised to see Fadya find really tricky places in the tank to hide, even more surprised to see Govinda find a spot next to him, just looking at him. After Fadya was removed from the tank, Govinda was relentlessly swimming to the same places Fadya hid as if he searched for him, but didn't find him.

Fadya's loss upset me but Govinda's strength intrigued me, moved me, reminded me of precious emotions often taken for granted. Here's a little thanks for all the gems who have stood by me through dark phases, being my strength and a little wish and a prayer for all of you to be blessed with such an angel in your life and when the time comes, you to be somebody's angel too.

You, your partner, and what I call 'the universe'.

Good dates, I've been on some- but great dates is a totally different story! My fortune cookie once said 'Happiness has got to do more with a set of attitudes rather than a set of circumstances' but I believe great dates are more a result of a set of circumstances - some in your hands, some in your partner's and sometimes, in the hands of a third entity, beyond your control.'The universe' I'd like to call it.

Most of the times it refuses to let you have it all, makes you miss the train, run behind buses, makes you get caught together by a pesky neighbour, send a rude waiter, throw an awful weather or land you in accidents too. It does act quite like the cops who run behind couples holding hands while a thief makes a buttery escape behind their backs...

But only at times, call it good karma or sheer luck or coincidence, you can be treated really well when you least expect by the universe. It's like you  are listening to your favourite song already, the universe just turns up the volume by a notch!
For example,
when you go for a movie and you don't have to stand in a queue...
when you are riding on a bike on the streets of Mumbai, getting wet in the rain, sing (yell) Bollywood's 'rain-songs', eat butta (roasted corn) and sip on a cutting-chai by the side of a lake, and all of a sudden spot a beautiful rainbow...
when you are in a fancy boat restaurant, sailing across the heart of Paris, sipping Kir Royale, slow dancing to a live band, watching the Eiffel tower and it suddenly starts glowing and glittering with fancy light...
a late night out, calm sea, not a soul in sight, you look up and get surprised to see a million stars twinkling at you...

In my case, the universe has mostly been passive or mean! I end up having a good time despite it, not because of it. But those rare occasions do come once in a blue moon when everything is just perfect!

So date or no date, how kind (or not) has 'the universe' been to you lately?

I had been to Isle of Wight to celebrate a love anniversary. The island welcomed us with a fantastic weather throughput our stay, beautiful beaches, multicoloured sand, picturesque villages, warm people and mouth watering English food. Most of all it taught us a lesson - a lesson on love.

Our hotel room had a balcony overlooking the beach with two chairs. We sat there for hours chatting, sometimes boozing, sometimes reminiscing the past years, sometimes passed comments at the 'bikini (not-so-)babes', even did some star counting!

We discovered this pleasure of 'balcony hang out' the first day we reached there and were too tired to go out. We saw a vehicle parked by the road next to the beach. An old man came out, opened its back, took out two wooden planks, which seemed quite heavy for him. We looked at wonder - what was he up to?

We saw an old lady in the front seat but she didn't get down... She didn't even lend him a helping hand. We got so curious as to what was going on that we could not look at anything else.

Soon he pulled out something that looked like a thick log or a stick and kept it at the side. He took out a bag which seemed like a nice 'picnic bag'. He then positioned the planks parallel to each other, one end on the car, one end touching the ground.
Then he pulled out a wheelchair for which the planks acted as a base.

It dawned upon us. The wheel chair was for the lady sitting in the front, must be his wife. He opened the front door, positioned the wheel chair close to it, extended the stick to her so that she can hold for support, and she quickly made a turn and jumped into the wheelchair. He then put those heavy planks and the stick back inside, picked up the 'goodies bag', locked the doors (he had to repeat all that to get her back in as well). In the meanwhile the old lady had already started to scoot happily in her automatic wheelchair. And a pair of tired legs and a pair of dusty wheels strolled together on the pavement built next to the beach as the sun started to drown in the clear blue sea.



What a zest for life, what romance! I have seen couples take care of each other's every basic need leaving no stone unturned, but this is a mile further. Going to the beach is not any need, it is pure fun. Especially going every evening is luxury I say! Yes, they were regulars there. It is not just 'cooking cleaning, putting food on the table, help kids with homework, give medicines on time' stuff, it is 'let's go out and have the most fun this age can offer' stuff. I was thoroughly impressed!

The old man had to go through a lot in arranging for his wife to get out of the vehicle and get back in again, but while clicking these pictures, all I thought of was 'It is indeed a blessing to love and be loved'...

We ordered for Chinese food today at work. My colleague S, a father of 2 - one teenager and one 8, searched his pocket for loose change. Not finding any,
S: Looks like my girls have been stealing coins for buying sweets...
We all smiled :)
S: I have strictly told them, it is OK to steal as long as you are not caught.

How crooked is that???!!!

