Landed in Bangalore in September. Got busy soon after that. Got a PG which by the way is like a prison now. High point after I arrived is that PC's parents were in town for the Puja. Unfortunately PC and his Mom fell ill during that time so we couldn't do a lot of things that we had planned to do. But we had a great time nonetheless. We had a puja at PC's place and an amazing meal, courtesy PC's mom. Yummy food!
I think I have actually stayed in Bangalore for a month and a half at the most! As soon as I had landed here I took off to Imphal and then to Dimapur. More of that later. I mean there are just so many things that you can write about Home. I was there for a month.
After that when I came back, within a week I had to go to New Delhi/Gurgaon for a friend's wedding. Winter weddings in the north are just so much fun. We were huddled up at the mundap sipping hot coffeewhile the wedding vows were being made. My girl friends and I had a great time! We had danced like the way we used to in College. We drove around in the middle of the night, actually it was early morning! It was just such a lovely time!
When I got back Su was in town for the weekend and you know what that means :) We explored Bangalore! It was so much fun! We went to the Bangalore Palace, the Lalbagh, ate at MTR which is near Lalbagh, we went to the Kala Madhyam exhibition which by the way was super awesome, we had ice cream at Corner house. It was just so much fun! I am putting some snaps here.
Bangalore palace
Lalbagh
Kala Madhyam Mela 2010
And well... I have finally got a job! And I will be going to Pune and Bombay to celebrate Christmas and New Years! I think at this point I am very happy! Not only do I have a job I get to spend the festive season with family! Yay! So yeah, the year end is turning out to be great! And who doesnt like happy endings!
I only wish I could have spent New Year's with PC :(
Its something haan.. I am here in Bangalore. One Week! Yes thats how long I have been here. From Pune to Bangalore. Last week just passed by. PC was around half of the week so I was quite comfortable and then i went to Mysore for a day. It was a good trip. Though I was quite tired as the schedule was too tight.
Finally got a Paying Guest Accomodation (PG). Okay so here I have to say, why are PGs like the way they are. I mean okay so people don't stay in PGs for more than a year but why do they make the rooms so shoddy! Plus its pretty expensive. The rooms barely fit a bed and a cupboard and if you have an attached bathroom then you are lucky! As of now I am not sharing my room with anyone.
Anywhoo, lets see how it goes.
Other than that enjoying the Bangalore weather. Its pretty cool and I enjoy the evenings mostly sipping on chai with PC. The people are nice and the food is good :D PC's roomie and I are on a mission to conquer the World with our Cooking. heh heh! I think more than anything else as of now I like the fact that the locality where I am staying is almost like the same locality I used to live in Pune.
Yes I do miss my friends and family in Pune. Of course its but natural.
Now I am looking forward to discovering Bangalore. I so look forward to travelling all around this place. The public transport seems pretty sorted out here so I am quite relieved. I mean after so many years of fighting with Autowallas in Pune its a relief to travel in buses where I know they won't charge me extra.
Will keep posting about my Bangalore experience from now on :)
Thanks PC for making the transition from Pune to Bangalore so easy!
You know sometime things just aren’t what they seem to be. Mom had this lipstick which was green in colour. It looked green and was green. It looked creamy and smelt delicious. I must have been around 10 or less when I first discovered it. Every time I would open the dressing table drawer and have a look at the lipstick just to see it! I used to stare at it and always wonder why mom would ever want to wear green on her lips. Fashion disaster! I sometimes giggled just imagining Mom with green lipstick. The thing is I never had the guts to touch it until much later. The case was also green, you know the kinds which are groovy and round and the green and white would merge like waves. Much to my surprise I found out later that the colour of the lipstick was not even green when you apply it, It was pink! So even though it was green and looked green it was actually Pink when you apply it!! It still amazes me.
A burden has been lifted from my shoulders. For the past few weeks my life has been a bit nightmarish by my standards. I was dealing with difficult roomies and a difficult boss. Everything was just up in the air and I felt that at some time everything will fall on me. Its a weird feeling. My Inner Circle was there by my side encouraging me, advising me and comforting me. Thanks guys!
