Loose Change

Yes, yes - I haven't been writing. Not that I haven't penned down thoughts, or ideas, just haven't put them together in a blog post. Today though I swam through that inertia - which makes me write only long e-mails to close friends and sometimes meaningful updates on Facebook. It all started with a discussion about a particular friend who is in a troubled, unhappy marriage. I'll just call her 'S'. She is attractive, intelligent, confident, well-read, well-traveled - yes, I know, so what's the catch? The catch or the giant blip on the radar is her husband. He is ALSO attractive, intelligent, well-read....you get the drift? What he is not, is that he is not a nice person. He likes demeaning his wife, sometimes beating her and keeping her cowed down. You wouldn't think it was possible in this day and age. Not with the kind of woman I just described. But then, unfortunately, it is just so much more commoner than we think it is.  So what does make a ...

Birthday coming up sometime soon...and thoughts of growing old keep cropping up as well. Here's a list, in no particular order (excepting the first one!), which tells you why I so love the aging process...at least for now ;) 1. A fabulous, fantastic life partner who's a friend first. 2. Few, not many, friends. Friends who get my jokes, my feelings, my emotions, my happy days and not so happy days. Who're there for me...when I say that, I really do mean it...they're always there for me. 2 . Enjoying the work I do...voluntary and paid work...I am at a phase in life where I actually take on projects that I have fun writing...it's a lot of learning, a lot of unlearning and sometimes a lot of stress...but apart from all that they're always fun! 2. Finding peace within myself...being comfortable in my own skin is the biggest thing I've achieved recently...I know I need to lose some more weight, but I'm getting there...in the meantime, I'm just comforta...

We all seem to have lost our souls To mobile gadgets and handsets galore No network results in grave depression Call coming through Bring forth a wave of exhilaration Depleting charge will throw one In serious despair, which only A plug point can repair No calls? No SMSes? Result in deep despair A blip? A ring? Yippeee! Yippeee! Yeaahh!! Got an SMS the other day Alleging there's another way To talk, to communicate. Rubbish!!! I say. (received by SMS from...)

Been a long time Since I wrote Reasons are many Too many to emote Changing places Changing lives Changing paths Changing drives Writing for one As opposed to many It became personal Not to be shared with anybody All these and more Made writing seem such a chore! Not any more though. Definitely not any more!

I was surfing rather aimlessly (as usual!) And suddenly I came across Amul Ice Cream's cyber store. You can actually order ice cream online, get some extra ice cream in the bargain!!! And have it all delivered within a day to any city from Adilabad to Yeotmal . Its a district in Maharashtra. I just looked it up :) You have sugar free pro biotic ice creams (do check them out). And of course yummy stuff like chocochips ...drool away! Here's the link: http://www.amul.com/icecream/index.html Yippeeee . Horaaayyyy ! Diet..do just go away :)

The blank page looks at you You want to write But you don't know how Days pass and nights fly by The anguish you feel Is what you live by When suddenly... You fall in love All over again When suddenly... You start laughing All over again When suddenly... You start living All over again When suddenly... Your love's in love with you All over again

I've heard that peoples' likes and dislikes give you a fair idea about them. How about their favourite vegetable? Any guesses about a person whose favourite vegetable is garlic :)

The euphoria you feel When you fall in love The ecstasy you feel When you know its for keeps! The sheer happiness you feel Seeing your loved one The pleasure you get Just spending time with him The smile on your face When you think of good times The laughter bubbling forth Thinking of a lifetime with him!!!

Back again after a long time...I felt compelled to write Write about the big images the words 'social responsibility' conjure up in the minds of people. You think of this big company out to do social good in whatever small way they can. Right! I agree completely. But what happens when the product of that very company is littered all over a virginal landscape? Should the company also not educate you and me on how to best dispose the trash that they are helping us in creating? Sounds muddled? Let me give you an example... I visited Kashmir recently...and its everything the poets make it out to be...heaven on earth. Life is definitely returning to normal for the average Kashmiri and Srinagar is beginning to assume the hues of a tourist town. We were lucky to see it a little unspoiled having gone in the off season. The winter harshness gives it a stark unparralleled beauty, all its own. From Srinagar, we went further up to Gulmarg. Climbing up to its highest accesible point (13500 ...

My life has been full of conflicts lately…on the one hand I have had my life falling into place…ecstatically into place…and on the other hand I have had one of my closest friends facing a tragedy and grief…which seems insurmountable… What does one do when the person she thought was her closest counterpart, her lover, her sweetheart, her husband is no more…how does life go on for her??? I can empathise and I can grieve…but I cannot understand…for that I would have to live her life… Questions, thoughts, puzzles, all unanswered… How does life go on…when it has stopped for a few… Of course we all love again. And we all go on with our lives…I have too come up from what I thought and envisaged as complete tragedies…things that would make my life come to an end…or at least ensure that I stopped living for a long time to come… But then life has a way of falling into place…very rightly for some and limpingly for others…but it does. I know I am sounding morose and I know this is not how I usuall...

