Why English is sooo BAD ??

So my sister's finally finished her dissertation and has moved to Bangalore to work. Having been apart for a long time, we were catching up and one of those conversations took us back to good ol' Sacred Heart School in Jamshedpur. We suddenly remembered a poetry recitation competition she'd participated in as a little girl and actually penned down the entire poem after Google returned a zilch!! And so here goes:

Lil' Sister begins reciting: Why English is So BAD?

We'll begin with box, and the plural is boxes;
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.

Then one fowl is goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

The cow in the plural may be cows or kine,
But the plural of vow is vows, not vine.

I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
If I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth, and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

If the singular is this and the plural is these,
Why shouldn't the plural of kiss be named kese?

Then one may be that, and three may be those,
Yet the plural of hat would never be hose;

We speak of a brother, and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.

The masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine she, shis, and shim!

So our English, I think, you all will agree,
Is the craziest language you ever did see.

Milky Mo(o-v-e)ments!!

Shot this one in Goa. It was amazing to watch the bovine heap move all together from one end of the street to the other, horns, hooves, calves, tails, flies and and all !!

I left the title blank for not wanting this to be yet another one of those "yipeee...I am back" posts. So what did I do all this time.

1. We did really take a very well deserved and long awaited vacation to Goa. A day of some rain and three wonderful days of sunshine combined with the lots of free flowing and inexpensive yet great liquor and food by the Arabian Sea was extremely fun and well very fun!!
2. I finally managed to get our living room spruced up with some new and wonderfully colorful plump cushions and cant help gloating at this accomplishment :)
3. Long conversations over the endless cups of good tea on dull rainy weekends are always so perfect, though only next to great evenings with good food and wine and merry making with great company !
4. Watched a few very forgettable movies that I would not even care mentioning !
5. Finally, got to my blog and approved the comments :) and have posted my replies :)
   

B'lore traffic "rules"

I am not going to be claiming that I am back with the "bang"(Lore...pssst the "d" was silent)!! So much for a pathetic joke.
Well, the last couple of weeks were spent over-hearing some interesting "expert" advice on the golden rules that prevail while driving in Bangalore. Two of our colleagues who've recently moved to India finally acquired the much dreaded liabilities - their cars. These wannabe 4-goody-tyres are truly the bane of this very over-burdened city. Its a pain driving around the streets of this place. You not only have poor & hazardous roads to drive on but you also have to bear the brunt of non-existent lane discipline, extremely rude drivers, completely bizarre traffic management "officials", terribly egoistic public transport drivers and...Jeez!! the list is endless. If you are smart enough though you could get by just fine, just like all those others who get along perfectly.

Heres some precious piece of overheard advice if you want to drive in Bangalore.

1. If you're a woman and you're a driver, be certain that you will curse the day the treacherous and quintessential "Y" jilted you ! Be bold, brazen and well truly forget femininity and all those associated niceties/jazz around that.
   
2. Buy your car but please ensure it does not look really new(meaning get those initial bumps and scratches for the effect...) the moment you hit the streets, you would've earned a few brownie points and respect of the other drivers!
   
3. Forget about your recent splurge at the dentists for a polished & cleaned set of teeth. Forget the fact that your smile makes you look nice and happy. You will never regret it. Start your day by gritting your jaws, bring on the frown and acid on your tongue and fire away with aggression. Once you reach your destination, you will know that your efforts paid off. Smile to your hearts content. A frown everyday will brighten your day!!
   
4. Get rid of both those rear view mirrors or keep them shut-in. Shocking but true...they are pretty much considered expensive and truly unwanted "accessories". I have never however managed to get rid of this horrid addiction to my rear view mirrors. Apart from looking all the way around when I turn to make sure my "blind-spots" don't deceive my vision. I really have to turn "cold turkey" on this terrible terrible vice. Well, what do they say about "when in Rome...."?
   
5. When in need HONK and HONK and HONK again. The louder the better and the more frequently you use it you will be sure to rule the streets.Oh! and you must try the latest in the market, they're now the louder than ever before. This nasty noise maker is sure to dissolve all your traffic woes. It doesn't matter if the decibel levels cannot be tolerated by the minutest of living beings. But if you're going this route remember deafness is also here to stay. The deafer you are the better off you are!!
   
6. If its a one-way street towards the north today, beware; it is likely to be one-way towards the south tomorrow. So please do drive in the opposite direction on a one-way street, it will pay off. Also, if theres a cop watching, please ignore him he doesn't know a thing at this point you simply jump to #10 below !!
   
