Clutter or fond memories? You decide...

Out of the many things that are constant inspirations for the unabated cute squabbles between me and A, one is my habit to collect souvenirs. Ranging from gifts, cards, soft toys to college files, registers and even a project floppy of one of my dearest friends, I've carefully collected and preserved these personalised items that are inevitable reminders of my near and dear ones and the wonderful time I've spent with them.

A calls all this useless clutter, more appropriately a piece of junk that crowds an already crammed space that is typical to a Mumbai household like ours. It is only the prospect of seeing the very scary side of me that has encouraged him to retain all my gifts and cards till now, else they'd have somehow found their way out of my home. 

All this talk on old memories attached with such stuff has not come suddenly.There was something special that made me write about this right now. Back in school I had a pocket Oxford dictionary which I always referred to in case of any vocab related emergency, as is the case with any teenager who doesn't want to make any embarrassing mistake. It was my constant companion and I carried it in my school bag everyday. I used it regularly and it sat on my desk comfortably along with my course books. I had scribbled my name over its first page quite hastily, but two of my friends, both with a very beautiful handwriting insisted that they use all their calligraphic skills and tag it themselves, which they did.

To cut a long story short, I'd blindly packed it with all my other stuff when I came to Mumbai and had not sighted it till some time ago. I was cleaning up some drawers when I suddenly spotted it lying amidst a bunch of books. Time has taken its toll over it (also probably while being moved around by helpers), the pages are coming off in bits and pieces, the spine is separated and a brief handling by A Jr has ensured tearing away parts of it. However, miraculously still in place is the first page along with my name written on it, beautifully, by two of my dearest friends. The moment brought back memories from the past and left me smiling away to myself, all day. The fact that its in a battered state didn't even cross my mind. Useless clutter? I don't think so! :)

Wish I could make A realise that no matter now big or small, what matters is the emotion of the person behind giving you something. It is not something that can be measured in material terms. Some things might appear useless, but can still mean a lot to someone.Isn't it?

By the way this happens to be my 74th post. I'm glad I've reached this landmark and can't express enough gratitude to all my readers and blog friends who motivate me to keep writing. The next one might take long, but I hope to make it special. :)

P.S : I think I'd let you know that one of my friends who wrote my name on that dictionary was none other than our very own Nu! :)

And the Golden Award goes to...

Remember the time when you bought a dress you had second thoughts about and which garnered the most compliments for you? Remember that activity course you took only following your friend’s footsteps and insistence but which seemed like it was made for you? Remember the last time you had an undercurrent of myriad intense feelings inside you but it was all left unspoken because you couldn’t bring yourself to voice it freely?

These and many more such instances made me resort to this Blogosphere. I like to call it as a virtual notice board where we can simply scribble whatever we feel like, it always works. There were many things I wanted to share, express and convey, but there was nowhere I could vent out all that. As someone who seldom speaks out her mind openly and has been leading a domestic existence for a considerable time, this was a welcome release.

Amongst the many other lucrative facets of blogging, one is the freedom of expression it offers you. There are no prejudices and you needn’t worry about being judged or misconstrued by anyone. Even if they do, it’s not your problem! It is your space and you can paste whatever you please on it.

Guess you must be thinking why I’m ranting so much on blogging suddenly. Giving away the news a bit late, but this happens to be my 50th post! It’s a huge achievement for me, since I wasn’t too keen about it when I started out. Slowly as I started reading other blogs and receiving more readers and feedback on my own, I felt inspired and appreciated, and that helped me come this far.

To celebrate the Golden Anniversary of my blog and as a token of gratitude to all the nice people who visit my blog, comment on it and follow it I’m giving away awards today. Thank you guys…you’re superb!!! Hope the same rapport extends and grows in future.

This goes out to all those lovely pictures we get to see by:

Nu

Titaxy

Comfy

G

Reflections

D 

Preeti

This goes out to the blogs that sometimes provide us with strange stuff, but which is thoroughly enjoyable:

Nu

G

Addy

The Analyst

Vinay

Chatterbox

This is for the blogs that talk about issues and life, and which definitely make us sit up and take notice of things in and around us:

Nu
Titaxy

Mihir

Deven

Rohini

Zephyr 

Preeti

Psych Babbler

Hmmm...this one goes to all those Moms out there (can I award myself??) who provide us with the cute and bubbly activities of their sweet kids. I don't know very well about all, but the ones I know are:

Comfy

Zephyr

Reflections

Preeti 
Rohini

(Who all can I add here??)

