Dilli Meri Jaan! Masha'Allah!

I've never quite had so much of difficulty writing anything, as I am having in writing this entry (suddenly cover letters seem like a cakewalk). And I would have most certainly given up on this task (that is seeming so herculean to me) had it not been for the promise I gave to a certain someone, that I would blog about this (you know who you are).

What I am having so much difficult writing about, are the events of the Tuesday gone by. And what about this days makes it so difficult to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard?) is how incredibly amazing and magical it was; The kind of experience that leaves u finding your vocabulary lacking. Magical because it was on that day I looked around Old Delhi and went touristing to some of the places that delhi is so visited for, for the first time. And it is simply breathtaking! (almost makes me want to become a photographer, it's that inspiring!). Of course, the company I had on this sojourn added to the awesome-ness of it all. I went with S who had come down to Delhi for just a day and without whom this day would have almost not happened
(S: I am thinking, since I do have a whole day here, why not we go touristing around delhi?
Me: God Bless u! Allah be praised! Yes please, Lets!)

And so it began, with us travelling in an Auto (yup, the very infamous dilliwala-agree-on-price-before-u get-on-n-get-all-ur-bones-rattled Auto rikshaw!) to Humayun's tomb, followed by a search for the elusive and almost-fabled karim's around Chandni Chowk (we walked the lane outside it almost twice before we saw spotted the nondescript galli leading to the restaurant), a quick look around the majestic Jama Masjid (where S had to slip into a lungi-ish thing since he was wearing long shorts-they prolly din want to risk anyone inside getting excited seeing his tandoori (not!) legs :-P) and ending with a tour around the very red- Red Fort (which we left sort of unfinished given that we were sweaty, tired and incredibly thirsty).

But rather than chronicle that day in detail and run the risk of diminishing any of the magic I experienced then, I would rather write about what stands out in this head of mine.

~ Looking around at Humayun's tomb, one level high and seeing only the tomb and a multitude of tree tops all around- Solitude of the highest order!

~S telling the auto-wala outside humayun's tomb that I talk sweetly causing me to blush all over (hoping secretly that he would just mistake it for me being flushed coz of the heat)

~Getting S to buy into the idea of eating at karim's by telling him about it in the most glowing light. And then on seeing the increasing seediness of the chandni chowk area, feeling sheepish and a tinge of panic.

~Karim's food. Period. (no words would do it justice, so why bother!)

~Stepping into Jamamasjid-a most humbling experience!(though all the junta just lying and sleeping around in it like buffalows wallowing in a pond, was a bit putting off)

~S figuring out how to untie and re-tie his slipping lungi at Jama masjid.

~Walking casually out barefoot onto a stretch of floor at Jama Masjid, encouraging S to follow suit and then, on realising how god-damn-hot it was, hopping/running (it was quite comical, in retrospect) the rest of the way to the mat.

~Laughing in relief right afterwards!

~Asking a cute lil boy (at Jama Masjid) clutching a bottle of rail-neer (who was looking at me and my camera with the most intrigued expression) if he wanted his snap clicked and seeing the look of confused surprise followed by undiluted happiness on his face when he saw his picture on my camera.

~Going through the Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk area on a cycle rickshaw (despite the look of seediness, it is really quaint and beautiful in its own way) and feeling sorry for the rickshaw-wala (I had moments when I wanted to step down and tell him that I would just walk alongside)

~My first glimpse of the Red Fort- Never realised how incredibly red it is (Duh!) and how never-ending it's walls look.

~The woman at the body-check area at the entrance to Red-Fort, looking at me and exclaiming (while laughing) "Aapke baal to ekdum..." (my response: "heh, Bas aise hi hain.")

~After an incredibly hot, tiring and sweaty round of the Red fort, getting back to the comfort of the AC in my room (what can I say, I am pampered!)

~Calling S a 'saala amreeki' and seeing the look right afterwards on his face!heh!

All in all, it was the Baap of all my experiences in the last 4 months. And while I know I have only scratched the surface of all that is Delhi, I am happy to have seen even this much! =)

currently reading: In Xanadu- William Dalrymple

currently listening: Mahiya- Awarapan, Evergreen- Cliff Richards, Far away- Nickleback

When life hands you lemons... (2)

Wts scary is that on reading this.. I remebered occasions (in the last 2 months) when I have sounded somewhat like the second chicken in the strip....

Damn I need to escape from this corporate whoreship!! :-P

currently reading- Wizard of Oz

currently listening- Trouble Sleeping- The Perishers, World Hold on- Bob Sinclair

When life hands you lemons...

Surfing around the net today in office, i come across something incredibly entertaining and mildly relevant...Laugh away! http://www.irrelativity.com/lemons.html

"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."So the saying goes. But why settle for making lemonade when there are so many more possibilities?When life hands you lemons...