7. Perhaps the driving school taught you how to use your indicators. But remember just as you did learn lots at college but had to unlearn and re-learn everything in your first job, kick your driving-school teacher hard on his/her backside. They never taught you the right the thing at all. Heres how you do it here. If you want to turn to the right:
1. Indicate about a mile in advance, remember do not turn off the indicator,
2. Stay on the extreme left side of the road, especially when you happen to drive a huge trailer/truck/bus,
3. The moment you arrive at your turn, just swish your wheels to the right and cut across like the Atlantis.
4. Disadvantage: You need to be prepared for lots of unparliamentary language and actions, Advantage:You have your way and feel realllllly "Godly"..And its the whole feel good factor - you're sooo smart & cool & superior, you freaked out fifty others around you and fooled them didn't ya!
   
8. Ensure you get fancy tail lights/parking lights/reverse lights on your vehicle, in a manner that they flash very fancily and all together irrespective of whether you're driving at night/hitting the brakes/reversing; its a cool, slick, trick! Oh you wicked devil you...you really got them this time didn't you?
9. You've probably heard of headlights and perhaps know how & when to use them.Simpletons like yours truly, use them at nights/fogs/rains and in the low beam. We poor folks were also taught to flash them to overtake/warn other drivers. But hey guess what I learnt today...you're supposed to install halogen/fluorescent lamps and drive on a high beam especially when you site someone coming in the opposite direction in a poorly lit street. Thanks! I now know what "Zap" means and can articulate "dazzled" really well.
10. Here are a few final aces.
    
1. Get some awful looking bumper stickers with devils/skulls/charging bulls and lots of messages painted sort of like "Oh evil-eyed one, may you face be blackened!*" OR "Himmat Hai To Side Se Nikal, Warna Bardasht Kar**" OR socially meaningful ones that promote birth control "we one ours one/two***";
   
2. Overtake from the wrong side
   
3. Be really quick to show your hand in a very offended manner to every passer-by whether or not there was a problem. Believe me you will scare them away.
   
4. Finally, remember you are always right !! Just drive straight and focus only on your getting to your destination before everyone else. Do not, I repeat, do not look around you under any circumstances, other drivers are obviously responsible for their own lives even if they get hit; after all they need to watch and drive carefully ! Didn't they come in the wrong direction ?
   

*Popular bumper stickers on trucks in India:

• *Oh boori nazar wale tera mooh kala - This one wards off the "evil-eye" a popular superstition
• **Himmat Hai To Side Se Nikal, Warna Bardasht Kar - If you have guts, overtake me or tolerate me
• ***Hum do humare ek/do - a family planning message, preaching to couples to have either one or 2 kids only

All this is very good & interesting, but the overwhelming factor is that it appears on really monstrous, scary and broken down trucks/trailers!!

On a loss...

It is so strange how much an unexpected loss impacts you.So strong, as to make you question your present state of existence. Everything that you once had and always took for granted is not even there any more. Its scary how that one loss could completely turn your world upside down, so much so that nothing else matters any more. Every philosophy & every word of wisdom then just doesn't make much sense. Somehow, a loss always provokes a train of thought that enlightens you on the wasted moments and what you could have done better or done right or it makes you wish you'd simply done something more. You even know that this realization & the loss is going to fade away in a few moments(hours/days/months/years) from now never to be spoken of again in the same tone of dejection & deprivation !

As they sing on, I've always known what they sang was true but it hits home harder now...in moments like these.

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought Id something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
Its good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

The "blessed mangalsootra"

By a strange twist of fate...perhaps "good luck" I found my match in the Doc. Luckily for us, the few days of struggle to convince my folks to accept our decision to be married was easy; and we guess it was easier since we both happened to belong to the same Hindu Brahmin (GAWD!) background !! To give due credit, my folks really had practical concerns but that is a thing of the past...and boy am I glad !!

Marriage, as I gradually realized has its own trappings and external symbolisms when it comes to facing certain types in the family. The mangalsootra is quite literally "the knot" thats tied around the bride's neck in most Hindu weddings. Its the symbol of being a married woman, who then struts around with it proudly until the day she dies. Except, what happens is that this already heavy gold string keeps getting heavier with the years as gold coins, beads, corals & other knick-knacks in the name of some faith/numerology/tradition/astrology/blah...keep getting added on; all this is apart from the safety pins & keys that are hung on it for convenience!! Bottom line the neck-thingy is precious(some rocket science that...it is gold!!), symbolises goodwill, is something holy and is the suhaag ki nishaani**.