All the girls...this is for you!!!

Nu

Titaxy

G

Comfy

Rohini

Chandrika

Swaram

Psych Babbler

Reflections

Preeti 
Chatterbox
Zephyr
D

And finally...this is for all the people mentioned above. For being my 'Blogger Friends' and giving me your valuable comments and feedback!!!

Hope you all liked them!! :) :)

Seven Random Things

Everyone seems to be bitten by the 'tag' virus! Before you attempt finishing one, another one is ready to pounce upon you. The Analyst and Comfy had tagged me to write seven random things about myself. I'm a very boring person and scratched my head a lot to try and make this an interesting read, but alas! I warn you that you might sleep by the time I'm finished, so read at your own risk! :P

Here goes:

1. I had my first crush when I was in Std V. He was a very cute South-Indian boy in Std VI.I met him when we sat together during our exams. He was very nice to me and was also very good at drawing. Soon after that he left our school and I never got to see him again, but the memory remains :) (and I still have a soft corner for dark South-Indian guys :P)

2. I'm a somniloquist (sleep-talker) and sometimes I'm voluble enough to disturb the person sleeping next to me. My parents, my room-mates and now A; all of them can vouch for this. They’ve been scared out of their wits by me, some or the other time.

3. I have a fetish for hands (in guys!). More often than not you'll find me checking out or admiring a boy's hands more than I'd care to look at his face. It might sound abnormal, but that's me! :P

4. I'm a constant worrier. Call it a manufacturing defect. You'll find me exasperated and deflated trying to fix something or find something which might not be of any real importance. Everything needs to be in place. And the moment something goes out of hand, I get worked up.

5. I seem to have a knack of getting right any recipe that I try and am good at inventing few of my own too. My unseen and unheard of combinations and concoctions turn out fabulously, almost always. And luckily for me, A doesn’t mind being the guinea pig for them. In fact he pushes me to try something new, everytime.

6. Whenever I listen to my favourite song I cannot help but hum or sing along, depending on where I am. I tend to remember the lyrics impeccably even if I haven’t heard the song in years. And yes, I hate it when people mix up or add their own imaginative words to them.

7. I hate putting on make-up. I often find myself marveling at the patience, persistence and will of girls who can spend hours in front of the mirror painting their faces everyday. I don’t mind jazzing it up for some occasion, but on a regular day, kajal and a brown or maroon shaded lipstick is all I need.

Hah! Over and out with it! Seven more people who need to endure this torture after me (this is heartening) :  Nu, Chandrika, Rohini, zephyr, Chatterbox, Mihir, Deven

Enjoy!! :)

Positivity with a twist

We’ve heard, seen and read about people who have certain positivity about them. Being with or around them makes us feel immensely blessed and comforted. It seems like they have a bag full of happy sand which they sprinkle on everyone who comes across them. We would never imagine such people in the role of a heart-breaker or someone who’d hurt us on purpose, would we?

I did come across one such person. I was in college then, and the person in question here, J, was one of my closest friend’s love interest (refraining using boyfriend since she hated him being called that). He was a happy-go-lucky person and due to his affable and easy-going nature he soon became an integral part of our close-knit group. All of us grew very fond of him, instantly. I’d warned him to make sure he meets me every day ‘se just being with him made me feel immensely pleased about myself.

My friend loved this guy to the core and used to day-dream about their future married life. They were from completely different cultures but she was more than happy to embrace his life and family. Life couldn’t have been more rewarding and we were all very happy for her.

Destiny had different plans, alas! Even in our wildest dreams we could never have imagined what followed. This person, who we thought as God-sent in her life, broke to her one fine day that what had seemed fun at first had become achingly serious and he wasn’t ready to take the plunge yet. Wooing her and pleasing her were amusing, but after getting her he was bored.

She tried convincing him that she was in no hurry to get married and he can think this through, again. But he was adamant. All her wails fell on deaf ears and he walked out of her life, as easily as he’d walked into it.

He might be the most positive person in the world, but what he did hardly seems pardonable. What can he be called then, a positive person with a confused state of positivity?