Long hiatus after disturbed depressing story, yes... only to inform the world that I'm down with Pee-Noo-Monee-Yaa.... yeah, sulk sulk sulk....
This would be my second run-in with the wonderful ailment, one that I would not wish upon anyone.... but my eternally optimistic mind tells me that the only good thing to come of this is that I may come out of this a few kilos lighter!! :D
Pneumonia #1 happened to me 10 years ago (and with much more severity, actually!) and involved me staying in hospital for well over a month... Everyone who visited me, brought me chocolate, irrespective of the fact that I couldnt keep anything down at the time... my sister who came to the hospital to keep me company, would munch her way through my goodies.... and now im down with Pneumonia #2, and this time too, I have loads of chocolate in the house, AND a bottle of Baileys that I can only stare wistfully at till I'm done with the antibiotics.... sighhhhhhh......
My mom will be coming down to nurse me back to health, thank god for that! Serenity seems a little lost with me being so sick.... He's put me on house-arrest till I'm totally fine, which is really BLAH what with the christmas season and all .... i SO wanted to get a tree and do up the house this year... :( so many plans.... so now, I'm ordering christmas cards online, and hoping to sit and write them out so as to get them out at the decent time.... sometime before new years is fine with me !! :D
...and this is how I end the year, with lots of phlegm and snorts and snargles.... !!
compliments of the season to you, world!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Epiphany...
It was all so clear in his mind - the clarity of a dawn dream. "Morning dreams always come true", Ma always said... He could see it now, hear the applause ringing in his ears... feel the elation as he walked up in his crisp, smart uniform, shoes gleaming to get his report card from the head of the school. Beaming his beatific smile as he looked down at the row of A+ grades on the report card, feeling the applause reverberate in his very being as he lifted the card high...
He looked down at the report card, unable to meet the disapproving eyes of his teacher.. Looking down at a row of Cs and Ds, feeling his heart plummet right down into the toes of his ratty, shabby shoes.... "You will amount to nothing", he heard his father say in his head - words so oft repeated, they felt almost real as he heard them echo in his mind. His optimism evaporates as he trudges home, past the palatial houses he longingly stared at everyday.. to the wrong side of the tracks... to the beating he knows awaits when the cursed report card will be asked for and produced. He felt his knees tremble as if already imagining the hot wetness of his bladder losing control with each blow that fell on his defenceless back.
"You'll never do well... never.... EVER"... and it was then that he KNEW. He wouldnt ever be that boy in his dreams, the achiever, one of the "haves".... he'd always be a "have not", an underdog.... always be mediocre.... in his mediocre life. Never exceptional, always so-so. But in the haze of blinding pain that came with this knowledge, a glimmer of his long buried hope resurfaces... the only thing that could possibly work to break him out of the vicious cycle his life seemed to be stuck in.
Excellence in mediocrity - he smiled as the irony of his epiphany sunk in. His head, no longer bowed, his back erect, he makes for his future, optimism intact with the epiphany ruling him.
He looked down at the report card, unable to meet the disapproving eyes of his teacher.. Looking down at a row of Cs and Ds, feeling his heart plummet right down into the toes of his ratty, shabby shoes.... "You will amount to nothing", he heard his father say in his head - words so oft repeated, they felt almost real as he heard them echo in his mind. His optimism evaporates as he trudges home, past the palatial houses he longingly stared at everyday.. to the wrong side of the tracks... to the beating he knows awaits when the cursed report card will be asked for and produced. He felt his knees tremble as if already imagining the hot wetness of his bladder losing control with each blow that fell on his defenceless back.
"You'll never do well... never.... EVER"... and it was then that he KNEW. He wouldnt ever be that boy in his dreams, the achiever, one of the "haves".... he'd always be a "have not", an underdog.... always be mediocre.... in his mediocre life. Never exceptional, always so-so. But in the haze of blinding pain that came with this knowledge, a glimmer of his long buried hope resurfaces... the only thing that could possibly work to break him out of the vicious cycle his life seemed to be stuck in.
Excellence in mediocrity - he smiled as the irony of his epiphany sunk in. His head, no longer bowed, his back erect, he makes for his future, optimism intact with the epiphany ruling him.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tech City Madness!
So the settling in has happened, hounding carpenter to come and put up all my lovely posters has happened.... but before we get into the good stuff, allow me to rant!
