Its official...I have put on back whatever weight I had lost, in just 2 weeks of lapsed time.
Nevertheless, the confidence in my looks that I had gotten for the first time, thanks largely to an excellent portrait photo by a friend in law, hasnt waned yet.
Today I had the good fortune to have yet another passably good portrait photo of me taken when I was least expecting it. I was just in my friends' to pick them up on our way to Valabha Ganapati Temple when I walked in on a full-fledged photoshoot and they were kind enough to include me in the last 3 shots. Although, I have firmly become the mayor of AuntyLand, I saw bits of my mother in my photos today and that made me happier about my appearance than I can remember being. She is a handsome woman. If I had more of her in me, I'd be very sought after!
Anyway, one more official news - I like how I look.
May not be earthshaking to most, but its quite significant that one should feel good about themselves. Even most transitory and materialistic parameter like how you look matters to your self image. Your self image in turn matters to your attitude, personality, confidence, how you present yourself to others and ultimately how others will see you. No new findings here, just that I am able to actually accept the stuff I have been just reading about for so long.
Now that I have moved to the pro-marriage camp (not that I was expressly against it at any time, just that I didnt want me married) its quite important that the looks factor and all the psychological issues behind it are sorted out ASAP (hate that word still, yes). I have been asked to make peace with the fact that potential grooms have only my grainy pictures to make up their minds for the first level of showing 'interest' (provided the horoscope, profile, age, vital statistics .etc. are all matching...which is a blooming miracle of probability).
Even if not with the intention of making me more nubile, I hope to atleast convert the new joy of me into wearing uncreased clothes to work and brushing my hair when I go out.
A Model Me,
Rain
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
A Holi day!
It probably wouldn't be very far fetched if I were to state that I practically live in India. The demography of the locality of my residence is such that humans of other races are a rarity. I guess there are more firangs in some part of Bangalore [say] than this place!
Today dawned like any other saturday [and here I stop about my rising habits] and my wonderful friends decided at 2 that we are leaving at 3 to go to the New York International Auto Show [how typical really...Men!]. Then at 3.20, I was still at my house looking for something to hold up my recently loose pants [by way of my circumference reducing....Thanks to hectic project!] and made a frantic call to my girl pal who was also coming to ask if I can borrow hers when she informed me that there are people in the corridor waiting to ambush any desi that crosses the vicinity and that she was lulled into opening up the door by one of the guys in our gang [or "The Family" as its being called now on account of the supposed pairings that are rumored to exist]. Next thing she knew, she was colored bright pink by 10 strangers and one grinning turncoat, who she assumed was there to get her since we are going out.
Having listened to this moving story of triumph of human spirit ['Yaam petra sugam, peruga iv vaiyagam' - Let the joy I got be propagated to the rest of the universe], I still reiterated the importance of holding up of my pants for the rest of the day and she agreed to come over.
As I opened the door for her, she told me that "the people" were "attacking" the apt of the guys.
Naturally, I had to look in that direction! [As if anyone could have ever not looked]
Unsurprisingly, I was immediately spotted by the Holi Gang for the crime of still sporting my skin color and they made a turn to my house.
I pulled my friend in with my lightening quick, superhero reflexes and turned the lock of the door with almost suave yet rapid moves before the fastest of the predatory gang could even bring a toe into my threshold. Then I proceeded to calmly announce to the guests of my roommate about the dangers lurking outside, jerking them off from the comfortable states of relaxation that they were indulging in, in our living room. Meanwhile, outside there was a curious silence after some rapid shuffling of footsteps and I posed the question of whether anyone was outside [to no one in particular]...pat came a reply of my other friend from the other side of the firmly locked door [one of the guys who was 'attacked']
"They are here", he said [Poltergeist theme music plays].
Immediately there were thundering knocks that broke the spell of uneasy silence which had settled by then. Indistinct cries were heard which I assumed were encouraging me to open the door and introduce some color into my house and my rather terrified guests. I yelled to my unseen door knockers and asked them to not proceed with their plans as I had guests; an attempt which even I knew was nothing more than a grand gesture [Like when Moses marched up to a mighty Pharaoh and said - Let my people GO!...except, not as great as that]
Then, at that very nick between consecutive subdivisions of time, I knew what needed to be done. I marched out and firmly locked the door behind me. My state of readiness to go out be damned!
"Happy Holi" I said to the lively enthusiastic group of my countrymen [and I include women here] and they greeted me with a non-uniform and out of sync version of the same celebratory wish and proceed to turn me green and yellow. They were also kind enough to have me partake the Holi sweets and made my day even more wonderful!
Happy Holi, all...Spring is Welcome regardless of the name of the actual festival.
Go out and hug your neighbour, develop that feeling of community and make someone's day!
cannot take an Indian out of India ;)
Rain
Today dawned like any other saturday [and here I stop about my rising habits] and my wonderful friends decided at 2 that we are leaving at 3 to go to the New York International Auto Show [how typical really...Men!]. Then at 3.20, I was still at my house looking for something to hold up my recently loose pants [by way of my circumference reducing....Thanks to hectic project!] and made a frantic call to my girl pal who was also coming to ask if I can borrow hers when she informed me that there are people in the corridor waiting to ambush any desi that crosses the vicinity and that she was lulled into opening up the door by one of the guys in our gang [or "The Family" as its being called now on account of the supposed pairings that are rumored to exist]. Next thing she knew, she was colored bright pink by 10 strangers and one grinning turncoat, who she assumed was there to get her since we are going out.
Having listened to this moving story of triumph of human spirit ['Yaam petra sugam, peruga iv vaiyagam' - Let the joy I got be propagated to the rest of the universe], I still reiterated the importance of holding up of my pants for the rest of the day and she agreed to come over.
As I opened the door for her, she told me that "the people" were "attacking" the apt of the guys.
Naturally, I had to look in that direction! [As if anyone could have ever not looked]
Unsurprisingly, I was immediately spotted by the Holi Gang for the crime of still sporting my skin color and they made a turn to my house.
I pulled my friend in with my lightening quick, superhero reflexes and turned the lock of the door with almost suave yet rapid moves before the fastest of the predatory gang could even bring a toe into my threshold. Then I proceeded to calmly announce to the guests of my roommate about the dangers lurking outside, jerking them off from the comfortable states of relaxation that they were indulging in, in our living room. Meanwhile, outside there was a curious silence after some rapid shuffling of footsteps and I posed the question of whether anyone was outside [to no one in particular]...pat came a reply of my other friend from the other side of the firmly locked door [one of the guys who was 'attacked']
"They are here", he said [Poltergeist theme music plays].
Immediately there were thundering knocks that broke the spell of uneasy silence which had settled by then. Indistinct cries were heard which I assumed were encouraging me to open the door and introduce some color into my house and my rather terrified guests. I yelled to my unseen door knockers and asked them to not proceed with their plans as I had guests; an attempt which even I knew was nothing more than a grand gesture [Like when Moses marched up to a mighty Pharaoh and said - Let my people GO!...except, not as great as that]
Then, at that very nick between consecutive subdivisions of time, I knew what needed to be done. I marched out and firmly locked the door behind me. My state of readiness to go out be damned!
"Happy Holi" I said to the lively enthusiastic group of my countrymen [and I include women here] and they greeted me with a non-uniform and out of sync version of the same celebratory wish and proceed to turn me green and yellow. They were also kind enough to have me partake the Holi sweets and made my day even more wonderful!
Happy Holi, all...Spring is Welcome regardless of the name of the actual festival.
Go out and hug your neighbour, develop that feeling of community and make someone's day!
cannot take an Indian out of India ;)
Rain
Monday, March 17, 2008
Jaggery fusion & character search
Worked this weekend. Made Kozhukattais.
First batch came out well, second batch came fused and melted out of shape. My reviewers give it high rating for taste...I still think they are just being nice.
My office Bimbo status has spread into my social life with my rapid blinking at the midnight-early morning card marathon on sunday featuring me at my worst, slowest, uncomprehending version. The rest of the assembly had a good time ragging me for my alleged search for a 'junk character'...they intercepted a 3 AM call from my offshore and chose bits from my side of the conversation to concoct some racy story bearing no semblance to my sub par life.
Havent shot pool in a while and think that my amateur status may have undergone further demotion to novice yet again. As such, when anyone says 'ball in hand' everyone surreptitiously steals glances at me.