During these times Su, my ex-colleague, ex-roomie and friend came to my rescue. Okay maybe that was not her intention and maybe she doesn't even realize it. She came to visit me at the exact time when I actually felt my life sucked more than ever. Work wasn't good either and she knew that better than anyone since she has seen me through it all. During the last week Su got back a part of me that I was slowly letting go of. The part of me which is always enthusiastic about going out, exploring, shopping, eating out, talking crazy, being impulsive.
So yeah thanks Su! and be rest assured even though u live almost 30 kms. from where I am you are going to see a lot of me :D
I don't get it. I really don't get it. I don't get the fact how people can be so weird/annoying/selfish (choose any)!
SO yes this post is a crib session again. I moved in this place about three months ago and I have just been so disturbed here. Really!
It had started with the super-spicy food. I showed my displeasure and the girls just said that they will change this. It used to be weird when Girl 2 used to cook for herself alone. But I ignored that. I thought well maybe she doesn't like my cooking. No biggie! Then when I went to visit PC a girl was there in my room suddenly. So yeah I ignored the fact that I was not even given a chance to meet the girl I had to share my room with. I thought well I shouldn't create a scene. Then this girl I share the room with, "The Stick", one day conveniently moved my stuff around the room, took out all my possessions and put it where she wanted to and also tore my books carton! I lost it that day. Had a big fight. I mean who takes your stuff and re-arranges it without even asking you! Now the other Girls think that the Stick is the victim and I am the evil one. Girl 1 keeps nagging the whole day. She is complaining the whole day about something or the other. Girl 1 thinks its her duty to complain and pass snide comments without ever doing anything even if its not useful herself. Girl 2 is in her own world. The house is not my home and everyday is leading to one more day of discomfort.
I don't know why all these things affect me so much. Maybe because I have never met such people in my whole entire life!! I need to start searching for a new place again because I feel I am not happy anymore and I feel so stressed!
It’s strange how we all move on. Some because they are caught in their high flying jobs, some just because they get married and have so many other roles to play and some because of physical distances while others just drift away. You can’t blame anyone for it. Circumstances change like the course of a river and we move on.
Today I remember the warm sunlight after the rain in Calcutta. The way the trees showed off its colours, shades of yellow and green. The water clogged in the streets. A warm feeling. I am reminded of the grey blue clouds and the eagles soaring high. Sitting in our jungle-like balcony sipping on hot tea and sometimes samosa along with it. Watching kids run to pick up the freshly fallen mangoes, some ripe and some just about. There would be streams of muddy water running to the drains.
It would rain in the late evenings sometimes. Late evening showers also meant cool breeze and a clear sky later. Smell of tea mixed with fried foods and chaat filled the air.
There are so many things about the rains in Calcutta. As I started writing this so many thoughts came to my mind that I had to stop to control my thoughts. I miss the rains of Calcutta as I knew I would.
I am so looking forward to this weekend. I am meeting PC after two and a half months! yay!
One thing is sure that I will get my hug :D
You know sometimes the distance doesn't matter and sometimes they do too much. We hardly see each other. So, when we meet it's always like the first time we met. Another thing is whenever we meet we want to do so many things and make every moment special. This can lead to loads of planning before we meet and finally we land up doing none of the things we planned or atleast very little of it! This time we might live through the day we "met" by going to the railway station and drinking a gazillion cups of chai. Of course it might not be the same but it's going to be fun I am sure.
Looking forward to an extremely enjoyable weekend :D
I need a hug. It was so easy to hug and get hugged in return. Not too good at PDAs I would smile and look expectantly at my sisters who would just give me a tight hug for no reason at all. In school and college friends hugged to rejoice and sometimes in pain. I never ran out of hugs. Feeling depressed? Just go lean over, and your family and friends would be more than happy to oblige. They would hug and make all the fear, insecurities, pain disappear or would fill my heart with so much warmth that I would feel its about to burst. I miss hugs that make me feel that everything is alright.
The other day I had gone for a surprise party organised for a friend and her husband on their wedding anniversary. Well, it was great. They were surprised and all was well. Anyway this post is not about them.
