Sunday, January 11, 2009
The phone beeps. Girl: Checks sms. "Oh the reply…'too much thinking would be about trying to understand what happened yesterday…What went right and what went wrong and most imp y! :-)' hah! capital letter after an ellipsis! Ki boli?"
BFF: chuckles. "what?! does he even know women?"
Girl: hehehe. guess not. but honestly, what do i say?
BFF: hmm what about 'aha'
Girl: Nooo!
pause.
BFF: He's the one thinking too much. He brought it up!
Girl: Exactly. Maybe I should text him that.
pause
Girl: No. Let him suffer. I wont reply till he calls tomorrow after landing.
BFF: laughs. "You have to think so much, na. I feel all smug"
Girl: Bitch!
BFF: giggles and ashes her cigarette into the overflowing ashtray.
pause
Girl: Oh I know! I'll say 'hah, why don't you admit it. You're the one thinking too much.'
BFF: han send exactly that
Girl: Oh but I was supposed to maker him suffer.
BFF: It doesn't matter. This is a nicer reply.
Girl: okay... types furiously... "Smiley with a wink? or Smiley with a D"
BFF: Smiley with a D
Girl: ok... and send
5 minutes later
Girl: He still hasn't replied!!
Monday, January 05, 2009
I remember a maths tutor and a relative who would attach the prefix Hema, to my name referring to a yesteryear Bollywood actress. Later in college when a television serial came out starring another Bollywood star,with my name and Iyer as the title, I was called that. Or teased by that title. It never really bothered me. It was annoying, true. But that was all. There are others who don’t seem to get their tongue around the middle syllable. It’s Ma-li-ni. Not Mal-ni. Though there are times I've thought Mal-ni sounded kinda cute. Another batch mate came up with another corny substitute. Maal-ini. Maal as in goods/ booze/ drugs/ whatever and ini as in her.
The only time when I notice hearing my name is actually a PR trick. I say “Hi I’m Malini from so-n-so newspaper and they make it a point to say ‘Hi Malini,’ when just a simple 'yes' would have sufficed. It makes me feel good ( I think, Ooh, what a pretty name I have!) and saying it out loud helps them remember my name. And though I know it’s a PR trick, I’ll be the first to say it’s damn good one! I’ve heard Mal B (ach. Like Mel B?!) Miss *insert surname* or Mal, or the worst, Muhi-li-ni. And this when my name is one of the easier Indian names.
I don’t know if not hearing my name often, has some kind of deep far reaching psychological repercussions. I’m too comfortable where I am and with who or what I am to ever have any kind of deep existential identity crisis.
It must be the same for others too, am guessing, since I don’t call any of my friends by their name that often. You don’t say the person’s name when you are talking to them in person. So much so, that I often don’t know the way someone pronounces their name. There is this boy I’ve known for a year and it only occurred to me to ask how he pronounces his name while writing this post. I know that Debashree pronounces her name as De-bo-shree. And Sanjukta is San-juk-ta sometimes and Shong-juk-ta/ Shom-yuk-ta at others, mostly depending on what language she is speaking in. Sabrina is Sabrina always. Srijita too is Srijita always except whenever I say it comes out as Shijita. Sonal is actually somewhere between Sonal and Sonullah… there are so many names I’ve mispronounced or pronounced correctly over the years. Sometimes even on purpose.
But I miss hearing my name. Which is a little strange. How do you miss something you never had?
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
We looked around. And honestly, there was not even one remotely attractive male in that compartment. So we switched to our standard bitching about how there are no men in Calcutta. "There are no guys worth checking out in Calcutta. So we stick to women," I laughed. Sao paused and thought for a while before relating, "Nah, there was this CITU bus that would go to Salt Lake that used to always be full of good-looking men." Apparently she and her family would take that bus while visiting relatives. "It used to be fun janish. It would take more than an hour to get there and we'd always spend a day there. It used to be like a trip," she reminisced.
"And?" I asked. She giggled," Sheyi bus tayi bondho hoye gelo (that bus stopped running)."
Hence, proved?
Monday, December 08, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Frankly my dear I don’t give damn? Booo hoo. (An hour of crying and a headache later).
Joe Hardy sad because girlfriend dies? Sniffle (yes, that too. I kid you not)
Harry Potter, angsty, misunderstood and Sirius dead? Waaail.