Serenity (thankfully!) got a relocation allowance - so we went with a highly acclaimed packing and moving company Aggravating Packers and Movers (get it? I cant take names, very aware of possibility of litigation you see? C.Y.A at all times is the motto - Cover Your A$$!!). They cost us a bomb... and my big 6 seater dining table (thats as old as Serenity) arrived as a tripod!! Yup, table and three legs as one piece, one leg as a separate piece. 2 big beautiful framed posters arrived with the glass shattered, the bed came with a bolt loose that caused it to collapse when Serenity sat on it! (which earned him the nick name 'Palankh Thod' which has its own off-colour connotations!!) Cartons packed by them, which bore their logo and the proud epithet of "Relocation Intact" came looking like a particularly overweight elephant had sat on them. Relocation Intact - HAH! And did they pay for any of this damage? Take a guess, go on.... No F%$^ing way!
So yeah, we got everything fixed, unpacked the zillion million cartons - who knew that in 2 years we had collected SO MUCH stuff... and now we're fully functional! This is a spectacular city - considering neither Serenity nor Calamity has to commute anywhere (Serenity walks to work!) the traffic doesnt bother us that much... and the weather, is TO DIE FOR!!.... Phew! After the city-that-wakes-up-early, its a VERY welcome relief. We spend a lot of time on the terrace, Calamity set up wi-fi so she even works outside! Add to this whole lovely equation a motley crew of friends who we love to hang out with and you have 2 very happy people! Never a dull moment on the weekends... Oh and the two of us have joined the church choir (where Calamity sings like a little mouse in the corner in the face of so much musical talent!) and we're learning the Halleluiah chorus from Handel's Messiah now.... Confronted with sheet music and having to learn the Alto part, Calamity's head swims...So much so that I looked it up on youtube and practise diligently!! Floundering, but ever optimistic we are!
Weekends at home also feature a character from the city-that-wakes-up-early - I have a pair of soul sistahs, and this trio is named in true blue Malayalee fashion (we take great joy in stereotypes!) as Arliemol, Ansiemol (yours truly) and Albiemol. Arliemol comes and visits, calls herself Wife #2 to Serenity and proceeds to be a complete riot! The days she stays over, we sit on the terrace long after Serenity has gone to bed, laugh like idiots and do insane things like splatter red nail paint on my pristine guest room floor and order 5 pairs of shoes online at 3 am... yup, full bundle of laughs! Arliemol was also introduced to our local bunch of friends and it was super cool to see them all get along like a house on fire! Perenially on a diet, on a good day she has 3 cornflakes for breakfast and TOTALLY cheats on her diet around us! Its nice to not have completely lost touch with the city-that-wakes-up-early because this clown moved here around the same time as us.
All in all, Tech City has been wonderful.... and I'm very happy to be here.
Serenity (thankfully!) got a relocation allowance - so we went with a highly acclaimed packing and moving company Aggravating Packers and Movers (get it? I cant take names, very aware of possibility of litigation you see? C.Y.A at all times is the motto - Cover Your A$$!!). They cost us a bomb... and my big 6 seater dining table (thats as old as Serenity) arrived as a tripod!! Yup, table and three legs as one piece, one leg as a separate piece. 2 big beautiful framed posters arrived with the glass shattered, the bed came with a bolt loose that caused it to collapse when Serenity sat on it! (which earned him the nick name 'Palankh Thod' which has its own off-colour connotations!!) Cartons packed by them, which bore their logo and the proud epithet of "Relocation Intact" came looking like a particularly overweight elephant had sat on them. Relocation Intact - HAH! And did they pay for any of this damage? Take a guess, go on.... No F%$^ing way!
So yeah, we got everything fixed, unpacked the zillion million cartons - who knew that in 2 years we had collected SO MUCH stuff... and now we're fully functional! This is a spectacular city - considering neither Serenity nor Calamity has to commute anywhere (Serenity walks to work!) the traffic doesnt bother us that much... and the weather, is TO DIE FOR!!.... Phew! After the city-that-wakes-up-early, its a VERY welcome relief. We spend a lot of time on the terrace, Calamity set up wi-fi so she even works outside! Add to this whole lovely equation a motley crew of friends who we love to hang out with and you have 2 very happy people! Never a dull moment on the weekends... Oh and the two of us have joined the church choir (where Calamity sings like a little mouse in the corner in the face of so much musical talent!) and we're learning the Halleluiah chorus from Handel's Messiah now.... Confronted with sheet music and having to learn the Alto part, Calamity's head swims...So much so that I looked it up on youtube and practise diligently!! Floundering, but ever optimistic we are!