Yesterday a friend’s husband passed away in a road accident. Just like that! I pick up the phone to hear that Arun is no more… Arun of the ArunKavya couple. Arun of the Crazy Coorgi Couple (that’s how I had christened them!). Childhood sweethearts, completely in love with each other… And suddenly one half is missing… So whom am I mourning for? Arun who is not around or Kavya who is? Or am I feeling guilty about the fact that I yet continue to enjoy the small pleasures in life, when my friend is not? Read an epitaph a while back. And I think this is how I could best describe Arun. 'While alive he lived'

Read an article in the morning that got me thinking…no I wish it was something as trivial as fairness creams, or perhaps the next best thing in cornflakes. It was all about living and dying. This article hits you hard, right from its headline which screams out 'I kept saying, "Help me, help me." But no one did’ A young woman, very much like you and me…caught in a violent situation not of her own choosing…decided to act a little differently than she would otherwise have done… And that is what got me thinking…I have faced umpteen accident victims, taken them quite a few times to the hospital and have had emergency care administered to them…received their gratitude as my token…and walked away with a mental pat on my shoulders for having emerged a better person from the whole scenario! This situation was however totally different! It was wrought with violence, with a knife wound, with a person bleeding to death… What would you do if you were faced with such a situation??? Wou...

Hey! Stray thoughts that come to mind...this is one post that I will keep updating...with my thoughts and your inputs..... …the more we are taking away from Mother Nature, the more she is striking back in areas where she yet has total, absolute control! - Happiness is infectious...just like life...try it sometime!

Driving to work (yes I know! Seems like that’s how I spend the major part of my day)…anyways…driving to work sometime last week…a hoarding caught my eye! That’s all this post is all about! Just that one hoarding…as hoardings go, it was the regular tin hoarding with the flex print ad put on it rather slickly…the ad you are asking…exactly my point! The ad was….well…how do I put it across??? A breakthrough ad, one that breaks all gender barriers and myths…equalises all gender inequalities in one fell swoop! To cut a long story short…it was a fairness cream ad, the cream being targeted very specifically at the male of the species! A few things that caught my eye…and made me go into paroxysms of laughter… The ad takes the onus of bringing all closet ‘dark horses’ out into the open. Does that mean we shall soon see a new fashion trend? Men will now sport the cream in their breast pockets rather than the traditional handkerchief? The model in the ad – rather dishy I would say! And a wheatish ...

Written for a friend...hope it helped the person in question! Life Gives you the thumbs down Sending you deep down The nadir which knows no end And Just then, you look up See the world bottoms up Making sense as you go round the bend!

I was reading up on some interesting stuff about small animals, their habits etc etc…when suddenly I came upon a creature called tarsier. Its adorable, as you can see from the photograph attached here…what did take me aback was the absolute miniature size…these creatures are really small ! Just got me wondering about creation…the beauty, the perfection of things, as they exist around us… P.S. Image credits: Image 1 - leewongu.byus.net/.../ 작은원숭이.jpg Image 2 - www.fell2earth.com/ puzzles/tarsiers.jpg

Strange question??? Completely not in context with what I usually warble about??? Well…I guess… Just need to slow down for that faction of a second and look around at the life that is passing you by…things that leave you awestruck and amazed….spellbound… Early mornings, Misty with rain Dewdrops on leaves Shining again The birds sing out aloud Their chirping a musical sound How can you then Even whisper aloud??? You walk through the grass Naked feet in the mist Feeling a part of it all… Amazed at the way it feels! The day goes by Leaving you amazed Noon light Filtering through the leaves Dappling with a weave effect The night comes in. Softly Disturbing not in the least! Getting along with it All its sensuous appeal! As the day unfurls It leaves me spell bound Amazed, awestruck, speechless In love with the beauty That abounds all around Close those cynical eyes Blindfold the disbelief Step back to enjoy This moment in time In all its hues Steeped with All its beliefs!

One of those days, when there was nothing much to do…or maybe there was and I just didn’t feel like it… An extended coffee break with colleagues went into interesting areas of conversation…interesting to some…controversial to some…beliefs and principles…. A colleague had just come back from the Transport Office where she had gone for a learner’s test…as she had been in the U.S. inevitable comparisons were made between the US and the Indian system… The red-tapism (a very Indian phrase mind you!) just gets to some people…but then there are believers like me…who believe that we can make it happen…we can make this system work…it just needs our time and some patience… I admit entering any government office earlier would make you feel like that you have entered a claustrophobic cubbyhole...yes I do emphasis it as a thing of the past…coz things are changing…maybe not with supersonic speed…but they definitely are… There are offices where the employees smile at you and wish you a cheerful good...

People watching has always held an endless fascination for me…be it close friends or complete strangers…more fun with complete strangers actually…you do not know anything about them other than what you can see and perceive… I had to go to the railway station the other evening for some work…the parking spot that I found was rather distant from the entrance. Walking up briskly (rather late in the evening, tired, wanting to finish all work and just get home), my pace suddenly slowed down. Stepped back for a minute to observe the life unfurling all around me…have you ever noticed the completely different ways in which people walk? In a railway station, where you have people across all strata, the differences, the variations are even more pronounced. One person walking by, had an ambling gait, which would speed up after a couple of paces and then slow down again…almost like he remembered to slow down…better not go in early…what will I do in there for so long? Or maybe he had go as a part of...

I did write about my hibernation period…the delicious feeling…of doing absolutely nothing…looking back I realise that the sense of doing nothing actually had a lot of other things built into it… Some thoughts that come to mind when I think back… Not working At home Not doing much Just lazing around Watching the world go by Through the window of my home Picking up a book to read And falling asleep Waking up to hear the voice I’d been hearing in my dream! Life has kind of slowed down now The colours in sharper relief With the smaller moments Coming more to the fore With the larger moments Getting magnified some more! Looking back it feels like A dream I lived in With reality coming Slowly creeping in Life with all its colours and hues Right here for me, right now Asking me to come in again Be a part of it again! Watching the world go by now Liking the way it looks Falling in love with life again Loving its colours and hues…