The time when Grey’s Anatomy’s Meredith looks at dishy McDreamy and says: "I love you, in a really, really big pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window, unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you. So pick me. Choose me. Love me" and I knew he wouldn’t leave the wife…I bawled my eyes out.
And these are just the trivial fictitious things that make me cry. It’s a joke with my friends. An embarrassment to my dad (poor guy, he doesn’t get why a completely objective debate on Singur and Mamata triggers the waterworks. Its isn’t easy for a man to be surrounded by so much of oestrogen) and an irritant to mum. And well if you knew me, one of these reactions will be yours. I cry, when I’m so angry, I could kill you. I cry when I’m deliriously happy. I cry when I’m tired and frustrated (yes the office loo and too much work has done that to me). I cry when I’m hurt. Or embarrassed. Or humiliated. Or just mildly sad and wistful. I cry sometimes just because I need to. So if there is any basic spike of emotion I will cry. I don’t know why. Like when I’m having a fight this independent evil part of my brain decides, "oh she is mad now…lets make her blubber like a fool".
Mostly, this doesn’t bother me anymore. Everyone who knows me knows I cry, so they’ve sort of accepted it as "my thing". I’ve made my peace with it all. The red eyes, the puffy eyelids, the sudden blocked nose. The horrible look of pity I get when people realise that I’ve been crying. The slight ache behind my eyes when I’m all cried out. Even those times when the credits roll on a rom-com that I’ve been watching with friends and they look at me incredulously and say, "What? You didn’t cry?" Am actually ok with it all. I even find it funny at times.
But sometimes I think about this other girl I know off. She happens to be friend of a friend of a friend and I’ve never met her. Sometimes I wish I was her. She has this bizarre condition that makes her unable to cry. "My lachrymal glands are dry and almost don’t function," she had confessed to my friend. Which means she lugs around eye drops wherever she goes. And has to put it in her eye every hour when she’s wearing lenses and in general suffers a lot of general discomfort because of her condition. "Only if something hurts really badly and I’m in tremendous physical pain, can I squeeze out, like, one tear," she’d said.
Sometimes I wish I was her.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Sometimes happiness can be that simple.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
I have a look am told. A colleague of mine (who has a wardrobe and dressing sense I could kill for) just asked me to get someone with 'my look' for a makeover story. And as I stared at her blankly she added: "I want someone who looks like you...you know the whole ethno-grunge look." Thankfully she did not see me floating down the stairs all starry eyed and happy, thinking, 'Wow I actually have a look.' Although, now that Ii think of it, a look that calls for a makeover can't be a good thing now, can it?
I still dont how raddi kurtis, ancient Levis, flappy chappals, mad ma-ha-ad hair and giant-panda-esque smudged kohl can can count as a look, but hey 'ethno-grunge' works for me. This is what I love about this industry. Almost anything can be made to sound cool.
Though I hope it isn't quite as bad as Jude Law says in Closer (yes the movie is my new obsession)...
"Dan: At six, we stand round the computer and read the next day's page, make final changes, put in a few euphemisms to amuse ourselves...
Alice: Such as?
Dan: "He was a convivial fellow" - meaning he was an alcoholic. "He valued his privacy" - gay. "He enjoyed his privacy" - raging queen."
Question: What would my euphemism be?
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
and I hate myself for even thinking this, but what happens to me?
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I stumbled across this rather pretty song today.
There is this bit about where they say
“Ohh maybe someday
Someway, somehow in some town
We’ll get together and
We’ll break it down
And I’ll ask why you’ve been
so shy”
that hits a spot somewhere. It’s completely mushy and so not profound but yet so…pretty. It reminds me of this day when a friend (is there such a thing as an ex friend?) handed this piece of paper saying, "Read. It's for you." (I still have that handwritten note tucked away in my diary) The poem was almost lame, but had this really pretty refrain which said ‘haven’t we met before right here on a certain rainy day.’ I know which rainy day he was talking about. And even though we don’t talk to each other anymore, I’ll always remember that rainy afternoon (the whole day wasn't rainy. Just the afternoon) And know that I’d once been that special. It’s a nice feeling. I’m all warm and fuzzy inside as I sing along to “I’m shy that way”.
