Fuchsia

The Fairy Tale Girl

2012-01-29T02:58:00.000+05:30

I do not think I have acknowledged her presence in my life as it is deserved. She struggles with a lot of things that let her down, but is one person who has been very true to the friendship she and I share. I cannot claim to have done so, and I know she is aware of that too. She chooses to ignore. She chooses to be nice. She is important.

It was always fun to hang out with her, is very dependable too, but she never crossed over for some reason. Surprisingly, in the last few months, I realised it was never too difficult. I guess it just needed time.

She notices me when I feel I am lost. She pampers me when nobody else cares. She has adjusted to my awkward ways rather well. She hugs me every day even though I rarely return the gesture. She is the only one who thinks I am 'hot'. She is the only one who thinks I am a good photographer. She herself has clicked some of my best photographs. She is the only one who finds all my stupidities endearing.

She is loud. She talks about potty. She likes Sex and the City. She loves vampires. She loves black. She knows how to wear make-up. She loves saying 'awww'. She loves the RAIN! A 'type' very easy for me to feel, ahem!, otherwise for. But it's Priyam. Not a type.

She is always the one behind the lens. She quietly absorbs. She is the giver. She worships her parents. She does not let go.

From addressing me as 'Bhardwaj', she has now moved to 'Doggu'. Rather drastic. But I know I would not have let anyone else call me that. There are very few things that I have a clear image of in my head. There are very few things that I am sure about. One of them is how I want her future to pan out. From where I am, I wish well.

Minds Without Fear

2012-01-27T23:17:00.000+05:30

I repeatedly listened to this song on my Port Blair-Kolkata-Delhi flight earlier this month. Among other things, the resonating sound was something I felt like not letting go of. And the view from my window? Snow-capped Himalayas in the distance. They accompanied me almost the entire distance from Kolkata to Delhi. I have accepted the invite. Just need to finalise the dates.

Who Cares!

2012-01-19T21:30:00.000+05:30

I do not remember the last time I felt nice going out of my way to be nice to someone. It just leads to sore disappointments. Nobody seems to be able to appreciate it. Nobody respects it. That is an unfortunate fact about our generation.

Gah!

2012-01-17T18:31:00.000+05:30

Some days are just pointlessly blah. I do not even have a reason to feel this way, and that makes it so embarrassing given the people and their problems around me these days. Not that I have a reason to compare, but they give me dirty looks when I crib. Too many serious people around me. Too many 'real' issues that they are dealing with. And these are people I like. The fact that I cannot do anything to make their situations better is making me more uncomfortable than I would like. I need more work(!).

Sazish Mein Shamil Zamana

2012-01-15T23:16:00.002+05:30

I think you already know that nothing surpasses my love for travel and seeing new places. And I think you also already have the context of my childhood being rather dull on this front. So now I do not leave any opportunity at all for stepping out!

While growing up, I was one of those kids who were scared of most things that involved physical activity. Add to that the fact that I had little exposure or push towards anything other than academics. I was generally scared of many other things too, and some of those fears tagged all along. One of them being the fear of being in water. I never thought about learning how to swim, and the related fear was rather obvious. I never saw the sea until I was 22, so I didn't know what it offers either. Obviously I was scared of the waves when I first saw them!

And then arrived this day for take-off to the Andaman Islands! Vasu had suggested that I should do snorkelling there. Shagun told me that scuba diving is the real deal, and that's what I should do. I was excited about every tip that I got from people before leaving. I had booked tickets for this January trip more than a month in advance. But deliberately did not plan anything for it because then I usually find it difficult to contain my excitement. So I surfed the internet a day or so in advance to just know what are the places that I should see when I get there. I had beaches on my mind. White sand and turquoise blue is what I pictured. And some peace. I got it all. And a little more. I did what was unthinkable for me till not so long ago. I did what most of my friends would have never expected me to do. I dived! I went under water. Over 30 feet deep.

