Happy Birthday to one of the best birthday gifts I ever got!
Yup people, that's what Dido is, my precious birthday gift :-)

I could tell you all kinds of stories about her, but that might land me in trouble!
So repecting her privacy, here are a few lines on my darling friend-

My eyes brim
With laughing aloud,
Sorrows skim
No tear allowed.

She makes me swim
On the ninth cloud,
Nothing's ever dim
If she's in the crowd!

Her heart pure and prim
Makes me proud,
Full of fancy and whim
She is, as vowed.

She's friendship's true hymn
To her, my heart has bowed...

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.

A hot cup of Earl Grey tea
A warm ham and cheese toastie
Boss absent
The first few flakes of snow falling like lost feathers outside the window
A Christmas song on the radio

Absolute bliss :-)

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  :-)