Someone, I greatly admire responded to my birthday wishes for him and asked if I read anything interesting lately. [Hollow mirthless laugh]
Migrations almost everyday and UAT client meetings at noon. My application stubbornly refuses to get any better and my boss isnt the 'cup half full' kinda guy so all around there is raining in the parade.[not a good rain]
Winds of change are blowing this way...nothing will remain the same again.
Change-resistant,
Rain
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Keys to organization
As a part of the training team headed by a tremendous spirit, I pretty much contribute nothing to the content of the sessions taken by him. He is a really highly placed executive with awesome energy and enthusiasm and its really inspiring to see how he works.
His last session was on "Organization". As part of the training team which supposedly compiles the content for the session, [100% the efforts of Big Boss all by his very brilliant lonesome], I get previews to the ppts and things he mentioned there struck a vein.
Read somewhere that if you can, at any point of time be able to locate as many of the following articles belonging to you without having to search for it, then it means you are not as hopelessly indisciplined as you would imagine [because, after all we always think the worst of ourselves]-
Your wallet, Your keys, Your office Ids, Your mobile phone[its charger], Your commute cards/change.
Me and Keys have "no love lost" relationship. This means that they have no love for me since I lose them a lot. Same goes with the rest of the articles above, but being stranded without house keys is a very poignant situation and I wonder why there were no major tragedies written on the subject. What is more utterly horrifying than sudden homelessness?
When I was living in my previous location in the States [part of my new drive to not reveal much...lets see how long that lasts] I locked myself and my roommate out, twice. Both times we were happy at Aafi's house and slept over to get the keys next morning [excuse to go late to office and wake up at 9 AM]. The one time that I left my house keys at office and came home to pick up a critical document that would lead to my getting repaid a significant amount, in my new place of residence, I had my friend come home early and went over to his house until my roommates arrived.
The fiscal loss however was a major motivation for me to keep my keys safe and I have had them since.
Today was entirely a different matter. I was in the audience section for this and a couple of nice girls are locked out. Dont worry for them because there is a whole gang of boys out to help them [as expected in any classic damsels in distress situations] and of course, there is always me [saving the world before bed time]
Not the time to gloat in what Roop calls "Relative Feel-Badness" but at least to note that Organized people are a minority and probably an endangered species. The movie "Idiocracy" expresses this not so secret message that we [Homo Sapien Sapiens] are evolving into morons.. The point of organization or remembering where you left your keys becomes moot if you are a drooling simpleton [my attempt at "Reframing a situation" :P]
Keying in,
Rain
His last session was on "Organization". As part of the training team which supposedly compiles the content for the session, [100% the efforts of Big Boss all by his very brilliant lonesome], I get previews to the ppts and things he mentioned there struck a vein.
Read somewhere that if you can, at any point of time be able to locate as many of the following articles belonging to you without having to search for it, then it means you are not as hopelessly indisciplined as you would imagine [because, after all we always think the worst of ourselves]-
Your wallet, Your keys, Your office Ids, Your mobile phone[its charger], Your commute cards/change.
Me and Keys have "no love lost" relationship. This means that they have no love for me since I lose them a lot. Same goes with the rest of the articles above, but being stranded without house keys is a very poignant situation and I wonder why there were no major tragedies written on the subject. What is more utterly horrifying than sudden homelessness?
When I was living in my previous location in the States [part of my new drive to not reveal much...lets see how long that lasts] I locked myself and my roommate out, twice. Both times we were happy at Aafi's house and slept over to get the keys next morning [excuse to go late to office and wake up at 9 AM]. The one time that I left my house keys at office and came home to pick up a critical document that would lead to my getting repaid a significant amount, in my new place of residence, I had my friend come home early and went over to his house until my roommates arrived.
The fiscal loss however was a major motivation for me to keep my keys safe and I have had them since.
Today was entirely a different matter. I was in the audience section for this and a couple of nice girls are locked out. Dont worry for them because there is a whole gang of boys out to help them [as expected in any classic damsels in distress situations] and of course, there is always me [saving the world before bed time]
Not the time to gloat in what Roop calls "Relative Feel-Badness" but at least to note that Organized people are a minority and probably an endangered species. The movie "Idiocracy" expresses this not so secret message that we [Homo Sapien Sapiens] are evolving into morons.. The point of organization or remembering where you left your keys becomes moot if you are a drooling simpleton [my attempt at "Reframing a situation" :P]
Keying in,
Rain
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Insecti-Lore
My baby steps to directing a romantic comedy were thwarted by the cruel fates tonight.
There I was minding my own business when some lady on the street thrust 2 small boxes on my hand and very affably said - "Bizarre Foods at 10". I didnt think I could argue with that, so I left.
On my way to office I realized what had been given...1 box of sour cream and onion flavored crickets and another box of bacon and cheese flavored crickets.
Back in Office when we were wrapping up (for the night...its been quite long since I've seen evening) I took a video of A friend of mine eating one of the legs. "Its crunchy", she exclaimed.
Hence started my pet project to film as many open minded non-vegetarians as possible.
There is a very sad couple of friends/co-workers, where I live, who in the confines of our collective imagination, are crazy about each other. There was a loose plan to make a love story involving the Hero impressing the Heroine by munching the crickets and then she looking at him with dewey eyes and gasping- "You love me. You really love me!"
The friend who I initially filmed assured me that the guy was really cool and he wouldnt hesitate about eating the insects. The girl in the question (one who is being teased) also decided to be a good sport and was okay with giving the insect to the guy. Unfortunately, the premised to bring the person over to the house itself was very contrived and the guy brought in reinforcements [unexpected villian, throwing monkey wrench into the works] with him in alarm.
As a result, the giving the insect in hand became hiding insect in cake. Those mutinous dead insects didnt remain in hiding and the whole thing flopped. But all around the sportive folks partook the morsels [ate the crickets] but I didnt take videos in honor of their broadminds.
One important lesson:
Sneaky practical jokes are not my thing. I should have nothing to do with them now, just like I have had nothing to do with them for all of my life so far. Apparently , orchestrating one is very hard work and great planning. If I wanted to think so much, I would live in my office.
Chastened and sorry,
Rain
There I was minding my own business when some lady on the street thrust 2 small boxes on my hand and very affably said - "Bizarre Foods at 10". I didnt think I could argue with that, so I left.
On my way to office I realized what had been given...1 box of sour cream and onion flavored crickets and another box of bacon and cheese flavored crickets.
Back in Office when we were wrapping up (for the night...its been quite long since I've seen evening) I took a video of A friend of mine eating one of the legs. "Its crunchy", she exclaimed.
Hence started my pet project to film as many open minded non-vegetarians as possible.
There is a very sad couple of friends/co-workers, where I live, who in the confines of our collective imagination, are crazy about each other. There was a loose plan to make a love story involving the Hero impressing the Heroine by munching the crickets and then she looking at him with dewey eyes and gasping- "You love me. You really love me!"
The friend who I initially filmed assured me that the guy was really cool and he wouldnt hesitate about eating the insects. The girl in the question (one who is being teased) also decided to be a good sport and was okay with giving the insect to the guy. Unfortunately, the premised to bring the person over to the house itself was very contrived and the guy brought in reinforcements [unexpected villian, throwing monkey wrench into the works] with him in alarm.
As a result, the giving the insect in hand became hiding insect in cake. Those mutinous dead insects didnt remain in hiding and the whole thing flopped. But all around the sportive folks partook the morsels [ate the crickets] but I didnt take videos in honor of their broadminds.
One important lesson:
Sneaky practical jokes are not my thing. I should have nothing to do with them now, just like I have had nothing to do with them for all of my life so far. Apparently , orchestrating one is very hard work and great planning. If I wanted to think so much, I would live in my office.
Chastened and sorry,
Rain
Monday, March 03, 2008
One Among Many
If there is one thing about our generation [and by that, I mean the ancients born in the early eighties...those stone ages] that clearly branches away from those who spawned us, its that we are more individualistic.
Most of us are flourishing, even when living alone; a concept that would've made someone from our parent's generation into a blubbery mess of codependencies. This is probably why they had you by the time they were your age, whereas in your world, signal for your peeps to start ragging you with anyone [however much of a stretch they have to make to do it] is if you happen to go out with them on two consecutive weekends. That is how uncool commitment is.
Being around people all the time, yet not having any deep relationships makes us actually disconnect with what is going on with folks our age inside of the private cells of our minds where our inner creatures run loose. Everything you face, seems to happen only to you in the entire mapped universe. So toad in the well...