I first enquired about it at my hotel in Wandoor. Among other things, I was told that I would be taken 15-20 minutes, in a boat, into the sea, for the dive. That was just the beginning of the information-gathering process. The following day I was to take a boat to Ross Island, which is about 15 minutes away from Port Blair. My first sea journey! Everything was perfect, except that I related the "15-20 minutes into the sea" with what I saw just five minutes into the sea. Waves in the middle of the sea are not friendly. That's the kind of shit that swallows you. I could not fathom how somebody could dive into that. I got reminded of our ZNMD scuba diving scene and had the image of the heroes emerging out of the water somewhere in the middle of the sea. It freaked me out. As much as I liked the idea of scuba diving, there was no way I would have overcome that scare. It was impossible. Add to that the fact that it was something I had to do alone. I thought a lot about it, and finally spoke with Priyam who has done a rather cool certification in this diving business. Her response, "zero or 0.1 per cent" to my doubt about probability of drowning was almost a deciding factor. It was very, very comforting. That was on Wednesday morning. I was on my way to North Bay with Mom and her colleagues. Then I decided that I would go ahead with snorkelling there, and accordingly finalise the diving plan. "Pappu" is really the word that came to my mind after I was done snorkelling! Suddenly I could not wait to go down and see things for real. I got out, messaged Priyam to help me figure details of someone who could take me diving the following day at Havelock Islands, and there I was, talking to Nikhil at Andaman Bubbles. He just asked me my shoe size, my tee size, and we were good to go. My instructor was to receive me as soon as I reach the island in the morning. And there he was! Guy with curly hair, a beard, and a blue PADI tee. Akshay. Greetings, me taking full responsibility for killing myself in the process, and we headed out in a motor boat for that 15-20 minute ride into the sea. Except that it is not 'into' the sea. It is to a diving site where the water is also calm. I was made to pull on my suit and shoes, and then began the practice session. Most of it was easy. I took some time getting a hang of how to let water out of my mask, and in the process ended up drinking the salt water too, but I did get it. Things were simple. Akshay was to do the swimming. He was to take care of my breathing apparatus. And he only had full control of my life saving gear. All I had to do was breathe! A lifetime of dealing with cold and living with night guard for bruxism certainly made breathing through the mouth with rubber in there very easy.

I remember exclaiming out loud the moment we set out for the dive. Akshay got slightly concerned, I think. All that had happened though was that I got my first rush. I was floating in the sea. For someone who has never even floated in a pool. Looking up at the open sky, with water beneath me, and a cool breeze making the experience perfect, I was already on a high! Soon we immersed ourselves in, and Akshay went somewhere above me, to my left. I could not see him any more. That made me slightly uncomfortable, but that didn't last. I had other things vying for my attention. I do not know how to describe what I saw inside. There were so many fishes! So many colours. Sun's rays. Quiet. And someone to keep a check on how I was doing. Time froze again. There wasn't a sound that I did not want to hear. There was nowhere else I'd have rather been. While all these thoughts are in retrospect, I did feel a wave of something overwhelming go through me some 20 minutes of being in there. But I let it pass. It was not required.

I did not talk after coming up. Akshay had to call out a couple of times before I gave him one little hi!. I had zoned out. And I did not want to come back to reality. I did not even speak during our boat ride back to civilisation. There was peace till deep within. And the sun was shining bright. He was smiling, it seems.

Bruises from the dive - my only memoir of having done it!

Some other things that made the trip amazing:

Ross Island

Like I mentioned, it is one of the closest islands to Port Blair, and certainly worth a few hours. I went there absolutely alone, and enjoyed every single moment spent there. The British had some life there in 19th and early 20th century. Now it only has remains of buildings from that time. Now it is just a very well maintained, unpolluted, serene space. I know I stood by one of the boundary walls with my mouth open for long enough to realise so and feel silly about, later. I smiled to myself. I talked to the sea. It was the second day of the trip and I had already begun to feel that I have got my money's worth!

It was so good to see these guys not being afraid of humans at all!

Wandoor Beach

Wandoor is in south Andaman. This is where I stayed. It wasn't my decision, and certainly not the right choice if you want to see all that there is to the islands. It is about 35 kms from the airport and the main city, and you will end up travelling up north for most of the places that you want to visit. But Wandoor does have a very beautiful beach. It is actually more of a lagoon, but definitely worth spending some time on. Our resort had a private gate opening straight on to the beach, and I quite liked that. On my first day there I paid my homage to the sea and clicked a few pictures of the splendid sunset.

