Err...is that really you??

Does internet offer the same opportunities to everyone in general, like Bigg Boss offers to its contestants? Does it give you the chance to live the identity that you always craved for? Does allowing you to put yourself up on a public platform and creating an image that is unbeknownst to a lot of people, ultimately not lead you towards an identity crisis? 

These questions have been playing in my mind since a long time, and once and for all, I want to get them out of my system. Why has internet become such an inseparable part of our lives is beyond at times. I've gone on long hiatuses, as my readers know, and although I did miss the interaction and sharing of ideas, it wasn't like my life came to a standstill. 

There were many things I wanted to write about which might remain unsaid, there might be many posts written by our wonderful bloggers that I might've liked to read but missed (which I can always go back to by the way!), there might be experiences with A Jr that would stay in my memory and camera forever but which never made it here, and so on.

There are things about me that even my friends never knew before and which they do now, thanks to my blog and FB. They didn't know that I could write and that I was interested in poetry. Although its amusing when I tell them that its a hobby I've been harbouring for ages, its a little sad that my 'little secret' is out. No one forced me to do that though, isn't it? Then do I have the right to complain? I don't know.

Most people from my childhood would remember me as reticent and an introvert. I was a very nervous kid and unfamiliarity with anything would freak me out. I had very few close friends and wasn't open even with them. I'd find disagreeing with anyone insulting to them and often ended up doing stuff I never wanted to. I think you get the picture, if only a vague one.

Now its me here, the same person. Discussing love, life and A Jr, without the slightest hesitation, even when I know many of my readers personally. I find myself updating status messages on FB, sometimes out of boredom and sometimes out of compulsion (like many many others, mind you!). I have something to comment now, a practice I strictly reserved to myself earlier. In other words, I've come out of my shell and how.

Having said that,I have to agree that in person there hasn't been a very drastic change in me now, though I'm not as docile as I was before. I have a strong opinion and have the courage to stand by it. I'm more 'out there' now, even though I'm never comfortable in a crowd. There's an improvement, but its when I'm online that I become more vocal.

We form an opinion about people from what we see and read about them, but its genuineness can never be gauged correctly. We might make countless friends here, but wouldn't know what they're made of unless we see them in person. Wouldn't it be like some sort of alternate personality then?

Coming back to my questions in the start of this post, I guess everyone would have his/her own take on it. Would love to know what you feel. 

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! :)

Love Romance and Us

I’ve always felt that love and romance is an exaggerated and baffled concept. Exaggerated by people who seek to earn some revenue out of it, and baffled by people like us who fall into the trap. How significant it is in our lives and how imperative it is for a relationship is for an individual to understand and decide.

All of us have countless dreams from our teenage (which are highly fueled by some whirlwind romance from Mills & Boons, some highly melodramatic romantic movie where the hero woos his darling with this ardent love for her, and sometimes even by some love story of a friend or a classmate that we’ve had a firsthand account of) and expect that someday our knight in shining armour would come and take us to his paradise of undiluted and undying love.

If the reality is a stark contrast to this, we end up sulking and lamenting. There have been many instances when I’ve heard some or the other person, especially a girl, crib about how unromantic her other half is. He doesn’t bring her flowers, doesn’t take her for candle-light dinners, doesn’t sing romantic songs for her, and on and on. As if they are a proof that he doesn’t love her. Sigh! :(

I know all these things sound very mushy and indeed would make any girl go weak in her knees, but are these things really all that important? And if they are and he doesn’t do it, does she take the pain of letting him know that she’d like him to do all of them for her? I guess not! I’m not trying to advocate the opposite sex here, but making a relevant point. If the other one doesn’t know what you want, there’s nothing wrong in letting him know that. After all it’s you who’s going to reap the benefits of it, right? :D

We try to find love in cards, gifts and physical things, when it can be felt and conveyed best through the simplest things…eyes…a smile…small gestures like selecting each other’s clothes for a party…so on and so forth. If one tries to compare these things with some expensive piece of diamond jewellery, then it is wrong and unfair. One gets bored with these things very easily, but emotional bonding is what stays with you forever.

The best example for unfrilled love can be our parents. We’ve probably never seen them expressing their feelings for each other freely, but it is palpable. They can read each other’s minds and almost always predict flawlessly as to what the other one is up to. They have such a strong bond that they can silently convey their feelings to each other, by just a look or a gesture. This, I feel, is romance at its best, isn’t it?

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!! :) :)

Happiness per se

Here's one simple question that I'd like to put to my blogger friends. What would make you happier?

