My Comfort Zone...

I spoke to my comfort zone today, and I've come away feeling (as always!), like she's THE most amazing person in the world. She is a bundle of goodwill, she is... I kid you not and I've never met anyone who's not TOTALLY adored her when they met her. That includes Serenity, who probably digs her about as much as I do.... nah, not possible, I dig her THE most! Actually, I have quite a few of these comfort zone people scattered around the world, and I'm incredibly lucky to be their friend and to call them mine. ... and right now, I miss them SO much.

At a time when I was feeling like the bottom of the ocean, a conversation with her has made me feel like there are a zillion things I could do to make myself feel better. (and no, NONE of those ways has ANYTHING to do with a bottle of wine!) 

This girl, has been my refuge in the city-that-never-sleeps, her home has been my home when I've needed a place to run to or a place to crash. She never ceases to amaze me with her optimism and her willingness to give EVERYONE (and I REALLY mean, EVERYONE) the benefit of the doubt. Someday, I hope to be even half the person she is, because I truly, TRULY think she rocks! I've never met another design professional who's half as socially conscious as this girl and she makes me very VERY proud to be her friend. 

Here's to a "Towel" (you wont get the pun on her name, so dont try!) who makes my world a brighter place just by being in it. Thankyou, you brightened my day. I miss you.

Squill Babies!

For the longest time, I've wanted a pet. Not with any misplaced maternal instincts, but just because I've never had one. Oh there have been numerous adopted cats along the way, Possi-billi, Poosa (because he was a pussa cat, not a pussy cat!) and a litter called Billi Idol, Billi Holiday and Billi Jalani. 

My mum's been anti-pet (I dont blame her, a third floor apartment isnt really the best place to accommodate animals!) and so I spent my childhood feeding stray cats. One notable mention:

When I was in kindergarten (and just after a serious academic accomplishment), someone gave me a couple of Quality Street chocolates. Now these are those famous "Gulf" chocolates with different coloured cellophane wrappers for the different flavours. As a child, it was fascinating to hold these up to the light and see the world turn a different hue. (I think thats where I got my rose tinted vision from!!) So anyway, I was fooling around with these, and I thawt I thaw a puthy kat... HE was just sitting there and chilling. Was I to know that this was a particularly mean tempered tomcat? No way. I was just keen to have my animal friend experience the wonder of coloured vision. So I placed the cellophane over its eyes. Suffice to say, the cat didnt take too kindly to having the light taken out of his bright sunshiny world. (are cats colourblind?) And all I had to show for my troubles were a set of bleeding tracks which the cat (ungrateful b@#$&!d!) gave me for my pains. My mother was confronted by a howling child with bleeding furrows in her forearm. She didnt know whether to laugh or be concerned about the reason for my battle scars!! ....sighhhh.... 

Anyway, apart from the background information, I have Squill babies!! (thats squirrel, you unimaginative goof!) I dont know how many there are yet. Serenity has forbidden me from poking the nest though I'm DYING of curiosity. I've always wanted a squirrel for a pet (meaning for as long as they'll stay. I like them better jumping on the trees - yeah, I LOVE squirrels.) This liking came about since Squishy. (Cue for another tangential deviation down memory lane)......

One (daft) woman in hostel (many moons ago) found a baby squirrel that had dropped out of his nest. Obviously the little critter was oohed and aahed over by the inmates of the hostel. (Women, remember? love little furry cuddly things)...so anyway, this guy was soooo little that you held him in a fist with his head poking out of the top... and as he was passed around among coos, one (slightly deranged but good intentioned) woman said "oooh I could just SQUISH him!!"..... and the name stuck. Unfortunate nomenclature - as you will soon see.

The original owner and her roommate grew really attached to the little guy and he had his own lil shoebox residence that they toted with them to the studios, mess and canteen... (they have to be fed really often through the day).... they also slept with the shoebox between them on the double bed and the (hitherto) unathletic little guy one night got out of the box between two slumbering humans. 

