Doodling...mentally...

Its time she took off her rose-tinted glasses lest she be devoured by that which never was

Current Music: Offho Jaltha Hai - Lakeer
(Wonder how Asha B. can sound so sensuous at that age, an age when most of her brethren would either be taking care of their progeny's progeny or treading the devotional path. She does rock!!)

Kal Ho Na Ho
Not the movie, this would best describe him, someone whom I know well, and who is suffering from cancer, the disease in its last stage. My heart goes out to his wife, for the ordeal she must be going through now.

This poem, but obviously, inspired from this sad fact.

To dream together
Of a home, ours
The kids, mixed emotions when they were born, a boy I wanted, the girl you wished for, I saw your tears the first time then
The garden, the roses that you plucked for me every morning
The moments, special, your hand in mine as we watched the sun shock the sky into a deep orange-red
The walks by the sea, the waves pulling me in, enticing me, and you would pull me back, to yourself, promising never to let go
The fights we had, you forgot my birthday, and four hours of football was never my idea of entertainment....

To remember, alone
The dream, shattered, like glass, broken
Forced, to say, I am fine, clearing the pieces, taking care not to let the shards hurt our children, the boy I wanted, the girl you wished for

To remember
Alone, all alone.....


Current Music: Forever and for always - Shania Twain

I am gonna be a dead dodo tomorrow
They are gonna fry me alive

Don't ask why this is going to happen. I am probably making a mountain out of a molehill.
Or maybe a molehill out of nothing at all

Never ever procrastinate, especially when it comes to filling up forms. Before you can blink and think, the last date was two days ago, and the easiest way to change ancient, irrelevant data is to hack the online tool.

P.S: In case the dodo is still around, she will come up with a short story or a poem next week (creativity and time, permitting)

...and the King shouted, "Off With Her Head!"
(Any similarity to the Queen, Alice In Wonderland, is pure coincidence)

I never realised I was such a bad photographer till I was showing (off :)) my Paris snaps to a friend. When we came to a particular photo, she asked me if this was my hotel room.

King Louis XIV (bless his soul, amen), resident of Versailles would have been shocked at such a comment on his ornate, plush, palatial bed chamber.

I need to attend a lot of coaching classes, one of them being "how to shoot a 17th century opulent palace such that it doesn't look like a 21st century mediocre hotel room"

A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to attend the golden jubilee wedding anniversary of a couple next door. (I say good fortune because its no mean feat to make any relationship survive that long!)

The wife was asked what had been the reason for the majority of their fights (if any) in the early years of their marriage. Without thinking for a second, she said "Cricket on radio". He would want to listen to the commentaries and she would want to tune into something else.

Yesterday, when she had dropped by, she talked about what a great match it had been ( India vs Aus) and the close shave for the Indians. I was surprised about her knowing all this because our cable service provider had blocked this channel (in spite of the horrendous monthly subscription fees), thats when she said "we heard it on the radio"

I couldn't help smiling. Fifty years is a long time. Long time enough, to like what you disliked and vice versa. Food habits, hobbies etc etc.

One of my crappy analogies again.
Arranged marriages are like engineering examinations (at least Pune Univ ones), you never know what to expect. If you are extremely lucky, you get off with a distinction, otherwise you are left floundering, trying your best to make it to a higher second at least.

"and when you look back, you will have just one regret
that you can't go back and do it all over again"
(source unknown)

As I write this post, the sun slips in through the window blinds, blinding this screen to some extent too, but I mind not, 'cause it brings with it, warmth, seeping in through every pore.

The city looked even more beautiful today, I noticed things I had not done so before, that church looked even more majestic , the suburban town square still resplendent in its decorations, gaily blowing in the wind.

I have learnt a lot, professionally. My perspective of the world has changed. I have met many genuine people, total strangers, who have gone out of their way to help us, in spite of the language barriers. Like I had written somewhere before, they came into my life, I probably did not make a difference to theirs.