October 1st - I got my first Blogger award from Wishes, my first tag from DiDo (Aanya tagged me later too :) ) and my very first fish tank from AB :)
I am super thrilled!


1. What is your current obsession ?
My new fish!

2. What are you wearing today?
Clothes!

3. What’s for dinner?
Chole

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
A giant wooden rose ring

5. What are you listening to right now?
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Two lovely ladies tagged me -
DiDo- My support system, my sweetheart and a girl who forces you to be as crazy as she is ;)
Aanya- I don't know much about her, but I love her writing, sense of humour and she seems to be a lot of fun!

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
A beach house by a clean picturesque beach

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Sun glasses

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Paris

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Japanese

11. What’s your favourite quote?
If it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger

12. Who do you want to meet right now?
My two darling friends - Ri and Di(do) and spend a whole night chatting with Di and trying to wake up Ri

13. What is your favourite colour?
Red

14. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
A black dress

15. What is your dream job?
Now that I have a job, I don't dream about them anymore

16. What’s your favourite magazine?
None

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Shoes

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Like I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, wearing anything that you can't carry with grace

19. Who according to you is the most over-rated style icon?
Abhishek Bacchan

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
Layers

21. What are you going to do after this?
Work :P

22. What are your favourite movies?
Top most at the moment is 'Grave of the fireflies' - an anime

23. What are three cosmetic/makeup/perfume products that you can't live without?
Eyeliner, moisturizer, lip gloss

24. What inspires you ?
My dad's and maternal grandma's life-story

25. Give us three styling tips that always work for you:
Walk tall, smile, be totally comfortable in what you wear

26. What do you do when you “have nothing to wear” (even though your closet’s packed)?
I usually re-arrange stuff when this happens. I actually didn't go to a party once because of this!

27. Coffee or tea?
Mornings - Coffee
Afternoons - Tea

28. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Lay my head on AB's lap or have a chat with my friend Al or read Sai Satcharitra (No I am not religious at all, this is the only thing I do)
Most importantly avoid looking at or talking to Ma. She just magically knows something is wrong and starts getting worried.

29. What is the meaning of your name?
Celestial Rays, Beauty, Divine

30. Favourite Holiday Destination?
Switzerland

31. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
All Indian sweets, Warm brownies with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream

32. Favorite Season ?
Monsoon in Mumbai

33. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?
Anything you like and I know

34. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
I wish I knew the answer

35. What are you afraid of the most?
Anything that crawls

36.Is it possible to be in love with two persons simultaneously?
NO

37.Life without Music/Dance is?
Hollow

My Q: Do you think with your head or heart?

Rules for those who are tagged:Respond and rework – answer these questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own, and add one more question to the list.

If you are like this tag and want to take it up, feel free to!

Mr. X takes fills a leave application in his office, takes 2 weeks off, goes to Malta with his family. He returns on a Saturday, so that he can go back to work on Monday. Unfortunately, he gets food poisoning from the plane food. He calls up his office Monday morning to inform them that he'll be coming on Tuesday because of his health and he needs to go to the doctor first. What do you think will his boss's reaction be?

Will he say 'No problem. Take care of yourself. Make sure to get a note from the doctor though' casually or will he sound a bit cross as his employee stretched his holiday by one more day?

If Mr.X had not been on a holiday, but felt sick one Monday morning and called to inform his office, would the reaction of his boss be the same or slightly less cynical?

On the other hand, Mr. X would try his best to go to work despite his health, or end up feeling guilty/scared of the consequences.

Falling sick is not a crime definitely! Why fear?

Mr. X has 20 days of leave in a year. He wants to take 5 days off for his best friend's wedding in June. What does he tell his boss? The answer in 80% probability would be 'Its my sister's/brother's/cousin's wedding' or 'a relative is in the hospital and his condition is serious' at a later stage. The truth is not a strong enough reason, you see.

If an employee get 20days of holidays in a year, he/she HAS EARNED IT. IT IS NOT A FAVOUR BESTOWED BY THE MANAGEMENT. How anybody wishes to spend those 20days is entirely up to them, as long as they inform the management of the dates beforehand, not the plans. But both the management and the employees feel otherwise in some corner of their mind.

The company is not to be blamed - its rule states 20days, but it is a person usually, who is interested in the details and feels free to decide whether taking those days off is fairly reasonable or not, in many cases.

There are so many incidents where the boss threatens the employee of not getting a promotion/raise if they are not 'hard-working'(read in between the lines), women returning to work after their maternity leave are given a step-motherly treatment, extra-hours, over-time is unacknowledged, unappreciated. None punishable by law when done in a subtle manner, but nonetheless not acceptable.

Having said that, if the management is in fact, 'open-minded' like we feel it ought to be, how many employees would not take an advantage of the system?

Is there any balance that can be attained without compromising the interests of the management as well as the employees?