* Cut them in half and squeeze the stinging, citrus pulp into the eyes of those who would dare to mock, threaten or oppose you.

* Just as life hands them to you, quickly toss them back. Yell, "You touched 'em last!" Then run away.* Say, "Lemons? For me? Cool. Can I have some more?" Life will comply, as it is eager to give you lemons. When it does, exclaim, "Hey, everybody, look at all these lemons! I'm the luckiest man alive!" Life will eventually become bored with its game of handing you lemons, since you obviously aren't going to play along, and will go off to find someone else to mess with.

* Stick shards of broken, colored glass in them, douse them with a bodily fluid of your choice and suspend them from lengths of rusty chain. Give each newly-altered lemon a different title, like "Conscience Resolution," or "The Indifference of the Soul." Hire a PR firm to get them displayed in a Soho art gallery. Take the art world by storm.

* Juggle.

* Go online to www.citrus-sex.com and check out pictures of people doing things you never even imagined to themselves, and each other, with lemons. Do these things to yourself and others. Bless this time we live in.

* Make lemonade. Add vodka. Drink. Declare that "life ishn't scho bad after all."

* Use them, along with some household white glue, to construct a medium-sized pyramid. Form a religion based around this structure and its inspirational and healing powers, with yourself as the charismatic leader. Draft a doctrine which places an emphasis on the redeeming qualities of giving and selflessness. Enjoy your tax-free status.

* Lemon fight!

* Simply refuse to sign for them. Life's lemons can't be delivered without an authorized signature.

* Pretend to "accidentally" drop one of them. When life bends over to pick it up, give life a major wedgie. Run away (without the lemons, of course.)

* Pack them around a postal shipment whose smell you wish to disguise.

* Accept them graciously, so as not to cause life to suspect you of anything. Then stick one in life's exhaust pipe while it's in the grocery store picking up more lemons.

Remembering her....

Wrote this last friday on small scraps of paper fished out from my bag....for reasons obvious after u read this post, I just got time to post it...

A thousand words and thoughts are swimming in my head and the urge to put some of them down has never been stronger. And yet strangely , I am struggling.

No matter how much you try to dress up a hospital's waiting room, its purpose or rather its cause, always manages to tone it down, make it seem grim and cheerless. And so it is, with this one that I am sitting in. Blue-grey chairs all lined up, a sleeping man almost slipping out of his chair trying to find comfort in a chair that has none to offer, groups of relatives huddled up together- some cheery, some glum but all sharing the same look of anxiety and a similar rythm in looking at the entry door expectedly. The TV in the corner buzzes to life, trying desperately hard to add momentary cheer to the worried faces but manages to elicit nothing but a perfunctory glance. A solitary mosquito darts in and out between the people and the chairs, its buzzing drowned by the hum of the AC. I am in the waiting room at Fortis Hospital in Delhi. And I suddenly burst into a short mirthless laugh, which wakes up the sleeping man who decides to give up trying to sleep and busies himself with his phone.

The irony of the name 'waiting room' just hit me; for that's what we have been doing for the past few hours, past few days, past few weeks. Waiting, watching and hoping that my dadima would get better, that she would show signs of the possibility of coming back home with us.

And here I am now, standing with dad n bua, while they try to decide and finalize the arrangements for dadima's last rites.

My mind keeps trying to organise its emotions, to identify them. This is not grief (its not nearly extreme enough), its not sadness (much as that may sound wierd) for like birth, death too should be venerated (for it's the beginning of another journey). This what I am feeling is simply a deep sense of loss.

Snippets of my memories of her keep coming to my head. The earliest one, being one, when because I was playing with her chunni she was running behind me shouting 'agar meri chunni phat jayegi toh mujhe nayi kaun leke dege' to which my standard reply was 'papa hai na!'

I remember all the time I would run to her knitting needles and a ball of wool in hand- 'Dadima sikhao na' 'Dadima dekho theek se nahi ho raha'. And no matter how busy or unwilling she was she would always help me.

Everytime I got lice in my hair (which was more than once), dadima would sit with me out on the verandah, a fine toothed comb in hand and patiently wage war on the lice.

I remeber her recounting to me her days as a little girl in Pakistan and my subsequent promise to her that I would take her back there with the salary of my first job. And I realise with a pang now that, that promise will never be.

And now that I had come down to Delhi, every weekend when I would come over she would make and get all that I liked to eat. I remember with fondness having the most surprising conversation with her about love, marriage, life and everything in between.

Yes, She was my dadi of awesome love (and ghee)-filled parathas, my dadi of sarson da saag and kaale gajar ki kaanji, my dadi of khatta aam achar, my dadi of 'bhajans on diwali', my dadi of 'koyi nayi galla kar'.