WARNING FRET HERE:[Wonder why something like this never imposed on men folk around. They could straddle themselves with some fat gold chain with representations of their wives/some holiness/family in some form or other and put it out on public display for the world to know. So much for that wannabe feminist crap !!]

Anyway, the simple fact is I hate wearing too much jewelry more so anything around the neck except for the rare silver trinket that I have a passion for and the problem starts here.

Scene of crime 1: Nani's house ( she lives a few kilometers away from my own place). Enter grand-daughter with a wide necked tee and a very visible neck with an invisible mangalsootra. For nani "married woman = bindi + mangalsootra".
Nani's effusive welcome and happy face turns into varied hues of anger and disappointment and she strikes the final blow in those short 30 seconds "Where's your mangalsootra ?" So all I could do initially is look sheepish. This sheepishness progressed to irritation, anger and finally its settled. Some scheming & cheating worked for this one. This little strand of gold now has found its place in the cozy nooks of my handbag. Its sees the light of day and feels the warmth of my skin only when nani is around and when I wear a wide necked top. Most days I settle for a closed neck tee and anyway cheat on her because the sly little thing can never be spotted!

Scene of crime 2 : Visits to the mother-in-law ( about 4 or 5 times a year for a couple of days!!)
My M-I-L is a lady of strong tradition. She is a very religious and devout lady.But with all that she is one of the sweetest individuals I have come across in a long long time and I genuinely adore her. Then again, as with my dear old nani there are some things that I can never get away with. For nani its just the neck thingy, for m-i-l its the mega equation "married woman = bangles+bindi+toe-ring+neck thingy" !! The folks who know me will realize what trauma I have to go through. Well to my chagrin...I have given up trying to counter it and actually spend the few days with the in-laws quite happily and gracefully(talk about an adarsh bahu).Poor Doc he understands but he's also been at the receiving end of all my annoyance. So there I am strutting my stuff for 10 days a year for the eyes-of-you-know-who to see.

Grand Finale

1. Doc & me arrive at our destination
2. Rush for handbag
3. Scramble through usual mess (usually empty contents onto back seat)
4. Shove toe-rings into the toes
5. Shove bangles on one hand (thank you Dearest Watch on the other)
6. Position mirror, painstakingly remove sticker bindi, place on forehead
7. Rush into elevator
8. Arrive at the door while getting the noose(the mangalsootra) around neck
9. Ring doorbell
10. Walk in with the grace of...well lets leave that unsaid
    

This situation has played itself over several times over the last two years. While I've progressed to wearing all the jazz for the eyes of those can't help but notice their absence.So now my handbag is burgeoning with objects I absolutely don't care for or need( 1 little ziploc bag comprising 2 bangles+ 1 set of the tiniest red bindis + pair of silver toe-rings + 1 gold neck thingy). I can't help feeling a little awkward that I am cheating with it. Chuck it all !! I really can't help it. So now my handbag is burgeoning with objects I absolutely don't care for or need( 2 bangles+red bindis+pair of silver toe-rings + 1 gold neck thingy). As the "lingo" goes...I am like that only !! :)


**Suhaag ki nishaani: Suhaag literally means good fortune. Here it means the symbolism of being married which is the "ultimate good fortune"(only in case of women anyway...grrrr....)

PS: The Doc is kind to me. He says I have a "good, caring" heart (lashes aflutter) and I care and love my folks hence this (mis)step!! Thanks Doc...I am plain happy to know that we know we're married to one another :)

Pardonable sin ?

The much promised snap and a sinfully wonderful...sin ?

Nerdy...Me?

Quick Chocolate Cake

Simply delicious and very simple too. This is a lovely eggless cake recipe that my mum has been experimenting with since we were little kids. Till date this is the best homemade cake I've ever had. Here is your chance to test your baking skills even without requiring to bake. Yes...this is a 5 minute microwave recipe for a no bake yummy cake !
Ingredients:
1 cup of refined flour
1/2 cup of butter/vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsps of baking powder
6 tbsps of cocoa
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1/2 tin of condensed milk
1/2 cup of milk
2 tbsps sugar if the condensed milk is sweetened or 6 - 8 tbsps if unsweetened( smaller quantities of natural sugar substitutes are also good here for the calorie conscious)

Method:
Sift the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Beat the butter/oil with the sugar till fluffy. Add the condensed milk, milk and vanilla and beat well. Gently fold in the flour mixture to this. Grease a medium sized microwaveable cake dish and pour this mixture. Microwave on high for 4 to 5 minutes and test with a knife so it comes out clean. Note that the cake rises quickly and pretty high so use a deep dish.
Once done set aside to cool, cut 'em up and dig in !!