Weekends at home also feature a character from the city-that-wakes-up-early - I have a pair of soul sistahs, and this trio is named in true blue Malayalee fashion (we take great joy in stereotypes!) as Arliemol, Ansiemol (yours truly) and Albiemol. Arliemol comes and visits, calls herself Wife #2 to Serenity and proceeds to be a complete riot! The days she stays over, we sit on the terrace long after Serenity has gone to bed, laugh like idiots and do insane things like splatter red nail paint on my pristine guest room floor and order 5 pairs of shoes online at 3 am... yup, full bundle of laughs! Arliemol was also introduced to our local bunch of friends and it was super cool to see them all get along like a house on fire! Perenially on a diet, on a good day she has 3 cornflakes for breakfast and TOTALLY cheats on her diet around us! Its nice to not have completely lost touch with the city-that-wakes-up-early because this clown moved here around the same time as us.
All in all, Tech City has been wonderful.... and I'm very happy to be here.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The Three Musketeers plus One
There are many who believe that kids who grow up in cities, grow up without the luxury of wide open spaces to run and jump and play in. I did'nt. Strangely, even in the city-that-doesnt-sleep, are these oases of green (so far, so good - I'd say!) and we had one of those just over the wall! The folks call it the golf club - but for us, it was picnic spot, beach and park all combined. We were serial trespassers - and we enjoyed EVERY minute! We honed our athletic prowess on their grass! Slipping and sliding with no fear of hurting ourselves, jumping through sprinklers... Part of the thrill was running away from watchmen and vigilant members who tried to run us off. We called one of them Street Hawk (after an 80s - 90s TV series character) because he usually came after us on a motorcycle!
We had pot-luck picnics and long jump competitions into the sand traps of the 8th hole! We believed in "finders keepers" when it came to stray golf balls. For some reason, we believed they cost a ton of money! There are no pictures of those glory days - nobody had cameras their folks would let them take along, but they're so fondly remembered... We had races to see who'd get over the wall first when Street Hawk came along... and the last one was always the 'rotten egg'.... We sure were lucky - where else would a bunch of kids find endless acres of green fresh lawn to run and jump and tumble on?
The Three Musketeers plus One was us - born the same year, three girls and a boy - June, August, September and October. Today, one's in Australia, one's in Germany, I'm here and the boy is sailing the seas and seeing the world. He was a monkey - skinny and climbed to ridiculous heights to escape getting caught when we played cops and robbers (he actually scaled a coconut tree to the height of the second floor while we stood around beneath the tree screaming at him, and my mum and sisters having hysterics while watching from the third floor!)
The two girls moved away while we were still in school, but the monkey and I grew up together, going to school together and laughing about our respective schools and their 'sex education' classes. One fine day, the scrawny monkey suddenly ended up wayyy taller than me (big blah - I was always the tallest of the group!) and then he realised his dream of being a sailor. He's first engineer (I think!) now and we always catch up whenever we end up being home at the same time... All of us are married now and scattered all over, but in my head, this is how we'll always be - one curly-headed tomboy, one quiet girl, one chatterbox and one monkey.
We had pot-luck picnics and long jump competitions into the sand traps of the 8th hole! We believed in "finders keepers" when it came to stray golf balls. For some reason, we believed they cost a ton of money! There are no pictures of those glory days - nobody had cameras their folks would let them take along, but they're so fondly remembered... We had races to see who'd get over the wall first when Street Hawk came along... and the last one was always the 'rotten egg'.... We sure were lucky - where else would a bunch of kids find endless acres of green fresh lawn to run and jump and tumble on?
The Three Musketeers plus One was us - born the same year, three girls and a boy - June, August, September and October. Today, one's in Australia, one's in Germany, I'm here and the boy is sailing the seas and seeing the world. He was a monkey - skinny and climbed to ridiculous heights to escape getting caught when we played cops and robbers (he actually scaled a coconut tree to the height of the second floor while we stood around beneath the tree screaming at him, and my mum and sisters having hysterics while watching from the third floor!)