Monday, February 25, 2008
In my heart I am a musician. I was meant to be Shirley Manson and wear knee high boots and very very dark eye make up and sing "Steal me, deal me, anyway you heal me,
Maim me, tame me, you can never change me"
Or may be Alanis Morissette and go crazy on stage while singing "You Oughta Know." Or may be wear flowy clothes and be ultra feminine and sing the dreamy "Shoot the moon" like Norah Jones. Though mostly, I can’t carry a tune. And though all those years when I was taking Hindustani classical music (vocal) (that’s what it says on the ID card. As if being vocal makes it less classical. Weird) lessons I used to be able to carry a tune (alas, I don’t think I can even do that now) dhrupad and random taals you had to double triple quadruple the pace of, used to confuse the bejesus out of me. And even I make me wince when I sing out loud with Sheryl Crow. Sigh. I really wanna be a rock star-ish person in my next life.
You know what the world really needs? A shampoo and conditioner timer. The medicated shampoo I use has to be kept on for five minutes and the conditioner for three. And my watch may or may not be waterproof but I don’t want to risk checking to see if it is. So, we need water proof timer. And counting to 300 doesn’t work. I keep forgetting where I am post 100 seconds. By 80-something seconds I drift off to some other world and I have no idea how many seconds I have lost in reverie. Have I reached 300 seconds mark? Have I gone passed it? Is this why I have either mad frizzy hair or limp weird hair ?
Ok this will contradict the inner rock star dream. I was born in the wrong time. I watched Pakeezah yesterday and I have realised I was meant to be Pakeezah. Ok not Pakeezah. Something close. I want to wear pretty kurtas and churidars, walk slowly and gracefully and wear lovely mojris. I was meant to wear white churidars and kurtis and lie on a divan with my hair soaking in the fountain. I want paighams about my pretty feet. But I don’t want to be surrounded by so many shrill giggling women.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
P.S. I don’t care how many designers scream themselves hoarse saying long n flowy skirts are out. I like them!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
I get that a lot these days. I’m missing something, I think. I just don’t know what.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
my job so rocks!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Went back to work after a break of 19 days yesterday. And had no work so tagged along with Ducksie to a rock competition. And felt very old. And what is it with all the Calcutta rock bands. Where does all this bad attitude come from ?
And yes I'm capable of feeling young and almost pretty and old and dowdy in a span of twenty four hours. I amaze myself sometimes.
Friday, November 02, 2007
So the next time I get poked by an elbow, whoever it be attached to, male or female, I will slice their bloody elbow clean. There will be nice Kill Bill-esque moment where Pointy Elbows will stare at all the blood spurting from his arm and bloodied piece of elbow bone, and i will walk away calmly. Oh and I'll whistle the really cool tune that plays in the movie.
and is there some kind of special school for this? where they teach you to ram that elbow straight into my chest and then disappear into crowds? Arrrrgh.
The really cool tune
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
ru -- [noun]: A person of questionable sanity who starts their own cult 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com |
Eh ?
Friday, August 24, 2007
Different clothes. Thinner. No fab India. No silver earrings. No vodka n lime cordial. No cheap motorola cellphone. No buses. No metros. No same old curly hair that has looked the same since I was sixteen. No gurjari jhola. No chappals. no reporting stuff that I’m bad at. No wondering about why the bloody hell that guy didn’t call me. No keeping quiet when some one’s mean to me. No more sappy romance novels. No inarticulate speaking. No more whining. No more wallowing. No more of me.
I want to go out shopping for a brand new me.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
If I were a month, I would be: september
If I were a day of the week, I would be: sunday
If I were a time of day, I would be: dawn
If I were a planet, I would be: neptune
If I were a season, I would be: monsoon
If I were a sea animal, I would be: a dolphin
If I were a direction, I would be: south west?
If I were a piece of furniture, I would be: the arm chair
If I were a sin, I would be: sloth
If I were a liquid, I would be: a vodka martini
If I were a fraud/scare, I would be: me
If I were a gem, I would be: a ruby
If I were a tree, I would be: a pine tree
If I were a tool, I would be: a screwdriver
If I were a flower/plant, I would be: a very prickly rose
If I were a kind of weather, I would be: the rains in calcutta
If I were a musical instrument, I would be: a flute, or a saxophone
If I were an animal, I would be: a well fed fluffy cat
If I were an emotion, I would be: contentment (is that an emotion?)