My favorite serving suggestion is a generous slice of this cake/any chocolate cake is with some vanilla icecream topped with raspberry sauce.

PS: Will upload a snap in this space soon. I had to capture this while mum was around :)

Boombai Chutney....what?

The Doc & I had our usual long days. While I sat pondering on the usual "what do we have for dinner ?" question, the Doc expressed his craving for "Boombai Chutney".

Doc: I feel like eating "Boombai Chutney"!
Wife: Errrr "Booo...." what?
Doc: Well...my mum makes it and its delicious, I feel like eating it with rotis.
Wife: Okay...lets call your mum and ask her how its done.

We made the one last phone call of the day(while I am about to faint from my hunger pangs...), the ingredients are called out she spoke of the basic seasoning and the word besan*....Thats when it occurred to me that it was nothing but "Pithla" !! Jeepers...the mysterious "Boombai Chutney" is "Pithla". This is a very basic, humble but very tasty concoction prepared in Maharashtra. After having lived in Pune for 10+ years...surely the Pithla has not escaped the ever craving foodie in me! Pithla is typically had with bhakris** all over the state of Maharashtra, I relish it with rotis while hubby likes a more liquid consistency with pooris, its pretty simple and makes for a nice quick meal. You could skip the rotis/pooris and stick to some rice or bread. So here I am with a first truly official post on my recipe.

Total Cooking Time: Between 10 & 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 to a 3/4 cup of Gram Flour/Besan*
1 large Onion - finely chopped
2 or 3 small sized fresh tomatoes cut into cubes
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
3/4 tsp Coriander Powder (I ran out of fresh coriander/cilantro and used this as a substitute. Roast some coriander seeds and grind it to a fine powder, I just pick a box off the shelf from the local grocers.)
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
2 medium/long green chillies split lengthwise in two (you could add more per your taste)
Some Curry Leaves
1/4 to 1/2 tsp Asafoetida (powder)
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
Some water & a little vegetable oil ( 1 tsp should do)

Method:
Preheat a pan on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes and roast the gram flour until you smell the aroma and the sort of raw smell of the flour is gone. A couple of minutes on a heated pan should do. Remove and set aside. Add enough water to this to get a free flowing paste without lumps.

Add a teaspoon of oil in the pan and heat it a little. Add the mustard seeds. As they start to splutter, add the cumin, curry leaves and green chillies till its just about done spluttering(don't let the curry leaver/green chillies turn brown). Add the ginger-garlic paste, the powdered coriander seed & asafoetida and stir a bit. Add the chopped onion and saute until the onion and the smell of raw garlic fades away. Add the turmeric and the paste prepared earlier.

Stir constantly on medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken and little bubbles start to appear and burst on the surface( you could add a little water while stirring if it turns too thick). Take off from heat, garnish with freshly chopped coriander/curry leaves and serve hot with rice, rotis, pooris, bread or bhakri.

*Besan - Roasted gram flour
**Bhakri - Flat bread made of millet/sorghum/maize flour

Phulka and Pithla meal for 2

The much relished first mango of the season !!

On a progressive regression

Its all over the news and continues to be a much debated subject even today. For a city that boasts of being The Technology Hub for India and attracting eyeballs worldwide, this appears to me as regressive. I support the school of thought that emphasizes the importance for mid-long term residents of a place to respect and make an honest attempt to understand its culture and live in harmony with it. This is more so for kids who need to cultivate relationships at school, fit in and therefore need to understand the language as well. However, it is shocking that the government has taken steps that would deprive 100,000 little children of a decent school education and a potentially bright future. Why ban a global language at all when development seems to lie in the hands of an increasing global economy? Closing schools that do not teach in the native tongue but in English based on a OMG-I-forgot-that-it-existed mandate is unpardonable. Regressive seems like an understatement. The reasons for such mandates are many, to me some of them appear well thought out, some of them rather fanatical. This kind of thinking seems to create a further divide in an already fractured society. Politicos and government reps do nothing to alleviate the already festered wounds of the ordinary citizens.

