trav(w)ails

Thought process before embarking on a long trip:

• Sit up late into the night downloading songs that you arent sick of listening within a minute. The ultimate scare of 10 hours of silence broken only by the incessant “nagging” / questioning from Munchkin would be the ultimate motivator.

• The above task of downloading made easy as everything you listen to sounds new. New doesn’t necessarily mean nice.

• Hindi is relatively easy and sticking to the language would be awesome. Until sudden realization that I have the ultimate critic in dad. Debate. hesitate. Decide. No matter what songs, unless they are sung by BMK or Ghantasala or SPB, dad would’nt be a happy camper anyway. Decide to unearth some black and white DVD’s.

• Daughter decides to take her closet with her. Sadly, she was brought down quick to the ground with doing simple math learnt long ago in kindergarten, and the days of the week count.

• Have no idea why I started cleaning out the basement. Found some treasures. Relics that were once thought of as treasures and now wree stared at wondering why those were saved ever in the first place.

• Dry wall dusting collecting over my hair, arms, legs, pants and behind. A geisha would probably want to run and powder her face a little more.

• Sending son camping seemed more traumatic and stressful than sending a daughter to her in-laws claimed the dad. Well, seven days and six nights is no joke, and all the unsettling stories about insect bites, pottying in the wild, open showers, throwing 11-12 year old boys into ponds lakes with slimy slithering creatures as they make a makeshift floater with their shirt and pants. Yes, the ones they are in when they are pushed into the water. I am glad I wasn’t born a boy. The daughter agrees.

• Munchkin changed in and out of 11 dresses. 6 came from her grandmom, and 5 from older sister’s hand-me-downs. She was delighted to have found the vault of colorful dresses. I had no idea I saved them all. I had no idea why I saved them all. Sure, they are pretty, but still?!

• If anyone’s thinking am a hoarder, I would gently ask you to tilt your neck to the far end of the basement. IIT Kgp’s stamped notes and text books along with U of Alabama’s tomes lay in a few boxes turning yellow. Not a soul’s to lay hands on them. In contrast I have just 2 containers. Filled to the brim and the writing’s too round and cute for my own comfort.

• Discovered my 12th grade ( senior year ) white uniform scribbled all over with love, goodbyes and sayings from classmates of ‘88. Wow. Brought some fine memories back, along with trying to explain to the guffawing tweens why we wrote over our white uniforms and didn’t just have year books like them. Bah. Like they’d understand?

• Mom’s plotting to watch Maya Bazaar, while munchkin’s swearing by Shrek, and daughter is eyeing Harry Potter, but is inclined to Spidey. What do I care? I will be devouring Hungry Tide even before we hit the first pit stop.

• Have a birthday celebration every day till we leave sister’s. Way too many gifts to think of. Figured will deal with it once I get there. I really need to learn to not stress over the “perfect” gift. I know for a fact my mouth’s gonna be hurting by the time am back.

• Am tired and sore, my legs and back hurt. I still have to find that button down tight shirt that the son will be wearing before he makes a life saving device out of it. And here I am blogging about it all. See how much I care!

Toodles all, enjoy your weekend and hope the sun’s not too harsh on you, wherever you are. If i get lucky, I may just enjoy my vacation.

..and o, I plan on piercing my nose. Why? Coz my nose is lacking attention it deserves. I mean, it just occupies like say a thrid of my face, so why not add a shiny 3-d on it and see if it occupies the whole of it. Yeah? Yeah. Any kindred soul, say a prayer for me. The date is set for July 2nd me thinks. Am at the mercy of my sister, so we’ll see how much she manages to make me look like a maami from Ayodhya Mandapam in West Mambalam. (We actually have a wiki entry for Mambalam?! I am shocked!)

That moonu kallu mookuthi is resounding in my ears. Go Maamis! Go Mommies.

 

varsha pirappu ‘08

Wishing my kazillion (I know that’s a stretch, but I sorta liked the term and hence using it freely!) tamil readers a wonderful new beginning.

pic: By ferrari.

Gorgeous orange sunrise and colors of the waters at Marina Beach, loved the frame and felt it suited the occasion in more ways than one.

Ellorukkum Iniya Tamil Puthandu Vazthukkal

Enna Panneenga? Veetley enna samayal? Enna padam release inda new yearukku? Thalaivar paattu onnu paakkalama?

(Translating: Wishing all a wonderful new Tamil new year. What did you do? What’s the menu at home? What are the new movie release for this day? Should we watch the Hero’s song? )

Such a catchy fun number and good sentiments to boot, too! so enjoy :–)

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Not to forget our Kerala neighbors - Happy Vishu.

Sadya kazhicho?

(Translates to - did you gorge well on the huge lunch served this day?) :–)

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not to be left behind

Valentine’s day message:

 

Subliminal Message:

ps: Had this gorgeous document all prettied up with fancy callouts and graphics and wp just didn’t accept a docx.  *sigh.

 

potpourri 6

1.  I got an email from ICQ last evening. I now have an official ICQ number and was encouraged quite charmingly to start using it. They must think am a dinosaur.

2.  Got linked to this article :

Japan is suffering a crisis of confidence these days about its ability to compete with its emerging Asian rivals, China and India. But even in this fad-obsessed nation, one result was never expected: a growing craze for Indian education

and then this:

Its 2-year-old pupils are taught to count to 20, 3-year-olds are introduced to computers, and 5-year-olds learn to multiply, solve math word problems and write one-page essays in English, tasks most Japanese schools do not teach until at least second grade. 

