Friday, 15 February 2008
valentina speaks
who was saint valentine??? i don't know, and it doesn't really matter - thank god for him!!! such a lovely excuse for presents and pampering and romantic candlelit dinners! :) my cup spilleth...
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
cold, cold heart
it's a grey world - snow on the ground, clouds in the sky.
has the earth stopped revolving around the sun?
has the earth stopped revolving around the sun?
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Friday, 1 February 2008
aliens from another planet
some people you meet really seem to be from another planet. it's impossible to understand what motivates them to act as they do. especially when they act maliciously or rudely without any perceptible provocation. perhaps they have secret sorrows or simply bad upbringing that makes them incapable of predictable social responses. and then, not everyone is alike. but in our quiet regulated worlds where most people act with acceptable social manners, it's hard to know how to cope with those few who are... different.
i've recently had to cope with a person whom i completely fail to understand! she is rude without provocation, takes malicious delight in troubling me and denying me by devious routes whatever it is i want, and yet i find it hard to dislike her! you see, i have a theory - i believe you can judge people by the company they keep. i'm still testing it out, but it seems to be true. and the strange thing is - this hateful, rude, spiteful, masterful woman has really nice friends! people who are witty, funny, sweet and easy to talk to. so according to my theory, there has to be some side to this woman that is likeable, different from the side she consistently shows to me. recently i had the opportunity to watch her interact with one of her closest friends, and i was amazed by the change i saw in her! she was funny, flirty, amusing... charming!!!!!! it was most disturbing hehe. so is my theory wrong, or is there more to her than meets the eye, or is there more to the people around her than meets the eye? it's difficult to understand her tantrums, her paranoia, her persecution complexes - to see her at one moment almost desperately reaching out for friendship and at another violating your trust by repudiating your friendly overtures in the most rude and violent fashion! what IS it with her???????
i've recently had to cope with a person whom i completely fail to understand! she is rude without provocation, takes malicious delight in troubling me and denying me by devious routes whatever it is i want, and yet i find it hard to dislike her! you see, i have a theory - i believe you can judge people by the company they keep. i'm still testing it out, but it seems to be true. and the strange thing is - this hateful, rude, spiteful, masterful woman has really nice friends! people who are witty, funny, sweet and easy to talk to. so according to my theory, there has to be some side to this woman that is likeable, different from the side she consistently shows to me. recently i had the opportunity to watch her interact with one of her closest friends, and i was amazed by the change i saw in her! she was funny, flirty, amusing... charming!!!!!! it was most disturbing hehe. so is my theory wrong, or is there more to her than meets the eye, or is there more to the people around her than meets the eye? it's difficult to understand her tantrums, her paranoia, her persecution complexes - to see her at one moment almost desperately reaching out for friendship and at another violating your trust by repudiating your friendly overtures in the most rude and violent fashion! what IS it with her???????
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
i will...
"who knows how long i've loved you
d'you know i love you still
will i wait a lonely lifetime
if you want me to, i will...
love you forever and forever
love you with all my heart
love you whenever we're together
love you when we're apart
and when at last i find you
your song will fill the air
sing it loud so i can hear you
make it easy to be near you
for the things you do endear you/ to me
oh/ you know/ i will"
a friend of mine once said that when she fell in love with the perfect guy, she wished this song would play in the background when he proposed! and i thought that was the most romantic idea i'd ever heard! well, that was school and we were romantic back then... when he did propose to me, there was no music, no wine, no dancing, no wining or dining, even no ring! he did get down on one knee though (heehee, so sweet!) and sheepishly said those 4 words - will you marry me - and i giggled and said yes, and then i dropped him off at the railway station and came back home to an empty room... that's life! life doesn't always come with frills, but it has its way of filling you with soul-happiness! and then, even if this song doesn't actually fill the air, you can still hear it!!! and mean it!!!!!!
d'you know i love you still
will i wait a lonely lifetime
if you want me to, i will...
love you forever and forever
love you with all my heart
love you whenever we're together
love you when we're apart
and when at last i find you
your song will fill the air
sing it loud so i can hear you
make it easy to be near you
for the things you do endear you/ to me
oh/ you know/ i will"
a friend of mine once said that when she fell in love with the perfect guy, she wished this song would play in the background when he proposed! and i thought that was the most romantic idea i'd ever heard! well, that was school and we were romantic back then... when he did propose to me, there was no music, no wine, no dancing, no wining or dining, even no ring! he did get down on one knee though (heehee, so sweet!) and sheepishly said those 4 words - will you marry me - and i giggled and said yes, and then i dropped him off at the railway station and came back home to an empty room... that's life! life doesn't always come with frills, but it has its way of filling you with soul-happiness! and then, even if this song doesn't actually fill the air, you can still hear it!!! and mean it!!!!!!
