I dont really hate work. In fact every now and then I get some good piece of work.

But there are some things that i absolutely love.. Like

1. Putting “Confidential” seal on “Confidential” papers.
2. Punching paper.
3. Shredding “Confidential” papers.
4. Box files.

itsy bitsy beasty feasty

Finally..

managed to take the afternoon off from work..

went to the doc..

and got scolded for not coming earlier..

:|

anyways.. so since i already had the time, roamed around a little and explored the neighborhood. I really like what i saw. And there i thought you cant get anything in gurgaon :D

cooked for hubby (really rare occurrence) and managed to pull off a decent chicken curry and to top it off.. some gajar ka halwa

:D ;D

m feeling festive already

writer's block ( with new shoes)

(I wanted to write a post about the year 2009. About the changes the year brought to my life. And somehow I wasnt able to. Wrote, re wrote and erased the post a number of times.. and then just gave up..)

So instead I am just gonna write about my new shoes.

I love them.

End of story.



:)

Human or Dancer?

I did my best to notice
When the call came down the line
Up to the platform of surrender
I was brought but I was kind
And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door
Close your eyes
Clear your heart...
Cut the cord

Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I'm on my knees
Looking for the answer
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?

- Human by "The Killers"

this song has been playing in infinite loop in my head for the last two days and I have been caught humming at work :P

Let go

I got home on time yesterday (three cheers..) and managed to catch Mahabharat on TV.

For some reason, I got wondering about Karna. Now, this man was intelligent, learned, strong willed and skilled - all the characteristics of a great epic hero. Right?

Wrong.. He didnt have that one characteristic that marks the truly great ones - the power to let go, to forgive and forget.
Only one flaw, and he lived a bitter life. And died a bitter death.

Moral of the post: Its up to you, the individual, to not let the past overshadow your present. Let your life be a clean slate and live in present. That'll make life easier, for better.

For some inexplicable reason K believes that among the two of us, I am the more wierd one.
I claim otherwise. I do not take offence when called unique or different. But wierd?? No. I mean, wierd is a cow wearing yellow business suit and dancing to the beats of thriller.

So anyways, as a result, every now and then, the issue of ownership of the TV remote finds a companion in this all important issue of "who is wierder" and I guess our neighbours don their ear plugs.

blah blah

They say two things are certain - death and taxes..
Well for delhites, there are more - traffic jams and metro construction. (and the traffic jams because of metro construction :P)

anyways.. the point is.. I am being forced to mention here this conversation here:

K: blah blah something something... metro.. blah blah
M: hmm.. blah blah
K: these civil engineers working on metro project are sure lucky..
M: Yeah... I wonder if the baceria also have metro trains.
K: blah blah You have to put this on your blog.
M: Why..? this is stupid.
K: Yeah. Right.

Another first

My first traffic chalaan..

:(

Time of Pi/e

Just now, I thought about having a pie.. and incidently looked at my watch. It was 3.14
:)

Einstein incidently was born on 14th of March otherwise also known as Pi day. I think he was destined for greatness.

It took me 3 hours to finally stop shaking. It was not fear I am sure.. Maybe a residue of shock and fear..

Anyways.. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the evening.

please pray for me.

shortcut

in more ways than one

(actually just two)

I dont like work related tensions.
And what I really need is a nice holiday. Which I cant have :(
Why is my life so stupid??

Anyways, so the other day.. there I was, trying to cheer myself up. And I thought of a title of the book I will write. My book is going to be called - The ridiculously happy book of ridiculously happy incidents

:)

milestones..

Though it doesnt seem like it..

but it has been six months


touchwood


:)

Klueless is on.. And i havent been able to play.

Happened for the first time in five years..

:

Snaps from the past month

This one was taken on a beautiful partly clouded day.
I was very happy to be in such a beautiful place.
And scared because I hate being alone.

This one was privileged to be taken in the company of a cute little girl who magically pressed some keys and managed to turn off my lappie within 5 seconds.

And this...

Well this is my super ninja starfish hair clip.

A beautiful shade of purple

I found out that I share my birthday with Alice Walker. I have never been so proud of my Birthday before.

And thank you IHM and ManDevIan.

If you ever ever doubt the fact that nature wants us to be happy, just watch lemurs run(!)

Guilty Pleasures

I think I have mentioned somewhere before that I love, absolutely love watching food shows. I understand and remember only bits from them, but i guess i derive some kind of guilty voyeuristic pleasure watching those delicious dishes.

However, now that I am thrown into wedlock, ksh and I have to share the idiot box. Needless to say, endless arguments begin and end at the ownership of the remote control. As a result, instead of my food shows and his stupid shows(sports or some crap sports) we have to settle on some neutral show that both of us hate equally. (Or else, we just watch Shin Chan.)

This was till some time ago. Luckily we discovered this food show on D. Travel and Living called Nigella Bites. I love watching her food, Ksh just loves watching her.

Finally a food show that we both can ogle at. :)

"I am on a sneezing spree"
Another sign that winters are coming.