If I were a vegetable, I would be: an onion
If I were a sound, I would be: silence
If I were an element, I would be: water
If I were a car, I would be: this is easy. A bright red lamborghini
If I were a song, I would be: “maybe tomorrow” by stereophonics
If I were a food, I would be: homey comfort food. like rajma chawal
If I were a place, I would be: home
If I were a material, I would be: khadi
If I were a taste, I would be: chocolate
If I were a scent, I would be: a freshly brewed pot of darjeeling tea
If I were a religion, I would be: no idea. Do agnostics have a religion?
If I were a sentence, I would be: this one
If I were a body part, I would be: eyes
If I were a facial expression, I would be: a lazy smile
If I were a subject in college, I would be: not mathematical economics
If I were a shape, I would be: round
If I were a quantity, I would be: a litre
If I were a colour, I would be: turquoise
If I were a thing, I would be: my first fountain pen
If I were a landmass, I would be: plateau of Tibet
If I were a book, I would be: the catcher in the rye
If I were a monument, I would be: the Spinx
If I were an artist, I would be: Van Gogh
If I were a collection of poems, I would be: readable
If I were a landscape, I would be: an oasis
If I were a watch, I would be: the fast track thing I wear
If I were God, I would be: really bad at my job
If I were a vowel, I would be: a
If I were a consonant, I would be: l
If I were a formula, I would be: a grandmothers secret recipe
If I were a Science, I would be: marine biology
If I were a theory, I would be: chaos theory
If I were a famous person, I would be: smug
If I were an electronic equipment, I would be: the ac
If I were sport, I would be: ok so not sports. scrabble
If I were a movie, I would be: amellie
If I were a cartoon, I would be: luann
If I were an explorer, I would be: dead
If I were a scientist, I would be: archimedes :D
If I were a relation, I would be: not very nice to know
If I were a river, I would be: a brook pretending to be one
If I were intoxication, I would be: a nicotine buzz
If I were alone, I would be: making tea or reading
If I were a question, then I would be: han?
If I were a hobby, I would be: something totally pointless
If I were a habit, I would be: fidgeting
If I were in an atom, I would be: invisible?
If I were an end, I would be: a happy ending
If I were you, I would be: not reading this .
I was tagged by Jo and i tag Lara, Serendipiduous, Anwesha and Oopie
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Incredibly pretty pair of long bronze earrings.
Meeting friend who I hadn’t seen for a long time
Getting treated to toast n stew
Plans of sleepover at bestest friend and rock’ s etc (I’ve mentioned her before)
The thought of meeting a lot of friends for girly lunch tomorrow
Not having any work
And yet getting a comp to myself (that is so rare in this office!)
Radioblog playing softly
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
sleazy photographer(SP) besides trying to imply that "there is friendship between us" (WTF!! what does that mean?)also discussed pornography(this, 2 weeks after i join) (and i think its sleazy to do so. even if you think that makes me a prude) and makes crank calls at my extension.
so obviously when some guy calls at our extension and keeps on saying hello even after i said hello in reply, i assumed it was SP, and was a wee bit rude. after which the line got disconnected. i hang up. try to get back to work. when idiot phone rings again. i bark a really terrible sounding hello into the phone. person at the the other end of the line asks for fatso intern. intern answers the phone. which is when it occurs to me that, the voice did not quite sound like SP. it was in fact, or so intern tells me, my boss's boss. intern also tells me that boss's boss actually asked who had answered the phone inititally.(thankfully boss hung up before intern told him that it was me, new female/trainee who definitely should not have an attitude problem and should NOT bark hello's in to the phone)
i have decided that i will fake laryngitis and speak to boss's boss in sign language. or pass chits. or mime. or in anyway delete my voice from his aural memory. (is there such a thing as an aural memory?)
and yes i generally do not call people fatso. or fat. i call intern so, because he is an irritating name dropping pompous ass.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
and there is possibility that i wont be working under my totally lovely boss anymore. my boss is the most amazing woman ever. she can turn the crap i write into an actual article. and in the entire building she's the only person in this entire building who counts me as human. also she never ever points out that what i write is total crap. sigh. and now i'll be shifted to a team of nice enough people or so i can assume, except that they were a team before i joined, and will treat me like an outsider. so jokes will be cracked which i wont get which wont be explained to me. and my articles will be subbed to bits. and... sigh. this too shall pass, i guess.