For now, my last day in Paris, I will enjoy the warmth of the sun while it lasts. Isn't that what a meaningful existence is all about?

Current Music: Heal the world

Some people can be so mean, purposefully, even the Devil would cringe while calling them over for dinner.
All attempts at being equally mean, fall flat, like a balloon dispensing air, and leave one with an absolutely unnecessary apologetic state of mind.

(My analogies are getting wierder each day, but there is a certain joy and a much-needed exercise to the brain in connecting two seemingly unrelated stuff)

There are very few people who can complete your sentence for you, who can say "I was just about to say this", who can understand something is out of place

I thank my stars for having a few people of the above sort in my life, right now, when I need someone to talk to.

IM applications ki jay ho!!

Saving the worst for the last

Not until I'd seen the approaching cars on the track, did I realise it was gonna be a backwards rollercoaster ride. As tho' this wasn't enough, midway through, while I was praying to the Almighty to forgive all my black deeds and grant me the rest of my life, we were flipped, like a pancake, you know, upside down.
A rollercoaster ride goes best with a side-dish called a scream. I did not scream, nor did my colleague next-door, nor did the rest of the people riding this attraction called Indiana Jones and The Temple of Peril.
I guess we were basically too stunned to react:))

(In fact it was so quiet, I called out to my usually-enjoying-the-screaming-part colleague, to confirm her presence)

Naah, but this aint stopping me from another rollercoaster ride in the future. The exhilaration is unmatched.

More on Paris Disneyland later. All I can say is Mr. Walt Disney, I salute thee

Psssst, Now that I am still alive n kickin' I can continue with my black deeds, wot say?

The best way to stay connected

Setting my laptop to Indian Standard Time.

A quick glance and ....
...in office,...postlunch walks,...coffee time,...idle chatter now,..calling up Rashmi,driving n talking while returning home,...Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi,...Everybody Loves Raymond... Tulsi Bahu and whole more-righteous-than-The-Lord gang (sometimes, you have to give in to parental pressure)

And when everyone back home is fast asleep, dreaming sweet dreams (or nightmares, as applicable), I trudge back to the hotel, in a land alien, to a room not my own, far far away..

I am not at all homesick, just a strange feeling of being away, from that which is familiar.

Some people come into your life
Grow on you, like vine clinging to a wall

Some people come into your life
But in theirs, you dont

Some people come into your life
And with time
It is the wall that is held together by the vine

Today is one of those dull and rainy days when such lines are just hovering about in the "creative section" (a big question mark here) of your brain, waiting to be posted.

Current Music: Janmon Ki Jwala - Hey Ram

Some songs grow on you, like vine on a wall,
Trapped you are, beneath the beauty of the lyrics and the music
This, for me, is one such song

Globalisation
Two Indians, a Chinese and a British in a Moroccan Restaurant in France discussing life in the U.S of A

Current Music: Thee Kuruviyai
A Maharastrian listening to Tamil music (you should just see the expressions people have, when I tell them I enjoy non-Marathi et non-Hindi && non-English songs, :))), I dont know how to term such a beyond-their-understanding-listening-to-of-such-songs, indian-isation?

I managed to get a pair of headphones today, and ahhhhh,now I finally feel at home!

With due apologies to Mary and her lamb...
"..and everywhere that Poo(ja) went, her fav music was sure to go...."

There are some things money can't buy

The feeling of immense joy as you tumble out of bed and press your nose against the window to watch the flakes fall down lazily, swaying with the wind, to finally come to rest on the branches and the ground below.

For everything else there is MasterCard

Yippee!! It snowed yesterday, my first ever snowfall on the first day of the year.
One wish has come true, many more to go.

P.S. Watch this space for a poem on the snowfall

Current Music : Janmon Ki Jwala - Hey Ram.
(the term music here is questionable 'cos I am humming to myself, and my larynx is not exactly of the same quality as Asha Bhosale's :))