Days gone by...

Sometimes the days are so busy that it seems merely a couple of days and an entire week or fortnight has gone by. The busy schedules and the eternal rush to get to some place or the other has made me forget that June is coming to an end. Half of the year would be over!

Hmm.. so its definitely some time to stop and take a stock of the situation. This definitely reminds me of the famous Einstein quote –

“When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.”

How the relativity factor brings in a different angle to every aspect. The days that seem to have flown past or the hours that dragged on like days. All in all a pretty interesting month so far. Managed to get another stamp on my passport and enjoyed my stay in KL. Experimented with my new cam and realized am relatively a mere novice and a long way to go to be considered a true amateur.

June brings back many fond memories and its been three years since I started working. I think its time I get back to my books now :-)

Rendezvous

Walking down levels and levels of shopping arcades it makes me wonder how much do people buy, whether they need that thing or not. There is a sale of handbags and shoes and I saw a sea of people there. Primarily women and some bored men towing behind. Occasionally some men did seem to be interested. Incidentally, I happened to end up at this sale and did pick up couple of bags. I was silently commenting on how exactly these people here buy stuff unnecessarily and there I go, totally gaga over three bags and end up buying two of them. I realize there would be many who wouldn’t understand this behaviour. Please believe me, neither do I quite fathom this fad. Nor the enthusiasm to shop that seems to subside but then tends to come back within half hour of being in the presence of some interesting articles.

Somehow managed to free myself from such worldly pleasures and spend some quality time – with myself. It is but rare when I get such moments when all I do is simply follow my mind without bothering about whose around and what would people with me want. A little niceties that seem to be dying in today’s times. Simple pleasures bring in maximum happiness. Licking an ice-cream while strolling over to the river side amidst peak traffic hour, is a feeling that I had quite forgotten. The supposed busy schedule and career seem to drown the basics of what I would call the pleasures of life.

A little philosophical, can’t help developing such a bent while sitting quietly at the river front. The awe-inspiring structures seem to quietly mellow down from the tough gray to the soothing lights of the evening. Lights dancing on the silent undulation. One of those rare days one gets to notice that in the equatorial region the natural light of the evening persists for a longer period than one realizes when stuck in office. There was just one thing that seemed a little amiss; I missed the nice hot strong cup of tea.

Muddat ke baat , kuch samay apne aap ke saath, bahut acha laga.

Random thoughts

There are times when I feel like entering a copy of every moment that goes past or rather observations that would make up something interesting to ponder. The feeling is overpowering. A greed to capture the most vivid or weirdest of incidents that fascinate me.

An interesting play of light on water or a lovely long ride to end of a country on a moon lit night, the moment seems just beyond words to capture. The harmony of the waves gently caressing the white sands or the expanse of azure stretching to the horizon. Some of the most stellar settings of the nature are so simply done, I am humbled.

Thrown in with an equally interesting and lively mix of company makes the experience cherish. The disparity in thought or the equanimity in action is also fun. Couldn’t help but notice that there should just be one chef per kitchen. The rest as followers makes things amiable. One place where I can surely say that team work is good but contributing ideas is a bad option.

What makes all this randomness complete is the music that seems to be inherent in all the elements that are a part of it.

Single... and ready to...mingle??

Alone!!! Staying all by myself in a far off land isn’t all that bad. Connected to the rest of the world with the best form of communication, am very content with my existence. Except that sometimes there is quite a depression that sets in during the night. The prospect of preparing one’s own dinner and eating the same, oh lord! What an agony! The reason you are still able to see this post is coz the primary contents of my victuals are a generous gesture from my aunt. In spite of such an act I still have to do the minimum, cook the rice. Believe me, it isn’t such a bad thing to do. Just that I have to clean all those vessels I utilize in my cooking and eating, immediately after I have my dinner, is what depresses me the most.

With a bout of overconfidence that I acquired in the last few days, in preparing rice in the most original style, I permitted myself to enjoy a small chat and let the rice overcook. Frankly, I cannot lie out here, so let me say I burnt some of it. Don’t worry, I still had a hearty dinner, but you can definitely imagine what an agony it was to clean the mess. This is one of the main reasons that deters me from cooking. The amount of cleaning that goes into the process kills the enthu in totality. One can ask, as to why bother about the neatness aspect and all, but the neatness freak in me cannot tolerate.

Burdened by my whims for neatness and torn for a nice home meal, I subject myself to such torture. I suppose finding a roomie might help me in humouring things a little. So long people… main aur mera kitchen… aksar yeh sochte hai… tum na hote to kaisa hote…

Single and not really ready to mingle... too much of a burden just for avoiding some cleaning.
Mama… am coming back to you ;-)

ELVIS

My introduction to Elvis was through my sis and thanks to her... now 'I can't help falling in love.... " with his voice. One of the best singers I have ever heard to. Even after all these years he surely ... LIVES... ELVIS!

One of my favourites here...

You were always on my mind

Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time

You were always on my mind
(You were always on my mind)
You were always on my mind


Maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine
If I make you feel second best
Girl, I'm so sorry I was blind

You were always on my mind
(You were always on my mind)
You were always on my mind

Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
Give me, give me one more chance
To keep you satisfied, satisfied

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
(You are always on my mind)
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind


Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
Maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine
Maybe I didn`t treat you…
Quite as good as I should have…

Vicissitudes

In a day, there are certain moments when you feel, "WOW!!! Everything is going my way" and then just about one small incident or word that alters your mood drastically. A sudden change in circumstances that sometimes bring reality crashing down onto you.

I wish I was as brave as Duke Senior, who says,

"Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life exempt from public haunt
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones and good in every thing.
I would not change it."
--Act 2, Scene I- As you like it, William Shakespeare.

But then I try to sing it off by...

"Kabhi zindagi lage bhaari,
kabhi lagti halki-phulki.
Iske rang haske dekhe,
apnaa le khushi... har pal ki."

Singapore!

Am finally in Singapore! Didn’t quite expect that to happen so soon, but then no regrets either. Pretty much a feeling of home and a always a lingering feeling that India should also be like this at some point of time soon. The infrastructure here is amazing and its truly an experience.

Work pressures take away a lot of time but then the challenge lies in being part of both worlds. A number of new things out here and a lot of interesting stuff to do, the freedom here is what probably I enjoy more than anything. My exploration of this place has just begun and my future blogs might see a lot more of this.

An introduction to the Indian community here was definitely interesting. Predominantly dominated by the Tamil Indians, Tamil is one language that’s every where. The perennial misconceptions of most of these NRIs about India and its people and categorizing a nation on that basis, is something I don’t appreciate. But then I suppose it has always been like that.

Yes, one thing I have definitely done is visiting the famous ‘Mustafa’ shopping arcade. As I see it my trips have kind of just begun and there is lots of shopping ahead for me.

This pic happens to be from my room on the 12^th floor. I love the view!