And I am very very busy too. But that does not have any significance at the macro life_on_earth level.

And yes, I AM going to be a super ninja girl in my next life.

Or alternatively

a super ninja squirrel

:)

Genuine appreciation goes a long long way.
It holds the ability to make you smile whenever u are reminded of it.

The first time I remember receiving such appreciation dates back to 2003. We were in III year I guess and had a fashion show in college. Never practiced, no rehearsals at all. In fact the dresses we wore were also anything we could lay our hands on to. Our group was a strange and funny assortment of people mostly from archi. For me it was the first experience of walking on the ramp. After finishing my walk when I went back to the lineup, my partner in the show - SJB says - "You were marvelous" and meant every word of it. And I seriously felt the genuine appreciation- without any hidden intentions. And it was one of the best compliments I have ever received in my life.

And now SJB and BG are getting married. I am sure they are going to be the most creative couple ever. Best of luck dears.. I hope I can attend the wedding. Will try. :)

I forget things. Its amazing how I could not recall anything. You are lucky u remember only the good parts he says. And I think so too..

Although it is hard for to realize, but situations hint that we must have grown up. Made the biggest Capex yet(and I hav reasons to believe that it is gonna stay the biggest for at least next 10-12 years or so).. So :) :)

P.S.: A very very happy Diwali and happy new year to all the lovely beings on this rock No.3 :)

True to the last word

Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age.

Dr. Seuss

A breathful of memories

It is a well known fact that I have lousy memory. I can hardly remember useful facts or occurances and frequently forget people's names.

The same is not true for my nose =0

Scents have always been associated with my memories. And not just factual memories, but memories complete with a feelings and sentiments.

It comes in really handy at times. Like no matter how depressed I am, a whiff off an old book takes me back to my old school library and momentarily to the carefree life I had as a kid (It is a separate matter that it also sends me to a sneezing spree as I am severely allergic to old book mold :D :D)

The neighborhood Saptaparni has blossomed.



I know very few trees (Rajnigandha, mogra(grows in shrubs, not tree).. ) who blossom at night. And with such heady mesmerizing enthralling fragrance.

A whiff of it is enough to indicate that winters are approaching and it is time to start airing the blankets.

More importantly - Diwali is here. :D :D

Friday is for Fun

Thank God for Fridays..

Got up late, broke my sandal ,was piled up with work

And yet...

its friday

and that's all that matters

Quirpost

Just went through a change of address. The process is more tiring than I had imagined. Most of my stuff is still dumped in the lobby(Its not really a lobby, just an extension of living room. But Lobby is such a cute name for a room). It will take us at least a week to arrange everything. Difficult in a working week of course. Anyways, the thing I am most excited about is painting the table. Bought primer, paint, brushes etc... I am so looking forward to the weekend.

In an ideal world, I would be a carpenter. And make beautiful things.
I really envy the guy on "While you were Out".. He has got some awesome amazing tools. I bet I can make some serious great stuff if I had those.

or a weaver. yup.. I could be a weaver. And make... mm.. carpets. Yeah quirky carpets. They would be called - quirpets

:)

:-\

I finally saw the point behind getting an engineering degree..
Damn.. I wish I had seen it earlier.. like when I still had a chance.

Most of the stuff he explained went above my head.. but i understood bits and parts.. (like RLC circuit, step-up/step-down transformer, inverter/converter :).. and I was glad that I did.. saved me from being a complete fool.

I was impressed, awed and intimidated all at once.

A touch with reality

Fate is our only chance for sanity.. Well for most of us that is.

Not for those kids I met today..
They have their feet firmly rooted to the ground.

Awesome

My Favorite : I
Ksh's favorite: U

What abt u??

My Kingdom of Blunderland

BBQ : Big Blunder Queen

That's who I am

:|

Joined a campaign against blog titles

2 Packets of Milk : Rs. 23
Petrol : Rs. 10
The look on his face when he discovered I left him sleeping, stole our car and drove to the dairy alone: Priceless

And..

I came across a Kadamb tree. In full bloom. (Are they always in bloom. I dont know) It must have been at least 15 years since I had last seen one.

Wasted the whole Sunday in a wild goose chase.

Went to bed a lot wiser.

Rain drain

As usual rains crippled Delhi's roads. Office goers returned from mid way.

I had a five hour delhi darshan tour. And a half day at home.

Cooked. After a long long time.

Changed blog layout. Will give it a 6 out of 10.

oopsie

I nearly fell asleep..

I hate meetings.

The rides

As a kid, I used to go to school in our school bus. For years I used to get ready in the morning, wait at the bus stop with other kids, pick flowers(there was a jhadu wala phool ka paed that I loved and still love. I visited it this time I was in Ahmedabad. It hasnt changed much.. Just looked not as big as I remembered it as a kid. (Wierdly the same thing also happened with a tall uncle. I saw him after about 15 years and he didnt seem that tall at all)), play seven up etc. etc while waiting for the bus. With time we even discovered a magic trick to make the bus arrive if it was late. We wrote "bus aa ja" on sand with our shoes (the fact that the shoes got soiled didnt bother us at all. I love childhood). And magically the bus would arrive. I still believe in the power of wanting something to happen collectively. And it still works.

