Regrets of the year gone by....

1. I STILL haven't made my website. Bad, bad, BAD girl ! (how am I EVER going to widen that freelance web??)
2. I didn't stay in touch enough.....
3. I STILL haven't hit my target weight.
4. I made it to Thailand, sans Serenity, but not the other places I had planned to visit with him.
5. I didn't save as much as I should have.
6. Though I have mellowed (quite a bit, according to me..... not enough, according to Serenity), I'm still not zen enough to not yell and scream and get homicidal when we fight.
7. I STILL hate my killjoy partypooper bitch of a neighbour.
8. I don't get enough exercise. 
9. I shopped wayyyyyy too much..... also refer point #5.
10. I've stopped checking my glucometer, I don't think I'm making much progress with keeping my blood sugar levels down.....also,
11. I haven't gone back to my diabetologist in a year almost.


.....and as far as resolutions go, well.... its the 6th of Jan and its not like I kept mine even on the 1st, so the less said about that, the better!

What's with the Invincible Corks??

Mimi / Arliemol and I have history..... of the DISASTROUS variety!
The simplest, most mundane activities we try to perform (post Serenity's bedtime, post midnight!) usually end in disaster and de-wash-tation (to quote Mimi!)....
Here we present 2 case studies of the more memorable kind. The second is what prompted this post. Unfortunately, Case study 1 is not accompanied by pictures.


Case Study 1: 2 women trying to paint their nails.
Method: Volunteer to paint Mimi's nails RED. Shake bottle vigourously. Watch helplessly as said bottle flies out of hand and splatters on pristine white guestroom floor. Realise there's about 2 ml of nail-paint remover left. Try and prioritise whether to clean Mimi (who is spattered upto her knees in red nail paint) or the floor. Fail miserably at both.
Result: Guestroom floor now looks like a scene from Dexter.


Case Study 2: 2 women want to drink a mini bottle of Rosé
Method: Try and open with Corkscrew A. Helplessly watch as corkscrew A breaks, embedding itself in the cork. Proceed to sloowwwwly chip away at cork with knife, avoiding embedded corkscrew to further avoid blade joining corkscrew in the cork. Progress to potato peeler. Abandon hope. Resume chipping away at cork, tea- strainer on standby. Involve mighty Ikea toolkit. Successfully pull out remnants of Corkscrew A. Resume mission with Corkscrew B. Mission successful. 
Result: 2 measly glasses of wine that in hindsight - a) we could have done without.... and b) REALLY did NOT justify the effort we put into it.

Randomness for the day....

Calamity is travelling far and wide...

Serenity, I miss you.

Random Thought...

Just a random thought....

An Excerpt from Desiderata

Desiderata: (Latin for "desired things", plural of desideratum) is an inspirational prose poem by Max Ehrmann about attaining happiness in life....

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.......

.....And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul......

This is one piece of writing that I first came across in junior college.... it has comforted me, made me see a lot of things and meant different things to me at different times... Today, these particular paragraphs make sense to me as I try to make sense of the death of an old friend..... Of someone snatched away before her life even began...

Through everything we're all going through, the only things that came to mind when I heard that she was gone was

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence......."

And so I looked up the rest of it again to read to myself... and found meaning in it again.

Its an incredibly beautiful piece and if you haven't ever come across it, here it is for you.

I hope it gives to you all that it has given me.

A Series of Unfortunate Events.

I saw this on someone's blog today and remembered an article (true story, yes!) that I had written based on my flatmate's and my experiences with domestic help in the city-that-never-sleeps. It has languished in my drafts folder forever....

My mother often says that she'd like to write a book on her experiences with different maids over the years. From the one that bit my sister to the one who chased me around the house trying to break my skull with a butter-churn, to the one who had the bigamous husband (who was married to her sister, no less!!), they're all worth a lot of page space.

Having moved out with a fellow designer from the dry state and having polished off the better part of a bottle of very pricey scotch that a friend had gifted me, I was rather alarmed to see the remaining alcohol's level dip rapidly in the bottle. Does Scotch evaporate?, I wondered. I checked and rechecked that the bottle was closed tightly, but lo and behold! the next time I checked on it, the level had dipped alarmingly AGAIN!

Having come to the conclusion that flatmate had been having a night-cap to relieve work-pressure, I did not spare it a second thought, though I had assumed upto this point that she was strictly a wine drinker, while she assumed that I had been imbibing copious amounts of scotch!

It turns out that we were subjected to a rather one-of-a-kind specimen of the house help category. Let's call her Urvashi. Let it be known that Urvashi was a silent shadow upto this point, who came, did her bit and disappeared, with little conversation exchanged with either of us. And then one evening, came a phone-call that rattled us both!

It was our house-broker, who happened to be in the area while we were both at work, to register a tremendous ruckus ensuing from our humble abode. Initial suspicion that it was the TV was quickly dispelled when he, and a LOT of other people came upon Urvashi, who was not just a wee bit tipsy, but completely SMASHED!

So much so, that she could barely stand, and so was sitting there wailing her head off!

But wait, it gets better!!

Not content with the level of inebriation she was at, Urvashi had evidently intended to continue the party, because a search of her possessions revealed not one, but TWO bottles of country liquor that she presumably brought along to supplement my (now meagre!) quantity of hooch!

