Puppy Endings

It takes an overwhelming moment to kick you out of a self-imposed reverie. Of late, things have been moving pretty fast and with the multitasking slowly affecting my health, it has been a crazy start to this year. Not that I am complaining, but there are some things that I miss so much. I miss staying up late and gobbling an entire book just because it is tough to keep it down; I miss watching back to back episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and How I Met Your Mother; I miss the smell of the musty watercolor paint box when I start painting; I miss the sane life. Unfortunately, there is not much I can do about it so the dull ache of memories is a constant companion.

Lately, I had something to look forward to - the friendly street dog had given birth to a puppy and was the cynosure of all eyes. Everyone would lean out of the window and watch with excitement as the puppy first opened his eyes, took the first steps and after a few days, bounced around happily.

The windows which had watched its progress each day now started dropping little pieces of biscuits, bread and  fish bones. The enterprising young kid in the building finally gave it a name - Guddu. It became a weekend ritual for me to go downstairs and sit besides him while he went around his daily activity of toppling over the water saucer, dig the lawn and look longingly at the windows for his treat.


Then one fine day, he disappeared. Guddu's mother's howls all night were a constant reminder of the pain and loss. It goes without saying that I was very upset by this turn of events; it felt as if every good thing in the world is meant to be temporary, ultimately meant to leave you with memories that would sustain happiness only for as long as your optimism lasts.


While I was contemplating putting up his picture on Facebook in case anyone spotted him, a familiar yelp had me rushing to the window. And there he was, looking upwards with a limp foot, a few scratches but the same bright eyes staring back at me. The milk-soaked bread came out, so did the biscuits and the water. So did our emotions of elation at seeing Guddu back with us. Good things being temporary is not always a bad thing, I suppose. They stay around us long enough to miss them when they are gone and realize what we will miss if we continue to make the same mistakes.

For now, it is all celebrations around me. The doctor has assured us it is not a fracture and Guddu is on the path to recovery. Here are the pics of the little tyke who made me write this post and update the blog after two long months :) It was a puppy ending after all.

Evident From My Blog Title

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.

~Anatole France

Life has a strange timing of granting your wishes- it makes them come true when you are spewing cynicism and the light at the end of the tunnel seems like another mirage. The break that I have been cribbing about landed on my lap when I had come to accept the monotony of my life.

Although the planning had been on for a week, given my reputation of flopped plans [:D], I tried not to get overtly excited about the whole thing. As the week progressed, I saw the location change three times and the number of people dwindle from ten to five. Had it not been for a very determined group of five people desperate to make it a success, this trip would never had happened. And I am glad, it did not fall apart.

We did the usual touristy things- roamed around the market, shopped for sovereigns, saw the same mountain from five different points/locations and went boating. There were moments when we simply sat on the edge, looked across the horizon, five people lost in thoughts and musings of their own.

I realised I travel differently- the excitement of seeking familiarity is more than that of discovering new places. Here, staring out of the window opening to a postcard-perfect view, I could not help thinking about settling there and writing a book, roaming around on cold mornings in the twisted alleys, cupping hot tea glasses for warmth and reading Robert Frost poems in the dead of night.

My memories are not of the perfect landscapes I witnessed but of laughing till my sides hurt, of endless brooding over life's unnecessary complications, of comfortable silences and of feeling something stir within. This is what I seek in a trip and from what I know, the journey has just begun.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost

A Road Trip Of My Own

Note: The following events took place over a period of ten hours and covered five malls spread across central Mumbai.

I was suffering from a dry spell of movies and in general entertainment. The last movie I watched was Dum Maro Dum (duh!) in a nondescript theater in Gandhinagar. After months of wasting away my weekends simply sleeping(who feels to step out in the rains and get drenched and smell musty all day?) , we made a plan to watch Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Although it did appear to belong to the live-your-life-to-the-fullest genre of movies which I completely detest, but the idea of having Hrithik, Farhan and Abhay as serious eye candy seemed too appealing to resist.

