Birthdays This Year

She celebrated hers with elan. He filled his day with all of his favourite music.

She wore her favourite pink kurta over a pair of lovely blue jeans. She spent a great deal of time, or so she claims, pampering herself in front of the mirror. Along with a sumptuous lunch meal that she cooked at home - which consisted of Matar Pulao, Gravy and Raita - she also baked a simple Vanilla cake and distributed in the apartment. Then, she went to bring her son back from his coaching classes and on the way home, they both stopped by for a round of chocolate-dripping pastries at a bakery. She spent the rest of the early evening reading some magazines and attending calls. But the celebrations did not stop right there. Around 5.30pm, she went to her friend's place, who lives on a different floor in the same apartment and casually took her out for coffee at Cafe Coffee Day. After placing the orders, she announced to her friend with a bit of innocence and twinkle in her eye, that it was her birthday and that it was her treat!

Completely taken aback, her friend wished her a life full of happiness and joy in fewer words and many emotions; both teary-eyed, as they recalled while narrating the incident to me, came home in all smiles!

His was no less exciting so to say. He stayed up till late night following the first match of IPL-4 till the very last ball. He rejoiced at the fantastic win of the team led by MS, as also quickly caught up on the news flowing in about Crusade against Corruption led by Anna Hazare that has taken the country on its heels. He retired to bed, however, eagerly (and quite innocently I'd say) waiting for the first call of his day. With great joy, he picked my call at dot-12 and engaged in a witty-wise-and-funny conversation that is his forte. And when morning came, he was literally jumping about the home ecstatic at receiving his birthday present. His son was trying to show him the features of his new Nano iPod but he was simply overjoyed at the thought of listening to all his favourite NTR songs at the click of his thumb! He spent the next one hour learning how to use, loading music, checking all the new-age features - and well, the rest of the day, simply playing and re-playing his favourite musical pieces!

I guess birthdays are like that. It is that day of the year that suddenly brings to you joys unknown, from near and far, and fills your life with cheer and enthusiasm to take on another year. And more than this, it makes you a child again - allowing to enjoy yourself thoroughly and happily!

I say that with so much confidence because my parents did just that on their fiftieth birthdays this year! :)

of Love and Poetry

I spent my Saturday in leisure and love. I read some old poetry while munching on biscuits with tea during early afternoon. It felt quite English, frankly. And really good. Only that I was sitting in my room beside the window and not on some freshly mowed green lawn basking under the sun. Even if I did have the imagination then, my mother's incessant calls would have brought me back to my apartment environs anyway. So I was indulging myself completely today; it is rare that I find my weekends without activities to do and I was determined to make the most of it. 

My tryst with poetry began during my engineering first year. But it has been an on-and-off relationship since I started working. But I definitely like to enjoy large doses of poetry all at once. It fills me up with emotions galore, and I feel quite alive. 

I was reading some of Vikram Seth's works today and there are two poems that I felt I should share with you all. They are crisply written and capture a lot in just a few words.

First one:

Sit

Sit, drink your coffee here; your work can wait awhile.

You're twenty-six, and still have some of life ahead.

No need for wits; just talk vacuities, and I'll

Reciprocate in kind or laugh at you instead.

The world is too opaque, distressing and profound.

This twenty minutes' rendevous will make my day:

To sit here in the sun, with grackles all around,

Staring with beady eyes, and you two feet away.

Second:

Time Zones
I willed my love to dream of me last night, that we might lie
at peace, if not beneath a single sheet, under one sky.
I dreamed of her but she could not alas humour my will;
it stuck me suddenly that where she was was daylight still.

The second poem has a small story behind it. But the story is for some other post. As for now, I will put up a few lines that a dear friend thought as an appropriate response to the above lines:


We did dwell under the same sky; and while I dreamt with closed eyes,
She thought of me; in the cubicle, the mall and the kitchen, I surmise. 

3am Food

I return from work quite late these days. When I walk into my apartment, I usually find one florescent bulb glowing in the living room, to greet me into the silence. My early mornings and late nights have become a blur now. I spend a little time with my laptop after returning, browse the net, check emails, and lose myself into a deep slumber. 

But not all nights are as easy. And, 3am hunger is the hardest to get by. Last night, I experienced it as strongly as I can imagine for the first time. I walked in and out of the kitchen several times before finally deciding on what (all) I wanted to conjure up for myself at such an unGodly hour. 

My room-mate brought some yum-looking Mumbai's special chocolate doughnuts from Calcutta. Yes, that is possible to do. So, I picked out two from the box and heated them in the oven for the chocolate inside the doughnut to flow out like lava. I sat with them on my bed with a big grin and lost myself in the dripping chocolate that flowed from the doughnut into my mouth. It felt heavenly, for a few moments. But as I neared the end of my chocolate downing, I felt shamelessly hungrier. I went back to my kitchen and spent a great deal of time staring into my fridge. Then, I decided to have a green-and-red sandwich. I have heard it is not good manners to say yumm while having food, but yumm it turned out to be. And, so sumptuous was my 3am meal!

I thought I will share the recipe of green-and-red sandwich with you all. Simple as it is!

Recipe: (for one person)

One medium-sized tomato

One small capsicum

Amul butter

Chat Masala

Two slices of brown bread

Chop the tomato and capsicum into small pieces. Spread Amul butter on the toast; you could alternately use flavoured cheese spreads also. Sprinkle a layer of Chat Masala on one of the slices. Mix the tomato-capsicum pieces together and spread them on the other slice, spinkle some Chat Masala on these chopped vegetables. Put the slice on top and your sandwich is ready. 