It so happened that I was having a conversation with this person in this party. We were not talking directly to one another but we were generally in a group where people talk random stuff. All of a sudden this guy asks me where am I from. I told him Imphal, Manipur. So what happened is that after that he goes on to tell me that he has a colleague who is also from Imphal. He gave me his name. I was blank. Then he said that the guy was very nice and simple. He also said that he was funny. That the guy was smart too. Finally with a very weird look in his face he says he loves pulling that guys leg. Well, so, here is the point where I lost the "oh I am so interested in what you are saying" facade. I asked him directly "And what has that got to do with me?" He gave me a dirty look. Of course he would. I sounded like a self centered person who was not the least bit polite!
So what I am trying to say is that many a times even I come across such situations when someone, not a friend mind you, tells me they are in So and So Place and I exclaim "oh, i know someone who is from So and So Place and we are such good friends". Instead of referring to the place we i.e. you and me, start talking about the person. Why do we do that? I mean who is interested to know about someone they dont really know and wouldn't bother finding out about. Okay, its a different matter if the person who is in the So and So Place turns out to be your long lost friend or someone you know/knew. I just dont understand why this happens! So ok, if I do remain polite what am I supposed to say afterwards "Oh its so great to know you know someone from So and So Place" or "Thank you. I am not alone" or "Where are you from?"
I just don't get it! And still when some random person I meet at some random place tells me about how they love to go out with that person from So and So Place I will smile and say "Thats nice".
I was popping a grape in my mouth last night when this sudden question came to my mind. Has anyone tried frying grapes? I mean what would happen if you just tossed a grape in oil? As one of my roommates was frying the onion, while I was standing next to her popping the grapes in my mouth I had this urge to just throw one in just to see how long would it be before the grape would dissolve or evaporate or do whatever it is supposed to do! Unfortunately I dont think my roommate would have appreciated that so I held on to my thoughts and actions. Just imagine going to a restaurant and ordering mango ki samzee or papeeta aur aloo or amrood ke tikke! Just imagine!
By now you know I wasnt too good in science and you definitely won't have food cooked by me. But well, for a long time I was up wondering how I would cook various types of fruits and finally gave up the idea. Not because I don't want to see what happens but because I knew no one at home would eat fried grapes and oh what a waste that would be then of a fruit I so enjoy eating!
This story is about a girl, Lata and how she found her soul mate, a boy named Kumar. Lata had been to a friend’s wedding in the month of April. Full of excitement she had gone to a place she never had been before. She just wanted to have some fun. Her life at that point of time was pretty much boring. Her heart was healing and her job sucked anyway and she was far away from home. And of course her friend was getting married! The wedding was good and she enjoyed roaming around the city. Then it was time to go.
He had been sitting at home on that Sunday wondering about life and his purpose. Kumar was enjoying his Sunday actually with some peace and quiet. And then his phone rang. An unfamiliar number.
Now Lata had a train to catch from a city around 3 hours from where she was so she and two of her friends departed early in the morning just in case. Lata was punctual and paranoid about missing the train. Even though her train was at 3 PM that day she didn’t mind sitting in the station for about 6 hours because they reached the station at 9 AM. Her friends finally coaxed her into some sight seeing and being a travel bug that she is, Lata couldn’t resist the offer. Little did Lata know that her friends had other plans as well. So they kept their luggage in the Cloak room and set out to explore a city the three of them had never been to! After a lot of asking, they were informed that there is a mall not far from the station. Hungry and a bit dirty and girls being girls they decided to head thataway. The girls reached and hurriedly went to the food court. While ordering food, Lata was told by her friends of their plans. Her friends had to leave to meet some other friends. So she thought what she would do sitting there for another 5 hours! Well talking on the phone with atleast three people would mean another hour or so could be passed. Shopping was not an option really. So she decided why not meet someone she knew. First she thought of calling a family friend. But then she didn’t feel like it. So Lata called her friend in Kolkata. A friend she knew would probably know someone whom she wouldn’t mind meeting. And she spoke to him. Told him she is in this city and then asked finally after some chit chat who is there here. He said well there is Kumar if you want to meet him. A smile came across her tired face and she asked for the number.
“Hello?”. “Hello” “Am I speaking to Kumar?” “Yes. Who is that”
With a mischievous grin she says “how are you? How are things going on?”