At around eleven, I left for the railway station only to realise that the Mega Block had begun, leaving me with no option but to take the bus. It goes without saying that I hate travelling by bus- the smoke, dust, smelly seat and an irritated conductor is not something you would look forward to. The bus screeched to a halt after I waited for more than thirty minutes, but not before slathering me with mud. My very own Tomatino festival happened right there.

After managing to get a window seat, I was unceremoniously asked to vacate it after a not-so-senior uncle pointed that the seat is reserved for senior citizens, leaving me flustered. After what seemed like an hour, I got down and started racing towards the station, almost got run over by a nasty bus with an equally nasty driver only to realise the train has been cancelled. Grrrrr-1.

Somehow I managed to reach Thane and joined my friends in an auto and headed to Korum Mall. Midway, I was told there were no tickets available so we steered the auto to Eternity Mall. No luck there too. I felt like the biggest idiot expecting to get my hands on six tickets on a Sunday in a multiplex. Bah.

Still not losing hope, we reached RMall, Mulund only to realise the female ahead of us had snagged the last five precious tickets. Next stop Nirmal Lifestyles and I am at risk of sounding repetitive. Tired, the guys finally decided to give Dreams, Bhandup a try before giving up and we were asked to stay back to avoid the whole headache of travelling.

Fufmil was apparently our bodyguard *laughs violently* and he warned us to not get all girly and irritate him. A minute later he was scampering off to catch up with the guys only because I said I craved for an ice cream. Guys, really. *rolls her eyes*

Finally, finally we managed to get tickets and it was worth all the trouble. We had the front seats which meant tilting our head in awkward angles to see clearly and involved noisy seat adjustments. We managed to embarrass fellow movie-goers with non-veg jokes and raucous laugh. It was a good day, that is all I can say. A good day after so many forgettable days.

Finally.

Remember my previous lame attempt at being mysterious? I call it lame because most of my friends guessed it, although they were kind enough not to disclose it on the blog. Keeping a secret is like controlling the urge to pee-you can barely manage to hold it inside and ultimately it has to come out.

The big news is that I am moving to Ahmedabad for my job training which according to me is, inBarney Stinson's words, legendary. It is such a big leap for me that I sometimes get intimidated by the enormity of the situation. I spent seven excruciating months trying to figure out when the mail containing my joining details will greet me in the inbox and when it finally does, it feels like the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one.

The last time I was away from home was during my industrial(?) visit to Delhi and Nainital and that lasted for ten days. And now suddenly, I am moving away to work at an alien city with no certainty over the time period.

I spent the first few days in my own bubble, conjuring up plans so that my path to independence is not a bumpy one. The thought of unlimited shopping with a very valid excuse was enough to keep me stoned for a few more days.

But now as the D-day draws closer, all the excitement is overcast with clouds of uncertainty and self-doubt. 'Will I be able to pull it off?' is a question that keeps popping in my head with increasing frequency. Being the optimist that I am, I am holding strong to the belief that I am going to rock my training.

I am not going to include the part about how much I am going to miss home, friends, and my sleepy town because it makes me all weepy *blows her nose*. But I am going to surely mention missing my blog because it was the only thing which kept me sane during those seven hard months. It might happen that there will be a drought of posts for a few days here but I promise to return to my love as soon as I am settled into the routine. Dear readers, thanks for keeping up with me through thick and thin, complimenting me even when the posts were mediocre and a huge thanks for helping me discover my love for writing. Together, you and I have seen this blog grow older and hopefully wiser over the years.

That's Me will be on a break for a few weeks but I promise to flood it with posts chronicling about my giant leap of faith in a new city and surrounded by new people. Stay tuned to this space for more. Till then, goodbye folks :)

P.S. If this post appears incoherent, jumbled, wayward and jumpy, then may be you are right because that is my current state of mind.

P.S. again- Will be leaving for Ahmedabad on the night of 5th March. I forgot to mention it anywhere in the post. Bon Voyage!

That's Me!