Yeah so when the bus came, there was usually a scramble for "window seats". I remember the winning feeling when we(from the younger lot) managed to get a window seat. (However, we never actually remained on our seats ever. As soon as the bus started, the kids lined up along the aisle of the bus to experience the "superjump" on the numerous road bumpers all the way till the school.)

I have pretty much forgotten the thoughts with which I started this post. But it had something to do with the bus rides.

I took the company bus to work in Pune. It was a very very boring affair. Half asleep colleagues. Nobody shouted or counted red maruti cars. I usually immersed myself in crossword puzzles or sudoku. But there was one sight for which I waited. There was a small cottage on the way. Quite old and shabby. It was built in the wonderful old fashioned design (Pune is full of such beautiful old pieces. Most of them near the camp area.. one near an abattoir with grass on its slanting roof. Most of them in ruins now.) And it had sunflowers growing all around it. Bright yellow pretty sunflowers. A mere sight of them would make my day.

In NCR, there is no scope for such eye treats. I thought my daily bus journeys would be drab and boring. But haha.. I was proven wrong. On my way, I come across some very innovative furniture shops. And there is a street with shops selling old pieces of furniture. In first glance anyone would dismiss them for "kabaad". But on closer look you would discover that with a little work those pieces would be priceless..

So everyday, I chose one piece that I am able to have a good look at, and spend the rest of the journey thinking about what I would do with it.

I love day dreaming.

And I really want to settle down. In a house with our own furniture.

(So much about bus rides.)

Little things

From here

Cat with a hat. Mouse with a house

Beautiful morning.

Raining..

Sweet cool breeze..

:)

Week one

A great library..

Good coffee as many times u want..

what else can one want??

:)

62 years

Flew kites flew kites flew kites

:)

And discovered that my grand father in law is a really nice person.

Finally

Summer didnt agree with me.
I had made all these pretty little plans(and some big ones) and they didnt go as I wanted. I had to wait and wait and wait. And I hate them for that. Or atleast I did. Till 2 days ago.

As usual I hadnt reached out for help. Instead I just blocked myself from everyone. Its just so hard for me to admit failures. But then I did. And God must have thought -Oh this little miss perfect has learnt her lesson. And He must have smiled.
Because things improved.

Finally.

Gosh... I am such a difficult person to handle. I have absolutely no idea how ksh copes.

What

Violating all my rules, this morning I judged myself. As a mad person.
Moments later, I judged myself too worn out to pass a judgement.

My day passes scooting between home and hospital.
And worrying and waiting.

Driving blues

I have been practicing driving for the past week or so. Not that I dont know how to drive. I do, at least theoretically. I have even had a driving licence since the year I was 19(which I earned by giving a proper test). But sadly till date my driving licence has been used to ride trains(as ID proof) rather than to drive those light motored four wheeler automobiles like it was supposed to do.

For some reason, I never felt ok driving on roads. Maneuvering the car is the easy part. Its the whole contorted thing called gear that gets me. First of all, i can never remember when to move the stick and in which direction. Even if I do, it never behaves properly. As a result, my car has had some very interesting experiences like going on 25 kmph on first gear, as well as on fourth.
In my defence, I maintain that it is very difficult to drive in NCR where nobody seems to be aware of traffic rules.

Also, did I mention the horribly high decible leveled noise which keeps distracting me?? No no, I am not talking about the noise on the road. As soon as I take control of the steering wheel, ksh assumes the role of a super mean driving Guru. The only instruction I dont get is to keep breathing..

See, its not my fault that I dont drive..

MFAQ (Most FAQ)

This question has been asked by everybody who has met me since last month.. Everyone. My answers fall in a variety of ranges depending on who's asking the question and the number of caffeine fixes I hav had during the day(@Husband:I am joking. I dont pile up on coffee at all. Even when u go to work and I have unlimited supplies of milk, coffee and sugar with me. @Everybody else: Not joking :D )

Questn: "How does it feel to get married?"

Ans: Not much different from being single. Except for the act that u r not.
Its good. And silly. Its immensely silly which makes it perfectly normal.

Maybe I will be able to answer the question after 5,10 or 15 years. I dont know.. Maybe I will forever be exploring.

I mean there is no honest reply to the question. My instinctive rhetoric for this is - "so, how does it feel to be single?". However my politeness comes in the way of being rude And I refrain from actually asking the question..

Don't give up and use the chance

To return to innocence 

Peaceful is boring

"Your blog doesnt show any signs of your  approaching (impending ?) wedding!" Thus noted the Sherlock Holmes among my friends (after a very careful scrutiny I am sure).

Pleading guilty, I decided to follow instructions and post something that would do justice to the rollercoaster ride I am on right now.

