When Pumbaa met Khloe…

…we anticipated much circus — jealousy, aggression, mad barking, general crazy behaviour. Only, nothing happened.

Pumbaa
…has not changed. He is still scared of other dogs. That Khloe is only half his size did not seem to give him any false sense of superiority! He walked in, did not seem to register who I was (irrespective that I was overjoyed and screeching with love ), was in search of refuge from this new doggy person and quickly hid behind my brother! Khloe came around to him, and they sniffed at each other. No barking, no aggression, no pangs of jealousy — nothing. We were surprised, and pleased. One less thing to take care of

Khloe
…was not scared at all, of course not. She calmly went around to him, sniffed at him, and was generally curious at the presence of another 4-legged companion. That he is almost twice her size did not seem to affect her in the least. Having lived all her life with a group of/in the presence of other dogs (all Beagles, in her case), we knew she would not be scared of him — but the size difference, at least, was expected to have some bearing on her. None at all.

It is really endearing to see how they both are very curious about the other one’s presence. I am pretty sure Khloe would like to have his companionship. Pumbaa, I’m sure, will take his sweet time to break the ice and be pally with her. I remember how things were when Spike, a friend’s Cocker Spaniel, spent a week here with us long back. The first two days, Pumbaa pretended Spike did not exist. Even when we sat them opposite each other, Pumbaa would slowly either look away, or look at the ceiling, or look over Spike’s head (again, Spike was tiny when compared to Pumbaa). Like “If I cannot see him, I’m sure he doesn’t exist”. The third day, the ice began melting, and Pumbaa started trailing Spike everywhere. On the fourth day, he was seen actually playing with Spike, having mock-fights with him, and even falling all over him By the time the friendship was formed, it was time for Spike to return home Secretly, though, I think Spike was glad to go After the initial days, Pumbaa did not let him have one moment to himself

Pumbaa and Spike — from scared to paired

Pumbaa and Khloe
…have not become friends yet. She is very interested in him, and is probably baffled by his behaviour. I can almost see a thought bubble constantly hovering over her head with the words “Just when I thought I had some good company…why is this guy so weird? Pffft!” I can almost see a thought bubble constantly hovering over his head as well, that says “Oh my God! This woman. Just does NOT let me be. Can’t she see I have no interest in her? Well, almost no interest…“

When they first met…he kept a safe distance.

Later, he decided to pretend she did not exist!

The next day, he decided to get to know her…

…and decided it was safer to pretend she does not exist!

After she settled down with a bone, he heaved a sigh of relief and settled down with his.

But when I tried to make them exchange a few words, he again pretended she did not exist!

Later, as he sat watching the world go by, she joined him.

And as I almost heaved a sigh of contentment at this new bond, she gave him a kissie, and he slowly got up and ran off!

Pumbaa is pretty miffed that the house (and people) he owned all these years have to now be shared with this puny little thing who keeps harassing him all the time. “Stop following me around, can’t she? Duh! Do not take my submissiveness as lack of courage. Grrrrrrrrrrowl” says his thought bubble.

I used to OWN this place. Duh!

As Pumbaa continues to play hard to get, Khloe is slowly realising that someone can actually be scared of her! “Scared of me, tiny lil’ me! Yay!” says her thought bubble now And another one says, “Just because you can bark loudly and occasionally growl at me, I am not going anywhere. This house (and these people) are as much mine as they are yours.” Khloe is clearly not very impressed by Pumbaa’s strange behaviour

You don’t impress me much…Pumbaa.

Aside: Today, Khloe had her first taste of rice and beef. And boy, did she love it! All these days, she totally refused to eat anything else apart from bread and boiled eggs, and milk. We tried giving her everything, she would take none of it. After Pumbaa arrived, Khloe seems to appreciate variety in food

• He dropped a few tiny pieces of dog biscuit, and she gobbled them up. This, after I had tried my best and failed to make her even lick a piece of it all these days!
• The moment he puts down the bone he is chewing on and goes off for water or a loo break, she quietly claims it as her own!
• And today, after making her taste a tiny spoonful of Pumbaa’s “beef biriyani” as we call it, she could NOT wait for it to cool down. So we made her a share, gave it to her, which she wolfed down! And then she made a move to his share as well! He “grrrrrrr”ed at her, but of course, did nothing; pouted and went under the table. The husband and I had to then form a human barricade and block the hungry girl on one side while I fed the distraught boy on the other side!

Sooooo much fun I think the circus we had anticipated is just waiting to kick off

Pumbaa, sooooooooo happy to have you back (even if for a while)! You are such a sweetheart

Meet Khloe :)

Our 6-year old beagle, a sweetheart we adopted a week ago.

The whole idea was formed when my ex-manager and dear friend, Neeta, forwarded a mail that took me to a blog that said “20 beagles from a lab need homes”. Of course, having a Labrador at home made me first think the mail meant these were pups of a lab-beagle parents. And then, I noticed a comment that said something about beagles being extremely gentle beings, which is why they are “used” in labs. Which is what made me research more on beagles in labs. That took me to the Beagle Freedom Project. I read about the horrors these lovely creatures are put through in animal “testing” laboratories. I was aghast. I came across this video, and was reminded of having seen it a couple of years ago.

Well, I did not need any more persuasion or convincing to take a decision. We wrote to CUPA who was organising this adoption drive, and was told we would get to adopt one on 19 Feb. I really really wanted to get two — so that they’d have each other for company always — but the husband refused to agree. Well, there would be more such adoption drives, I told myself

On 19 Feb, we went to the CUPA centre at Ulsoor, to find that there were 40,a nd not 20 beagles up for adoption! We registered, and had to wait for our turn to make the selection. There was one I had almost decided on; till then Khloe was not in my line of sight. It was when a car had to be reversed out from amidst the cages that the guy moved Khloe’s cage to another side. That’s when I saw her. And when it was my turn to choose, I opened the cage of the one i had almost set my mind on, and called her out. She was responsive, but did not budge. I opened Khloe’s cage, and she came out, slowly but with much affection. I gently pushed her back in and tried two others. Well, in the end, Khloe it was!