I spent Wednesday evening there again, and I swear, the exhilarating feeling cannot be captured in words. There were hardly any people around. It was just the water, the sun and me. I did spot some pretty big crabs too, but they were minding their own business.

It was the morning of our checkout date that I went for a long walk and discovered that the beach is inhabited by salt water crocodiles and swimming there is prohibited. Thanking my stars, yes, I am. Cursing the hotel staff, yes, I am.

One can go to Jolly Buoy and Red Skin Island from Wandoor, which I hear are quite pretty. But I did not get a chance to go there.

North Bay Island

This one is also called the Coral Island, I hear. And this is where I went snorkelling. There were far too many people for me to enjoy sitting by the sea. And there is no beach here either. However, you can go for a little trek if you like. And that is what I did. But instead of climbing up, I decided to follow a little trail along the sea. The jungle reminded me of the damp monsoons of Western Ghats. I kept walking straight until I found a spot from where I could not see all those people or hear the water scooters. This vacation was meant to be my time away from madness, and I guess that is what I was invariably trying to get at each time I was out. And it worked. You don't need anything as long as nature keeps you engaged.

Havelock Islands and Radhanagar Beach

I did not do justice to this one. One must spend at least a night there. The journey from Port Blair takes close to 90 minutes by sea. I took the private ship, Macruzz, and am told it is far superior to what the government offers. It surely was clean and smooth.

Radhanagar is all about white sand and turquoise waters. The waves are rhythmic. I don't think I even need to mention that few things in the world match being there. It is beautiful and I am surely going to go back there.

Corbyn's Cove

This is a little beach in Port Blair itself. Not something worth visiting if you have already been to Radhanagar. But very pretty and well maintained for a city beach.

Cellular Jail

The famous kaala paani! The jail-turned-museum is interesting, but at the same time rather morose with details of the pain that people went through while serving time there. I spent far too much time there - first alone and then with Mom, also stayed back for the light and sound show. I was told it would be interesting, but it wasn't really so good.

I had planned a day for Baratang, which apparently has limestone caves, but that didn't work out. And looking at the map, I feel like I should go back and spend another two weeks or so there before coming back to this jungle.

This has been a very, very long post. Possibly my longest ever. But then it was my longest vacation ever, too. Deserved the space.

Oh, I must mention, GoAir was the cherry on my cake. Absolutely no complaints!

To 2012!

2012-01-02T13:33:00.000+05:30

2010 messed me up. Royally. In 2011, I made an effort to be good to my mind, and I think I succeeded to a fair extent. Some days and weeks were stupid, but I allow myself that much leeway. As for 2012, the aim is to be good to the body. I did cut down on some junk in '11 too, but this one has got to be more focused.

Good luck, RB!

Being Stupid Contd.

2011-12-29T12:57:00.000+05:30

I can behave in a socially agreeable manner only in a controlled environment. I do not know why this conveniently skips my mind. Doesn't do me any good. Ever. Ever!

Bokeh

2011-12-25T17:02:00.000+05:30

I began the year on a nervous note. I was not sure about how I would handle it...

It was the first year where I worked from January to December with exactly two weeks' break in the middle. So, it did fly by. But I think I managed to squeeze in enough to at least manage this post. Like I insist, lessons don't mean much unless I learn them myself. I finally figured that a minute, a moment, a day, are all enough if you really want to do something, get anywhere. It is the will that matters most. And with that thought, here's my snapshot of 2011!