It doesn't take rocket science to figure out from the blog that my behaviour tilts heavily on the weird scale. The only saving grace is that weird quotient is applicable only to my thoughts and I somehow manage to restrain myself from implementing them.

• When I am standing at the door of local train trying to catch some fresh air, more often than not,I had this urge to just jump put and see what happens. Don't mistake it for a suicidal tendency,it is simple curiosity which I somehow manage to keep in check. I was scared by my demented thoughts till Alias comforted me by sharing his similar experience.

• I have a watch, battered, bruised and requiring high maintenance simply because I wear it all the time to the point of abusing it. It is a nice feeling to look onto the wrist and able to tell the time. Plus I have this tendency to wake up at forsaken hours for apparently no reason, so instead of scanning for the wall clock in the dark, I look up to my watch. To put it in simple terms, I looooooovvvvvveeeeeeee my watch :)

• I am a victim of an over active metabolism which makes me burn food in a jiffy. It is reason enough for other females to envy me but here is the downside- I am forever hungry. My friends would vouch for it since I am always sniffing for some titbits even after wolfing down a heavy meal. My parents are forever at the receiving end since I empty out the dabbas for my fill of midnight snacks only to panic at the sight of empty containers when guests drop by.

• When I was a kid(makes me sound so old), I used to take home the wrapper of the chocolate and lick off the remnants with contended delight. It will give you an idea how much of a choco-addict I am.

• My mind is my world. I have globe-trotted, learned groovy dance forms and won Masterchef India. All in the mind, that is.

• I am really fond of photography and am thorough with the basics but I am most of the times too conscious to click when people are around. Once I badly wanted to capture an old man feeding stray dogs, but I was afraid that should he take offence, he might just release those dogs to attack me. I am more of a solitary photographer I guess, content with capturing plants and socks which won't turn mutant and kill me.

• Given a choice, I would rather curl up with a book and warm coffee at home rather than attend the most happening party in town. I have nothing against socialization, but I need to have 'me' time often to restructure my thoughts and contemplate about certain things.

I would have added more to the list but I fear you reader might confuse me for a mentally deranged person with no foothold in reality. Let me know if you are weirder -it might just comfort me and not make me feel lonely :)

Shopping :D

If someone were to describe the XX chromosome species, the usual suspected adjectives pop up- extra emotional, chatterbox and giggly and hence it is not without reason that I strongly object to stereotyping of girls/women especially when the description is so unflattering.

Being born in a khandaan where majority of my cousins turned out to be boys, it was initially tough to keep up with them. Over the years, they religiously wiped out every feminine trait that irritated them and molded me according to their

convenience. As a result, I find it really hard to comprehend why a group of girls have to burst out in giggling fits every few seconds. Or why they have to apply nail paint going with the outfit. Duh!

But shopping is something that I absolutely love and for a change I am ready to get stereotyped since I am absolutely hooked. Of course, the fact that I am not earning is the only factor that has managed to put a hold on my expenditure so I make do with window shopping :D

So anyways, I was seized with this strong desire to shop so I took my Mum as partner-in-crime and managed to extract a generous sum from Dad. We landed at Dombivli and my jaw dropped at the reasonable prices of everything on the lane full of shops. The prices were so competitive and reasonable, I didn't even feel the need to bargain and on the rare occasion I asked for a discount, I did so guiltily.

I am in love with sarees nowadays so let me Mum buy as many as possible while I settled for two dress materials(four hundred each!) . There is an oh-so-elegant air around the person who wears a saree and will surely draw enough admiration if paired with appropriate accessories. I seriously fail to understand why the younger lot of my generation looks down upon this six yard wonder because honestly I believe it complements the Indian woman. I do agree that the comfprt level provided is a debatable issue, but surely we can skip comfort for a while to look pretty.

This saree below was the clear winner and I have already set my evil eyes upon it, waiting for some chance to wear it-even if the occasion turns out to be not-so-important. Will be too happy to keep you updated with my saree obsession so stay tuned :)

Not-so-good Girl

This one post was found lying in the drafts section, hoping to draw my attention some day when I would shake off my laziness and care enough to edit it. So here goes-

There goes my good girl image! I caught up with a childhood friend at a station and heeding to our rumbling stomachs, we decided to grab a bite at the food court in the complex. You don't expect to have something exotic while still studying so we settled for the humble vada pav and opted for a cold drink at the fountain soda stand.