There have been more than one occasions where we have been subjected to vilification by strangers on the street & autorickshaw drivers for the traffic/pollution and the numerous civic problems that plague any growing city that in its current state cannot support the burgeoning population and the boom in the economy. Being "outsiders" of the state have brought us several pains, but beyond that, being part of the prosperous and booming technology industry here seems to a punishable offense ! This may appear rather cynical, but we also love the city and face the same problems on our way to work, in shops, markets and everyday nothings. I think tolerance is something that has faded away with development.

I am sure that these peaceful folks who continue brooding over the long gone glory of the Garden City must feel tortured but I wish they'd wake up and pick the real fights to fight !

The memoirs of a dying blog ?

Well, did I ever live a full life anyway? I lived a patchy life with an occasional update. There was probably nothing more to say about the monotony of the life and times of the owner of this blog. (Does anyone want to know what she ate for breakfast? ). Hence, its a slow & boring death. By the way, there seem to be signs of a come back, some signs of light at the other end of this tunnel of the mundane.
Nothing like yet another sequel of same old-same old stuff.Yeah right!! Hrrmph...lets see what else she would have to say?

She stood on the bus stop after a day of grueling work at the lab. Unaware of the city and its people, she waited and looked on for her ride back home. The loud conversations, blaring horns, black smoke, hawkers shouting ... everything was irritating.

Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder.
Someone: "Look thief!"
She: "Uhuh !"
Someone: "She's got a bag and a cellphone !"
She: "Uhuh !"
Someone: "Ma'am, its yours!!"
She: "Ok!....Errr what..."

And then she took off as fast as she could. Chasing the thief to get back her belongings. They weaved in and out little queues, ran around buses, jumped over garbage and finally she caught the thief by her hair, smacked her across her cheek and grabbed her things. The others looked on. She looked at her thief again, the thief had nothing but a look of desperation and a little child in her arms. She let her go. She looked around once more, they just kept looking at her.

Participated in the "Treasure Hunt" at work today. We Won! We Won! We Won!

Watched "Bheja Fry" over the weekend. The theme is based on the French film Le Diner De Cons . Though a lift, its well executed. Its a refreshing change without the usual loud and lewd "comedy" that seems to be the key ingredient for Hindi comic films these days(weirdos and creepy lookalikes!)

I would recommend watching it at least once and enjoy some good humor.

A rhyme for a reason...

Over a cup of coffee she spoke,
What she said left me provoked.
I am looking hard and searching for words,
To express myself and be heard.
There are a bunch of thoughts in my head,
I carry them each day to bed.

She spoke not of worry, not joy , not pain;
I'd rather classify them as being mundane.
Sometimes we're so consumed with life,
It seems a silly, almost a senseless strife.
A few simple questions I have for you,
A quest for their answers will help you too.

When did you last see the colors of dawn,
As it spreads its wings when you wake each morn?
Did you walk in the woods or walk by the sea,
Feel the sands shift beneath your feet?
Did you climb a hill and touch the skies,
Or lie on the grass gazing at a starry night.

The kiss of the breeze, the tingling rain,
Smells of spring, the white winter terrain,
Seasons have come and gone again,
You're standing here with your refrain.
When did you call on a long lost friend,
And went to shop with no money to spend?
Did you feel the passion for a deed so true,
And stood your own to fight for a good?
Have you laughed hard in a long long time,
Jumped in joy, sailed on cloud nine?
When did you last want time to stand still,
Or admire a bird on your window sill ?

You've missed so much in so little a time,
You've had no reason to rant and whine.
Its what you've chosen to become and be,
You live with it or set yourself free.
You've lost some friends, some loved ones too,
Don't rant more lest you lose me too.
When you've thought and pondered come speak to me,
I am a happy person and that's how I'll be.
There are wonderful things I would love to recall,
The world's fantastic don't spoilt it with your bawl.

Holi

Madame & Monsieur M(friend from days of yore) & S invited us to a Holi party they were hosting in their home and it was probably one of their last parties for the moment. They're moving out of the country and it will a few years before we meet again I guess. As usual, since the Doc was away, the Doc's wife was at play :).

Its been years since we enjoyed holi in this scale. With the years, our consciousness both in terms of safety and the environment has increased so we had eco-friendly colors*. To reassure ourselves that the colors would not leave horrid stains on our skin, we applied huge quantities of oil in the hope of abating a "mass scare**" at work the following day when colleagues sight us.