# Entered an ocean full of opportunities led by the gods themselves!

# Had to get my nose re-pierced

# Four key travel outings in northern, western, southern, and central India. Beginning 2012 with the south-east. :D

# Did one semi-nude photoshoot which, I think, had turned out to be pretty good!

# Had a massive crush on an extremely nice guy

# My involvement with the big screen became extremely romantic

# Struggled with the health through one more year

# Watched Zakir Hussain live

# Spent money to watch a play for the first time

# Tried out some new restaurants and cafes in the city

# That story had another chapter unfolding this year

# Bought gold

# Said definite goodbye to Maggi and eggs, they are my allergies of the year

# Turned 25 and got my first surprise party

# Found the force in the sun

# Rode a tonga

# 10 years ago, I would not have worn an orange skirt even if you offered me money. And now, it is a dear possession

# It was the year of spotting cute men in the metro

# Taj Mahal dekha!

# OD'd on chocolate

# Drove on the streets cheering along with strangers when India won the cricket world cup

# Bought a LOT of white clothes

# Do not detest black any more. :)

# Picked a fight with Manu Joseph :P

# Visited banks of the Yamuna

# Sat on a negotiation table for Rs. 88 lakhs and contributed to the winning side

# Dreamt about going to Ladakh. Hopefully next year.

# Gave presents to some people when they were not expecting it. Felt nice.

# One more failed attempt at the gym

# Had my first serious scary moment when that man disappeared at the cemetery in Wayanad

# Got some of my photographs printed and framed for home

# Hated rains even more

# Said a very difficult 'no'

# Made a highly entertaining trip tot the Toilet Museum

# Wrapped my camera up

# Started using a BlackBerry

# Experienced Bombay at leisure for the first time

# Obsessively listened to some sufi songs

# Made my annual trip to the emergency room of a hospital

# Also had a blackout followed by a scary ECG

# Did not purchase a single bag this year. Maybe I should buy one as a new year present.

# Changed the blog's look after really long, and quite like what I have now!

# I did not delete some text messages from the phone. They have got to feature here! A consolidated version would look something like this:

"Airtel welcomes you to...

Haryana

Rajasthan

Gujarat

Maharashtra & Goa

Himachal Pradesh

Punjab

Madhya Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Kerala

Tamil Nadu

Karnataka"

I know I didn't go to all these states, but I did go through them all to fewer destinations! :D

# Cleartrip called me a 'frequent traveller' (ahem)

# I finally discovered the beautiful world of net banking

# TV gave us The Dewarists

# Got listed on an India Influencer Index on Twitter :P

...but I do think we managed to handle each other fairly well. 2012, are you going to last?

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T16:38:00.000+05:30

I have not taken any medicines in the last two weeks or so. It gives a feeling that is hard to describe because I do not remember the last time I went so long without at least one pill a day. I would have been happier if my body really did not need any medicines during this period, but right now I am okay playing this little game of denial too. It feels SO good!

It has been a perfect weekend so far. Friday night was with our man from Goa, Ranjan R. Atreya. I cannot believe that I have known him for over three years and did not know of his middle name until now. It's shameful! But TGIF gave us some very cheesy food and fairly potent mojitos. And Priyam added to the laughter dose of the evening. The weather was cold enough. I had no complaints.

Yesterday I happened to meet Chetak after four years. Time changes, times change.

Check out some spectacular Christmas images from across the world at http://t.co/eWk8Wa2j. They're beautiful!!

2011 and Me

2011-12-21T10:43:00.001+05:30

Colour of the year - Orange
Song of the year - Bawra mann...
TV series of the year - The Dewarists
Fruit of the year - Apple
Most dearly missed entity of the year - Eggs
Best buy of the year - the silver hoops
Best trip of the year - Wayanad
Surprise of the year - the book on driving in the mountains given by NB
Actor of the year - Gulshan Devaiah
The year's best brands - Mango & Hugo Boss
Knowledge god of the year - TSV
Innovations of the year - Google Doodles
Metro buddy of the year - Lynn
The year's most awesome sunset - Orchha
The year's most interesting insights - Food sector regulations
.
.
.
and I just lost my trail of thought...

The Month So Far...

2011-12-18T00:37:00.000+05:30

I completed six months in my current job. There is some degree of inertia at present, but I am hoping that would pass soon.

Attended Avan's brother's engagement ceremony. Barring the fact that I was inappropriately dressed for the occasion, everything was perfect. The two looked perfect together. It was such a nice feeling being in that positive space that evening! Happy for them.

Began with yet another attempt towards fitness. Endomondo is giving me company. So far so good - the face has begun to show some results. But a long, long way to go.

Also applied for my first non-sick leave in this office. And booked my tickets to Port Blair. Yes, January 2012, I am already looking forward to seeing you. And the beaches, of course.