I was curious about trying out soda (with a generous sprinkling of spices) but was wary about it since soda is mostly used to cure bad tummy and I wasn't sure if anything with medicinal qualities would taste good. Curiosity soon got the better of me and we dashed off to the platform to catch the train which had just pulled in.

Since we were no athletes and the granite steps appeared treacherous enough(Who the hell though of granite at stations? As if we don't witness enough accidents in our life.), we let the train pass and waited for the next one.

Now, this man seated next to us was quite curious about the contents of the plastic cups we were holding. Sensing an opportunity for mischief, my friend started talking in a slurred manner and I almost sniffed at the cup to verify its contents but thankfully it clicked me what she was up to.

We convinced the guy about being high on vodka(my idea since I could think of just one drink which resembled soda) and watched his eyes bulge with horror at our antics. I did spoil it with a bit of overacting but my friend was a natural pulling off the drunken eyes effect quite convincingly. The train pulled in and we saw the guy still staring at us after the train started moving again while we were too busy laughing to board the train. One request- Please don't judge me over this, I haven't touched a drop of alcohol and don't intent to because of my not-so-healthy liver.But as they say, I guess everyone is entitled to have a bit of fun :D

Forever Burdened

I am someone who goes around with a burden on my shoulders. And my heart sometimes. I cannot step out of my house without a bag-even if it is a polythene one, I would carry it. I don't know what to do with empty hands and sometimes I fear that I am suffering from alien hand syndrome(wherein your limbs perform action contrary to your wishes. Scary, na?), so I need to keep them occupied.

I cannot fathom how people can travel without carrying essential things with them. Now this is a fairly common sight amongst guys but it amazes me when I see girls doing the same thing. I wonder how it feels to be so light.

It goes without saying that I possess lots of bags to carry my things around.Correction: I possess lots of huge bags. My college sack was roomy enough to stuff myself in and it was so complete in itself that all I had to do was pick it up and head off to my destination. Same goes for my handbag which has large number of confusing compartments but nevertheless helpful to keep me organized. Oh, and there is this light blue handbag gifted to me by my cousin brother(the only male I know to have a fantastic taste in handbags. His previous handbag was absolutely suited for me but unfortunately was ruined by Mom.) which is also of a decent size. Then there is this cross strap jean bag when I want to feel all college-ish.

I still can't stop goggling at those clutch purses women carry while travelling. Sure it's handy and small but does it hold your cellphone? No. The woman would be struggling to carry the clutch in one hand, cellphone in other and hoping that a third hand would sprout to grip the rod while climbing in the train.

What my bag holds is a mystery to my friends. They derive great pleasure in lifting my bag a few feet above and then leaving it upon gravity to do the rest while I try to maintain my balance and dignity. So I will let you have a peek at the insides of my companion along with justification as to why I carry certain items along.

1. Identity proof

I never bothered carrying one until one friend told me why it is important. With all the blasts and accidents happening around, she advised me to keep it just in case.. you know... I happen to land up in hospital, my folks won't have to go checking out every hospital. How very thoughtful.

2. College essentials

Includes ID(absolutely compulsory in college), library card(rarely used) and fee receipt.

3. Tissue paper

To clean up the rain water on seats or to lend to a weepy folk.

4. Smart Card and Coupons

The queues at station are always long but I have an added disadvantage- my luck. I am so lucky that the window at which I stand for a ticket either shuts down on my turn to buy ticket or the window closes prematurely when I am halfway through. Save time and print a ticket. Or punch a coupon. Or punch the station master for non-functioning ATVMs and CVMs.

5. Girlie stuff

Hairbrush, lip balm, clip etc. No justification whatsoever.