The End. Fin. Finis. Khatam. Squishy got squished. 

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!)

Serenity and Calamity.....

So then my Significant Other came up with this title (very original - surprisingly!!) one that pretty much describes the two of us and our states of mind very aptly! As I have mentioned before, the man is Serenity personified and I am a walking, talking disaster on legs! 

In fact, I think I'm going to mention a few notable people of my life in the city-that-wakes-up-early.... and I hereby christen the Significant Other "Serenity".... (which is what he shall be referred to in future posts). 

Blog # 2 has been quiet (re: audience feedback) because I'd kept this one under my hat... but I've decided to come out (grin!) and name some peeble that I know in the blogosphere. One of them is a blogger celebrity - Egg (I'm really hot on privacy, so I shall not name many-who-shall-not-be-named!) and he's on here and yup, I'm super proud to be his friend! The other one is Baby Bump, who I like a lot and her husband Tummy who are frequent dinner companions.  Tummy, Egg, Serenity and me (Calamity!!) have lots of balcony conversations that are usually elaborate leg-pulling enterprises! 

and thus the week begins.....

Three Weddings and a blog funeral....

Aah so yes, I'm in the city that never sleeps and I came here for three weddings ... and now a blog funeral... some written words have been erased from this page in an effort to keep this the way its meant to be, the way it was intended ... and not some sorry piece of outpouring that could have just as well been an email....
Therefore, this here, is a phoenix rising... goodday sunshine....
And coming back to the three weddings, yeah.... one down, two to go... AND ON THE SAME DAY!....sighhhh.... the thought of shuttling between 2 venues (thankfully close by) is tiring... but i've decided to divide my time (and me - literally.... mehndi on one hand at friend one's place and mehndi on the other at friend two's place!!!) between the two venues.
And then its away from the city that never sleeps to the city that wakes up early!!

Breathe.... breathe in the air.....

*siiiiiiiiigggggghhhhhhhhh*
so a long holiday has almost drawn to a close.... and as usual, one has NO clue where these last few weeks have gone! Its just sped by in a flurry of activity, meeting friends, dealing with some red tape and in general enjoying the feeling of being pampered, sleeping late.... being a brat! Its crazy, but this city moves on a rhythm that's so uniquely its own.... everywhere else I have lived, the slowed down pace has only amazed me more about how much more we cram into one day in the city that never sleeps! Some days it seems like the day is over before its even begun! (ahem, maybe that has to do with the fact that on some days I get up at noon!!!)

But yeah, after so many weeks of frenetic activity, it'll be nice to go back.... its been strange not having the significant other around - this is the longest we've ever been away... My very hectic life these past few weeks led him to ask me "Do you miss me only when you're alone?" n the only way I could explain was to say "Maybe I do so many things at a time to keep from thinking how much I miss you"....n I did.... n I do.....

The significant other and I have had numerous ups and downs since we walked into each other's lives...and we have a thread on gmail, that goes back to the very first email he ever wrote me and traces the way our relationship wrote its story... mush, gush and angry flush - its got all the makings of a potboiler!! Last night, I was re-reading some of the old communication, and it struck me that taken chronologically, our communication would make good reading! If it were possible to never EVER reveal identities, I'm sure my devilish mind would do it too... :) but my boy, he's a shy one... :) complete antipode of the dangerous mind.... his mind is as serene as it gets.... no idiot schemes brew in this one. And for his sake, and because I love him, you'll just have to do without! :D

Here's to a quiet thoughtful boy with a big rucksack and a big nose... :) your wife loves you.

books.....

The books (novels) in blue I have read. You are supposed to italicise books that are on your reading list. I am not sure if at the end I'm going to be ashamed about my reading list!! Many of these are classics. Try this one out for yourselves too!

P.S I don't know who came up with the list and on what basis.... I would take out some and add a few more!

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (books 1,2 &3.. finis!)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (not fully, yes i know im bad)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (in progress!!)
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton (another favorite!)
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (one of my favourites!)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo