Grit, Grace & Gusto

Rat-at-(m)oui-ille

2009-03-24T10:39:00.004+05:30

Shree's uncle and aunt are in town and we'd invited them over for lunch yesterday. I managed to cook some chicken with the help of my mother-in-law and Mary (our ~~maid~~ support system). The kitchen sink is too small to hold dishes used to feed more than 2 people. So I dumped the whole lot in our tiny utility. Since we were in a frenzy to drop Shree's parents at the railway station, I didn't bother dumping any waste in the bin.

Today, I open the door of the utility to find a nice trail of bone pieces all over the floor. Follow the trail and it goes straight to our brand new washing machine. YIKES. First thought - 'Oh my God, another washing machine?!!' (Yes. I can be very materialistic too) Shree needs to get to work early and I've got to depend on our support system to get this sorted out.

So in come's Mary, zhaadu in haath (for the Hindi illiterate - broom in hand) and starts clearing the floor first. She walks up to the machine and while I'm expecting her to poke the broom in and draw the bones out, she sticks her hand around the corner (!!!!!) and checks for pieces behind the damned machine! While I'm standing awe-struck looking at her, she straightens her saree and declares - "Not to worry. A smart one, this. He's partied only in the corners. No machine-wrecking." Which I later figure out means, the little guy's only found a new place to enjoy his meals in. I wonder what I'm going to find in those corners tomorrow. Some low-fat cheese maybe?!!

My epic saga

2009-03-11T13:32:00.002+05:30

Marriage is quite an event in India. On second thought, it's quite an event in any culture - different rituals, different styles, different scenarios. The bottom line being - "Two people agreeing on sharing their lives together". That statement sounds real simple. And maybe it is. Except, we as humans complicate the whole 'agreeing' part.

I've had my share of agreements and disagreements with men. And honestly for some time I wanted to be by myself. The nagging never ceased, though. It's a conflict when you want to stay away from any kind of companionship and others want you to get a taste of it. For a long time I was resisting the idea of sharing my happy-go-lucky life with another person; someone I hadn't met before-hand, someone I wasn't familiar with, someone I hadn't spent quality time with. My whole argument started and ended with - "I'm way too comfortable with myself. Why compromise on that?!" I was never against the concept of marriage, but the minute it came to choosing someone, I'd prepare a list of prereqs. With every new person I met, the list seemed to get more complicated, more rigid.

Sometime in November, I had dinner with two of my colleagues. One of them - 45, happily married, father of two kids. The other - 35, happily single, trying to understand the need for marriage. After a casual discussion on the pros and cons of being married, the older chap said something that ticked off a thought in my mind. "The more time we spend deciding who we spend the rest of our lives with,", he said, "the more we want that person to be exactly like us." Turns out, that was right where I was heading with my list of prereqs. And I'm thinking - If I do end up finding someone exactly like me, life would be such a drag, wouldn't it? Yet, I didn't want to give up on my comfort level. Where was I to find someone unlike me and someone I was comfortable with?!

A few weeks and I was tired of thinking. I could feel the resistance in me. And like they say, "What one resists, persists". The thinking, analyzing, arguing just kept coming back. Each time with more complicated questions. Eventually, I gave up. I stopped thinking. Even if I sensed my thought process going towards the subject, I'd consciously turn my thoughts towards something else. Thankfully, it paid off.

In that state of stupor, I met someone and without the aid of my thinking mind, nodded a yes. Life hasn't been the same since. We got engaged in December and married in February. I've enjoyed every single moment of every single event. And yes, kept my thinking mind aside ALL the time. Life has never felt so beautiful! Maybe that's what they mean when they say - "Go with the flow"?!

Wishing all you guys a wonderful Holi!

Another adorable voice

2008-12-15T11:32:00.003+05:30

Back in B'lore

2008-12-15T00:23:00.004+05:30

And man it feels warm! Not weather wise warm, but feeling-wise warm. The moment we entered Devanhalli, Aai went, "No matter where we go, coming back to Bangalore always feels like coming back home"! Life is good :).

Just back from a dinner treat - three massive pieces of chocolate truffle & black currant ice-cream for dessert - I feel like a beast. More on the month long vacation naalle.

P.S: Listening to Nat King Cole's Unforgettable (Damn! I should've had another piece of that truffle)

'One lie short of true...'

2008-11-30T21:07:00.002+05:30

Title - Honestly
Band - Cary Brothers

Think I’m goin home
I think I’m gettin lost for a while
Tired of getting stoned
And thinkin ‘bout you in the night

So I’ll file away all my dreams
Though I still believe in everything

I wished your love away
I wished your love away

Honestly over you
Honestly over you
One lie short of true
Honestly over you

Lookin for some hope
Polished off the whiskey tonight
You turned a man to stone
For lookin at you straight in the eyes

So I’ll drive away with all my things
Though I’ve a faint belief in everything

I wished your love away
I wished your love away

Honestly over you
Honestly over you
And I’ll tell the world
Honestly over you

I wished your love away…

Visiting Relatives

2008-11-28T21:51:00.004+05:30

Here's a question - "What is the meaning of life?" - Would love to read your answers.