Its reassuring to suddenly glance into some posts and see a connection - some related thoughts, an share experience...to know- You are just one of many. Going through the normal phases.
Say, you end up getting needlessly angry as to how unfair it is that people expect you to just 'meet' someone and marry that guy. You reason -Does that ever just happen? This day and age, who do you ever get to just meet a stranger?
You go to office, you come back home. You go out with friends only and since they are your friends, you have already met them.
But guess what? Its okay, that people bug you as to why you havent met Mr.Right. The question is not personal by any means...apparently its custom to ask that to anyone of your age group who isnt married, engaged, committed, seeing someone, seeing many people or multiple picks of previous options. Just in the last half hour I have read 2 posts of similar theme written by two very smart and honest women. :)
Say, you go to work everyday not knowing why you even bother. Every dream is to run away to some place unconnected by internet where no one knows your office mail id...You feel bad thinking you are so weak when facing your daily karma and then you read abt someone who also isnt thrilled with his work or wants to run away. It almost brings a smile to your face.
Not calmed that they are having issues; just that you arent the only one to have them and that its almost rite of passage.
Its a good thing I returned to writing and reading blogs, otherwise it would've been brutal to withstand peer pressure, thinking your are the only single 26 yr old of your profile in the Tri-state area, not very 'gruntled' with work. Oh and those are just examples...keep looking and you will see connections to everything.
I like my happiness personalized to me, the other part is better default/general.
Look ma, i am writing!
Rain
Most of us are flourishing, even when living alone; a concept that would've made someone from our parent's generation into a blubbery mess of codependencies. This is probably why they had you by the time they were your age, whereas in your world, signal for your peeps to start ragging you with anyone [however much of a stretch they have to make to do it] is if you happen to go out with them on two consecutive weekends. That is how uncool commitment is.
Being around people all the time, yet not having any deep relationships makes us actually disconnect with what is going on with folks our age inside of the private cells of our minds where our inner creatures run loose. Everything you face, seems to happen only to you in the entire mapped universe. So toad in the well...
Its reassuring to suddenly glance into some posts and see a connection - some related thoughts, an share experience...to know- You are just one of many. Going through the normal phases.
Say, you end up getting needlessly angry as to how unfair it is that people expect you to just 'meet' someone and marry that guy. You reason -Does that ever just happen? This day and age, who do you ever get to just meet a stranger?
You go to office, you come back home. You go out with friends only and since they are your friends, you have already met them.
But guess what? Its okay, that people bug you as to why you havent met Mr.Right. The question is not personal by any means...apparently its custom to ask that to anyone of your age group who isnt married, engaged, committed, seeing someone, seeing many people or multiple picks of previous options. Just in the last half hour I have read 2 posts of similar theme written by two very smart and honest women. :)
Say, you go to work everyday not knowing why you even bother. Every dream is to run away to some place unconnected by internet where no one knows your office mail id...You feel bad thinking you are so weak when facing your daily karma and then you read abt someone who also isnt thrilled with his work or wants to run away. It almost brings a smile to your face.
Not calmed that they are having issues; just that you arent the only one to have them and that its almost rite of passage.
Its a good thing I returned to writing and reading blogs, otherwise it would've been brutal to withstand peer pressure, thinking your are the only single 26 yr old of your profile in the Tri-state area, not very 'gruntled' with work. Oh and those are just examples...keep looking and you will see connections to everything.
I like my happiness personalized to me, the other part is better default/general.
Look ma, i am writing!
Rain
Friday, February 29, 2008
Awake...at last!
This blog post is dedicated to me.
Its addressed to me by myself and I will probably be the only person to read it also.
Funnily enough, sounds like I may have developed God Complex erstwhile known to affect only Cardiac and NeuroSurgeons [the alphas of medicine jungle], but its an outcry from an isolated padded cell I have created for my own expression [and I am not talking about the facial variety here]
Didn't I love to write? Wasn't I that exuberant person who was vocal with joy and sadness at equal measure? What happened that turned me completely around?
Can't figure out for the life of me. Just like Forrest Gump started running one fine day all the way until he suddenly decided to stop, I just didn't write for very very long and now have decided to break that. Just as good, at least I have taken baby steps away from the well I have been croaking in for the past years...
I will probably not make any money from this even if I were to add google adsense simply because I am not as good-as others, as I used to be, as required for making money with blogs in adsense...fill any option. What the heck, go crazy fill all the options...they fit anyway.
wait, there is more - I don't write about anything that google adsense can take keywords out of, because its all about ME and I am in no way connected with any commerce that can sell.
Yet I want to start writing again, rusty and degenerated as the posts maybe, I will start flexing my stiff muscles of creativity or expression. I should get good eventually, odds are good for regular practice to cause some improvements.
I feel an awakening today, to break out from the monotony of my mundane life; to get better, to be happy and not numb. I WANT ADRENALINE, ENDORPHINS - something...
I want a sensory load of new sights, sounds and experience...I want to KNOW, LEARN and UNDeRSTAND. I am clean slate waiting to be etched on...I am Joe's beginner enthusiasm...
Consciously want to avoid channelling Joe from Fight Club into my soul; its becoming disturbingly easy to connect with a drone who turns into a sociopath.
Valmiki would be the ideal...the primitive hunter who turns into an erudite sage and composes a masterpiece that survives the ages.
I could do with a surge of electricity to switch on my brain circuitry...Someone provide a boost!
Life is so transitory, I want to be alive for every moment of it...to savor all of its flavors and not stay boring and bland. Inactivity begone!
I WANT TO FLY, I WANT TO FEEL.
HELLO WIDE WORLD, SHOW ME YOUR WONDERS...
Re-started,
Rain
Its addressed to me by myself and I will probably be the only person to read it also.
Funnily enough, sounds like I may have developed God Complex erstwhile known to affect only Cardiac and NeuroSurgeons [the alphas of medicine jungle], but its an outcry from an isolated padded cell I have created for my own expression [and I am not talking about the facial variety here]
Didn't I love to write? Wasn't I that exuberant person who was vocal with joy and sadness at equal measure? What happened that turned me completely around?
Can't figure out for the life of me. Just like Forrest Gump started running one fine day all the way until he suddenly decided to stop, I just didn't write for very very long and now have decided to break that. Just as good, at least I have taken baby steps away from the well I have been croaking in for the past years...
I will probably not make any money from this even if I were to add google adsense simply because I am not as good-as others, as I used to be, as required for making money with blogs in adsense...fill any option. What the heck, go crazy fill all the options...they fit anyway.
wait, there is more - I don't write about anything that google adsense can take keywords out of, because its all about ME and I am in no way connected with any commerce that can sell.
Yet I want to start writing again, rusty and degenerated as the posts maybe, I will start flexing my stiff muscles of creativity or expression. I should get good eventually, odds are good for regular practice to cause some improvements.
I feel an awakening today, to break out from the monotony of my mundane life; to get better, to be happy and not numb. I WANT ADRENALINE, ENDORPHINS - something...
I want a sensory load of new sights, sounds and experience...I want to KNOW, LEARN and UNDeRSTAND. I am clean slate waiting to be etched on...I am Joe's beginner enthusiasm...
Consciously want to avoid channelling Joe from Fight Club into my soul; its becoming disturbingly easy to connect with a drone who turns into a sociopath.
Valmiki would be the ideal...the primitive hunter who turns into an erudite sage and composes a masterpiece that survives the ages.
I could do with a surge of electricity to switch on my brain circuitry...Someone provide a boost!
Life is so transitory, I want to be alive for every moment of it...to savor all of its flavors and not stay boring and bland. Inactivity begone!
I WANT TO FLY, I WANT TO FEEL.
HELLO WIDE WORLD, SHOW ME YOUR WONDERS...
Re-started,
Rain
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Rock Bottom
Pondering over the things that could possibly make a person hit this fabled extreme, I have drawn the following list-
A. Loss (of friends/loved ones) and/or Separation
B. Being broke
C. Having no prospects at all in studies and/or work
D. Homelessness and instability
What if someone is so lucky as to say yes to all of the above choices...Are they so deep down that a nadir seems like an eyerie?
Top 3 Cliched ways to see the bright side of crashing and burning -
3. There is no other way to go but up
2. You have nothing left to lose
and since we dont have any creditable image to live up to, lets entangle in the mesh of cliches and declare the winner #1 "its always darkest before dawn"
I'm so happy that I cant stop crying,
Rain
A. Loss (of friends/loved ones) and/or Separation
B. Being broke
C. Having no prospects at all in studies and/or work
D. Homelessness and instability
What if someone is so lucky as to say yes to all of the above choices...Are they so deep down that a nadir seems like an eyerie?
