This and that near the end of the year

Now that I am not constantly in a state of frenzy anymore, I can notice the ants around me in more detail. It is certainly an improvement, but I haven't been able to (and maybe never shall again) attain the levels I could until about 15-20 years ago. But still, it's like I am able to touch stuff (and thus see them) with a thin glove on. 

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If you follow a particular series of puzzles (such as crossword from a particular newspaper) for long enough, you sort of start to know the person behind those puzzles. Like you get to know them, the way their brain works, what they like and dislike... So as time goes on, their clues become easier for you to solve, you get the hints straight away. Somedays, you get the hidden teeny-weeny jokes in the puzzle that would elude the lesser acquainted puzzle solvers, and it feels like an inside joke being shared. 

I wonder if the puzzle designers are aware of this. 

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We've finally shifted to the new place :). The interior work took forever, but its totally worth it. 

Of word roots and "Oh! Shoot"s

 A while ago, the word 'plumber' somehow sprang to my mind. Like, I guess 'plumbers' are called plumbers because water pipes must have been made of lead in olden times. Had it been made of iron, chances are the profession might have been called 'Ferring' and the fellows in charge of taps and pipes - 'Ferrors'.  

And so it happens that 'plumbers' are giving us a lot of grief these days. Works in the new place are about to be finished.. almost done but for the plumbing!! One disaster after another.. gah!! 

By the way, I also dig the starry roots of the word 'disaster'. Quite poetic. 

Holidays

The kids have their puja holidays going on. 

We went garba the other day(night!) with friends. After 14-15 years probably. It was so much fun. The DJ here seemed to have a faint idea of what garba songs are like, or maybe they were very metropolitan. So in addition to 2 Gujarati and 1 marathi song, we were forced to dance on hindi, punjabi and even telugu songs. It was fun. Maybe we have gotten old !

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T has been obsessed with growing stuff lately. He keeps nicking mustard and pea seeds from the pantry. Germinates them, plants them, waters them for some days, nearly smothering the saplings with care !! 

His blue pea vines have started flowering now. Not a lot, a couple flowers every now and then. But the joy that he gets out of them, he shares with everyone. He has learned to make blue pea tea and insists on making tea with all his flowers. Its so lovely. :)

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Accelerator

 The high degree of constant connectedness that we need to live with today, on a macro level, it behaves as an accelerator for everything - world events, social trends, uprisings, changing public sentiment... 

In its absence, maybe the world would have come to a similar state, but later. Because everything comes and goes so fast, it fails to make a lasting impression. Or maybe its my fading powers to imbibe the surroundings. But think truthfully, which image is stronger and clearer- (a) 80's fashion? (b) 2000's fashion?

To me, its 80's. Even though I didn't get to experience it firsthand. (To be fair I was not fashionable in the 2000's either 😅)

Sepia toned noodles

 This evening was the perfect sepia-toned evening. The kind of lighting that is only possible when the sun is at a certain angle, there are the right kind of clouds in front of the sun and the right kind above the sun level, with just enough humidity in the air. What makes it even more beautiful is that this perfect evening is fleeting. The magic lasts just for about 10 minutes, after which it kind of loses it. 

So anyway, today I decided to make the most of such a beautiful evening. Hence, I cooked my favorite spicy noodles and had a party just by myself. 

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I have decided to use the laptop more often with the hopes of becoming more productive. Maybe it will work.

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I have been reading 'The Help" these days. It is the kind of book that can turn out to be thought-provoking if you want it to be. Otherwise, one can easily finish it like any other piece of fiction.

The recent reads that I absolutely loved were - Before the coffee gets cold, and The Forest of Enchantments. I accidently read -before the coffee.. series while also watching the Makanai on Netflix. I swear my thoughts calmed down during those 10 days. I was more aware of my surroundings and in control of my thoughts. But then, just like my perfect sepia toned evening, the magic ended and I turned into this silent noise filled person that I normally am.

The Forest of Enchantments is good. It made me hate the characters less. I almost felt sorry for them. Not gonna write anymore about it for obvious reasons. I have mostly loved Chirta Bannerjee Divakaruni's works. Her Palace of Illusions is my absolute all-time comfort read. Each page is a masterpiece. Each chapter speaks to you. I cannot recommend it enough. 

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Stumped

When it comes to identifying flora, I am usually better than my unfortunately flora-deprived husband. So naturally I have grown into a closeted bragger. My kids actually think I know all plants and trees (lol).

However, I had to concede defeat recently. So there was this beautiful vine, with fruits the size of apples. The fruits looked like overgrown tinda :p which is also why i didnt click their pictures. But the flowers, oh the flowers were beautiful. 

I am still not sure which plant it is. 
 

A lament

I am mourning the death of the internet. 

Dont get me wrong, internet is alive. In fact, it has become a monstrous slimy creature that feeds off negativity that spews more and more of it.

I am lamenting the death of the purer version of the net. For us, who discovered the internet in early 2000's, the internet was a place of wonder. Like a giant library, built by kind and interesting people- people who were curious about music, books, crafts, math... could find their own tribe and be happy there. Just the fact that we could actually lookup the lyrics of any song we wanted was so amazing. I could actually go to the website of national geographic and it would give me wonderful old articles just because they could, no questions asked, no annoying ads, no hidden agenda.

Then there came the orkuts and the facebooks..Still not so bad. Because with it came gems like pandora, stumbleupon, tumbler, craftgawker, foodgawker and ye ol' blogspot. People on pinterest were still normal everyday folks who just wanted to share amazing stuff they found. There was still hope.

Not anymore. All of the above are either dead or have been reduced to ridiculous drug-addicted shadows of their former selves. Today, even if I find an article that seems good, I am 100% sure there is a hidden agenda behind it. Evil people trying to sell their evil ideas. Damn it, I have turned into a pessimistic skeptic. :(

Oxymorons

I have come to a realization that there is no such thing as "enough golgappas". Its an oxymoron. People are either forced to stop eating more because they are embarrassed to ask for more after gulping down some dozens or they run out of golgappas. There is no other way. 

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Some variables can create confusion by super-imposing on each other. There is no way you can distinguish between them because all of you (i.e. the variables and your point of view) exist in the same dimension. The only solution is to go up or down to be able to distinguish between them, i.e. to shift your point of view to another dimension.

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Love the word "oxymoron".