The two girls moved away while we were still in school, but the monkey and I grew up together, going to school together and laughing about our respective schools and their 'sex education' classes. One fine day, the scrawny monkey suddenly ended up wayyy taller than me (big blah - I was always the tallest of the group!) and then he realised his dream of being a sailor. He's first engineer (I think!) now and we always catch up whenever we end up being home at the same time... All of us are married now and scattered all over, but in my head, this is how we'll always be - one curly-headed tomboy, one quiet girl, one chatterbox and one monkey.
Monday, June 14, 2010
TA DAAAAH!!!
Let the packing begin! After a series of futile calls to a number of packers and movers, I've finally closed the deal! Packing begins tomorrow which means Calamity CAN join Serenity to ring in her birthday! Yayyy!
Simple pleasures of life, I tell you!
Calamity misses Serenity muchly. xoxox
Simple pleasures of life, I tell you!
Calamity misses Serenity muchly. xoxox
Monday, May 24, 2010
Home, home again...
Home, home again
I like to be there when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire
Calamity is back... After a hectic 2 weeks of loads of running around, it feels good to be home. Not that the city-that-never-sleeps disappointed me in any way, hehehe, but Serenity left in 5 days and Calamity was just travelling the length and breadth of the city on sourcing trips. Of course, Calamity MADE TIME to shop on the way (how could I resist?!) and tried out lots of eating joints... and took Serenity to eat street food (with the dire warning that he was NOT to let any reports of tummy upsets reach his in-laws!).... also a sushi BUFFET! (awesome awesome AWESOME!). There's this place which has an all-you-can-eat Pan-Asian buffet - (we never make it to the main course) which allows you to bring your own booze! I swear, HOW COOL IS THAT?!! and then pay a minimal corkage on your own hooch! No hefty hooch bills - BLISS!
I love going away, sometimes... mainly because I love coming back to Serenity! I loooove seeing him in a crowd as much as I like looking for him - and then I love to see him smile at me, when I've been smile-deprived for a while! Much before we got married, Serenity gave me fair warning that he was not the OTT Romantic and that I'd be VERY disappointed if that was what I was expecting! He also claims to be zero imagination when it comes to gifts! But over the 2 years that we've been married, the surprises have come... I'm surprised he doesnt take the numerous clothes I leave lying around and throttle me with them! I'm surprised when he doesn't understand blatant hints... I'm always surprised by how he instinctively gets (some) things right when it comes to me!! ... those are the good surprises... like any marriage, we've had the bad surprises too... and the way we've come through those doesn't just surprise me, it AWES me.
But what I was getting to, was how Serenity surprises me with welcome-home gestures that I cannot help but smile at, and sometimes laugh delightedly! Once, I got home after we'd been fighting long-distance to find a BIG bunch of roses on the table.... and lots more in strange places like the fridge, my cupboard, on the laundry chest (I think that was because the clothes needed to be done!!) and even in the loo!! There was a bunch of t-shirts and blouses that the roses led to in the cupboard and the fridge! There was a sweet letter that made me cry - and the man claimed to be a staunch anti - romantic! See? pleasant surprise right there!... Another time, I get back home.... and I'd been whining and whining about my back and how my chair was killing my posture and I walked in to my room, switched on the light and there! There was this huge-ass office chair!
This morning, before Serenity left for work, he looked despairingly at my desk and said "You should clean your desk, you know?!" To which, I stuck out my tongue! Sitting at my desk for over 3 hours after the man left for work, I had a near miss when I almost spilt a big mug of tea... as I tried to mop up the spill, I FINALLY noticed the Lamy box near my keyboard. I'd said something weeks ago about how all us designer types could never afford those in college and how we always looked at one as a mark of having "arrived"! Serenity, now, owns a Waterman ink pen and a couple of other fancy-shmancies... so he just winced and said "A Lamy? That's all you aspired to?" :) But then Calamity explained and rambled on for a bit and then forgot all about it.... until this morning!
And as I gleefully scribbled my signature over and over again and read the note that came with it, I suddenly thought of that conversation we had... "So.. please tell me you don't expect flamboyant romantic gestures!" ... and my reaction "Uh...no...I don't expect flowers and poetry, no!" ... And now I'm wondering what romantic gestures I'm missing out on with these "supposedly" unromantic things that he does for me!