Confused. “Umm.. I am fine. May I know who is speaking?”
Still playing “Well I am in this city and was wondering whether we could meet”
“Umm.. I am Hyderabad as of now.. may I know who is this?”
A bit disappointed Lata says “don’t you remember me?” “Umm.. no.” “I am from your school. Your classmate sorta.” He still doesn’t get it. “Greisen?” “ Nope.” Kumar is trying hard to remember all the girls from his class.“The only chink in the entire class???” she enquires
“CHI!!” he exclaims as if a whole lot of memories just came flooding. “Ha ha! Yes it’s me”. Relieved he remembered her. “What are you doing here?” “Had come for a wedding and going back today so thought that I would meet you.” “when are you leaving?” “around 3 PM but you aren’t around right?”
“I am very much here. I just said that because I didn’t know who it was” And she thinks what has he done that he doesn’t want to tell people he is in town?? “so can you meet?” she asks. “where?” “in this mall” “mall??” cant we meet somewhere else” “well I don’t know any other place and the station is near.” “okay then I will be there in another hour. I have to take a bath and all”. “ok.” She smiles. “just tell me when you reach.” “See you then.”
Random thoughts playing in her mind. Its been so long yet she feels nice. It never hurt to meet someone you haven’t met or talked to for almost a decade. Wow! That long! Lata tells her friends her plans too. So they split in different directions in the mall. Its too early anyways so a lot of shops are just pulling up the shutters. Lata and one of her friends decide to go to one of the book stores. Lata is taking in the smell of all the books when her phone rings. It’s Kumar. “Umm. Hi. Cant we meet somewhere else? I don’t like hanging around in malls”. Lata feels maybe he doesn’t want to meet anyway. So she says “well. I don’t know any other place plus my friends are her.” Kumar is of course telling the truth. He hates going to malls. Crowds were never his thing. But he agrees and he wonders why. Maybe because its good to meet an old friend. A friend he spent hot afternoons and evenings in math tuition with. It would be good.
As Lata hangs up she is quite excited. Suddenly she also remembers how her best friend and she had bugged Kumar in school! “Is he coming to take revenge?? Naah. He was just too sweet. But somehow he had disappeared in the crowd as we grew.” She wondered why did he stop talking to them and moved away. She always liked him. Funny and intelligent, that’s how she remembered him.
As she was going through the books she thought of gifting him one. But what does he like? She then thought of a diary and a million things she could probably give him. After all it was almost ten years since they spoke or met and she wasn’t sure if she would ever meet him again. She had to give him something to remember her by.
As she was going through some things she heard a familiar “Chi?” and she turned around. There he was. They say that when you meet the One, birds start to sing and rainbows appear and everything becomes starry. Well, Lata didn’t see any of that! ha ha! But she smiled. A very big and genuine smile. And they exchanged polite hellos. Kumar hadn’t changed. He still was the same then why did Lata want to impress him. They go over to the Barista next door. They talk and he still makes her giggle. Lata can’t believe she hasn’t been in touch with him. Kumar is looking right at her when he speaks to her. Lata shifts her eyes. She is nervous. But why she thinks. And they laugh and talk loud. Kumar keeps telling her nice things. And she thinks he is just being polite. But that makes her giggle more! But soon its time to go. So they go to her friends and then shutterbug that Lata is she wants to take a photograph of this memory. Click and another click. Her friend smiles a knowing smile. Kumar asks Lata very unexpectedly whether he can see her off at the station. She is taken aback but says okay anyway however she refuses to go with him on his bike. They, her friends and Lata, reach the station and in a hurry take the luggage from the Cloak room. Kumar hasn’t reached and Lata wonders whether she will have to leave without saying goodbye. Brushing aside the unpleasant thought she checks in which platform her train will arrive. Well what do you know you can always rely on the India Railways to be late. So the train which was to be at 3 PM was now at around 6 PM. When she turned around Lata saw Kumar. It so happens he explains that in a hurry he had been caught by a traffic police and had to give some explanations as to why he was in a hurry. Funny, she thinks. So Kumar offers to stay with her till her train arrives much to Lata’s discomfort. She doesn’t like being a liability or stopping people from doing their thing. So she keeps asking him whether he has to go back or does he have any work. Kumar is not in a hurry.