1. Your tiny but honest gesture that made someone else happy while you faded from the picture  

2. Something that you did despairingly, but which fetched you recognition and adulation
  

Please do justify your choice :)

The Hi-Five Tag!

This tag has been created by yours truly and the questions are all impulsive. I know my friends will have a great time answering them. All the while they'll remember me (if only to curse me) and will endlessly scratch their heads, which is exactly what I want!

It is simple. Answer the following five questions and kindly update it in my comments section once you're done so I can see them. You have to tag 5 more people.

5 pathetically horrible movies you’ve seen
1.Saawariya(Everyone has to agree with this!)
2.Prem (Yeah! I saw this one!)
3.300 (Blood and only blood everywhere...felt like puking)
4.Ramsay brothers' horror movies (As a kid they scared me but now I find them rather foolish)
5.The whole Scary Movie series (Very vulgar and utterly disgusting spoofs on some good movies!)
 

5 accessories you can create out of food 

1.Rings made out of round-cut green chillies with cloves used as diamonds
2.Bracelets made out of noodles and held together by colourful bell peppers cut in julianne
3.Spring onions used as flowers and spinach as leaves in hair
4.Any type of berries used as a solitaire
5.An ensemble of fruits made up into a hat

5 places where you won’t be seen dead at 
1.Any of the Chowpatty's in Mumbai...I have zero tolerance for the stink, dirt and shopwallahs there :(
2.Having my own Swayamvar on TV! (even if I wasn't married!) :P
3.Any Himesh Reshammiya concert...even if I was paid to see it!
4.Singing or dancing on any public platform!
5.Unisex salons (The idea never settles in, just don't know why!)

5 people you’d love to hit, anytime, anywhere
1.My brother ( Its like an instinct) :)
2.My old friends (They're pretty much used to be hit by me :))
3.Our laundry boy ( Just when we're ready to hit the bed he presses our doorbell, many times!!)
4.Our nosy neighbour who thinks her misbehaving kids are very adorable and belongs to the 'know-it-all' category
5.Receptionists/nurses in clinics (they're all made from the same dough,khadoos and very rude)

5 things you’d do to scare anybody
1.Keep giving someone missed calls. When that person calls up don't pick up the phone. Once the initial irritation subsides he's sure to get scared :)
2.Tell my friend who borrowed my bike that it has no brakes, just after he's picked up speed :P
3.Bang something on the floor or burst a balloon when everyone's watching something 'serious' on TV ;)
4.Minutes before your exam is scheduled to begin tell an already nervous friend that there's been some last minute change and instead of X you now have Y paper (Ouch!)
5.(I did this one and my Mom was just one step short of slapping me!) Hide under the sofa around bed time and make everyone look around for you.

I tag Nu, G, Comfy, T and Reflections!!

Go have fun! :D

The Pain of Perfection

Have you ever come across one of those seemingly perfect people who like to show that they ‘know it all’? You talk about anything under the sun and pat will come the reply, ‘Oh that, ya I’ve seen that long ago’ or ‘Oh you don’t know it, I know it like the back of my hand’ and blah blah blah!!

What makes me wonder is that whether these people are really as smart as they like to pretend or are they are shallow and don’t know a thing of what they say. I mean, it’s not impossible to be well-versed and well-informed, but can one person be a ‘master of all trades’? I doubt that…

I’ve had the misfortune of running into umpteen such people and I insist, talking to or handling such people is tougher than finding water in a desert. These people are surrounded by an impregnable wall of their huge egos and they just won’t take any of your well-meant advice or suggestion. What a pity!

I’m no student of psychology but I do know that every individual has some unique character traits and there can be no argument about their ‘rightness’ or ‘wrongness’. Can we question why mangoes are sweet and lemons are sour? No! They are meant to be that way, how else would the balance of nature be maintained?

There’s a huge difference between them and humans though. You can choose not eating mangoes if you don’t like sweet and ignore the lemon if you don’t like sour. But people cannot be put away like this! Even if a person is nothing but a pain to you, you have to adjust with him, bear him.

Such characters are found everywhere; he can be your colleague who boasts of some lame undeserved and unrewarding expertise to impress your seniors, your relative who’s not achieved anything on his own but was blessed with some ancestral fortune and thinks he’s seen it all, your friend who took tuitions from you until some time back and now advises you on how naïve you are….the list never ends!

My patience wears out sometimes in such cases and to shield myself from the constant bombardment of their unwelcome ‘knowledge’ I have to limitlessly stretch all my tolerance limits. The irritation after it although, refuses to go easily.

What do you do when faced with a similar situation?