Well to begin with most of my energy is spent on being mad at BF(short for boyfriend(I hate this word(dont i use too many brackets? Please follow java rules to get the semantics right. Thanks.)) and thats what he is till the D day :|).

It has nothing to do with the fact that we are getting married. 

Actually we have a very long history of my being mad at him. 

Seasons changed. And so did the reasons. The one thing that didnt was.. well u get it now right ..

People ask us how we stuck together for so many years. We usually give them some crappy answer about love and respect for each other.. blah blah.. The truth is, it stays fresh beacuse we fight. 

This has been a constant state of affairs for years. Even before we were actually dating. The very first comment( till date he claims it to be a compliment) he bestowed on me was "you have a cute nose". Taking a 2 second's pause for extra emphasis, he added "like a cartoon's ".  

Now, I agree I might have a bit shorter fuse, but I am not the kind of a girl who thinks this might be a compliment. Not even if the person complimenting was Walt Disney or Charles Schulz. 

I'd like to think his style of wooing has evolved with time. Wishful thinking. 

Just last year, in the middle of an ongoing fight, he says - "I got you a gift. Its a surprise." 

Again, his favorite 2 second's pause and he adds "You are going to love it." I mellow down a bit, expecting some decent gift ( pearls would have been nice (@BF: Hope you are noting this down)).

And then he says, "I cant wait for you to find out. Let me tell you what it is." 

"Its what you always needed - A portable hard disk drive"

And I am blamed for being mad for no valid reasons..

[On a separate note, I was back to my hometown in time for casting my vote. I am a responsible citizen. :D A sincere request to everyone - PLEASE VOTE]

A piece of His palette

is This OK ?

My inner child suffers from ADD (Attention deficiency disorder)..

Found my old fav book on TA in the cupboard.
Started reading it.
Decided to get a cup of coffee.
Could not find anything to use as a bookmark.
So I made a bookmark instead. (forgot coffee, forgot book)

Picking lemons

:)

This sickening business of lurrvve...

Sickeningly sweet that is..

Came across these cute sketches [from this site ]

They are so sweet.. I think I will diabetes from sweetness overdose.. M actually hooked to them..

And came across another miracle of God..

My 2 year old neighbour who does not eat chocolate..

Now who has heard of that!!!

:)

When Adam won Eve's hand
He wouldn't stand for teasin'.
He didn't care about those apples out of season.

They say that Spring means just one little thing to little lovebirds
We're not above birds--let's misbehave!!!

-- From the Song "Let's misbehave" by Cole Porter

Watch de-lovely.. wonderful :)

Spoke speek

I love riding bicycles.
Its so refreshing

to feel the cool breeze as u ride by.




watching the sun set :)


Some more pics from the other day on the beach. (I went wearing sandals.. It was so not funny)

Simple joys

Rekindling an old flame

We met again by chance, pure chance.

It had been years since I had seen him last. Over the years I had come to believe it was a childish infatuation.
But now it feels like it was just yesterday.
I discovered I still enjoyed his quips, his witty remarks still had me in splits. I took a liking to him almost instantaneously(again).

He persuaded me to spend some time together over coffee. It was a great success.
Dinner went well too. A fun filled evening is my kind of thing. I never cared for those candlelit romantic nights anyways.

That evening, I took some time rethinking my decisions. I mean, what else does a girl want ? A witty guy who can make her laugh..

A couple of days more and I came to the conclusion. It was rather easy..

I am never letting go of Douglas Adams again.

Sunset and rainbows

Another week came and gone.. Just like that. I cant understand how time is just flying here.

Gave the pool a miss and went to the beach today.

It was lovely..

Saw a wonderful phenomena today.. Take a look at the picture below. See that faint rainbow..

It was like a rainbow cloud over there.. I guess it was just a chunk of the rainbow and the rest was hidden by cluds. But it was amazing.

Among all the kinds of landscaping Lord does, i love beaches the best. You have the breeze, the sound of waves.. ervything is just perfect...

The Gang of Gulabi Girls

I was really surprised to watch them on Al Jazeera.

This group of women(most of them havnt had proper education) is becoming a threat to wife beating men, corrupt government officials and the likes.

Read about them here.

Isnt Sampat a more deserving candidate for the Padma Award than these actors ??

She might not be as glamourous but she is actually making a difference to the lives of hundreds of women who till now had no chance of a decent life.
And not only women, even men are admitting to be indebted by her actions against the corruption in the area. It was heartwarming to listen to the testimonials of these men.

The best part was the lathi classes that these women get. Its not really funny if you think about it. But what wouldnt i pay to watch a wife beater getting a taste of his own medicine..
That too in public .. lolz

:P

The art and science of being socially tolerable

"Ohh.. auntiji .. your saari looks gorgeous.."

"What have you done to your hair.. its brilliant !"

"Is that neck piece new?? Really complements this dress."

"You're looking like that film actress."

And many more..