am whining too much these days, no? happy thoughts then. byline's come out six times already. yay me. bestest-friend-and-rock-one-person-who gets-me-totally-and-loves-me-despite-and-does-not-make-fun-of-me is in town. so yay!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
am at work on Sunday. but skulking so that i can file silly story first and run away. am terrified that boss's boss will see me and send me on crazy story which no-one wants to do. and that's another thing. what is it with me and crazy stories? walked about like maniac and accosted random people on park street with bizarre questions. and then went to the tea table and accosted other touristy looking people with more questions.
and wanted to text colleague saying that i really liked his article. except in the process ended up sending text to boss. so boss thinks am presumptuous lil thing now. or worse. that am sycophantic. yay me. and obviously i cant send her a message saying that it wasn't meant for you. what would i say any way, "am sorry the message wasn't mean for you. your article was not nice?"...sheesh!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Monday, May 07, 2007
i need to whine. and take a crying jag. and spend an entire day feeling sorry for myself until am so sick of self that i have no option but to stop. funny thing is that i have nothing really to crib about. i have a really nice job. very few people actually get this job fresh out of college. and no one has actually said that i am a complete idiot for not knowing the things am supposed to. and whoever whines about not having friends at work ?
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Very productive day today. Reached place of work at 1 (as was asked to, by boss. Still don’t get concept but? Why 1? Why in this maddening heat would you ask people to leave their homes at 12 in the afternoon? ). Did not find boss in seat. And I had nothing to do. No stories that I could have work on. No previous day’s stories to file. No subbing guy’s head to chew on for screwing up previous day’s article. So twiddled thumbs. Got water. Visited loo. Got tea. Came back and peeped in boss’s cubicle. Boss was still not in her seat. Asked moderately approachable people if similar situations(of not having anything to do, not having access to comp so that you can pretend to do something, is something that happens to people). Said approachable people were obviously very sensible and did not deem question worthy of answer. Oh n did I mention? Every ones is always busy here. Even people who stop by other’s cubicles for a chat do this in a decidedly busy-I-have-work way. Which is why, not having anything to do becomes really really scary and stressful. Yes imagine that, a stressful day spent doing nothing.
Finally boss arrives and sends me to go hunt today’s newspapers n various magazines to get ideas for stories I could do. Three newspapers. All in Bengali. Ouch. After which photographer decides to take a picture of my eyes for random story on sleeplessness. Ok not so random then. Remember, story on insomnia. Weird looking eyes that are meant to look tired, with slightly misshapen eyebrows. Mine. After which I was made to call up all sorts of people related to a story idea. Said people were unfortunately were “unreachable” and were not around to answer my questions.
Oh yes and no cigarettes smoked. All smokers at work stand outside the office building and light up, n for now am just too scared to do so with them. What if they just turn around and scream “you new person, you, how dare you stand with us experienced journalists when you have not even covered/filed a story?” or you know give me one of those scary glowering looks.
Scary place this. HR people obviously do not know of a concept called induction. Which is why I walk around the whole blasted building like a very awed and fascinated looking tourist on a sight seeing trip.
So yes, very eventful and tiring day today. Yawn.
Update: pics of eyes did not come out today. gah. might on sunday. or maybe they 'll see what the eyebrow lady sees n reject it because of wierd looking eyebrows
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Sunday, April 08, 2007
So am no more sniffling to…
uff i really need to read less chick lit
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Sunday, February 04, 2007
If you are twenty one (and a half) and lonely and a little scared that you will never never be not lonely…It doesn’t mater because you are just twenty one.
What I don’t understand I this…how does the possibility that you might not be lonely at say, twenty six, make you feel better now?
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Or about your cheery perfect life. Or about how you think the skies are blue and the weather perfect (yes especially that. Shut up about the weather. Ok?) actually I don’t want to know anything about you. Yes you. What are you staring at? What makes you confide in me so? Do I look like a shrink to you? Huh huh huh ?
I think am going to lock self up in the bathroom ad cry some more.
PMS has fucked my brain. Have been alternating between the previous two states all day.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Have acquired hideous looking clot in left eye. Which isn’t infected as yet. But optometrist says it might get so if I wear lenses. Which means that I have to wear glasses to work for two god damned weeks. And did I say when my glasses were made? Circa 2001. Yes, very fashionable. Lenses as thick as bottle glass. Immensely flattering. Very good for the self esteem. I love being the Indian female answer to Drew Carrey
And of course what is even better is how the standard of small talk has improved after I started wearing my glasses. In my pre glasses day it was “god it’s so cold. How come you’re wearing sleeveless *insert piece of clothing* . Are you not cold?