The little to-do involved her screeching, building people assembling, many tries to bring her to her senses (including water being flung at her through the balcony grill - we were on the ground floor), and finally ended in our broker taking away her keys, getting the woman into an auto and in both of us receiving calls from him, informing us of the exciting activities of the evening!! Since our building society mainly comprises of senior citizens, we were a little apprehensive and wondering when the eviction notice would come! But methinks, that this being SUCH an unusual situation, they figured it was really not something we could have predicted.

So now, we're looking for house help again... and this time the main question in the

interview is "Have you or any member of your family been prone to bingeing on alcohol?

If yes, then how many drinks can you take before getting completely wasted?"

Months!!

Q: What is a classic example of procrastination? 

A: This post!.... Considering I began writing it on Friday evening and today is Wednesday morning... hmmmm... and so this would be what I wrote on Friday.....

OMG! Its been MONTHS since I spewed on this.... no be my fault,peebles, no be my fault. 

Imagine if you attended TEN weddings over the span of 2 months!! And that's 10 weddings spread over the whole of South India, I kid you not!Okay so since November, I've been to:

Coorg 

Kerala

(Then the husband came back from espana...)

Madras

Kerala

Madras

Bangalore

Kerala

....and yes, ALL weddings !

blah blah blah.... like you would be interested in my social life! (who am I kidding?!!!)

Whatever you give a woman, she will give you back in greater measure. 
If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. 
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. 
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. 
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. 
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. (Don't get funny ideas) 
So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of the same.

Somebody sent that to me.... actually, my English teacher from school did. 

Okay enough randomness... the work scene is finally looking up, one is oh-so-happy about that!

There's enough work coming in to keep me busy, and leaves time for whatever else I might want to do... started a painting a few days ago, continued it today... F#$@ed it up BAD - also today....

baked (also today).... now off to meet people.... 

wooohooo! the weekend is here! 

Long Live the Weekend!!

Yeah, my least favourite day of the week:

1) Sunday Night

2) Monday Morning

Sunday Night because you suddenly hear the whooooosh! as the weekend flies past... and yes, you have accomplished little of what you could have or should have....if you're away someplace on a weekend trip, this is the time that you head back and the 

and Monday Morning because you can see the whole week just streeeetching ahead of you.. and Friday seems soooo far away! 

(not so far now that we're mid week!! yippeee! the weekend approaches!)

I actually live for weekends, its the only time Serenity and I get together during the week and better part of Saturday is reserved for errands we need to run, groceries we need to buy, (i cant believe how domesticated this wild child has become!) people we need to meet, the weekly visit to the family... and then whatever plans might happen along the way. I missed a play last weekend that I feel quite bad about... looked forward to watching the Madras Players (I've heard they're damn good) but that plan never materialized.... wonder what to do this weekend... aah yes, a visit to the insurance office would be a great idea (more examples of my procrastination!!)

And now, we shall continue this some other time! (Grin!)

Cogito Ergo Sum.... I think, therefore I am...

I am: outspoken to a fault!... also easy to get along with...also mad as a hatter!!
I think: too much for my own good... overanalysis will be the death of me...
I know: that this too shall pass.... that what goes around comes around... and that a kind word or act will always find its way back to you if you bother to expend it on someone else...
I want: lots of books, lots of travel and enough money to help me do that!
I have: finally found the man i want to be with for ever.
I wish: fights didnt have to happen
I hate: cockroaches top the list.... spongers come a close second... bitches and pseuds tie for third place....
I miss: my friends in Bombay and Ahmedabad and all the ones scattered over the world..i miss being 6 years old....
I fear: that i will lose my vision.... that i will have no ideas left one day....
I feel: very strongly about certain things and im not afraid of saying so...
I hear: very little when im on a bike.... its a constant source of irritation to my husband that im a space puppy pillion rider!!
I smell: the first rain... good most of the time!! (hehehhe!)
I crave: all things illegal, immoral and calorific! :D
I search: for important things that i have put away and cant remember where i've put them!
I wonder: if i will be mourned if i died tomorrow
I regret: some of the biggest harshest decisions i have had to take...
I love: my husband to bits, my friends to the ends of the earth, my family... the colour blue....
I ache: when i feel like im being judged... when someone misunderstands me..
I am not: as tough as i make out to be...
I dance: with great abandon.... :) i dance like im all alone and the music is mine...
I sing: loudly and lustily to some really silly songs...
I cry: when im sad or so angry that i cant say anything anymore...
I don't always: answer my phone. (i have that in common with the person whose blog i took these questions off!!)
I fight: with as much passion as i do anything else... life is no fun with no argument!
I write: better than i speak, sometimes.... long letters to people i love....
I win: when i complete something to my satisfaction
I lose: my temper ... faaar too easily sometimes....
I never: want to deal with loss of any kind.... yes, i am an ostrich in that respect...
I always: dream of utopian situations....worst case scenarios get me down...
I confuse: days, dates and times... i live on a different time zone :)
I listen: to my loved one's heartbeat every night before i sleep.
I can usually be found: sitting in front of my computer, cooking up a storm or laughing like an idiot!
I need: to know that im loved and will always be loved, no matter what.
I am happy about: the way my life has changed for the better, to my satisfaction.
I imagine: being successful and happy..and more than anything else, being at peace with myself.