I suck at it myself. But I like to watch though.. Its hilarious.

Blunders

There must be 1000 ways to ruin a dish.

One of the very weird ones is that the cook's stupidity. Something I discovered by firsthand experience (yeah.. and No. its not funny)

Misinterpreted the 350 F as 350 C. If u have ever been a science student you would truly appreciate this huge huge stupid mistake. The contents of what was left in the baking dish could have easily passed as a specimen of peat and bitumen.

Phew... Anyways.. i have decided to stay away from the oven for sometime.

Decided to sketch again. Have to get attuned. Might take some time.

And ohh yes.. Got a new set of woodwork tools. Yet to buy wood. But I do luurrvveee... the set.

No more cakes

Gave up on cakes..

Made one which turned out to be just ok, a borderline case between cake and a really big biscuit. (yeah so it was not so soft as I would have liked. So what.. it tasted fine)

Turns out I am not capable of cooking dishes which require insane amounts of butter/cream and sugar. So no more cakes or puddings. Will have to do with the bakery variety.

On the other hand, i have started pastas. Just put one in the oven right now. The recipe says wait for 30 minutes.

I havnt got the patience.

Title less 1

Fact: The difficulty level of writing a blog increases exponentially as a function of the time since your last post.

Last six days are a blur now. Doesnt mean anything since my short time memory is really bad anyways. ;)

We went to this wildlife reserve this weekend. Now, I have always known that I love jungles. But this was my every jungle dream mixed into one. We rode(?) a motorized canoe sort of boat to the place. Then hiked, climbed, walked, waded,...
(Its too tough for me to describe it. I give up)
The best part was the stream. It was a lovely little meandering stream that led to a lovely little waterfall hidden deep in the jungle. We had to walk in the stream to reach there. And i could see little fishes right there in the water I was walking in. Thankfully I didnt spot any snakes. It was awesome.
There was also a pretty frightening climb. I hate heights. i am totally acrophobic. It was my worst nightmare come true. A watchtower some 50 meters high. I could feel it shaking. Believe me, I got myself out of that place as soon as possible. And I swear I could feel my legs shaking hours later.
It rained while we were coming back. Imagine a canoe with a motor and rain. It was awesome!! (the funny thing was that mom couldnt even berate me for getting soaked :D :D :D)

I have quite settled down here now. I have a routine which involves having fun, doing anything I want(which involves a lot of things) and watching sitcoms(Finished House. Why do I like watching that arrogant man?)

Have I ever mentioned how much I love grocery shopping. The thrill I feel when I find myself in a superstore almost equals to that I feel in a hardware store. Got a lot of things today. Am going to master the art of making cakes. That is my agenda for the next week.

:)

Daily pinks

Time has a different pace here.. First of all, the sun rises too early, and then there is this time difference. I have to get used to getting up on time.

Will begin going to the pool from today. I hope I can be regular.

Some pics from the garden.. :D .
Can I ever resist flower pics?? :P

Thoughts overload

Caution: Too-many-thoughts-on-my-mind alert!!

A week without net access

A week of manging a household on my own(and doing well)

A week(ohh.. ok. Just 4 meals) of self cooking.. with good results.. [experimented.. successfully :D :D]

A week in familiar surrounding.. with loads of memories.. :)

And now..

Homeward ho..

A great sunrise( it was wow.. Thank you God)

To some great times..

And now.. time for a cup of good coffee

Beginings and endings

Last night here..

I really wanted to whisk away unnoticed.. but then some part of me wanted to stay.. 

Bid farewell well.. (how can I ever leave PJs behind :D) 

but then.. those who matter.. always stay.. and those who dont, dont.

I still cannot comprehend the enormity of whatever i am doing.. maybe this is a required step in the process of growing up..

I wish good luck.. 

to all of us

to everybody 

May everybody get what they deserve.

God bless Vijay Mallya

The Indian Branson - some call him.. 

I call him an Indian. One with a true Indian heart. 

First he bought back the sword of Tipu Sultan. And now Bapu's belongings. :) :)

Frfom now on, m gonna travel kingfisher whenever I can.  

A bit of spring.. & hope

Spent a good part of the afternoon running around the so called mini golf course. 

Thats one thing at MDI that I will miss the most. I almost know all of the trees by their leaves. 

:|

The day went by with a strange sense of incompleteness. And I cannot pin point the exact reason why. I did everything I could. I guess.

Wanted to go on a panipuri trip today. Pani puri always helps :) 

Will go tommorrow. 

Tomorrow will be my last week day at MDI. And i havnt done any major packing yet. ksh will have to help me with the heavier stuff. So everything waits till saturday.

And boy oh boy. I m so excited about going home. It will be almost an year since I have been there. 

:O 

 

The girl with a stiff neck

(who also sneezes a lot)

That time of the year again.. wonderful breeze, air full of pollens.. and madhu on a sneezing spree..