Played Secret Santa in office and made some effort to be nice to my kin. I hear she was happy with her presents.

Oh, oh... I handled the Nikon D3X with a 50 mm lens! I instantly fell in love with its body, the picture clarity, and the very look of every image. Of course, I do still love Canon, but what the hell, the camera is bloody brilliant and there is no reason why one should not acknowledge that. Milan Kishorpuria, thank you!

I rediscovered my love for Simpoo Sir! I love him. I love his presence on Twitter. And I am very keen on finding out and meeting the person who manages this handle. Simpoo Sir ki jai!

After thinking that it was time to move on, I got my nose pierced again.

Last night, I attended the office's year-end party and it turned out to be more fun than I expected it to be. In fact, I didn't think I was going to attend one of these I-know-most-people parties any more. But I did, and I danced so much that my legs are still hurting from all the jumping. I also stepped out in that 5 degrees of cold. Bwaaaah!

Met Nidhi, Iyengar, and Abhimanyu after several months today. Laughter session, yes!

Tomorrow, Tughlaqabad Fort!

Evergreen

2011-12-11T00:45:00.000+05:30

It has been playing in a loop for several weeks now and I cannot get enough of it.

Sound of Laughter

2011-11-29T21:28:00.000+05:30

It's good to be single. It's good to have a few, close friends. It's good to have space. The 'good times' are important too, if they are an option. So I took up the option and decided to put that restlessness of all the previous posts and weeks to rest. It meant spending money which I did not need to. It meant going to a city that I wasn't particularly fond of. It certainly did not translate into a vacation because my definition of that word was bound by the place that I visit. But then I did do all of it because I wanted time with some of my most favourite people.

God bless Gmail for all the emails that it lets me write to these lovely people. I crib, I laugh, I babble, and I am myself. Why go all the way to Mumbai then, you might ask. Because emails cannot substitute tight hugs and the sound of laughter.

There was Ridhima, there was Swetha, there was Ruhi, and Robin and Avan. Baij too! Well, Swetha is in Delhi too, but this was about all of us being together. Ruhi is in Chennai these days, and she came as well.

Swetha and I were to travel together. I had heard bad things about GoAir, but my 8:15 pm flight was above ground at 8:15 pm. We landed on time too. The flight was great. We talked non-stop, a first for me because I compulsively sleep on flights. Ridhima and Bhavya came to pick us. Baij was on the same flight as us, so Avan had come to pick him. She welcomed me too. With the sweetest welcome note!

We grabbed a quick bite, and went to a place called Escobar. It greeted us with good music, and we spotted Madhur Bhandarkar, Rohit Roy and Randeep Hooda. Well, that was just for the record. :P

We talked, the music got better, the place grew on me, and I had a wonderful time! Swetha did the dance too.

From Escobar we went to Bandstand. I had heard a lot about it and one really can't expect anything ordinary from the sea. It was a no moon night, the tide was high, and the breeze was perfect. My mind split into two for those few moments of sitting there. Well, the sea deserved the attention. :)

The night as well as the following morning at Ridhima's was like going back in time. It was comfortable and pleasant.

Then Swetha left for her next destination, and Robin took a little break only to meet Ridhima and me for lunch a while later. And guess who else was there for lunch - Ruuhii, my love!!! We went to Chez Moi in Bandra. I liked it. The food was okay-ish, and I paid little attention to it. Ridhima had to leave a little early, but Robin, Ruhi and their pitcher of sangria were enough to make the afternoon perfect. I wanted time to freeze.

Ruhi & Robin with their sangria

Ridhima in her new look

Quintessential expressions

Robin became the butt of this joke

Uff! There was a photographer at work!

Angry Birds at Candies. We had something better for dessert.

Then it was Avan time! Evening was at her place. Robin was nice enough to drop me there. And before we knew it, it was time for dinner, and Robin and Ruhi were back at Avan's. We had not reached a conclusion for our dinner/drinks destination, and we were not even ready. But we managed to figure it all while Avan's friends joined us.