Top 3 Cliched ways to see the bright side of crashing and burning -
3. There is no other way to go but up
2. You have nothing left to lose
and since we dont have any creditable image to live up to, lets entangle in the mesh of cliches and declare the winner #1 "its always darkest before dawn"
I'm so happy that I cant stop crying,
Rain
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Autogenerated Fortune
This is a really unfunny fortune predicted for me-
Today's fortune: You and your wife will be happy in your life together
Auto-generated crappy fortune predicting software is chauvinistic!
:(
Will me and my husband be happy in my life together?
[Where is he, BTW]
Rain
Today's fortune: You and your wife will be happy in your life together
Auto-generated crappy fortune predicting software is chauvinistic!
:(
Will me and my husband be happy in my life together?
[Where is he, BTW]
Rain
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Limerick of Silence
Today I finished a significant task
but not in a way that, in joy, I can bask
Its just done
and a friend, if you're one
Nothing more about it, you will ask...
:(
Rain
but not in a way that, in joy, I can bask
Its just done
and a friend, if you're one
Nothing more about it, you will ask...
:(
Rain
Thursday, October 11, 2007
A mutlitude of topics
Some people I like, like to cook and take great pride and joy in making culinary masterpieces and delicacies. One of them knows that she can set up a rocking restaurent if ever she feels the need to stop making money for an uncaring, faceless computer company and the other wants to run away and join the team in "Ace of Cakes" [For the uninitiated and those who dont watch the Food Network, these guys can make a whole cake typewriter!]
Me? I cook to eat and not vice versa (or was the question originally live to eat vs. eat to live??)The fact that I am alive and rotound should clearly be a shining tribute to the smackiness of my preparations and I have nothing to say/prove to those yukking smartypants who like to pretend that I cant cook. [mentally include a swear word for them...thanks]But lets proceed to that all important activity for life sustenance - Eating.
Of late my feelings for this once "strictly mandatory hence I am doing it" act has changed to that of "ooh i would like to eat that and that and that......" :) and love springs eternal!
I have become a foodie, my people!
Does that spell furthering of my width-wise expansion? profound yet logical train of thought says YES.
Is it going to make any difference? probability of me ever finding out that I am the Fattest person ever is zilch, so what is the big difference in being fatter than a million and 24567 people as opposed to be fatter than a million?Zilch again! Hence the munching continues.
Forces of evil (Read-the fashion industry) are trying to stop this run of food enjoyment by subliminal messaging in a not so subtle way. of all the places in a trouser, they have printed a string of keywords in a loop around the waistband that says "Feel Feminine Discover Be Confident Beautiful...." etc in pretty italics only so that the wearer while casting her eyes on them will feel the obligation to stay away from anything that affects the waist. But the dark side is not getting to me one bit as the following have a stronger hold on yours truely - Potato dishes, Burrito Bols, Soy burgers, Subs, Pop Corn, icecream, waffles, Spicy Veggies....Ummmmmmmmm [author drools and the keyboard short-circuits]
Speaking of pants, I have inadvertantly stolen the innocence of two of my male friends while venting the unfair practices of the sadistic fashion industry by depriving women the essence of trousers - the pockets. I also rectified the situation by asking them to feign surprise/ignorance when their significant lady discusses this with them. That may seem not so positive but it will prevent the following scenario:
Her: So my keys/lipstick/card is in the handbag somewhere [rummages a trendy bag that once used to be a part of some reptile]
Him: [typical lack of patience] I wonder why you have to mess with putting everything in that bag. It'd be a lot better if you had pockets in your pants like I do.
Her: [bag forgotten, focussing lasers on the target] How did you ever find out that womens pants dont have pockets...[Quick flashback of dialogues from several Romance novels/movies - "You are the only girl/lady/woman in my life"]
Him: Um...Ahh....Uhhh [a dull alarm ringing sound in the back of the head indicating fatal danger prevents any coherent thought]
[Everything goes black and there is a shrill scream of a dying animal]
So with the weather turning wet and chilly and me not having enough exercise to justify the eating, I am going to have to rethink my new love, but not right away [Eternal Procastinator]. Yes, Fall has arrived late this year but it has and several batches of my friends have made the pilgrimage to New Hampshire with due religious fervor. I was planning to go last weekend but there was no accomodation available [I mean the Columbus weekend had 60K people going into that tiny little state] and whatever was bookable seemed to have the following words (occuring one or more times) to describe itself - Romantic, Couple, Firelight, Jacuzzi, Getaway, Rekindle, Honeymoon, Wedding...which by itself was a big turn off for me, but the honest version of the rooms description should've used the following words - Old, overpriced, wishful thinking, no free breakfast, is he kidding me, expensive as hell, what-would-I-do-with-a-jacuzzi-in-the-living-room.etc.
Thats ok, I have better, more rocking travelling plans that makes these Fall Drive tours to pale in comparison!:)
Eat, Drink and Be Merry,
Rain
Me? I cook to eat and not vice versa (or was the question originally live to eat vs. eat to live??)The fact that I am alive and rotound should clearly be a shining tribute to the smackiness of my preparations and I have nothing to say/prove to those yukking smartypants who like to pretend that I cant cook. [mentally include a swear word for them...thanks]But lets proceed to that all important activity for life sustenance - Eating.
Of late my feelings for this once "strictly mandatory hence I am doing it" act has changed to that of "ooh i would like to eat that and that and that......" :) and love springs eternal!
I have become a foodie, my people!
Does that spell furthering of my width-wise expansion? profound yet logical train of thought says YES.
Is it going to make any difference? probability of me ever finding out that I am the Fattest person ever is zilch, so what is the big difference in being fatter than a million and 24567 people as opposed to be fatter than a million?Zilch again! Hence the munching continues.
Forces of evil (Read-the fashion industry) are trying to stop this run of food enjoyment by subliminal messaging in a not so subtle way. of all the places in a trouser, they have printed a string of keywords in a loop around the waistband that says "Feel Feminine Discover Be Confident Beautiful...." etc in pretty italics only so that the wearer while casting her eyes on them will feel the obligation to stay away from anything that affects the waist. But the dark side is not getting to me one bit as the following have a stronger hold on yours truely - Potato dishes, Burrito Bols, Soy burgers, Subs, Pop Corn, icecream, waffles, Spicy Veggies....Ummmmmmmmm [author drools and the keyboard short-circuits]
Speaking of pants, I have inadvertantly stolen the innocence of two of my male friends while venting the unfair practices of the sadistic fashion industry by depriving women the essence of trousers - the pockets. I also rectified the situation by asking them to feign surprise/ignorance when their significant lady discusses this with them. That may seem not so positive but it will prevent the following scenario:
Her: So my keys/lipstick/card is in the handbag somewhere [rummages a trendy bag that once used to be a part of some reptile]
Him: [typical lack of patience] I wonder why you have to mess with putting everything in that bag. It'd be a lot better if you had pockets in your pants like I do.
Her: [bag forgotten, focussing lasers on the target] How did you ever find out that womens pants dont have pockets...[Quick flashback of dialogues from several Romance novels/movies - "You are the only girl/lady/woman in my life"]
Him: Um...Ahh....Uhhh [a dull alarm ringing sound in the back of the head indicating fatal danger prevents any coherent thought]
[Everything goes black and there is a shrill scream of a dying animal]
So with the weather turning wet and chilly and me not having enough exercise to justify the eating, I am going to have to rethink my new love, but not right away [Eternal Procastinator]. Yes, Fall has arrived late this year but it has and several batches of my friends have made the pilgrimage to New Hampshire with due religious fervor. I was planning to go last weekend but there was no accomodation available [I mean the Columbus weekend had 60K people going into that tiny little state] and whatever was bookable seemed to have the following words (occuring one or more times) to describe itself - Romantic, Couple, Firelight, Jacuzzi, Getaway, Rekindle, Honeymoon, Wedding...which by itself was a big turn off for me, but the honest version of the rooms description should've used the following words - Old, overpriced, wishful thinking, no free breakfast, is he kidding me, expensive as hell, what-would-I-do-with-a-jacuzzi-in-the-living-room.etc.