Yes. She was my dadi and I will miss her so so much.

currently listening- Hemorrhage-Fuel, music by Holly Brook, Breathe me (Mylo remix)- Sia

99 red balloons!!

I know when I left off yesterday I had promised that I would be back today to recount the events of the rest of the week. Well, I seem to want to keep only part of my promise- Am back but not willing to recount events. Don't blame me, blame it on whatever is causing me to feel all thoughful and random.

Why do people make friends? What motivates them to put that extra effort? Is it about just companionship or having someone to hang out with? and a friendship between a guy and a girl, does it happen always because of the possibilty of a certain end(for both). and what if that 'certain end' is gotten out of the way fairly early... will the friendship still blossom? (in which case there was more to it than just that end) or will it wither out and die? (indicating thus that it was all about the end). And why do we become better friends with some and not others? some may say, its all about the matching of personalities and interests. but everyone will vouch to having had atleast one friend who is completely different from them. A friend of mine keeps saying (well he says this about love but I think I can cheat a little here, heh!) that it is all about spending enough time together; Given enough time together, two people who are poles apart could begin to revel in each other's company (or even fall in love). But if that's all it takes, then what really is friendship? (or love?) and can it then survive long-distance? (since time becomes a scarce ingredient in that case)

Been having a really lovely day today. It all started when it rained yesterday night and the weather became cool and breezy. I decided to go over to B's place for the night and we ended up lying on her terrace talking about this and that. But alas, mosquitos soon came out in full force to defend their territory and we had to retire back inside. But the good weather was enough to make me feel high and happy and am just having a hangover from that (surely one hangover i don't mind having)
Anyways have to push off... more later!! Ciao!

PS- jus re-read the post and it sounds amazingly random, so i decided it deserves a random title to go along with it! ;-)

currently reading- City of Djinns- William Dalrymple
currently listening- I miss you- Blink 182, Here (In your arms)- Hellogoodbye

Where is my mind??

As far as crazy and happening weeks go, nothing could beat the last week. It started with me flying down from Singapore...after a whirlwind weekend filled with packing, meeting friends, more packing, meeting C, drinking, an obligatory lunch, oh, did i mention packing (its amazing how much junk one can collect given enough time, money, good weather, willing friends and inviting 'sale' events).

The flight too was really something; Had the most interesting ever co-passenger (He told me, among other things, about a shooting facilty near Siagon where you can shoot AK-47s or even machine guns, picture that!), saw the 'arty-est yet entertaining and heart-warming' movie ever (Pan's Labyrinth, thanks Karan for the rec), and was served by the most interesting looking stewardess(her eyes looked like they would eject themselves any moment and roll around on the floor), who kept putting off my requests for water.

At this point, I am compelled to compliment the Delhi Intl airport. Based on what I recalled, I expected it to be a complete mess and so accordingly braced myself for a harrowing experience at the immigration, baggage and customs counters. But surprise surprise, I was out of there in half the time I had expected it to take. That left me with more problems than it solved though. My lift for the evening was blissfully lounging at home when I called to enquire where he was parked. Rather than jus wait for him to drive down, I got a lift from that 'most interesting ever co-passenger' though I did have to brace a few reprimands from C and A (Are u crazy? strange guy u've barely known for a few hours! This is Delhi! Call me as soon as you get home!) But the guy was really sweet, so was his cousin who had come to pick him up (helped me lug my luggage all the way up the stairs at home and made me miss out on a calorie-expending chance, damn!)

Wednesday night saw me going out for dinner with U and B and what ensued turned out to be the highlight of not just the week but my entire Delhi-stay so far. There we were, post dinner and post 2 glasses of wine, getting ourselves some good 'ol desi paan, talking about going clubbing somewhere. Suddenly I turn around and U is sprawled on the road clutching his ankle, his face painted with embarassment and pain. After failed attempts at getting him to walk, a random honda-CRV driver expressing his anger at me through closed windows for god knows what (was like watching an awesomely funny silent movie) and a frantic search for U's driver, we got him to Max's Emergency section.

U: I don't want to go to the hospital!
Me: why?
U: (sheepishly) I am scared of injections.
Me: (laughing) don't worry, its just a sprain or something. U won't need an injection
At the hospital,
Doc: (first thing after examining U's foot) He needs a pain killer injection!

Talk about bad luck!

B and I started to protest on U's behalf but the only thing that came out of that was us getting kicked out of there ("Ladies, can u pls step out!")

Well eventually when we were allowed back in, we got to know that the doc wanted to take an X-ray. Since there was already a small kid in the X-ray room (interestingly with much the same injury as U), we had to wait outside.

Kid inside X-ray room: Waaa waaa...nahi nahi....sniff sniff...Booo Hooo
Kid's parents inside as well: beta...ye toy dekho,Gaadi... vroom vroom...
....After a while... (clapping) ho gaya!!!!
U:Umm... (worried look on his face)
B: (with a smirk) We should get a toy for U as well!