Sprained my neck from sneezing yesterday ( yeah there is such a thing.  You CAN develop a stiff neck and shoulders from sneezing too hard).. The result being that I am unable to turn my neck in any direction. Its really funny though.. I turn my whole torso to talk to people.. Its like I am a puppet with the neck joint seealed stiff with too much glue. ( really bad simile.. oops i mean metaphor)

So now that I am confined to the room.. I decided to work on the pics I already had from yesterday. I need photoshop badly. I hav been searching for the sw ever since I formatted the lappie. Still havnt managed to find it.

Playing Lensman (lensgirl?.. lensperson?)

Some random shots around the campus

Mornings without newspaper

Our newspaper subscription has expired. And we are not gonna renew it now that we only have a few days left here.

I feel lost without solving the daily crossword. That is one thing I truely look forward to everyday. 

Khair.. what has to be done has to be done.

Spent  a good part of the morning browsing through some wonderful sites. (Declaration: I LOVE stumbleupon)

Planning to click some nice pics today. Started with my room :)

 This is one of my most favorite doodles yet. Liked it so much that it went right on my closet door. Cute cow. Isnt she?? 

Now go a little easy here. This is one of the frames I was talking about. Got it from the flea market near mehrauli (wonderful stuff there). I wanted to give it a pale powder blue color, but has limited colour options. Still i kind of like the effect. This one is already claimed by Rashi :)

In the making. The clour kind of changes once it dries. I have to keep that in mind next time.

And this is how they looked when I got them.

Next time, I will try for a good before-after shot. Its getting tougher working on it since I have to finish packing in like 3 days. I think I will take it home with me. Will have plenty of time there.

:)

The day I almost missed the daliya

The first word I uttered today was.. Sh*t

I was late for breakfast and did not want to miss the last day of Daliya in the mess.. 

(Luckily I didnt hav to miss it. :D) 

The day seemed to be suffering from an identity crisis. It began as a monday(got very very very very pleasant surprise) but then lost its zing. I spent a good part of the afternoon sleeping and feeling guilty about it at the same time.

The evening was lost somewhere between a longish bath and getting stuff from DC++. 

I am still feeling a bit lost. Sleeping in the afternoon has this effect on me. I like what the spanish call it - a siesta. The word sounds pretty.. doesnt it. :)

Finished an Agatha Christie today. It must hav been years since I had last read one of those. They used to be my regular companions in my teens. (Damn I am old now)

The weekend was a breeze. A very busy breeze though. But we did manage to finish most of the work.. so gud..

And yes.. enjoyed a good doze of ice cream. Almost for the first time here. 

Roznama

Good day.. Fruitful.

Made some progress on the craft project ( ilike to call it a project:) )

Spent some time in thinking and trying to find a cure for these mood swings. Seems all of them involve giving up caffiene. That wouldnt help my mood for sure :P.. But while I look for a cure, I just wish I dont do some permanent damage to things/people around me. 

So m focusing on keeping away for a while. Not really successful :)

Really hungry now. And there is something really yummy cooking in the neighbourhood. I can smell it from my room.. Smells like dum aalu.. M definitely very hungry.

My list

Life never ceases to astonish.

I found out(discovered) a fact about myself that I wasnt aware of - I cannot get bored !!

My batchmates have started complaining about how they dont have anything to do and are getting bored of watching SATC/PB/HIMYM/... all the time. 

But I dont think I have enough time to watch stuff all day. 

Got tons of stuff to do- worse.. with a deadline.. The whole day today is gonna get swaaha on that &*&^%^* project( I call it charity work)

And then I start with the woodwork. Some weeks ago I found these beautiful wooden stuff at a local kabadiwalah store. Rusted nails, a bit chipped and old.. its perfect. 

Bought the supplies yesterday - sandpaper, varnish, paint, brushes, thinner, etc..( i love hardware stores) .. 

:D

I am so very excited about this. 

I hope they turn out to be good.

Then I have the guitar. I realized I have to be really busy if I want to pick up guitar.. I cant play if I dont feel rushed.. 

And the mammoth scary task. Driving school. I hate the thought of driving. I mean I have taken the lessons once and I even have a valid licence. I know how to drive.. but as soon as I go out on the road , some uncanny force makes me freeze. Delhi roads are bad. But it is a fear that has to be faced. Will have to go there tomorrow. :|

And yes,.. then there is more to do- shopping!! But thats for weekends. :D

Miss Treat

Thats the role I played today.. :)

And you know what.. It seems I will  eventually remember the good journeys. Endings maybe irrelevent :)

I hope so.

Walking down the memory lane

It is a fact that as thinking human beings, we like to reminisce about things past.

Now, tell me one thing.. When you think about old times, is the impressions in your memory clouded by the concluding chapters, the goodbyes? 

Now suppose a good friendship ended on a bad note.. 

If after 5 years you suddenly catch yourself thinking about the whole affair - how will you think about it? What do u think will stand out in memories - the good journey or the bad ending?

Is it really - Only that is well that ends well?  

And the bell rings..

Just finished the last report of the last term..