This is the first time I am writing a recipe on my blog. Hope to share some more interesting ones in the future. And of course, this is the first time I prepared a full-course 3am meal for myself in the reverse order of desserts first and sandwich later,  and for the first time I felt good about bloating myself with guilty calories!

When was the last time you did something for the first time? 

Oh, that's a Lie!

I am addicted to Lie to Me, the serial on Star World. I started watching it last Sunday and I'm done with one and a half seasons now. It is intriguing, and in my opinion scientifically and logically quite sound. It is interesting to watch the chemistry among the team members and how well they study and ignore each other's faces, yet are able to put the same skill to test every time a case comes up. Dr. Cal Lightman's agility is awesome, and his restless behaviour keeps you on your toes too as you begin watching every episode. Of course, like with every sitcom you do begin to understand the patterns and are able to predict a bit around here and there, but the reason why this sitcom still keeps you interested (also given that there is no direct spotlight on sex, relationships, love and complications!), is that it simply circles around the most basic human instinct that each one of us has tried hard to conquer - Lying. Whether we like it or not, we all lie! At some point in time. It is different from not telling the truth, the whole truth as one of my friend suggests; but the fact of the matter is we all have told lies to someone - a white lie, an intentional lie, a blind lie, a naked lie etc. We have also felt remorse, guilt or even appreciative because of all those lies. Some we carried off well, some got caught, some were never believed. But, none of us have been able to conquer a lie as perfectly as Dr. Cal Lightman. And that's what is most intriguing about this character. He reasons scientifically about it, puts no super-natural powers as his defenders of the skill but it surprises me every time he catches a liar with a blink of an eye in the one-fifth of a second! Fiction at its best parallels with reality here. 

Try an episode or two, and you might just like it as much. For those who watch - my favourite is the Jenkins episode from season 1. Amazing twists in the tale! An absolute Lightman delight!

Talking of lies, I watched Jhootha Hi Sahi on Sunday. Although I don't write reviews here, I felt I should write about this one for two reasons. One, because I felt it was quite unnecessarily bashed by critics. Comparing it with Anjaana Anjaani is, frankly, too far fetched. Second, because JHS is delightful in places, and has a certain goodness and honesty about it. One should watch it for the spontaneity in Raghu, for the different types of proposals one can make, of course to the same girl, and simply for the imperfections in each of those characters. It is worth the laughter it infuses for those two and a half hours!

"While it might be hard, to say what's true,

 would you want a white lie be told to you?" :)

No Baggage to Check-in!

Tweaking the lyrics of a song by Norah Jones, I have:

"If I were a painter, 

 I'd paint my memory

 If that's the only way for you to be with me..."

She sings she would paint her reverie, instead of her memory. Well, it means the same, more or less! Of course, memory is more validated and there is an element of truth in them. That's why, for me, putting "memory" above  instead of "reverie" made more sense. Talking of memories, I always boast about my awesome ability to remember and recollect everything in excruciating detail. But sometimes, having such a fantastic memory overburdens my mind. My mum always asked me to discard old stuff, but I could never detach myself from those paper cuttings, greeting cards, red ribbons, pamphlets and flyers I had collected over time. I am not saying preserving such stuff is a bad thing. I am sure not. And I am also sure many of you do it. We all keep our notebooks, diaries, wrappers, stickers, comic books, junkies - stuff we were once close to and now preserve to keep that side of ours alive and intact. We, essentially, try to keep that memory alive within us by not discarding them. And given how constantly things change, it is not such a bad idea either!

But I was thinking about it this afternoon about how much I actually remember; believe me, my memories run like a reel of a film. Sequentially, colourful, sometimes not, and clear faces of the entire crew with all the dialogues in sync! I realised, it is a baggage that I have made a choice to carry with me. For those of you who watch How I Met Your Mother, season 5 episode 23 shows a clever sight gag about our emotional baggage by a physical representation (the scene of random people walking by gave some amusing and bizarre pieces of luggage, one carrying "Elvis is still alive" was particularly funny!). 

The other day, I met a colleague while on my way out of office in the evening. She was leaving for the day too, and we got into the same cab. After a while I noticed, she wasn't carrying any handbag, in fact not even a wallet. She had her cell phone, id card and some money in her pockets and she was sitting next to me, empty handed. Not able to contain my surprise, I asked her how come a girl is seen without a bag! That too now that the big colourful bags with huge buttons, laces and prints are in fashion. She casually shrugged at me and said, "no bag, no baggage". Ah, I thought, how convenient was that and literally, how free (saying liberated would sound too feminist I guess!) she looked! I got out of the cab before her and looked at my bag as I walked towards my apartment. Half the things in there I carry because I think I might need them... but, this was a reality check right in front of me. 

It is these small habits that slowly allow space for all that baggage we begin to carry for the rest of our lives. Carefully avoiding to be preachy here, but how lucky are those who are forgetful! They have more to look forward to than to look back at, from time to time. Again, I am not saying preserving memories is a bad thing - but don't you agree too much of sweetness spoils the sweets after all? Of course, it is all easier typing than doing. So, I decided to try out my colleague's technique and observe how difficult would one day be without my big handbag! Will post about my experience soon. Try, if you are curious too! 

P.S. I have updated my list of things-to-do when in Mumbai. Thank you all for adding to my list! :)

And here's that song by Norah Jones: PAINTER SONG