Dinner: we went to Copper Chimney which was only a short walk away from her house in Khar. I laughed a lot. I was conscious about the fact that it is a very rare thing now, and I wanted time to freeze a second time that day. I did not want to move. I did not want anyone to leave. Not even the people I was not talking to. It was my picture perfect moment. Only it was so much more than that.
It was already midnight by the time we wrapped dinner. Par raat abhi jawan thi. We went to Shiros from there. The place was bloody crowded. Just the kind I easily detest. But we went straight to the bar, ordered our drinks, had one after the other, and literally danced into the night. I was fine. Make that happy after a point. I demanded that the DJ announced and wished me a happy birthday just like all the other birthdays were being announced. Ruhi got him to. I demanded that one of the bartenders came and danced with me. Baij got his manager to agree. The guy was shy and cute. Haha... I embarrassed him!

With my lovelies!

I think we left from there around 3:30 am. Avan was keen on going to Marine Drive, so she, Baij and I went. But I don't think we stayed there because the cops were already sending people off. Apparently I talked endlessly. I was enjoying it. Feeling free with the one person whom I can trust with my eyes closed. Literally.
I also managed to avoid doing anything stupid with my phone.

Next morning was very late. Well, technically, not for me because I woke up 8:30 am and barely got any sleep after that. Yet, the breakfast date with Ruhi and Robin was cancelled. Because clearly I was not the only one who had a late night. I only managed to go to Carter Road for lunch with Avan and Baij. The place smelled bad, but it was beautiful. Reinstated my pending need for a beach vacation. The food was ordinary, but our conversation was not.
They then took me aboard a local train (my first!) to Bombay Central to ensure that I don't miss my Rajdhani to Delhi. Trains are always fun!! The local was good too because it was a Sunday afternoon and not crazy rush hour.

Bombay local

Bombay is as rough as Delhi can be. Bombay is as warm as Delhi can be. It's your people who make a difference. Nothing else does. Except that Bombay had me sweating while Delhi welcomed me back with a cold breeze.

I feel refreshed. My heart rate is back to normal. Oh, how I love them all! I am almost in a mind to give Bombay a piece of my heart. At least an html one.

Avan, it was certainly not hell. You know why.

2011: Hello, Woollen Socks!

2011-11-28T17:59:00.001+05:30

There has been activity galore in the last ten days. While the Goa plan could not materialise yet another time, I did check two other trips that were pending.

Mother had been wanting to go to Chintpurni, HP since last summer. We finally managed to go there during the 19-20 November weekend. The highlight was the fact that Dad agreed to come along. I don't remember the last time the entire family took a trip together. So, Mom, Dad, Bhai, the bhabhi, and me started by taking a long walk towards the Amritsar Shatabdi on 19th morning. As always, I was excited to get on to a train. But after having travelled by the Bhopal Shatabdi earlier this year, I was disappointed to see the uncomfortable seats and the badly maintained coaches. Maybe it was just an old coach of an old train, but I liked the Bhopal Shatabdi more. Nevertheless, the view of foggy mustard fields into Punjab made up for it all.

We took the train till Ludhiana, and then took a cab up to the hills. Highlights:

Lunch at Baabe da Vaishno Dhaba by the state highway in Hoshiarpur was to die for!
I saw the process of making jaggery at a small setup in the fields near the dhaba, and the smell & taste of the freshly made sugar was absolutely delicious.
Our driver, Amandeep was hard of hearing and did not use his rear view mirror for driving. I think the gods did know that we were making the trip only for them.
Evening is a good time to visit Chintpurni. At least you can breathe. Things were bad when I visited in the morning in 2006.
The HP Tourism hotel at Jwala Ji is decent to live in, but wouldn't recommend eating there. Their kitchen sucks.
The evening aarti at Jwala Ji, on cold nights, is heart warming.
Matar kulcha on the road outside Jwala Ji is also worth a try.

A goof-up on Sunday night led to a long, unwanted drive from Ludhiana to Delhi, but I did enjoy the little chill in the air and oh-so-amazing paranthas at Sukhdev's in Murthal!

Some mobile uploads:

Processing sugarcane juice

Drying jaggery

Sadda Punjab :P

Mother and Sis-in-Law

A flat tyre in the middle of nowhere

I had to rush to work as soon as we got home. And I worked, fell ill, and attended several meetings until Friday evening arrived and I rushed to pack again for the next trip.