It feels so..... good !!

And i feel hungry.. Happily hungry :)

..

...

me:  suggest a gud song

 Helmet:  what if god was one of us

 me:  ajite

i believe God is in evry one of us

 Helmet:  maddyyyyyyyy.. that is a song

me: oops

..

The eve

The day starts as a typical sunday..

Morning paper with a cup of coffee ( yeah .. i am back on coffee.. it feels soooo gooohhddd)

Afternoon transformed it into the typical day before exams.. 

Trying to find out the syllabus

Frantically jugadofying and photocopying of ppts

Evening of highlighting and Post Its

:)

Bottomless nights

(Like bottomless glasses)

Working late usually means working till 1 or 2 at night. 

However, as the end of the term nears, the boundaries keep expanding. 

Just back from a snack break. 

Nowhere near sleeping time.

Ever welcomed the morning before going to sleep??

Will miss this too.

happy alright

"All our young lives we search for someone to love. Someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope... all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, there's someone perfect... who might be searching for us."

- quoted from The Wonder Years

But how do you know whats perfect for you? 

or is perfection too much to ask for ?

(p.s.: Of course it is too much.. As if I were perfect) 

The last lecture

It was a strange feeling..

I didnt know if I was happy or sad. or both?

And its our good luck that our last lecture was taken by the two best professors here. My love for both has surpassed for any other yet. Helmet says its the grey hair effect. I beg to differ. Being nice is so effortless for them. 

They are the only ones whose back to back lectures didnt scare me (and thats a lot)

I feel(and behave) like a kid in front of them..

Hmm.. khair.. 

It was the last lecture of MDI as well. We wont have to attend lectures anymore(though we have projects and assignments left)

No more attendanace issues

No more proxies

No more rushes for the last bench

No more quizzes

No more DCP and ACP

No more ppts and RG

No more sleeping in the classes

No more pretending to be taking notes and doodling instead

No more 15 minutes break when 5 people eat a single samosa

Gosh.. M going to miss classes

Learning to live artfully

Yeah yeah..

After years of thinking about it, I finally enrolled for an Art of Living program. 

The aim being attaining enlightenment, I think the course is gonna help me after all. See, just joining it make my purse lighter by 1500/-. 

:D 

Jokes apart, the course is good. I am just 2 days into it and I am no longer skeptical as I initially was. 

It is certainly tough(tougher than tough) to follow all the rules. Apart from other things they include - no tea or coffee !!! For an entire week.. 

Believe me, you have no idea what that means. Even I had no idea I was so severely addicted. My first 24 hours without my cuppa made me mad. By evening I was so lethargic I could sleep standing. 

But after the session I was definitely better. And today :D :D I am as good as on 2 cups.

Yesterday out of desperation I tried this mint herb tea(they allow you herb tea). 

Very very bad experience. 

Mint flavoured herb tea should be banned.

Towards ending of a chapter

Its happening again..

When the time comes for me to leave, I tend to cling like a baby monkey, to whatever comes in my way. I turn into this emptional fool and subject myself to hurt and pain. And baby this hurt remains even after parting ways.

For the past one and a half years, I kept on repeating that I absolutely hated this place. And now, I begin to notice things I love, people I have started to depend on, those I am going to miss.. And I am scared.

I can see the patterns emerging this time around as well.. But now that I know, will I be able to contain myself and not go bersek ?? 

I will definitely try. Lets see..

Quarter century :)

The day started with my face in the cake (and vice versa) :D 

And as they say.. nothing's like a midnight head wash.. 

Very very rushed morning, rumours of an impending quiz took me to class and confirmation of no quiz promptly took me out of it..

Followed by a happy, loving, laughing (tiring) day.. 

And the perfect dinner - prepared by mukta(i tried to help, burnt a paratha, was confined to cutting up vegetables :D) 

Company of good ol' friends is the best happyfying(remember this word??) thing in the whole world.. (and today i confirm officially: I have missed a lot lot of good people at MNIT. Why didnt I meet them before??)

And believe it or not, the day ended with work - a submission!! 

So here I am. Older and wiser(??) 

And I wonder.. am I anywhere nearer to the answers to these life altering questions - What is the purpose of life, What makes us different from each other , when did it all begin, when will teleporting be a reality, 

and 

whats for breakfast tomorrow.. 

Many many happy returns of the day :)

..

And yes, I forgot to mention.. 

Got my first gift of this year.. Its so thoughtful.. Touched :)

And though I really feel bdays are awkward and bothersome, I am kind of looking forward to it.

I havnt even decided the dress.. :|

Hope things go smooth. 

:)

The Henna files

I have always been a s**ker for henna.. I absolutely love(crave?) the smell of henna on my hands the first thing i notice when i get up.. its heavenly..

Its one of those things which make me feel so girly :) 

That day I got a compliment(comment ?) that i looked like a girl from head to toe. Now I really dont know what to make of it. She refused to explain further.. Anyways.. I dont mind. ha

And i got these ultra comfy pair of harem pants today.. 