Post glasses: “you have glasses? I didnt know. God you look soooooooo different.”
Yes people, please do tell me what kind a geek I look like. Am down on bended knees asking you to please please please tell me how “the spectacle-look does not suit me”.
Am made of sterner stuff I think. I shall not give in and spend all the money I have left on new pair of glasses. I shall resist. This too shall pass. Or so I tell myself.
Thank god for small mercies though. At least there is no-one in Calcutta who I’d really need to pretty self up for. Sigh. (hush. I just forgot. Tis conspiracy time. No no no. no mercies. There is nothing to be thankful for)
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Have never quite thought of myself as vain. I figured that I was quite balanced. Healthy sense of self esteem. Occasional bouts of feeling like shit. But mostly, quite balanced. Until yesterday.
Girl talk with S (this be different S) made me realize me that we women, (or well just the two of us, then) are ridiculously vain. And it’s not a conscious sense of vanity. It’s just there vaguely, at the back of my head. Like on a good hair day. With that slight shampoo smell. The scrunchy/band never stays on. Every five minutes a strand of hair must be tucked in behind the ears. Or be twisted around a finger. And if no-one’s watching be sniffed at. Does it still smell of shampoo? Eww… no smells of cigarettes now. And the funny bit? I don’t even know am doing it. And won’t know until you actually point it out to me.
Or the day when you wearing a particularly nice shade of lip gloss. Granted it doesn’t stay on for two long. But it doesn’t actually require “blending” every five minutes. You know what I mean don’t you? That discreet way you press your lips together to supposedly blend lipstick in?
Or the n number of times you press the tip of you fingers to the corners of your eyes just to check if the kajal has smudged or not.
And god help me on the days am wearing nice earrings. am accused being overtly partial to earrings. But what can I do? they're so pretty!(Bought a pair yesterday too. Bronze-ish. Really pretty!)
It’s not vanity really. May be its just that I like being a girl. Or may be the ugly duckling phase has left its scars. So am overcompensating by telling self that look am duckling no more. Or may be am just very restless. Must always fiddle. (bleh now I sound like a pre-pubescent)
What bothers me is this. Is it just me? Am I really that vain? And if I am, should I not be more bothered? And why am I still fiddling with that silver jhumka then? And what makes me smile when the bangles jingle while am tapping away at my key-board.
(And please note the bangle thing isn’t as theatric as it sounds. It isn’t exactly bollywood heroine-esq chanak-chanak. This is more subtle. You can barely hear it. Even the person beside me can barely hear it. It’s true. Seriously! You can’t.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
There is this amazing recipe for chocolate cake that I got from S. It’s the nicest yummiest cake ever. In fact it’s perfect. Except that the perfect cake requires a perfect oven and an eggbeater. You can obviously make the batter manually but till date the cake hasn’t quite turned out as perfect as it did on S’s oven and with S’s egg beater. And so every time I get cravings for that special chocolate cake, I deprive myself saying that I’ll make me the perfect cake once I get that eggbeater, and a better non wonky oven.
Though the times I have actually given into cake cravings and baked me cake it hasn’t turned out that bad. Just less than perfect.
And so there I was dreaming about cake, not baking cake, depriving self of cake. And today was hit by moment of epiphany. I realized that the only person who was really bothered about whether the cake is perfect or not is me. Every one else, including S, quite like my cake.
Moral of the story? Don’t wait for the perfect cake. Enjoy yours. Don’t deprive yourself because it’s not spongy enough or because you have to scrape of the 1 mm thick burnt bits.
So there. I have said it all. This is my story and am sticking to it. Not only am I sticking to it, am also going to tell my future grandchildren this story. Even if they roll their eyes and change the topic. Some day they’ll realize that the perfect cake is not worth waiting for. The eggbeater might not ever happen. Your oven, like mine, might always be stuck on 200 degree centigrade. Or not. But do you really want to wait that long to find out?
Take my advice. Don’t.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
The only thing that makes the present tolerable now is the possibility of a future, the possibility that it will all get better, bigger. I console myself saying that this can’t be me, this can’t be it. That somehow I’m probably meant for something better. But what if I’m not?