What followed was a night of unexplained laughter, subsequent stomach aches from too much laughing and wacky photos (thank god for cellphones with cameras). B was on a complete trip of her own (kept insisting she wanted to be wheeled around in the wheelchair and on my refusal to comply, sat herself down on one and tried to will it forward!) I am surprised the hospital did not turn us out! (though i suspect that was more cause they had a few laughs too)

Eventually we ended up staying at U's place (poor thing needed all the help he could get), had a few more laughs (yes, at his expense), helped him pack for his US trip and reached office by lunchtime the next day. (why waste the excuse, heh!)

(am tired of writing now, will continue this post tomorrow, promise!)
............

currently reading: City of Djinns- William Dalrymple
currently listening: Ya rabba- Salaam-e-Ishq, Here is gone- Goo goo dolls

Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!

There are good days and there are bad ones. Guess yesterday was just the latter.
And then there are days when u feel an inexplicable optimism and goodness about it all and everything looks so much more beautiful (even the person u see in the mirror heh!). Today is such a day!!!

Hehe I am on a crazy roller coaster ride...loving the highs n living out the lows!!

And that's life! Corretto?

Dilli Meri Jaan!

Life in Delhi is 'interesting!' (and not in the sense I usually use this word). I started off... loving Delhi and its way of life and now that the novelty of it all has started to run out, I suddenly find myself pining for singapore (never thought that could happen) and the people I left behind there. And its not that I dont like delhi anymore; I still think as highly of it as I did when I first started living here. But lately I have started to feel this awning sense of loneliness, this sense of being insignificant in a city so busy and large, this feeling of not having anyone to call my own here. And so I end up grasping at small incidents and newly formed relationships to give me that sense of belonging to somewhere or someone here.

I have been told often by people close to me, that I wear my heart on my sleeve and that I treat, a posession as precious and fragile as it, with a tad bit of carelessness. And while, so far I have not had any reason to agree with that assessment, I think I may have gotten myself one. And along with that landed myself into a situation that is by no means enviable. And I think the distance is all to blame; The near-ness to one and the far-ness from another. But whatever the reason, I am left here trying to come to terms with it all. I know, I talk in riddles, much like the state of my mind right now! Sigh!

But like always (the die-hard optimist in me awakens finally! Phew!), it will all be fine. Who knows, a whole lot of good just may come out of it.

PS- In retrospect, this post sounds soooo low and depressed. Don't worry (if u were), I am just in a mellow state of mind and wierdly, feeling ironical about everything (I hope its just PMS, for then I know that it will soon pass).

Am snatching a few moments from work to post this, much as I know I don't really have the time (such is the lure of blogging and writing). To set some of your burning curiosity to rest (I refuse to use the curiosity killing cliche), I am in Delhi these days for a 4-6 month internship at GE India. And if the busy days (and its just my third day here) are any indication, it seems like i will get to do some really good stuff. And a reason this would come as a surprise to many is that it all happened so last-minute, I din't really get to tell anyone or bid anyone adieu before I joined here. So there!
I seem to have lost my train of thought (has everything to do with me being mentally pooped)..so i should get back to work...

will write a really long post soon...the moment I get internet at home...I promise!

=)

Baby, I'm back!!- A teaser ;-)

As the title of this post reads, I am back to blogging after a long hiatus. What prompted this abrupt return, u ask? well in the answer to that lies another question, why did I stop blogging in the first place? Well a myriad of reasons are to blame, mainly a serious lack of time and inclination, an absence of anything special to write about (that is before I reached my current state of 'life itself is special and worth documenting') and the presence of other extracurricular activities (I choose not to elaborate heh). And how has any of that changed? well, working in an office all day leaves enough windows of opportunity open for creative (and often entertaining) pursuits the likes of blogging. And I do have special things to write about (life itself, as I mentioned!). So there, I guess u'll be seeing (reading?) a lot more of me now.

Now that i've introduced my return with much aplomb, i'll bid adieu for a while (the problem with these windows of creative opportunities in office is that they are too small). I'll be back with a longer post! I promise! (as if, heh!)

PS- This post is a teaser, for it leaves you teased, with a million questions in your head like, Is N Working in an office? where? doing what? and why didn't she tell me about it? Is she cross with me? If not, is she earning well? (For then I can be happy at the prospect of another potentially rich friend) Is US a bully? Is she still doing those extracurricular activities? Is she in Singapore? (Just threw in that US question, betcha din notice! Or maybe you did (in that case u read my blog with too much of gravity and attention) In any case, here's a bonus. The answer to the US question is a YES (accompanied by a vehement nod!) The answers to the rest, next time.)

=)