Passive

2011-11-13T15:54:00.001+05:30

Boredom and the absence of any activity has left me rather irritated. The flurry of social lunches and dinners have only burnt a hole in my pocket and made my clothes tighter. Neither of the results induce any kind of positive feeling. I went for a play last Sunday which turned out to be pointless; I was looking forward to Rockstar, which also turned out to be useless. My constantly decreasing motivation for photography has made me close that chapter as well. And I have spent almost a whole quarter like this....

__________

Rockstar has good music. It has the Delhi winter and a few shots of my college. Ranbir Kapoor has done a rather good job. He has acted well, he is looking good, and has given the movie the little strength that it has. But the actress, the dialogues, and the narrative were so ordinary that they managed to kill the movie for me. Completely! And I am yet to see a Hindi musical which doesn't try too hard to connect the dots.

Sadda Haq should not even have featured in the movie. It brought down the intensity of the song simply because it was placed out of context.

Few Hindi movies play with guilt, and I really wish that Imtiaz Ali had picked someone who did not just have a pretty face. Nargis Fakhri... aargh!!

I had similarly looked forward to Mausam in September. I did manage to appreciate it far more than Rockstar, but it certainly left me yearning for more. In fact, the romance in the movie completely engrossed me. The cinematography was brilliant, Shahid Kapur looked good, and even Sonam Kapoor was tolerable. But I cannot ignore the fact that the movie was quite stupid in parts. And utterly idiotic towards the end. But I think I can watch it again merely because of the innocent romance. It was nice.

__________

On a different note, my mind has been thinking of a mute poem the last few days. When life and everything around you seems poetically strung but it silences you in a strange way that you cannot tell if it is good or bad, positive or negative; just something unsettling, something worth your emotions.

__________

If dinners at Taj and meetings with some people seem as worthless as they do, I wonder if power is an aspiration worth nurturing and taking stress for.

........now hoping to make the last few weeks of the year useful.

It's a Wrap!

2011-11-10T01:05:00.000+05:30

Clicking photographs made me happy.

2011-11-07T22:40:00.000+05:30

Kya Kahein!

2011-10-31T00:18:00.001+05:30

I have been bored and restless the past few days. And now when I am thinking about it, I realise that I have not seen a movie in a month, not shopped in close to two months, and not travelled in more than three months. Obviously I am bored and restless!

I don't have the time to explore and develop a liking for new things. I don't remember the last time I instantly started liking a new thing. None of the things that used to excite me seem to be doing so anymore. Really, none of them! I am oh-so-bored and restless!

So, while I restart my efforts to get a few people together to head out to a new place again, let me simultaneously write about the little, much overdue trip to the Toilet Museum in Delhi.

Last weekend, I was going through old posts here on Fuchsia when I remembered that the Museum is still on my to-do list. A switch to Facebook on the next tab had Arobindo Sinha updating his location back to Delhi. He is known for toilet humour, and I had been advised to take him along whenever I make this trip. A few comments later, we had a plan.

On Saturday afternoon, he and I met after about three odd years, and moved straight to the Museum. When I entered the place, the first thought was that the place is far smaller than I had imagined. It was funny to think that I contemplated on which shoes to wear. It should suffice to say that you can go there in stilettos too.

We started looking about, read some funny facts, shared a little laugh when one gentleman walked in and introduced himself to the only other two people in the Museum, an American couple. He was going to give them a guided tour. He asked us if we were interested in the tour. We agreed. We could not have imagined what the next 30 minutes had in store for us. I wish I could have recorded the tour. The 72-year-old Mr. Jha is seriously one of the most amusing people I have ever met! His gestures, his accent, the creepy flirtatiousness, and just the bloody way of being cracked us up. I mean, giving a tour of a toilet museum should be funny enough. Why do you have to do the action of 'doing business'! Anyway.

So he took us through the complete evolution - from the Indus Valley civilisation to the first WC to the old practices of western Europe to all the latest technological innovations - we covered everything. And the punctuating jokes made the tour perfect.