5. Polythene bag

I suffer from travelling sickness though the nauseating sensation is limited to ST buses and vehicles spiraling along ghats. I don't feel like spoiling the interiors of mode of transport and and make other people feel sick so the polythene bag.

6. Bottle of water

Forever thirsty being that I am, I don't take the risk of gulping water from a public tap nor am I snobbish and environment-unfriendly to buy bottled water for every trip I undertake.

7. Books

To keep me company when the journey takes too long or the co-passengers are absolutely boring. It is one of the most essential things and I get restless when I cannot feel the familiar reassuring lump inside my bag.

8. Food

For my hyperactive metabolism.

9.Umbrella

Seasonal item.Duh!

10. Miscellaneous

Gift wrappings of a memorable present, ticket of an awesome trip, a non-functioning watch which I always fail to fix up, tablets past their expiry date, dried petals of a flower that caught my fancy and so on.

So what do you carry around? I could do with some suggestions to add to my list ;)

Girls jus wanna have fun

My life seems to have stuck in a rut and my daily routine is an endless cycle consisting on mainly two activities- eating and sleeping. While that might seem like a dream schedule for most folks but for me it was a hopeless situation to be in. A trip to Pune did refresh me and help me put on a few pounds, but then I was back to square one in terms of my schedule.

Now one of the few grouses I have about being a girl (or should I say women since I am now in my 20s) is that there are absolutely nil chances of a night out with friends. No amount of convincing works and the end result is that I end up sulking the day later after listening to all the fun other had. So was quite happy when I got an invitation for an all girls night out!

For a few minutes, it's hard to believe that the permission part was so easily handled all thanks to the spanking clean reputation of my friend. Her generous mom fed up chicken fried rice and manchurian which was absolutely finger-licking good and off we were to the privacy of the room.

Now the fun part of this all-gals extravaganza is that we didn't have to think up of any activity and settled for the one which comes easily to us - chatting. I don't even remember the topics now considering we chatted for around five hours. For a person who crashes to bed at ten, it was a miracle I stayed awake for so long.

After discussing about every single person we know, we had inadvertently started talking about marriage and it was with dread that I realised that such thoughts occupied so much time of our living moments. Like my friend rightly said "Now we are talking like twenty-two year old people". Oh did I add that all the talks were not without a generous sprinkling of giggles?

3 am seemed too early a time to sleep for a night out so we fished out Uno cards. Now the problem is I don't know how to play the game (don't you drop open you mouth in horror) so the two of them ganged up against me to the extent that I was finding it bloody hard to hold so many cards in my hand. Finally I learned the ropes of game and managed to beat them.Ha! After a few more games and having stuffed our mouth with chips and Pepsi (it's impossible to imagine life without these artery-choking and teeth-eroding stuff), we forced ourselves to sleep at 5 am. All the time I was hoping someone would walk the empty lane near our window and scare their wits out. hard luck though.

I realised that going out with gals is therapeutic. We are so much surrounded with male friends, that somehow I have to stop myself from blabbering about my latest shopping trip because the responses I get are usually nodding and if I am lucky they might even grunt a few indecipherable words. So I recommend a night out for all those female souls who feel all gagged up.And to help them I have put up a list of all the things which you should never miss on a girlie pajama get-together.

Things to do on a all-gal night out (in no order of importance whatsoever)
1. Chuck the damn diet and stuff yourself.
2. Talk about every thing you bought in the last few months, even if it includes a hairbrush.
3. Crib about at least one person who has been giving you a tough time.
4. Don't fall asleep before 5 am and if someone attempts to suggest hitting the sack before that, react with horrified expressions.
5. Talk like a feminist and conclude that women are way superior than men.
6. Confess to something which draws gasps and other extreme reactions.
7. Snatch each others cellphones and read all the private messages loudly with all the right expressions.
8. Give the night-care ritual of brushing, washing, cleansing, toning, moisturizing and what not a miss and should anyone attempt to do so, accuse them of being a traitor to womanhood.
9. Play cards with rules modified according to convenience.
10. Giggle, giggle and giggle.

All the best gals!