So they sit on the stairs of the busy station while her friends catch a nap. They talk about what they really are doing and what they hope of doing. Amidst all the chaos and the confusion Lata and Kumar cant hear a thing except each other. At ease Lata tells Kumar of her life and what she has been doing so many years and then about what she wants. Kumar patiently listens, smiles, and he understands what she is saying! They have cups of tea. And then her friends call her and they decide to drink some tea again in a café in the station. So Lata’s two friends and Kumar go to drink some tea. She can hear them talking but somehow Lata cant listen. She is there yet not there. She takes a sip of the sweet milky tea. “Focus”, she tells herself and manages to say a thing or two. But whenever she looks at Kumar she is overcome with this strange feeling. Could it be? And she laughs and smiles. Then again her heart skips a beat and she wants to run her hands through his hair. What? That’s crazy! So she controls her feelings. Her friends go their way and she is left once again alone with Kumar. He cant tell whether her heart is racing or that she is as cool as she looks. So they wait for the train to arrive on the platform. Enjoying each others company and some silence in between. Her train arrives and he helps her keep her luggage. Before Lata can say anything, he just says good bye and leaves. He doesn’t even turn! As he disappears in the crowd Lata wonders whether she will ever see him again, the guy who made her want to stop the world and look at him.
Peace
Shaki
ps: Lata met Kumar and they have been together ever since
I have mastered Snakes! Crossed the 37th level on my mobile phone. At the end a message comes up which says "Your journey has ended" and that very few have made it this far. Heh heh! And for some vagues reason all the text and background which used to be blue has become red. Probably to signify something...
I have a sense of sadness because I was actually looking forward to some more. All that excitement about what lies ahead is washed out. There is nothing more. It's the end for Snakes on my mobile phone and a beginning for Lumines!
It's official. I am addicted to Snakes. Yes, that very game you get on the Nokia phones. Hate to admit it but I just don’t seem to get enough of it. I want to beat myself every-time. Myself because only I play that game on my phone. I tried. A lot. To not press that Menu button. But I want to know. I want to know what lies ahead. Okay, another thing is that this is not the old version. The vision is limited in this. There are certain paths you have to take in order to go to the next level. Delay in the usual energy collection, and you are gone Buddy! Cant wait for goodies here. And of course like all responsible drivers you can’t let the snake bang into a wall. No, that doesn’t help. You have to take swift turns and move slow and fast when required. Oh the excitement when you cross something you have been attempting for a long time. Its bad, this addiction. I play this game the whole day. Now, I could do something more productive, something more stimulating or maybe something which would make a difference in the World but nope I don’t. I’d rather play this game and feel jubilant every time I go to the next level.
Now that I think of it. I don’t know whether it is an addiction to play the game or win or am I just inquisitive to know what lies next.
Its raining once again. And oh it feels so gooo-hd! I am sitting here in my cubcile inside the office. I can hear the rain splash against the windows and the trees swaying to the rhythm of the raindrops. I can hear the growling clouds. And I can smell the bathed earth! Aaaaaah.. it feel SO good. I can't run out and feel the rain against my skin. I can't stick my hand out of the window. All I can do is contain this feeling inside me... this feeling that is about to burst from inside.
I inhale the smell of rain and it fills my veins with desires and dreams. Intoxicated.You would be.
So I have now moved into my new place. I am not yet done with unpacking. I have to sort things out. I have a lot of things that I have collected over the four years and I have no clue where to store it! Since I do not know the girls I am staying with from before I am still trying to figure out how things work around here. Right now everything is quite peaceful. I do my own thing during the time I am there that is mostly when I am not in office. I haven’t settled in completely and that has made me restless. I am irritable too. It’s the energy I tell you. I mean because everything is still a big mess I am unable to feel the peace yet.
I like the balcony. Though it faces a building and the people living above our floor can see it. Morning chai sitting on the window sill has been replaced by morning chai on the balcony floor. Its comforting sitting there listening to the pigeon cooing and the cool morning breeze brushing against me. I could have been okay without the pigeons though. The window in my room faces another building so I am still wondering whether it is okay to keep it open.