Thats ok, I have better, more rocking travelling plans that makes these Fall Drive tours to pale in comparison!:)
Eat, Drink and Be Merry,
Rain
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tale of the Two Cities
I am a super-charged NewYorker during the workweek daytime and a change back to a mild mannered Jersey Girl at other times. I embrace my dual identities and happily too.
Funnily enough, it fits and isnt as contrary as one might expect. Having managed the transition from small-town girl (where everyone on the street practically knows your name and what you had for breakfast) without even blinking, I smoothly enmeshed myself into the routine that best serves the fact that I work in New York and live in the neighbouring Garden state.
Of course, I had help; Vijay to help with the office related settling-in and Ratheesh helped me find my groove in the svelte sophistication of Newport, Jersey City.
I never thought I would feel this way, but I like the bee-hive activity in the Big Apple and the constant buzz of people doing things. I like submerging into the sea of humanity and being led into and out of trains and while crossing the streets. There is simply no time for gossip and nose-poking here, its just not NY.
Rules here are simple and very primeval - "Keep Going or Get out of the way". This penchant for efficiency and productive non-intrusive outlook hasnt taken away the souls of the populace, if at all the vibrant culture and flourishing art, architecture, music and theatre are any parameters to go by.
Although treated with apparent disdain by the "natives", the vibes in Jersey City are by no means rural or pastoral as the polished cousins across the Hudson would like us to believe. Although its true that NJ is practically majority Indian with a smattering of the other nationalities, the people are smart, glamorous and ubercool too. If you arent up to going beserk in the 7th Avenue shops (after looking at pricetags) or find it ok to breeze in and out of Millenium Hilton (having eaten and paying the bill there) then Jersey City is probably slumming. But I am in the median of the population's per capita income and I like the close-to-home feel of Jersey and am looking forward to shopping in the 'Indian' street in Journal Square, eating at the Indian eateries in Edison, going to the Temple in Bridgewater and visiting Brinda in the family suburb of Brunswick.
An element of surreality is the place where I live, its a luxury furnished apartment in a high-rise and it overlooks the Newport Marina (where the rich people park their yachts), the Hudson river and the eternal lights of the Manhattan skyline. I have a doorman with a reception desk (replete with the uniform and the gold buttons) and my lobby looks like something from a Karan Johar movie set. To make things worse, I practically occupy the whole house by myself and have gotten even more spoiled with my idea of "space".
Independance and Freedom is in every atom here - you cook if you want or go out and eat, you stay in if you want or go jogging at 1 AM on the Hudson walkway, you save-up if you can or go shopping at the Newport Mall, you can drive or walk where ever or take a train to anyplace, you can internalize all you want and no one will bother you or you could surround yourself with people and be out all the time; Its your choice and there are no constraints here [except those of the financial kind, which we will not focus on just to keep our sanity].
In short, I am living it and loving it- the Desi take on the American Dream.
Happy at last,
Rain
Funnily enough, it fits and isnt as contrary as one might expect. Having managed the transition from small-town girl (where everyone on the street practically knows your name and what you had for breakfast) without even blinking, I smoothly enmeshed myself into the routine that best serves the fact that I work in New York and live in the neighbouring Garden state.
Of course, I had help; Vijay to help with the office related settling-in and Ratheesh helped me find my groove in the svelte sophistication of Newport, Jersey City.
I never thought I would feel this way, but I like the bee-hive activity in the Big Apple and the constant buzz of people doing things. I like submerging into the sea of humanity and being led into and out of trains and while crossing the streets. There is simply no time for gossip and nose-poking here, its just not NY.
Rules here are simple and very primeval - "Keep Going or Get out of the way". This penchant for efficiency and productive non-intrusive outlook hasnt taken away the souls of the populace, if at all the vibrant culture and flourishing art, architecture, music and theatre are any parameters to go by.
Although treated with apparent disdain by the "natives", the vibes in Jersey City are by no means rural or pastoral as the polished cousins across the Hudson would like us to believe. Although its true that NJ is practically majority Indian with a smattering of the other nationalities, the people are smart, glamorous and ubercool too. If you arent up to going beserk in the 7th Avenue shops (after looking at pricetags) or find it ok to breeze in and out of Millenium Hilton (having eaten and paying the bill there) then Jersey City is probably slumming. But I am in the median of the population's per capita income and I like the close-to-home feel of Jersey and am looking forward to shopping in the 'Indian' street in Journal Square, eating at the Indian eateries in Edison, going to the Temple in Bridgewater and visiting Brinda in the family suburb of Brunswick.
An element of surreality is the place where I live, its a luxury furnished apartment in a high-rise and it overlooks the Newport Marina (where the rich people park their yachts), the Hudson river and the eternal lights of the Manhattan skyline. I have a doorman with a reception desk (replete with the uniform and the gold buttons) and my lobby looks like something from a Karan Johar movie set. To make things worse, I practically occupy the whole house by myself and have gotten even more spoiled with my idea of "space".
Independance and Freedom is in every atom here - you cook if you want or go out and eat, you stay in if you want or go jogging at 1 AM on the Hudson walkway, you save-up if you can or go shopping at the Newport Mall, you can drive or walk where ever or take a train to anyplace, you can internalize all you want and no one will bother you or you could surround yourself with people and be out all the time; Its your choice and there are no constraints here [except those of the financial kind, which we will not focus on just to keep our sanity].
In short, I am living it and loving it- the Desi take on the American Dream.
Happy at last,
Rain
Sunday, August 26, 2007
The Ultimatum
With the weekend and having to stay immobile for the nursing of the sprained ankle, I naturally turned to the movies and saw - My Sassy Girl, Kanda Naal Mudhal, Chak De India, YOu Me and Dupree, Bourne Ultimatum, so far.
No prizes for guessing which one of the movies is my absolute craze!
I am a HUGE fan of the Robert Ludlum written trilogy that the movies were inspired from and am usually hard to please with the movie interpretation even if I hated the book; but Paul Greengrass has done such a slick, smart job with the revamped version of the Bourne adventures as to actually meet with my approval!
The third installment- The Bourne Ultimatum is my total favorite from the trilogy as its an out and out thriller in the action genre and the pace of the movies never sags. You will never see the lead character spend time in the mundane activities like - eating, sleeping, walking in a normal pace. He is always on an overdrive, hopping between countries with the ease of visiting your bathroom, speaking in the local language with the fluency of the local (Russian, Spanish? Not a challenge to our behaviorally modified hero), having no concern for anything remotely fiscal (some bottomless bank account he has...), dodging bullets, saving the maiden (who is not a Bimbo, refreshingly enough, nor his love interest!), finding the truth about himself, dealing with his scattered memories, exposing the 'Big Brother' ruthlessness of the CIA and jumping from the rooftops with feline grace and aplomb. I am smitten!
If you want to know the story [which I admit, takes the backseat in the last 2 bourne movies], I would recommend, renting the DVD or better yet watching in the Theatre with friends who appreciate this movie!
The Soundtrack of the Bourne Movies is embodied by the very stylish sounds from the very addictive "Extreme Ways" by Moby. I believe that techno doesn't have "heart" but Moby's songs are an exception to this. I have been listening to the song in a loop since i finished the movie.
Click here to visit the page and select to "watch" for 'Extreme ways' [although I recommend closing your eyes and visualizing Bourne creating havoc internationally, set in tune with the sounds playing!]
I loved the ending (inspite of knowing that its going to happen)...even though it didn't exactly tie up all the loose threads (possibility of more Bournes?). This is the first Ultimatum that I thoroughly enjoyed. :D
Bourne-Again,
Rain.
No prizes for guessing which one of the movies is my absolute craze!
I am a HUGE fan of the Robert Ludlum written trilogy that the movies were inspired from and am usually hard to please with the movie interpretation even if I hated the book; but Paul Greengrass has done such a slick, smart job with the revamped version of the Bourne adventures as to actually meet with my approval!
The third installment- The Bourne Ultimatum is my total favorite from the trilogy as its an out and out thriller in the action genre and the pace of the movies never sags. You will never see the lead character spend time in the mundane activities like - eating, sleeping, walking in a normal pace. He is always on an overdrive, hopping between countries with the ease of visiting your bathroom, speaking in the local language with the fluency of the local (Russian, Spanish? Not a challenge to our behaviorally modified hero), having no concern for anything remotely fiscal (some bottomless bank account he has...), dodging bullets, saving the maiden (who is not a Bimbo, refreshingly enough, nor his love interest!), finding the truth about himself, dealing with his scattered memories, exposing the 'Big Brother' ruthlessness of the CIA and jumping from the rooftops with feline grace and aplomb. I am smitten!