Let kids be kids for goodness sakes!

3. Impression Management on Steroids. Quite the lofty title for all networking and dating sites that are out there.

In one study of online dating, professors at Rutgers, Georgetown and Michigan State found that in the absence of visual and oral cues, single people develop their own presentational tactics: monitoring the length of their e-mail messages (too wordy equals too desperate); limiting the times during which they send messages (a male subject learned that writing to women in the wee hours makes them uncomfortable); and noting the day they last logged on (users who visit the site too infrequently may be deemed unavailable or, worse, undesirable).

Yikes! For once am I glad I am not in any dating scene, nor did I have to go through it. It does pay to be born in the 70’s I suppose and on the flip side being a dinosaur is oh-so-relaxing. Stress-free.

4. It’s official. I am the shoe and the bag lady at work. After the fantastic colorful entertaining conversation starter display I have on my cube the last coupla months, a colleague was inspired to get me a one-a-day calendar that features, handbags.  So far the bags have been quite cute. Champagne bucket look from Anne Marie of 40’s, a pepto-bismol pink with Christian Dior initials, and a white mirrored evening purse.
Am waiting for the bizarre days. As the one pictured on the cover - corsets and the like.

5. Also, this is my first ever gift an getting from someone other than the obligatory husband, in a really long long time. Am thrilled beyond words. I know, am lame, but what can I say, being the giver almost all my life has made me appreciate the sparse rare little gifts I ever get. I tend to associate gifts with thoughts. When someone’s gifted you something, anything, it means you have been in your thoughts enough to warrant an action. That is a good thing. Gets some hope going that the world is alright after all. Balanced, still sane.

Going by that hypothesis, it also means that there aren’t really too many out there who either think that way, or in a more cruel sense, don’t have me in their thoughts enough. Oh, what a vain crybaby I am!

6. Kite Runner - is killing me slowly. I have yet to finish it though. Usually I chew pages at an incredible urgent pace, but this book makes me want to slow down. The daughter caught me blinking out the tears as I turned to stare outside the plane on our return flight, and she told me in quite the mommy tone “mom, it’s just a book, don’t be a baby now”. 

Some of the passages are strong, evocative, that it’s hard to not stop and let the meanings flow through you, visualize the descriptives, and perhaps even draw parallels of the characters in your own mundane life.

 

irony

Weekend of 22-23rd Dec

DC Area: 40’s - 50’s, sunny, cripsly cold.
San Diego/LA: - 60’s, windy, sunny

Week of 25th through 30th Dec

DC Area: Balmy 50’s, sunny
San Diego/LA: Low 50’s, sunny, extremely windy thus lowering temps further.

Week of Jan 2nd: 

DC Area: 30’s, biting cold, winds, sunny
San Diego/LA: Lower 70’s, sunny

 

Bags full of thin cotton tees, shorts, capris and swimwear. No points for guessing where I was during what time. Sure, Southern California is picturesque and pretty and the beaches are spectacular and their houses are unique and colorful with hibiscus and bouganvillas peeping over brick walls, reminding me of my own backyard in Madras, but here’s the big question.

Why in the world didnt any of you Californian brags warn me of the frikkin cold?!

Warm weather indeed! Bah!

It’s okay, don’t be chickens now, tell me you hate me and wanted me to suffer in short sleeves and sandals, and then laugh heartily as I shiver and turn blue in the face. Bad people, very bad sadistic people.

 

bye bye

‘07.  Hello 2008.  Raising the glass to more of what 07 offered, via my blog.  

To more:

• random useless quips
• inuendo-ridden posts
• spouse-”bashing”
• lame poetry that no one gets
• banter with dear velcro-like faithful lovable readers
• treats, visual and otherwise
• mommy brags
• ridiculously fun times at work reading blogs,  
• thrills: cheap and otherwise
• friends 
• trusteds: no matter the physical distance 
• meanings in words and bonds: shallow and otherwise

To a wonderful New Year that stretches before us. Relax and have fun, coz once you’re out there, that’s all you got to do.

As relative and subjective the following words may be: Play. Enjoy. Triumph. 

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Sattar Minute:

Sattar minute hai tumhare paas. Shayad tumhari zindagi ke sabse khaas sattar minute. Aaj tum accha khelo ya bura, yeh sattar minute tumhe zindagi bhar yaad rahenge. Toh kaise khelna hai aaj main tumhe nahi batayunga bas itna kahungaki jaayo aur yeh sattar minute jee bhar ke khelo. Kyunki iske baad aane wali zindagi mein chahe sahi ho ya na, ho chahe kuch rahe ya na rahe, tum haaro ya jeeto; lekin yeh sattar minute tumse koi nahi cheen sakta. Koi nahi.  Toh maine socha ki iss match mein kaise khelna hai, aaj main tumhe nahi batayunga, balki tum mujhe batayoge. Khelkar kyunki main jaanta hoon ki agar yeh sattar minute iss team ka har player apni zindagi ki sabse badiya hockey khel de toh yeh sattar minute khuda bhi tumse waapis nahi maang sakta. Toh jaayo jaayo aur apne aap se, iss zindagi se, apne khuda se, aur har uss insaan se jisne tumhe tumpar barosa na kiya ho

apne sattar minute cheen lo 

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 Now imagine the Sattar Minute was your entire span of existence.