Inscrutable

2008-11-11T09:54:00.004+05:30

Ever tried telling a professional baker that his pastry was missing an ingredient? I did. Last night. When I picked up Baba's b'day cake. Black-Forest.

Long, long ago (and I honestly mean a really long time ago), ladi-tai handed me a recipe for baking a Black-Forest cake. I memorized the ingredients. Not 'coz I thought I'd lose that piece of paper she'd written it on (infact I still have that ancient piece tucked into my recipe collection book), but 'coz those ingredients felt almost divine. Atleast in that era, it certainly did (Aai would NEVER use such exotic stuff in her cake preparations).

Last night ofcourse, on tasting my Rs. 20/- pastry piece (meant for making a choice among several pastries), I happened to tell the baker that there wasn't any rum in his Black-Forest preparation. The response - dumb-struck awe.

Picture this scene - In a town that's been introduced to the world of pastries only a few years ago, a female (maybe I should highlight that word), wearing a worn-out, unkempt, soiled pair of jeans, with an even more worn-out, unkempt, soiled T-shirt and a pair of slippers (ahh! disgusting!), orders for a black-forest pastry so she can decide if that's what she wants to buy and ends up complaining - it has no RUM!

I must say, the guy was truly modest when he recovered from that momentary breakdown and smiled gingerly, revealing his white Dabur-Lal-dant-majan teeth, and said, "No madam, no rum. Only sugar-syrup."

Food for thought - 8

2008-11-10T10:19:00.004+05:30

"Truth is not beautiful, neither is it ugly. Why should it be either? Truth is truth, just as figures are figures.

When man wishes to learn the exact condition of his business affairs, he employs figures and, if these figures reveal a sad state of his affairs, he doesn't condemn them and say that they are unlovely and accuse then of having disillusioned him. Why then condemn truth, when it only serves him in this enterprise of life as figures serve him in his commercial enterprises?"

- as answered by Owen C. Middleton in On the meaning of life, Will Durant

P.S: It's Baba's 58th birthday today. Not sure how we're going to celebrate it. Will need to hunt for a cake shop here in Amravati. He's celebrating a birthday in his native village after 30 long years :)!

Happy Birthday ol' man :P!

Another 'Credit Crunch'

2008-10-30T11:10:00.004+05:30

Albeit, a different kind...

Two planets eh?! That would be fun - I'd like to work on one, rest on another :P!

Couldn't help...

2008-10-25T21:37:00.005+05:30

...putting this up, after we (Ujji and me) noticed.

This picture's been going to and fro for some time now. The last time I saw it was in March, when Sudi forwarded the same. After a few text messages and a lot of arguing over who's who (Ujji thinks they've painted Mandela playing a flute and I think it's Kofi Annan), we realized that they've painted OBL right above GWB (right-hand, upper-half)! Heh! Nice!

Food for thought - 7

2008-10-24T11:23:00.000+05:30

"What is spiritual realization? The belief that you are a spirit? No, that's a thought.
(...)
Spiritual realization is to see clearly that what I perceive, experience, think, or feel is ultimately not who I am, that I cannot find myself in all those things that continuously pass away."

- A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle

And you thought...

2008-10-23T11:06:00.003+05:30

...only your 'kind' could blog?!! I think NOT! Following links on Amit's blog, I found my way to this page.

Not long before we have more competition on blog-o-sphere, eh?!

Slouthful

2008-10-16T11:09:00.004+05:30

My blog isn't the only 'thing' that has suffered in recent times due to my sluggishness; my trips to Crossword have been a rarity as well. Work seems to have taken a backseat and my search for 'The Seven Ages of Rock' DVDs, is almost a closed chapter.

But guess what?! I ain't complaining. And you know why?! 'Coz I've spent all this time reading books. Books that I knew made up my dad's collection, but were more often than not, ignored. And it would be drastically understating if I said, "It's been fabulous!"

Lying on a cozy bed, a quilt to protect from the occasional chill, some drizzles, a few heavy rains, warm sunshine here and there, not a soul intruding (:P!) and books! A few too many of them. No particular subject. Or actually, maybe there was - soul-searching - if that qualifies for a subject.

I think I could do this forever.

Looking for I Need...

2008-10-13T10:55:00.006+05:30

...Serenity...

'...Where do we go when we just don't know
And how do we relight the flame when it's cold
Why do we dream when our thoughts mean nothing
And when will we learn to control...'

Cheap Thrills

2008-10-07T13:58:00.002+05:30

Enjoyed this tag on Deepti's blog. Too lazy to put it up here and read your answers (*yawn*). So, pliss to be doing honor - read, fill-out and let me have a laugh.

Couple o' things

2008-10-03T22:00:00.002+05:30

Baba's moved from wearing traditional pajamas to tracks
Aai's moved from humming Pal Pal (Lage Raho Munna Bhai) to Socha hai (Rock On)
Sheru & Munnu have shifted base from a one-room-kennel to an entire alley

Nice.