If you want to know the story [which I admit, takes the backseat in the last 2 bourne movies], I would recommend, renting the DVD or better yet watching in the Theatre with friends who appreciate this movie!
The Soundtrack of the Bourne Movies is embodied by the very stylish sounds from the very addictive "Extreme Ways" by Moby. I believe that techno doesn't have "heart" but Moby's songs are an exception to this. I have been listening to the song in a loop since i finished the movie.
Click here to visit the page and select to "watch" for 'Extreme ways' [although I recommend closing your eyes and visualizing Bourne creating havoc internationally, set in tune with the sounds playing!]
I loved the ending (inspite of knowing that its going to happen)...even though it didn't exactly tie up all the loose threads (possibility of more Bournes?). This is the first Ultimatum that I thoroughly enjoyed. :D
Bourne-Again,
Rain.
A Twist in the tale...
Was it the gemstone earrings sent with a special dash of my parents' blessing? Was it that Saturn moved away from the house of my sign? Was it just that there was an opportunity and my current team thought me expendable? Who knows or cares?
All that needs to be highlighted is that I have just completed my last day with a project I was involved in for the better part of my entire career and am moving on to a new Project, new role in a new team in a new location. If that wasn't enough of a twist in the story, I went to the Bryan Adams concert on a totally wet night and simply because we turned up, our lawn tickets were upgraded to the enclosure ones!
One blemish on the exuberance of the entire evening was my flare up with Gow [Who decided to be behave like a complete *&*%@#$&*#@% without any reason]. Some good friendships die this way...
With a fresh new start to life, I decided to revamp my wardrobe with clothes selected by people with some aesthetic sense of fashion and had a happy time doing so, the last weekend. Since Parveen and Aafia are back to India by this tuesday, they came with us too and we had a total blast!
First time in my adult life I feel like I look good [my fruitless attempts at losing weight aside] and people agree with me [isn't that a first ever occurrence of that or what?]
Just when we thought things will settle down now, I had a very uncomfortable last week with farewells everyday [after which people looked continually surprised to see me haunting the corridors, as if I was some undead creature]. I have been parroting to everyone I see that I will continue in my cube until the end of the first week of September when I actually leave.
After jubilantly surviving the "Official" last day, when I was just walking home last night I managed to keep my life eventful by inadvertently spraining my ankle but twisting it, might I add - powerfully.
As a result my plans to quench my thirst for knowledge at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Art were fizzled out and I had to end up apologising to the 2 kind souls who had agreed to accompany me in the first place - Srividya and Vicky.
So I am now getting used to being waited on and being handed my food and anything else I would like ;)
It also helps that my friends are calling in every part of the day - morning, afternoon, evening and night to check on my condition, making me feel really cherished. Only furrow in my happy face is the worry that my ankle might not heal in time for my first day in the new project - Monday or further that it might remain weak during my much awaited, long anticipated, most carefully planned vacation to the Grand Canyon [woo hooooo!]
Having so much free time and restricted movement, my thoughts turn to the 2 movies I have seen recently - My Sassy Girl [Thanks to the persistent effects of SriVidya] and Kanda Naal Mudhal [Which I have seen so many times, I can't count]
The Girl being naturally more dominant than the Boy, slapping the guy is common to both. Needless to say, I enjoyed it as a variation of the usual, man slapping some sense to the girl approach that works so wonderfully in the Indian Movies [Stereotypically, of course].
The count down to my GrandCanyon trip, the NY Move and the India vacation is a constant ticker in my mind :D [Yaaaaaaaaaaaay] and it gets me through the day.
Upbeat despite the swollen ankle [or is it too much icecream?]
Rain
All that needs to be highlighted is that I have just completed my last day with a project I was involved in for the better part of my entire career and am moving on to a new Project, new role in a new team in a new location. If that wasn't enough of a twist in the story, I went to the Bryan Adams concert on a totally wet night and simply because we turned up, our lawn tickets were upgraded to the enclosure ones!
One blemish on the exuberance of the entire evening was my flare up with Gow [Who decided to be behave like a complete *&*%@#$&*#@% without any reason]. Some good friendships die this way...
With a fresh new start to life, I decided to revamp my wardrobe with clothes selected by people with some aesthetic sense of fashion and had a happy time doing so, the last weekend. Since Parveen and Aafia are back to India by this tuesday, they came with us too and we had a total blast!
First time in my adult life I feel like I look good [my fruitless attempts at losing weight aside] and people agree with me [isn't that a first ever occurrence of that or what?]
Just when we thought things will settle down now, I had a very uncomfortable last week with farewells everyday [after which people looked continually surprised to see me haunting the corridors, as if I was some undead creature]. I have been parroting to everyone I see that I will continue in my cube until the end of the first week of September when I actually leave.
After jubilantly surviving the "Official" last day, when I was just walking home last night I managed to keep my life eventful by inadvertently spraining my ankle but twisting it, might I add - powerfully.
As a result my plans to quench my thirst for knowledge at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Art were fizzled out and I had to end up apologising to the 2 kind souls who had agreed to accompany me in the first place - Srividya and Vicky.
So I am now getting used to being waited on and being handed my food and anything else I would like ;)
It also helps that my friends are calling in every part of the day - morning, afternoon, evening and night to check on my condition, making me feel really cherished. Only furrow in my happy face is the worry that my ankle might not heal in time for my first day in the new project - Monday or further that it might remain weak during my much awaited, long anticipated, most carefully planned vacation to the Grand Canyon [woo hooooo!]
Having so much free time and restricted movement, my thoughts turn to the 2 movies I have seen recently - My Sassy Girl [Thanks to the persistent effects of SriVidya] and Kanda Naal Mudhal [Which I have seen so many times, I can't count]
The Girl being naturally more dominant than the Boy, slapping the guy is common to both. Needless to say, I enjoyed it as a variation of the usual, man slapping some sense to the girl approach that works so wonderfully in the Indian Movies [Stereotypically, of course].
The count down to my GrandCanyon trip, the NY Move and the India vacation is a constant ticker in my mind :D [Yaaaaaaaaaaaay] and it gets me through the day.
Upbeat despite the swollen ankle [or is it too much icecream?]
Rain
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Lucky Sevens...
07/07/07 was supposed to be the luckiest day of the century, so much so that lots of couples married that day, mothers delivered that day (planned c-section, I assume) and there was a lot of praying and contrastingly merry-making.
To me it was just another saturday- waking up late, talking to my folks, playing with the baby...
But I got lucky when the performance I was slated to go to but was routed off to someone else, came back to me at 5 PM. Within the hour, I found myself in the Post-Gazette Pavilion listening to REO SpeedWagon perform live....
Those numbers they belted out were older than I was and still they rocked. Styx followed suit and got the crowd on their feet, then came the main act - DEF LEPPARD.
That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen, Rain has attended, enjoyed and freaked out at a DEF LEPPARD Concert!
Aug 4 and 5 are back-to-back unmissable concerts with Korn and Evanesance followed by none other than the master himself, Bryan Adams; in the very same hallowed venue where Aerosmith played last June with Motley Crue opening for them (which I missed, unfortunately).
I dont know how I will manage, but I will attend those concerts as well...God willing.
Somebody up there likes me :)
Rain
To me it was just another saturday- waking up late, talking to my folks, playing with the baby...
But I got lucky when the performance I was slated to go to but was routed off to someone else, came back to me at 5 PM. Within the hour, I found myself in the Post-Gazette Pavilion listening to REO SpeedWagon perform live....
Those numbers they belted out were older than I was and still they rocked. Styx followed suit and got the crowd on their feet, then came the main act - DEF LEPPARD.
That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen, Rain has attended, enjoyed and freaked out at a DEF LEPPARD Concert!
Aug 4 and 5 are back-to-back unmissable concerts with Korn and Evanesance followed by none other than the master himself, Bryan Adams; in the very same hallowed venue where Aerosmith played last June with Motley Crue opening for them (which I missed, unfortunately).
I dont know how I will manage, but I will attend those concerts as well...God willing.
Somebody up there likes me :)
Rain
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Its just a little____
A picture is worth a thousand words and a thousand words arent enough to describe what I am about to say. But I dont quit. Here goes-
I
Friday, June 15, 2007
I am Human and other songs
The reaction to this title can be twofold. The usual one is - "I noticed" and the more whimsical one would be - "Really? You don't say!"