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
SATC
this blank box is one of the most intimidating things in the world!!!
have been maxing out on 'sex and the city'! it is a totally girly show for girls! i watch it for hours after my husband's fallen asleep or when he isn't at home.... hehe guilty secret no.1! it makes you think a lot, about married life, single life, relationships, casual sex, whatever...
personally speaking, i'm not a casual sex kinda person (major understatement from an indian - casual sex would mean a dimension or paradigm change for me!!!), and it's hard for me to understand sleeping with anyone without getting married first, let alone after just a couple of dates. it's got nothing to do with india though - the things kids do nowadays and the way they talk makes my hair go white. we've imported the western attitude alongwith the clothes, the junk food and the technology. oh, and of course, coca cola! kids nowadays dont go to school... they have oral sex in the hostel, which they secretly tape on their phones and send to all their friends. oh god, i never wanna have kids! anyway, the point is, sleeping with somebody you barely know or just met seems to me a little strange. being naked with somebody is the ultimate moment of truth. how can you invest so much in just a casual encounter? hmmm, but there's something to be said for the opposite point of view too - if you can't find love, atleast have sex in the meantime! :-)
another thing i noticed about the characters of the show - how to remain 'yourself' even while being in a relationship. i don't understand this at all! this assumes that you are one constant, static person, which you so are not! you're constantly reacting to changes in your environment, that make you think, analyze, evolve... change! then why not allow relationships to change who you are as well? after all, aren't you with that person because they're really special, because they stand out from the herd? being in a relationship is about both people meeting each other half-way, and how can you do that if you refuse to budge?
have been maxing out on 'sex and the city'! it is a totally girly show for girls! i watch it for hours after my husband's fallen asleep or when he isn't at home.... hehe guilty secret no.1! it makes you think a lot, about married life, single life, relationships, casual sex, whatever...
personally speaking, i'm not a casual sex kinda person (major understatement from an indian - casual sex would mean a dimension or paradigm change for me!!!), and it's hard for me to understand sleeping with anyone without getting married first, let alone after just a couple of dates. it's got nothing to do with india though - the things kids do nowadays and the way they talk makes my hair go white. we've imported the western attitude alongwith the clothes, the junk food and the technology. oh, and of course, coca cola! kids nowadays dont go to school... they have oral sex in the hostel, which they secretly tape on their phones and send to all their friends. oh god, i never wanna have kids! anyway, the point is, sleeping with somebody you barely know or just met seems to me a little strange. being naked with somebody is the ultimate moment of truth. how can you invest so much in just a casual encounter? hmmm, but there's something to be said for the opposite point of view too - if you can't find love, atleast have sex in the meantime! :-)
another thing i noticed about the characters of the show - how to remain 'yourself' even while being in a relationship. i don't understand this at all! this assumes that you are one constant, static person, which you so are not! you're constantly reacting to changes in your environment, that make you think, analyze, evolve... change! then why not allow relationships to change who you are as well? after all, aren't you with that person because they're really special, because they stand out from the herd? being in a relationship is about both people meeting each other half-way, and how can you do that if you refuse to budge?
Monday, 14 January 2008
a clockwork orange
Recently my husband and I have been on a total movie binge! Living without cable television has enriched our lives in many ways - we read more books, we talk more often, we actually select which movies we want to watch instead of watching whatever's on tv... it's great!!! (my husband doesn't think so - missing the premier league is no joke!!!)
So anyway, we watched Clockwork Orange lately. Very disturbing movie with graphic portrayal of crime, sex, rape, lobotomy, criminal urges, beethoven - you name it! Everything you would expect from a Stanley Kubrick movie... There is something about this subject that makes you want to keep it subliminal. A movie that makes you identify and sympathise with a criminal character who is everything you are taught to condemn - well, it shocks you so much it takes days to recover! You are left wondering if there is somewhere inside you that sort of a person, who would be beyond control, beyond restraint! A part of you even wants to be that person! And you thought you were normal??? Well, after such a movie, I just had to watch Allo Allo to bring the world back into perspective! :-)
Blogger अब हिन्दी में!!! जय हो!!!
So anyway, we watched Clockwork Orange lately. Very disturbing movie with graphic portrayal of crime, sex, rape, lobotomy, criminal urges, beethoven - you name it! Everything you would expect from a Stanley Kubrick movie... There is something about this subject that makes you want to keep it subliminal. A movie that makes you identify and sympathise with a criminal character who is everything you are taught to condemn - well, it shocks you so much it takes days to recover! You are left wondering if there is somewhere inside you that sort of a person, who would be beyond control, beyond restraint! A part of you even wants to be that person! And you thought you were normal??? Well, after such a movie, I just had to watch Allo Allo to bring the world back into perspective! :-)
Blogger अब हिन्दी में!!! जय हो!!!