Calamity thanks you, dear Serenity... for being the best thing that's happened to me. XOXO
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The more things change, the more they remain the same.....
Serenity and Calamity are moving!.... Yes, go on, heave that sigh of relief.... there will be no more ranting about the city-that-wakes-up-early for a while. We're on our way to our next adventure in Tech City. This bodes well for Calamity's professional and social life, definitely... though Calamity is VERY apprehensive about giving away HER house! Serenity, as always, takes everything in his stride and Calamity has to poke and prod him to show some excitement!
Calamity, today, in the midst of her daily chaos, lovingly sat and wrapped up some of her crystal. (Packed 2 sets and then the heat got to her, so she ran back into her airconditioned den of coolth!!) Well at least I'm getting started with the packing, na? Its a month of travel - Serenity and Calamity take off for the city-that-doesnt-sleep tomorrow. Serenity will be dragged along, kicking and screaming till all hours of the morning to meet with assorted bunches of Calamity's crazy friends... then he gets back, and starts planning the last Boy's Night at Chez Nous! (while Calamity continues on her mad whirl in afore-mentioned city!) Boy's night is usually held at our place, considering Serenity's wife takes off ever so often!! I think Serenity will miss that... though there's another bunch waiting in Tech City for our house-warming pahteee!
Which brings me to the house! Calamity, though relieved to be leaving this city, has been apprehensive about the "what will we do about this house, what house will we get there" and other such questions! Well, it turns out that the Person Up There wanted us to move too... why else would it transpire that we would fall in LOVE with the very FIRST house our agents took us to?!! Calamity almost danced through the house, while Serenity followed at his sedate pace, not giving away anything. Calamity was like a child in a candy store and tugged and muttered to Serenity every chance she got "Its beeyootiful ! I want, I want, I want!!".... and it turns out that we got it! (just barely, actually! We saw 2 other parties who came there while we were there and they wanted it too!!) But we got it! Yay! And as we settled in to sleep our way back home, we both stayed awake for a long time... just thinking... and I reached for Serenity's hand and squeezed and whispered "I cant believe how lucky we are"... he squeezed back and he smiled.
So now, we're off on the next leg of our adventure, with another new start in a new place with lots of old friends. Its like a replay of the initial settling down... packing, unpacking, doing up etc etc...
And I squeeze Serenity's hand and he squeezes mine, I smile and go to sleep content.
Calamity, today, in the midst of her daily chaos, lovingly sat and wrapped up some of her crystal. (Packed 2 sets and then the heat got to her, so she ran back into her airconditioned den of coolth!!) Well at least I'm getting started with the packing, na? Its a month of travel - Serenity and Calamity take off for the city-that-doesnt-sleep tomorrow. Serenity will be dragged along, kicking and screaming till all hours of the morning to meet with assorted bunches of Calamity's crazy friends... then he gets back, and starts planning the last Boy's Night at Chez Nous! (while Calamity continues on her mad whirl in afore-mentioned city!) Boy's night is usually held at our place, considering Serenity's wife takes off ever so often!! I think Serenity will miss that... though there's another bunch waiting in Tech City for our house-warming pahteee!
Which brings me to the house! Calamity, though relieved to be leaving this city, has been apprehensive about the "what will we do about this house, what house will we get there" and other such questions! Well, it turns out that the Person Up There wanted us to move too... why else would it transpire that we would fall in LOVE with the very FIRST house our agents took us to?!! Calamity almost danced through the house, while Serenity followed at his sedate pace, not giving away anything. Calamity was like a child in a candy store and tugged and muttered to Serenity every chance she got "Its beeyootiful ! I want, I want, I want!!".... and it turns out that we got it! (just barely, actually! We saw 2 other parties who came there while we were there and they wanted it too!!) But we got it! Yay! And as we settled in to sleep our way back home, we both stayed awake for a long time... just thinking... and I reached for Serenity's hand and squeezed and whispered "I cant believe how lucky we are"... he squeezed back and he smiled.
So now, we're off on the next leg of our adventure, with another new start in a new place with lots of old friends. Its like a replay of the initial settling down... packing, unpacking, doing up etc etc...
And I squeeze Serenity's hand and he squeezes mine, I smile and go to sleep content.
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