So, we finally started playing, poured buckets of wierd colored water on each other, rubbed hues of reds/yellows/greens/purples/silver and gold colored powders and pastes on one another for 2 hours. In the meanwhile, S was enthusiastically serving thandai and sugarcane juice to quench our thirst and keep the energy levels high. What he forgot(or intentionally did not) to mention was that...the yummy yet confounded concoctions he stirred up was actually laced(and laced being an understatement) with bhaang. The party planners appeared to have had a well thought out strategy for maximizing fun and guest retentions.
There was of course lunch to follow and we'd organized a potluck with some dahi bhalla(from me), a lamb preparation(by M),hot and delicious jalebis, samosas(thanks to some one else) and some veggies for likes of the vegetarians like me and so the menu ran.

After a lot of boisterous and noisy fun, we'd almost scrubbed off huge chunks of skin to get rid of the color. Then we began gorging on some really hot and yum jalebis. The intelligent few (like me who else !!) avoided stuffing ourselved because we knew that bhaang and jalebi*** together are the last two things you would want in your system i.e. if you want to stay awake, keep up your decent or at least half decent behaviour and drive home safely to the comforts of your own bed. So we had a couple of giggly wives, galumphing husbands and a dog in psychedelic colors going beserk in the noon heat on an open terrace. Anyway, I managed to drive back home in one piece and hit the sack around the time that the bhaang started kicking in. It was a nice day of fun and cheer.

I must appreciate M&S, they really had their act together. I have a couple of years to plan the perfect revenge on them, can't wait until we meet again


*I would seriously question their "safety". I thought natural colors are always pleasing to the eye but these just managed to appear horrendously pink...but the packaging said that they were safe for kids and the environment. We definitely did not want the little ones joining the fun to be hurt in anyway.

**God forbid!! Especially since our appraisals due shortly (tee.. hee..we could not help giggling imagining our boss' horror-stricken expression).I had already thought of covering up my feet in socks inspite of the rising temperature in Bangalore.

***Bhaang and jalebi in that combination can really get you flighty and fighting for stability. Its a pleasant kick of sorts that can have others laughing but you crying for hours on end...

Drambuie

I had the first sip of this thanks to my boss at during a party at her place sometime back. I really need to put some thought into ways I thank her for it.
A shot of this pink heady concoction did wonders to my senses. I still don't know how the Doc and I ever missed it especially given our unquenchable thirst for good liquer. Most of the Rusty Nails, Jackfrosts, Aftershocks were pitiful mockeries that terribly missed the quintessential ingredient - the legendary Drambuie. The wonderful pink color, a subtle aroma of mysterious herbs and the tingling warmth and flavour of heather honey is really quite wonderful. And finally, I am shortly going to be in possession of an original 17 year old single malt Drambuie. Cheers to that!

**So let me leave you to shake up some Drambuie, lime juice and lots of ice with a dash of lime zest and raise your glasses!
**Disclaimer: I recommend merely shots of it lest you curse me later.

I have been really pathetic and erratic with my posts and feel a little bad at the lack of commitment towards this. I have also been wondering what there is to write about. Its more than a month since I was home...truly home...and never had the chance to spend a few quality minutes with the Doc. What is one supposed to do with a wedding, a funeral, 25 appointments at work in five days with 14 hour work days, 3 different business trips interspersed in between and tons of relatives descending upon us in all the time thats in the middle... Oh! And we also had senior citizens in the family celebrate their landmark birthdays in great style and grandeur with an unbelievable elation on turning yet another year older! And here we are trying hard to freeze time while yet another bunch of "well-wishers" constantly remind us of how my biological clock is ticking away and we begin "manufacturing" mini clones of ourselves only to burden us and this extremely over-burdened world a little bit more!! Someone desperately needs to counsel them...Perhaps we're the ones in need of counselling. Either way...I am finally enjoying a wonderful bottle of wine in the luxury of my suite far away from as I vent away. I am looking forward to spending a nice weekend with the Doc finally & also to post more frequently. Cheers!

On Reading "Invisible Monsters"

Read this book by Chuck Palahniuk. I saw it lying in a seconds bookstore. I found some bits that seemed worth remembering. The simplicity in what is written and how its written left an impression.

-"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known".

-"The best way is not to fight it, just go. Don't be trying all the time to fix things. What you run from only stays with you longer. When you fight something, you only make it stronger".