Ha ha aside, this is the name of the song that my sister and I used to like, when the titles of "Charmed" came. After a sudden refresh of memory, I googled the song out and here are the lyrics:
I am the sun
I am the Earth
All the shyness that is criminally vulgar
And some of them
Are nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
It's just sad that you have to go
You could be somebody
That really loves you
So you go and you stand on your own
And you go home
And you cry and you want to die
And you say it's gonna happen now
But when exactly do you leave?
See, I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The other show soundtrack I really liked and hunted for- Superman by Lazlo Bane from 'Scrubs' [That Zach Braff is a dish!] Its very sweet, earnest and full of common man's angst:
The draw for me is that, they both are really good songs and they are unpretentiously frank about the fact that they don't deal with anything in superlatives. Not about rich, strong or beautiful people doing extraordinary feats or landmark achievements. Not your usual song about love, scorned love, spurned love or soured love. Best of all- it is not a garish flesh display with lyrics on the anatomy. These songs embrace the aspects of being just human - pain, sadness, frustration, hope, love [but in a tasteful quantity], dignity, acceptance and chance.
Then I began to look for more compilations oked by Zach Braff then I found out that the song I raved about in my earlier post called 'Let Go' by frou frou [voice-Imogen heap] was his choice for his movie- 'Garden State', which he scripted and directed [what is not to love?]. So I began to look for more songs he selected and two songs from the same band featured in the soundtrack - New Slang and caring is creepy, both by The Shins. I think both are 'grow into' type of songs, very cerebral and intense, once again angst ridden and open to misery of existence.
These new crop of songs and artists are the next generation of alternate indie rock, ready to take the baton from the likes of REM, Oasis [to a limited extent], Radiohead, Nirvana [who's sound I identify with though I cant figure out why], Red Hot Chilli Peppers [of before], Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Alanis Morisette and achieve eternal glory in the universe of the Rock-heads [there arent so many of us anymore...we are a dying breed like the 'Nightwalkers']
I also made a re-discovery of the relevance of retro songs when I chanced upon 'The Thomas Crown Affair' (original starring that dashing Steve McQueen) and listened to the award winning 'Windmills of your mind' which is almost poetic in its lyrical appeal, its about someone dealing with their feelings after the end of a relationship. Its not very exceptionally sung, but its very attractive in its sound -
Ha ha aside, this is the name of the song that my sister and I used to like, when the titles of "Charmed" came. After a sudden refresh of memory, I googled the song out and here are the lyrics:
I am the Earth
All the shyness that is criminally vulgar
And some of them
Are nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
It's just sad that you have to go
You could be somebody
That really loves you
So you go and you stand on your own
And you go home
And you cry and you want to die
And you say it's gonna happen now
But when exactly do you leave?
See, I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
The other show soundtrack I really liked and hunted for- Superman by Lazlo Bane from 'Scrubs' [That Zach Braff is a dish!] Its very sweet, earnest and full of common man's angst:
Out the door just in time
Head down the 405
Gotta meet the new boss by 8 a.m.
The phone rings in the car
The wife is workin' hard
She's running late tonight again
Well
I know what I've been told,
You got to work to feed the soul
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I know, I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
You've got your love online
You think you're doing fine
But you're just plugged into the wall
And that deck of tarot cards
Won't get you very far
There ain't no hand to break your fall
Well
I know what I've been told
You gotta know just when to fold
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I know, I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
That's right
You've crossed the finish line
Won the race but lost your mind
Was it worth it after all
I need you here with me
Cause love is all we need
Just take a hold of the hand that breaks the fall
Well I know what I've been told
Gotta break free to break the mold
But I can't do this all on my own
No I can't do this all on my own
I know that I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
Someday we'll be together
I'm no Superman
Someday
Someday we'll be together
Someday
I'm no Superman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Head down the 405
Gotta meet the new boss by 8 a.m.
The phone rings in the car
The wife is workin' hard
She's running late tonight again
Well
I know what I've been told,
You got to work to feed the soul
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I know, I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
You've got your love online
You think you're doing fine
But you're just plugged into the wall
And that deck of tarot cards
Won't get you very far
There ain't no hand to break your fall
Well
I know what I've been told
You gotta know just when to fold
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I know, I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
That's right
You've crossed the finish line
Won the race but lost your mind
Was it worth it after all
I need you here with me
Cause love is all we need
Just take a hold of the hand that breaks the fall
Well I know what I've been told
Gotta break free to break the mold
But I can't do this all on my own
No I can't do this all on my own
I know that I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman
Someday we'll be together
I'm no Superman
Someday
Someday we'll be together
Someday
I'm no Superman
The draw for me is that, they both are really good songs and they are unpretentiously frank about the fact that they don't deal with anything in superlatives. Not about rich, strong or beautiful people doing extraordinary feats or landmark achievements. Not your usual song about love, scorned love, spurned love or soured love. Best of all- it is not a garish flesh display with lyrics on the anatomy. These songs embrace the aspects of being just human - pain, sadness, frustration, hope, love [but in a tasteful quantity], dignity, acceptance and chance.
Then I began to look for more compilations oked by Zach Braff then I found out that the song I raved about in my earlier post called 'Let Go' by frou frou [voice-Imogen heap] was his choice for his movie- 'Garden State', which he scripted and directed [what is not to love?]. So I began to look for more songs he selected and two songs from the same band featured in the soundtrack - New Slang and caring is creepy, both by The Shins. I think both are 'grow into' type of songs, very cerebral and intense, once again angst ridden and open to misery of existence.
These new crop of songs and artists are the next generation of alternate indie rock, ready to take the baton from the likes of REM, Oasis [to a limited extent], Radiohead, Nirvana [who's sound I identify with though I cant figure out why], Red Hot Chilli Peppers [of before], Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Alanis Morisette and achieve eternal glory in the universe of the Rock-heads [there arent so many of us anymore...we are a dying breed like the 'Nightwalkers']
I also made a re-discovery of the relevance of retro songs when I chanced upon 'The Thomas Crown Affair' (original starring that dashing Steve McQueen) and listened to the award winning 'Windmills of your mind' which is almost poetic in its lyrical appeal, its about someone dealing with their feelings after the end of a relationship. Its not very exceptionally sung, but its very attractive in its sound -
Round,
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel,
Never ending on beginning,
On an ever-spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain,
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning
Running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Spinning silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!
Like a tunnel that you follow
To a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern
Where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving
In a half-forgotten dream
Like the ripples from a pebble
Someone tosses in a stream.
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Spinning silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!
Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly?
Was it something that I said?
Lovers walk along a shore
And leave their footprints in the sand
Was the sound of distant drumming
Just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway
or the fragment of a song,
half-remembered names and faces
but to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over
Were you suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning
To the color of her hair?
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
As the images unwind
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel,
Never ending on beginning,
On an ever-spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain,
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning
Running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Spinning silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!
Like a tunnel that you follow
To a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern
Where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving
In a half-forgotten dream
Like the ripples from a pebble
Someone tosses in a stream.
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Spinning silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!
Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly?
Was it something that I said?
Lovers walk along a shore
And leave their footprints in the sand
Was the sound of distant drumming
Just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway
or the fragment of a song,
half-remembered names and faces
but to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over
Were you suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning
To the color of her hair?
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
As the images unwind
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its great to sample new songs and sounds as I had stuck to the old favorites for the past year.
Opening my mind to newer horizons via my auditory sense, which also reassures me that I am not deaf as I suspected, you know, with prolong use of head phones and all...
On an unrelated note, I have been promised some footage in another blog, Mythoughtwaves, that is penned (or keyed, if you will) by the very comprehensive blogger - VJ. Lets see if he keeps his word and soon my fame can re-spread :)
Active Listener,
Rain
Its great to sample new songs and sounds as I had stuck to the old favorites for the past year.
Opening my mind to newer horizons via my auditory sense, which also reassures me that I am not deaf as I suspected, you know, with prolong use of head phones and all...
On an unrelated note, I have been promised some footage in another blog, Mythoughtwaves, that is penned (or keyed, if you will) by the very comprehensive blogger - VJ. Lets see if he keeps his word and soon my fame can re-spread :)
Active Listener,
Rain
Saturday, June 09, 2007
My Rocking Life
If there is one aspect of my living in the land of milk and honey that is hands-down without a bad side, not even a gray lining and is 100% Agmark certified all Good, then its this – I can go to rock concerts here.