In appreciation of toilet humour and an embarrassing irony, I will tell you that I went to use the loo and realised a little too late that there was no water. The absence of toilet paper had anyway been noticed and ignored upon entering itself. So. It was a memorable trip in more ways than one.

Below are some pictures that I have borrowed from Google. The copyright is with their respective original owners.

The Museum!

THIS is Mr. Jha. That table is also a toilet from some godforsaken time in history.

Apparently, the differences between England and France led to the making of toilets of this kind. The French made these book-shaped toilets and put names of popular English books on them. This one has Macbeth on it.

The image in blue highlights a little trick you can use when you cannot access a toilet. Maybe I should have used it too. It is about applying pressure on the hand in anticlockwise direction in the given shape to reduce the pressure and thus the urge to immediately relieve yourself.

I laughed uncontrollably! You HAVE to go through the text here.

I think this one was from Austria.

A solar powered toilet. You don't need water for this one.

A king used to address his audience while sitting on this toilet. Obviously he had a troubled stomach. I will buy this the day my kingdom is in place.

And here is an invention for women to make use of in places with no toilets.

Loop

2011-10-13T23:33:00.002+05:30

Being deeply involved in anything leads to desire, desire leads to expectations, and expectations lead to disappointments.

And to go through a whole day, through different experiences, but the same feeling of disappointment repeatedly is more taxing than the mind can imagine.

Neela Aasman So Gaya

2011-10-11T23:46:00.000+05:30

....aur ab main bhi sone ja rahi hoon.

माया

2011-10-11T00:14:00.003+05:30

यह ख़ामोशी नहीं, सन्नाटा है.

अफसाना नहीं, भ्रम है.

Aiyo!

2011-10-09T14:59:00.001+05:30

The fact that I have been earning for a year, as also the current state of my bank balance, forced me into opening an Excel sheet on a Sunday to do some analysis. Actually it was just a dreadful exercise of writing out all the expenses that I have made in this one year. It's not a pretty picture from the savings and investments point of view. Rather, a very sad picture. I don't know how it happened. I didn't do it. I think, even with my limited funds, I do need a fund manager. Who can forcefully take money out of my account. Oh my god, I want to cry! While all my expenses do still seem reasonable, I cannot come to terms with the total. This is why conclusions are not nice. Not nice, not nice, not nice!!! What do I doooo?

PS - I didn't know I spend so much on presents for other people. And so many people! I thought I didn't have friends. Pff!

Being Stupid

2011-10-05T01:13:00.001+05:30

Chasing the wrong dream.
Trying to be a hero.
Making the wrong decision.
And being stupid.

Work

2011-09-30T16:17:00.002+05:30

Engagement. Sustained. Stakeholders. Objective. Public.Critical. Business. Recommend. Growth. Direction. Strategic. Industry.Solutions.

Client. Client. Client. Client. Client. Client. Client. Client.Client. Client. Client. Client. Client. Client. Client. Client. Client.

Community

2011-09-23T16:43:00.002+05:30

I have a special dislike fornoise. Of all kinds. Well, I have a special dislike for a variety of smells too(just this morning I realized that I cringe my nose several times a day), butwe are talking about noise here. Presence of a number of women in a closedspace (which never has ‘normal’ temperature) is a deadly phenomenon. I wouldhave liked to unabashedly stereotype a certain team here and pull their hair out for the kind of noisethey make. But there are two teams which drive me bloody crazy. I understandFriday afternoon is a happy time. I really do appreciate it. And I also knowthat not everyone chooses to be asocial, but what the hell! How do people whoare trying to work (or pretending to work) become invisible to these women! Amongstthese are also those whose mornings are startlingly cheerful. Mornings. Allmornings. Every single morning from Monday to Friday. Did I mention themy-words-can-ring-through-your-ears-to-your-brain-and-kill-the-cells-that-detect-soundkind of voices! And I wonder how these same women become bitches when theirwork isn’t getting done because of external factors. They make noise when theyare happy. They make even more noise when they are cribbing. They are annoyingwith a big fat capital A.

The giggly kind of loud foranother day. Those are pure bitches of a far more evil kind.

Of course I do not belong to any of these communities.