Hola

2008-09-28T11:39:00.003+05:30

I've been trying to think of a reason as to why there have been no posts on my blog recently. And the best I could come up with is - I didn't feel like it. Hmm. Go figure.

Anyways, this video on Heather's blog, changed the procrastinating me. I absolutely HAD to put this up here for all those who haven't had a chance to laugh their heads off. (I would love to hear her views on the crashing financial sector! *guffawing*)

P.S: It might seem stuck, but the video does work. And while you're at it, check out the ads too (Heh!)

In other news, Santosh had this tag up and here are my favorites -

"The difference between a person and an angel is easy. Most of an angel is in the inside and most of a person is on the outside." - Mister God, this is Anna
"The only true law is that which leads to freedom," Jonathan said. "There is no other." - Jonathan Livingston Seagull
"The world has no existence whatsoever outside the human imagination. It's all a ghost, and in antiquity was so recognized as a ghost, the whole blessed world we live in." - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds." - The Notebook
"Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted" - The Last Lecture

All those who stop by... you've been tagged.

Gung-ho?!

2008-09-06T19:50:00.008+05:30

Two days after Heather posts this (...and for which I'd put all my bets on her, if she ever entered American politics - Heather, you absolutely rock!...), Obama comes out with this statement. Smashing or what?! He'll probably get a lot'a Indian fan-fare following him for that one statement! Think it's time to celebrate yet? No?! Well, here's another reason for Indians to raise their glasses tonight - the NSG waiver! MUHAHAHAHA... Baba and me were wondering last night as to how Dr. Manmohan Singh must be perspiring profusely after having put everything at stake for this deal. Well Mr. Prime Minister, we sure hope you sleep well tonight!

And if none of that brought a smile on your face, maybe this will... You've probably heard this number -

Pehli Nazar Mein - Atif Aslam
You can find the lyrics here.

So I'm standing next to Aai in the kitchen helping her prepare dinner, when they play this track over the radio. Everything's normal until chorus starts; and Aai goes -

"Bembi I love you, Bembi I love you..."

(for the Marathi illetrate, Bembi translates to belly-button)

Google's next assault on MS

2008-09-02T10:49:00.005+05:30

It's called Chrome. As explained in the instruction guide, this new web-browser promises improved speed and responsiveness.

It's been years since I used IE. Firefox is almost second nature. Yet, I'm looking forward to try my hands on Chrome - I like the name :P!

Google's first screenshot of Chrome

Rushing through

2008-08-31T19:25:00.002+05:30

Million things happened over the last week. Here are a few, that didn't go unnoticed -

McCain picks Palin (OH. MY. GOD.)
Mamata Banerjee steps in to rescue Bengal farmers (ROTFL!)
Sheru provokes Munnu for a fight and accepts defeat even before they begin (Nope. They're not pedigree dogs.)
Aai sits through 'Rock On' and actually enjoys the story-line (The ONLY 40+ person in the entire theatre!)
I manage baking some 'Carrot Cake' (and that's not what Sheru and Munnu were fighting over - hmpf!)

I guess you have to be Indian...

2008-08-22T13:22:00.003+05:30

...is just one of the comments posted on this site. No offense taken. I hope none given either :).

Imagine shopping at your favorite mall - dabbling with 'this-piece-or-that', or eating-out at your favorite restaurant - relishing every 'sinfully-tasty-bite', when your neighbor's phone goes - "condom, condom"! Damn! I'd choke!

*rolling on the floor, laughing*

Self-inflicting torture machine

2008-08-21T13:31:00.005+05:30

Ever seen this episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S? Yes, this -

Well, if you thought epilators were better - take my word for it - they're worse! WAY, way, worse! Atleast waxine doesn't go - 'one-at-a-time'!

In other news, here's the cover-page for the latest edition of Sports Illustrated -

Mamma mia

R. I. P

2008-08-20T15:08:00.006+05:30

LeRoi Moore (September 7, 1961 - August 19, 2008),
Founding Member, Dave Matthews Band

"It's always easier to leave than be left" - Dave Matthews, DMB

Agree.

The Economics of Love

2008-08-16T11:36:00.003+05:30

Of late, I find a lot of my friends talking investments, returns, bonds, shares and all other buzz words associated with the 'economics enchilada'. I guess it's the age. I've done my bit too, I must admit. And I'm willing to go all the way to get my wise returns.

So while on the topic, I'm browsing other blogs and as usual, find interesting stuff on Amit's blog. Economics being the current state of mind, I am directed to this page.

Gyaan from this view point, makes it SO much simpler for a numbers crazy person, doesn't it?! So all the young-at-hearts - go invest! Wisely, if I may add.

Food for thought - 6

2008-08-13T20:03:00.004+05:30

"Who would the 'believer' be without the 'unbeliever'?"

- Stillness Speaks, Eckhart Tolle