Einstein spoke, and it was so...
One of the smartest men in the history of mankind spoke thus:
"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving..." - Albert Einstein
Why are we on this earth? Why do we have no clue if we have a purpose or a destiny to fulfil? We can believe whatever we choose to believe, make of this life whatever we wish, and die not knowing any better than what we were born with - is there a larger purpose to our existence? I suppose in a way life is an end in itself - experience makes it worthwhile. Fall in love, have kids, walk the magical path of sensual exploration. And then die??? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust??? It's like training a resource for months and, just when he's fully trained and ready to work, firing him! I guess that's why we like to believe in our immortal souls, to convince ourselves that our actions have some larger, eternal significance.
Perhaps the idea is that one particular individual is not significant, but the work of mankind adds up over the centuries and results in progress. So many great scientific minds have expressed gratitude for the shoulders of the giants they stand upon every time they switch on a lightbulb! Yes, that is true - if it weren't for men far more gifted than I who have gone before me, my life would not be what it is today. I take it for granted, shrug my shoulders, and pass on my two bits to the next generation, but if you think for a bit, you are benefitting from other men's genius without having done anything to deserve it! Are we really just bricks in the wall, who slowly fall in place so that other bricks may lay on us? Then why do we have ego, self-consciousness, self-love? It seems like such a wasteful and redundant emotion in such a marvellously cost-effective world!
Perhaps it is as Einstein says - we can get glimpses of true purpose in a smile on a beloved face. We do our best according to our lights, and that's all there is to it. Perhaps it doesn't mean much to the universe, but the way we're constructed, if we've got love in our hearts and a song on our lips, it's pretty much all we asked for! :)
"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving..." - Albert Einstein
Why are we on this earth? Why do we have no clue if we have a purpose or a destiny to fulfil? We can believe whatever we choose to believe, make of this life whatever we wish, and die not knowing any better than what we were born with - is there a larger purpose to our existence? I suppose in a way life is an end in itself - experience makes it worthwhile. Fall in love, have kids, walk the magical path of sensual exploration. And then die??? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust??? It's like training a resource for months and, just when he's fully trained and ready to work, firing him! I guess that's why we like to believe in our immortal souls, to convince ourselves that our actions have some larger, eternal significance.
Perhaps the idea is that one particular individual is not significant, but the work of mankind adds up over the centuries and results in progress. So many great scientific minds have expressed gratitude for the shoulders of the giants they stand upon every time they switch on a lightbulb! Yes, that is true - if it weren't for men far more gifted than I who have gone before me, my life would not be what it is today. I take it for granted, shrug my shoulders, and pass on my two bits to the next generation, but if you think for a bit, you are benefitting from other men's genius without having done anything to deserve it! Are we really just bricks in the wall, who slowly fall in place so that other bricks may lay on us? Then why do we have ego, self-consciousness, self-love? It seems like such a wasteful and redundant emotion in such a marvellously cost-effective world!
Perhaps it is as Einstein says - we can get glimpses of true purpose in a smile on a beloved face. We do our best according to our lights, and that's all there is to it. Perhaps it doesn't mean much to the universe, but the way we're constructed, if we've got love in our hearts and a song on our lips, it's pretty much all we asked for! :)
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
And on the millionth day, God said, Thou shalt not write
“It was a dark, stormy night”, wrote Snoopy. I might as well begin with that. There is no way to know how to begin a book. You may have an idea, or no idea, or just want to try your hand at this writing thing everyone keeps talking about, but there’s really no way of knowing how to begin. I can imagine myself going on famously, but the crucial thing is, what about? I have lived a moderately eventful life in a moderately uneventful way, and what is there to write about in that? I may have opinions on everything under the sun, but did I ever pack my bags and shoot off to play a part in the Gulf War? No! Most emphatically not! I am a product of my education and upbringing, and would not consider any options that are not financially viable. So how does such a person with limited experience start to write a book that enthralls millions as they nod their heads in smiling, excited euphoria of shared understanding? Well, even if it fails to do that, at least a book that its writer is able to read with interest and without cringing! How do people do it? My mind is too literal to allow me to read into the daily occurrences of my existence a mystical aura or larger-than-life significance, and to be able to convert it into poetic, elegant prose. And yet I can connect word to word as well as the next guy. Is it really a divine power?
Friday, 7 December 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)