These are just in my “MANDATORY” tag. I would love to catch other performances of significant bands and Individuals who I admire, during my stay here, given of course the requirements of - company to go with, travel to and from venue, reasonable ticket prices are met.
I got into rock at around age 13 and have stayed firm to that despite being comfortable with my other aspect of enjoying carnatic vocal and instrumental with all my iyer proclivity for it. Soon as my sister grew up, I had a partner in crime and she took to the genre of music like fish to water. Then we had a in-sync period where we would shut ourself in the room, block out all sources of light – natural or otherwise and headbang without inhibition to the raw and elevating sounds of Metallica and U2. Our parents knew about it, yet they were too scared to see us showing symptoms of possession, so generally let us do out thing uninterrupted.
Then the disciple took over from the Guru and went leaps ahead; she turned traitor to the cause of legitimate rock and became a boy-band fanatic like all the air-headed pre-teens. She decided that she didn’t think techno was too synthetic, embraced mainstream western music in all its commercial crassness and we started to go our separate ways since.
Here, I met Gowtham in September of 2006 and learned that he is one of ‘us’ [Us being the lost tribe of Rock worshippers who all died out when natural selection favored pop worshippers]. He told me that I had missed going to the Aerosmith open-air concert, right here at the steel city [AEROSMITH – I am not worthy!!!…*groveling actions*]. We then proceed to, as a group (having been joined by the ultra cool Avanthika) haunt the nearby concerts, thus providing me to strike off the following Gods of Rock from my list of “Perfomances to see before the artists die…” [I mean, C’mon they live lives of – Heavy Fuel a.k.a Sex, Drugs and Violence]
Guns and Roses
The debate of Slash vs. Axl Rose aside, this was a totally awesome experience and I was so thrilled to be right there when the strains of ‘November Rain’ filled the stadium. Me and fellow rock head Gow went all out and fell for ‘There was a time’ from the forthcoming Chinese Democracy and I will be happy to endorse that there is a whole lot of ROCK in GnR left to unleash into the mundane universe!
Nickelback
What is not to love about Nickelback? They are a quintessential basic rock band – heady guitar and drums sounds, Meaningful lyrics and a very good frontman. We had a totally wonderful time at the concert, despite us reaching there a full 3 hours after the concert began [thanks to Friday evening office traffic at downtown
That was the day I taught Aafiya to make the universal symbol of rock, which she is yet to master, and say “Rooooocckkkk!” with attitude, which she has down to pat :D
G3 – Joe Satriani
This one was not my idea. Admittedly I listened to ‘Rubina’s Blue Sky’ on some lazy Saturday afternoon in fm and introduced Joe Sat to my sister. I don’t accept any responsibility to the consequences which finally have now led to her becoming the High Priestess of G3 worship. Any how, Gow and Sow by their independent efforts sold me into going for this concert. My hesitation was incremented by the fact that the concert happened 2 weeks after my having imitated Jill [who came tumbling after] in my staircase. Nevertheless, I went, it was a different parallel universe where were almost no vocals and Guitar was all and I was glad for the learning.
- Sting
- Bryan Adams
- U2
- Metallica
These are just in my “MANDATORY” tag. I would love to catch other performances of significant bands and Individuals who I admire, during my stay here, given of course the requirements of - company to go with, travel to and from venue, reasonable ticket prices are met.
Congratulations Buddy!
God Bless and hope you guys, ROCK!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Yet another Pool post
Water is a very expressive element and it has given its siren call to bring me back into its fold. When someone decides to go the Metallica way and decides that not caring for what people will say works best for them, it brings a certain kind of freedom that not many legit people get.
I am no Michael Phelps or Ian Thorpe but I like swimming and I no longer care that people I know will get to see me in a suit (which is a misnomer, since it doesn’t really ‘suit’ me in the conventional sense of the term) so I took the pool pass and decided to spend my summer usefully.
The first time back in the pool was like reincarnation- very dicey at first but it all comes back with a wonderful sense of blurring the gap, the time when you had stayed landlocked. This time was especially good because I was the only swimmer and made me feel like those filthy rich retired CEOs who have houses overlooking
I started off at 5 feet and the width of the already miniscule pool was a challenge to hold a single breath and cross. But I was relearning fast, before the end of 10 minutes I was able to hold breath and flit across. Then alternating every lap with backstroke and progressively increasing the depth, I finally reached the deepest part – 9 feet.
At that point, I realized that all fear of the water, breathing, depth and drowning had completely left me with even a slight trace of hesitation and sweet elation filled my thoughts.
Freestyle is slightly less pretty, with a working pair of swimming goggles you can see all the dirt at the bottom of the pool in absolute clarity and if you suspect that you might be mildly obsessive compulsive then its better your eyes are closed.
The next pool post will be about mortgages and mutual funds, just for a change because I decided that any chance I get to flaunt my scholarly knowledge in Capital Markets, I must use.
Rain
Monday, May 28, 2007
Back from black
Blogging is a love, a saviour when I felt my mind slipping away into a semi-coma from the frustrations of life. I gave up on it because of intense irritation from some other disgusting, gross, needlessly painful phase. I wanted to clear my head and purge some rank, septic elements from there before I approach something I used to do well and used to love doing.
Something worth doing should be worth doing well and writing requires a good focussed head. I I am proud to say I am past my demons, I have come to terms with the bad decisions I made on who to trust to what extent and I think I have broken clean from the quicksand. I have returned to reading, news, movies, public speaking and prayer...things that enrich me and make me happy.
Writing would definitely follow those because this is the activity that requires most work, research, interest, commitment. In short, you have to be in the zone, in sync with your universe, chi should flow uninterrupted otherwise it would never work. You could stare at your empty 'Create' page in Blogger all week and NOTHING; Well meaning, interested, bossy or sycophantic people could dedicate their lives to inspiring you to hit the keys again for a range of reasons and go unnoticed, a parade of muses could catwalk across your couch where you are sprawled and you wouldnt waggle your toe, vastly illuminating experiences can occur and scintillating insights could have been gained and you would be frozen in front of your keyboard.
Inertia can corrode a writer's soul but writing when your heart's not in it will take you a peg down when you gaze at the mirror tomorrow. Rather write good when you can than write however but regularly. [echo of- rather reign in hell than serve in heaven, apparently I identify with Lucifer]
Long story short, this is not excuse, its just a sounding board of affirmation, a continuity of writing from the fragments of the motivated posts of long ago. Internalizing was good, it was a cleansing experience to be out of my everyday environments and all that it entails.
Expenses aside, Jersey and Niagara were good to me and my psyche.
It is nice to be me again. Rather be alone than in bad company.
Writing is my way of speaking to the world without actually going through the unnecessary building of casual, semi-formal and random interpersonal relationships that do more harm than good. As escapist as that might seem, its more practical for my aims and talents.
May the force be with me,
Rain
Something worth doing should be worth doing well and writing requires a good focussed head. I I am proud to say I am past my demons, I have come to terms with the bad decisions I made on who to trust to what extent and I think I have broken clean from the quicksand. I have returned to reading, news, movies, public speaking and prayer...things that enrich me and make me happy.
Writing would definitely follow those because this is the activity that requires most work, research, interest, commitment. In short, you have to be in the zone, in sync with your universe, chi should flow uninterrupted otherwise it would never work. You could stare at your empty 'Create' page in Blogger all week and NOTHING; Well meaning, interested, bossy or sycophantic people could dedicate their lives to inspiring you to hit the keys again for a range of reasons and go unnoticed, a parade of muses could catwalk across your couch where you are sprawled and you wouldnt waggle your toe, vastly illuminating experiences can occur and scintillating insights could have been gained and you would be frozen in front of your keyboard.
Inertia can corrode a writer's soul but writing when your heart's not in it will take you a peg down when you gaze at the mirror tomorrow. Rather write good when you can than write however but regularly. [echo of- rather reign in hell than serve in heaven, apparently I identify with Lucifer]
Long story short, this is not excuse, its just a sounding board of affirmation, a continuity of writing from the fragments of the motivated posts of long ago. Internalizing was good, it was a cleansing experience to be out of my everyday environments and all that it entails.
Expenses aside, Jersey and Niagara were good to me and my psyche.
It is nice to be me again. Rather be alone than in bad company.
Writing is my way of speaking to the world without actually going through the unnecessary building of casual, semi-formal and random interpersonal relationships that do more harm than good. As escapist as that might seem, its more practical for my aims and talents.
May the force be with me,
Rain
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