The television that is there right now is a small 14 inches walla. I have to strain my eyes to watch tv due to which I have almost stopped watching it too. However things will be better once I unpack my tv! My wonderful tv!
The bai is a very energetic lady. She charges into the house in the morning and wakes us up from our half awake states.
My plants are okay as of now. So I am happy.
I have been frequenting my old place as well to collect the last bit of whatever I had left at that place. But when I walk into the gates of the society I feel like an outsider, a visitor. Though a lot of the faces are familiar I feel disconnected. Hmm.. maybe I have moved on from there.
Time to move is coming nearer. Just a week left. I have not started packing! Though I am done with sorting a few things and giving a few things away to my bai. I just don't feel like moving. It has been almost 2 wonderful years in this house. Like my previous "homes" I had made it my haven, somewhere I chill and relax, play loud music, dance and sing. Yes I do that sometimes. Its my space. I love it in spite of the birds who try and make a nest in my pots. Because I am moving to a place that is already furnished, I will have to dispose of a lot of furniture given by Tamdi. But they are a part of that house too. A bit sad. So made a list of things I will miss.
Things I will miss:
- The breeze because it is on the 6th Floor. You have no idea how good that felt.
- Sitting on the window sill during monsoons and cool summer nights. Not privileged to have a balcony but I didnt complain... too much :)
- Looking at all my potted plants on the grill outside the window. They look so bright, green and pretty!
- Sitting after coming back from work on the comfortable sofa right in front of the TV. Just vegetating there.
- The way the sunlight seeped through the curtains and reflected on the walls.
- No one complaining of my singing along with the radio or putting it on in full volume as soon as I wake up!
- Looking at the clouds and the sky. Just sit on the window sill and look up. Its beautiful.
- Turn night and the moonlight comes right through. Sometimes at night it felt as though someone has switched on a tubelight outside the window.
- Lying on the bed you can see the sky. I love the beds which are basically on the floor and are 4 blocks of wood joined together.
- The way the light comes into the house it was good for photography. I love taking pictures :) most of the photographs here are taken at home.
- The red little lights which we put up every diwali. It just made the place look so festive!
- The kitchen. That is where I have experimented with food :) And its quite spacious. You can have five people standing there! Yes I know because we have done that!
- The reassuring sound of the fan in my bedroom. ha ha! had to add this one. It makes so much sound that you can hear it all the way on the other side of the phone
There are so many more things. So many memories and details. I will miss this place :(
But trying to stay positive and hoping that the next house also gives me the same sense of comfort if not so than more.
It’s been running through my mind for sometime now. A friend broke off with the guy she had been dating for the past one and a half year. She has all the right reasons to break off with him. But one of the reasons that got to me was that his lifestyle and his family’s lifestyle doesn’t match hers. This kind of got me thinking. It really did. And I remember once PC and I discussed it too.
Is Love also about the social strata? I mean I have seen in many “cases” that the boy is more well -to -do than the girl. Which makes sense in a way because since the girl is coming to a new place to live in, she would want the same comfort as she had before getting married, if not, then more. In case the guy is less fortunate than her or her family then there are little loopholes that are created. The girl feels the need to release or indulge which might not be permissible by the guy or his family. There is a feeling of resentment between the boy and the girl and it grows till eventually the whole “I Love You for who you are” becomes “I will love you more if you can buy/give...”. Then starts the fights and then ultimately the magic fades and two people are stuck in an unhappy marriage/relationship. Someone had once said “Love can’t fill your stomach”. Think about it, after all Cinderella was no princess.
So what happened to unconditional love? What happened to standing by each other no matter what, through thick and thin? Does Love depend on what you do, what you wear, where you live, how much you earn? There is this one line of a song by the Eagles which gets to me every time and that is “When we’re hungry, love will keep us alive”. Would I be disillusioned if I thought that Love was about Love and nothing else, no race, caste, sex, religion, status. Would I be a fool to think that Love conquers all?
This is the ice globe given to me by Tamdi :) I love it! Tried some stunts with the camera.
This is also a gentle reminder that my next trip will be to Paris!