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Wouldn’t it be nice if one day you could walk up to that guy who’s totally oblivious to you and say, “You know what? I really don’t like you at all, and even if I’m currently acting like I do, I will get over it soon. And soon I shall be thinner, with flawless skin and perfect hair, and way hotter than I am now. And then I wont have time of day for you.” No? Too juvenile?
Yeah that’s what I thought too. The only thing that gets me by these days?... That soon there will be a time when I shall move on and obsess about someone else. Yes please don’t judge me. It’s true. I live my life from one, one sided crush to another. What was that again? At 21? Yes at 21? What are you goggling at? Am pretty sure there are other 21-year-old s like me somewhere. Yes, other than on reality TV shows called Can’t Get a Date.
Han so where was I again? Old school crushes. So I found this guy on orkut. The guy who I thought was the one. The one who’d make my knees go weak at 14. The cute guy in ze maths tuitions. And twas so sad. I mean I had obsessed about it forever. How he’d suddenly come across me on one of my good hair days (at 21. not 15. Good hair days didn’t exist until I was 18) (Why is good hair day important? Coz there must be one last toss of silky hair before you walk away) and here he was with a nice artsy looking-out of-window pic and it didn’t bother me. I mean I couldn’t even be bothered to orkut-stalk the guy. (Yes, well except for reading all his scraps the first time. But that’s it. You get it, don’t you? Just once. No psychotic following of conversations from one scrap book to another!!)
Sigh. What was depressing about this bit? It reminded me that am getting old. Even crushes are not the same anymore. Where is ze drama? The magic. The tee-hee school girly giggling?
Or it’s the men probably. Something wrong with all of them. Yep that’s what it is. Or is just the Calcutta variety?
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
The random blogger who was on a friends's friend's blogroll turns out to be the one he is hitting on.
And I remember thinking, Gosh, I like this blog.
Gosh, she is so me.
Gosh, she has something that's mine.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
I must be dead i think. Or very very numb. And thats not the God-my-life-is-so-depressing-am-protecting-myself-by-going-numb kind of numbness.
Its the normal garden variety numbness. Or the not-so-garden-variety numbness. At least everyone around me still seems to feel. The women at work who are having love come arranged marriages. (yes i kid you not, concept exists)
Tis concept where your parents pick techie-working-in-blue-chip-company-with-brilliant-prospects for nice little convented homely girl.
And the two decide to fall conveniently in love and call each other shona and have very dramatic fights during lunch time. Post lunch time they cry on their PCs, then fix their make up and get back to work.
Even those women who are pining away for their ex fiances who they met via ****** matrimonial. Pining has such a lot of drama attached to it. There is no such great drama in my life.
But i digress. This is not about them. This is about me. And how i don't feel anymore. I dont laugh. Or cry. OR, yes, get this, get angry. I dont have the energy to react anymore. Or to develop an opinion. Or if i actually have one, i am not bothered enough to actually to state it.
Tis the worst form of evil methinks.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Sunday, November 05, 2006
for now its fun dressing ethnic every day. and wearing make up. (yus yus, I wear make up to work, all subtle n pretty). and buying the morning newspaper before I board the bus, and feeling like grown up important person. like those pretend games we'd play as kids. as if it isnt my life but someone else's.
am the youngest at work, and its fun, because everyone has assumed that the rookie/ new-recruit-fresh-out-of-college must be flatterd and encouraged. so i gladly soak in all compliments about how brilliant i am and how i am apparently, doing realy well. and ooooh the office lunch. yum.
It's all supposed to be a stop-gap before I move on to a post grad course, and obviously I shouldn't like it as much as I do. but gosh its such fun!!
Friday, October 20, 2006
so there she was, confessing all to strangers with half an ear, falling apart at innocent comments, so wrapped up in her own that she'd forgotten how to be a friend, and yet deluded enough to believe that she was holding up fine.
And she was too. when on her own that is. it's the relating-to-her-self-via-other-people bit that got to her. like that silly riddle they'd play in school. how do you make this line smaller without using an eraser? simple. just draw a bigger line beside it.
it's all gone now. thankfully. it's been neatly mended. and what was falling apart is whole again. hallelujah!