Had always wanted one :D. Ever since that dance in 8th std. Thats an awefully long time to have waited for something. And I also got henna put on my hands. Will post a pic when i wash it off..

Now, if you have ever seen a typical Delhi/NCR bazzar, you would know how these henna artists put up their shops right on the side walk. You sit there, near the road,with all that croud buzzing past you. Normally you become one of tthem and dont pay any attention to the croud around you. But today I did.. and suddenly all those figures in the croud became real people, with  real lives and problems. 

It was a bit disturbing.

The joys of black and white

Only those who have actually experienced it can understand the joys of reading.

A good read makes one forget everything around them, everything past, persent or future and engulfs them into a world of its own. 

And this book.. I love it so very much that i dont want to finish it too soon. 

With every new chapter it goes into a new untouched area of female psyche and takes the reader along. 

It fills me with so much rage and anger towards all those men. 

Cute

 From somewhere on the net

o_O

This kick boxing thingie.. 

I had always thought its easy to kick a stupid sandbag.. But no.. the moment i planted my first kick it acquired a life of its own. That inert innocent looking bag began swaying and twisting and turning. 

I swear it tried its best to evade my kicks (attempts at kicking that is)

And then it tried to attack me. I positively guarantee it tried to kick me back.

I dont like people(things) who hate me. So, I lost all my interest in it. Went ahead to the faithfull treadmill. It hasnt ever tried to throw me off ever.

I m never going back to that stupid sandbag again!!

- Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable?
- I don't know. That's a good question.
- That's when you know you've found somebody special.

When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.

-Pulp Fiction

:) ha

Each item completed.. :)

Some additionals attempted and done really nicely (shopping.. mm :) )

The only thing left was kick boxing. We have this new sandbag in the gym. I have to try it out.

I have always fantasized how it feels.. Dont know why, but i think I will b a natural in kick boxing.

Am I right?? Will know tomorrow.. 

:) smiles sleep.. 

Genda phool

And others..

Girl left loose on a sunday. All alone. And she's gonna make the most of it. 

Yep. Agenda for today : To turn this ordinary sunday into one of those Goddess of all-the fun girl-pamper yourself-listen to your favorite bad music at full volume-sundays..

Yippie.. 

Had a good full yum breakfast. Give me mayo any day and i lap up the food like a hungry kid. God, i love food. I love eating it, talking about it, making it and yes fantasizing about it. I have always maintained that I was born to be a food critic. Damn, I landed up in the wrong profession. Sigh..

My morning cup(mug) of coffee with newspaper.. I cant even explain how lovely it feels. Sundays cause me to finish the boring drab main paper asap and get to my favorite part - brunch. 

Well today they talked about makeup among other things(like the history of biriyani. Reminder for my next birth: Become a food critic with a good knowledge of food history).

yeah so makeup is what I read about. I was astonished by the details they got into. You know I have always thought about makeup being an intelligent art. The way you paint a picture, one has to know about shades and all.. So i think a good painter will be a good makeup artist. She will know what shade you apply where and in what quantity to make a long nose appear shorter(or whatever is in vogue thse days). The thing which scared me today was that they have separate makeup stuff for forehead, nose, and take this.. jawline.. !!

What is with people these days.. And I thought separate makeup for upper and lower eyes was the epitomy of makeup freaks.. 

Anyways.. 

Aah.. lazy sundays.. 

Friday is the fries day

Another weekend. 

And m totally vella this time. Seems unnatural. M actually at a loss, what will I do with so much time.

Got two books. Began reading this one called - Yajnaseni (pronounced as Ya-gya-se-nee). Its mahabharata from the eyes of Draupadi, also known as Panchali and Krishnaa. 

In mythology, women have always been wronged, cheated, treated unfairly and of course respected for going through all this. 

Sati, Ahilya, Mandodari.. 

Goddess Sita - after going through the pain of being abducted and tortured by the hands of the evil Ravana, her chastity was questioned and none other than her own husband made her go through the agnipariksha. 

And then there is Draupadi - The beautiful. Her birth was for a purpose - to avenge her father. The world remembers her as the woman with five husbands or worse, as the woman who caused mahabharata. 

Pause. Think for a while. Right from the begining, draupadi was the wronged one. First, she had no say in her marriage. She wasnt consulted before getting married to the five pandavas. Her husbands put her on stake, lost her and remained mute spectators while the Kauravas humiliated her. It was her love for lord Krishna which saved her, not her mighty husbands. 

And in the end, when she could not keep up the pace and fell while coing to the himalayas with her husbands, not a single one of them looked back. 

And to say she had five husbands.

Did it :)

After months and months of planning

preparing myself

deciding and then deciding against it

i finally did it

:)

But, not without the ususal dose of nautanki :|

After the first piercing 

I fainted

then puked (eeww)

and then

like a true brave girl

went for the second one 

:D

:D

I hope it doesnt pain tomorrow

The weekend in pics