Thursday, October 12, 2006
anyway, so where was i? yes brightly coloured umbrellas. i quite like them. except for today. my umbrella is a very pretty darkish (also very bright) pink.
and i was wearing something red. and had a red bag. with a pink umbrella (yes i know i've said this before. i tend to get repetetive under stressful conditions) and there was this huge gang school kids (boys! so what if they were adoloscents. and i'm old enough to not be bothered). and it just occurred to me (and of course to other people present at the scene) that i looked something like an advertisement for, ahem, a certain kind of contraceptive.
oh, the humiliation of it all. my boring black chattri. am never deserting you again. sigh!
Monday, October 09, 2006
the thing that had mattered to her most, then, was that it was real . 'S' was real . Here was one person who didnt see her for what she was maybe, but at least he saw her. She'd be out with him, all giddy, flushed and happy and all she could think then was, "yay i'm a couple too". It wasn't inside her head anymore. There were real fights, real tears ( oh well, at least real reasons to cry about), real conversations( so what if it involved her explaining how Robin Cook wasnt science fiction).
She doesnt miss him now that he's gone. No really. She doesnt.
What she doesnt like is that she's back inside her head again. Back to one-sided relationships. One-sided conversations.
One-sided fights with people who don't know her. Back to invisibility.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Have never been a big fan of stretch targets. Hate the concept. As if the actual target (if you have one that is) isnt hard enough already , matters must be made more complicated by setting goal thats even further away! Well thats not me.
Had decided from pretty early on, not to want too much from life. And so far this policy had worked pretty well. Dont expect too much. Dont actually get too much. But thats alright. Its all good.
Figured the same should work for college. Set very very achievable goal And I might even "get" more than I asked for. I did actually. In more ways than one.
And of violets.
Am not soul-of-party. Am not star material(which is okay, really) But have never exactly been the wallflower either. Too much attention is unnerving. But none at all(!!!) is even more so.
I dont exist. Never did.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Purgatory (Repenting Believers) | Low |
| Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) | Very Low |
| Level 2 (Lustful) | Low |
| Level 3 (Gluttonous) | Very High |
| Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) | High |
| Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) | Very High |
| Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) | Very Low |
| Level 7 (Violent) | High |
| Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) | High |
| Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) | Low |
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
Friday, August 25, 2006
There are ten million other similar sayings which tell me, that this situation is not permanent. All of today will not matter tomorrow. I know this all.
and yet, I don't believe it.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Or a remote control, so that i can press the fast forward button through this phase and stop at a nicer point of time.
Or some aspirin that will make this damn headache go away.
Or some device which will turn me into someone else. I dont want to be me anymore. I want to be those superachieving kinds who've always gotten what they wanted...or at least what other people wanted.
Just not me. Not now. Not today. Not ever
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
| A Bit Of Both You are 40% Calvin and 60% Hobbes |
| Calvin & Hobbes, like a scruffy yin and yang, are in perfect balance within you. Like Calvin, you're weird, a bit insecure, and can be a trouble-maker. But like Hobbes, you're down to earth and sensitive. It's a risk to say it here, after just a ten question test, but I'll bet you're smarter than most. Both Calvin and Hobbes are crafty, clever characters, and any one made from equal parts of each is a force to be reckoned with. |
My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Calvin Or Hobbes Test written by gwendolynbooks on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
| Your Birthdate: July 25 |
You excel at anything difficult or high tech. In other words, you're a total (brilliant) geek. It's difficult for you to find people worth spending time with. Which is probably why you'll take over the world with your evil robots! Your strength: Your unfailing logic Your weakness: Loving machines more than people Your power color: Tan Your power symbol: Pi Your power month: July |
heh .
| Your Heart Is Orange |
Love equals unbridled happiness for you. You enjoy the wild ride of falling in love. And while the ride is fun for a while, you always get off once the thrill is gone. Your flirting style: Hyper Your lucky first date: Anything you need your passport for! Your dream lover: Is both daring and well grounded What you bring to relationships: Energy |
now i am really bored.
| Your True Love Is a Scorpio |
Why you'll love a Scorpio: Strong and sexy, Scorpio will overpower you into falling in love (before you even realize it!). You'll love being swept away by Scorpio - into a world of insane passion. Why a Scorpio will love you: You don't mind letting your Scorpio take the reigns, as long as you know you're truly cared for. Loyal and devoted, you would never do anything to set off insanely jealous Scorpio. |
eh?
| You Belong in 1975 |
If you scored... 1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in! 1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too. 1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! 1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day. 1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good! |
Thursday, June 22, 2006
| You Are Midnight |
You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends. |