I guess it suffices to say that Khloe chose us She came to us happily, stood patiently while we put on her a new collar and clipped it to her new leash. She was curious, but anxious. She was friendly, but extremely docile. Every time we bent down to pet her, she would cower and almost set herself flat on the ground It ached to see her do that.

That was 5 days ago, and at the adoption center. The moment we reached home, she surveyed all of the first floor. She was hesitant to climb the stairs to the second. Since CUPA had to sterilise her, they operated her and there was a cut on her belly which was stitched and bandaged. We did not want to force her to climb, for fear of her wound causing her pain. She settled down extremely quickly.

Am I beautiful or not? Pic courtesy: Neeta

The first day at home is the ONLY time she slept on the floor. I guess she was not sure what the sofas were for; plus, I was sitting on the floor, so she must’ve assumed that’s where we all sit/sleep.

I’m at home here.

That evening, Neeta and the Queen of Subtlety came home to visit Khloe. They spent quite a while cuddling her, taking pictures, and generally giving her love therapy Close to 8, they were hungry, and decided to leave. I decided to join them for dinner. While I was gone, Khloe watched TV.

Wow. There are many dimensions to this world! Interesting, I say. Pic courtesy: Suraj

Khloe is now a happy girl. Because she has figured out the comforts of the various soft sofas, beds and settees in this house. Needless to say, she now owns them. The moment one of us sits down (mostly me, because the husband prefers the single seater), she considers it her right to climb up right up near me, shifts about till she gets into a position that lets her be squished between me and the backrest, and promptly dozes off. Ina day or two, she has come to the conclusion that she can doze off even without waiting for me to sit. As long as one of us is in the room, all is well.

The wonders of a certain thing called ‘sponge’. Pic courtesy: Suraj

Khloe is in love with Suraj; and, the feeling is mutual She just cannot bear to have him out of her sight. If he walks out of the room, she whines. If he goes to the bathroom, she whines. If he goes upstairs for a second, she whines. In fact, it was during one such moment of missing him that she climbed alllll the way up to the second floor, in search of him. We were shocked! We had tried two whole days to see if she will climb up, but she had always refused. Anyways, they are inseparable. Today morning, when he went out to buy some veggies, she waited for him at the stairs till he was back.

Where IS he? How long will he be gone?

Yes, it is not just her; looks like he can’t stay away from her for too long either. Two days ago, I asked him to come pick me up from work late evening, and had to make him wait for 20 minutes as I was finishing up some last-minute stuff. He was so mad at me, and came back and complained to Khloe that he “wanted to come back immediately, but she made me late!” So yes, they love each other. See how they spend time ‘together’

Hahaha…he’s right; it sure is a funny show!

Khloe is a happy girl We took her to the vet today, and he said she’s healthy, and seems happy and quite well adjusted in comparison to how normally other adopted dogs seem in a week of getting a home. She refuses to eat anything at all, but that is just because it’s a new environment. We took her on her first ever walkie-walkie today evening, and she was a good, co-operative girl! I’m proud of her.

Khloe Nayar Thomas, welcome home Here’s to a delightful new life, baby!

I look forward to sunshine, happiness, love and much joy in life.

Licensed to kill

Finally!

It’s been over two-and-a-half years since I resolved to learn driving. I wrote here how I joined driving classes and had managed to attend almost every class. but well, I had to quit. Well, in my defense, the man who used to come to teach NEVER brushed his teeth! That my classes were early morning, about 6.30 – 7.00, did not help AT ALL. For all I know, he might have been coming right from bed with that stinking mouth of his. Ugh. I shudder to even think of it. I used to attend every class till he began teaching me how to reverse! Moron that he was, he just would not let me use the rear-view mirror. He said I’d to turn around and look back through the rear windshield. And, the very moment I’d look back, he’d also look back! His face then would be inches away from mine, and it’d hit me like a whiplash! The mouth odour, I mean. It was killer. That was the day I quit! Not to mention that he was sleazy and tried to use every opportunity to ‘touch and teach’. *&^$%^&*(*&^%

So well, that was a nightmare. I went back to my philosophy about how I did not need to learn driving, because I always had/have my drivers — dad, brother, brother’s friends and Suraj. At all other times, I have bus and auto drivers Life moved on. Till I met The Queen of Subtlety (TQS). She was dying to learn driving, and when she told me about it, I randomly commented on how I should also learn, but it has always  been a jinxed effort. That was it. She convinced me to join with her, yelled at me for missing some classes and pushed me to continue even when I was fed up with the folks at the school and wanted to give up.

The two of us joined Maruti Driving School (MDS). We both signed up for evening classes (4.30 – 5.30), since the place was close to office, and we could easily reach. After my first 3-4 classes, I got into a project that had recurring meetings every day at that precise time! I missed some 7-8 classes in a row. According to their system, if per the initial schedule your classes get over on a specific date and if you cross that date for whatever reason, you need to reschedule (and write them an apology letter!). So I wrote apology letter, begged and pleaded to be given a new set of dates. The new set of dates arrived. TQS looked at the dates and timings and randomly commented “All your classes are in the evening”. I was sooo dying with work, I did not even bother to check the date and time to see if she was right. I just took her word for it Turned out, I had only one class in the evening. All others were in the morning! And it was not on every other day, like the previous time. So on days I could not make it in the morning, and called to say I would not be able to make it, it would turn out I had no class scheduled that day! Long story short, I missed a lot of classes again! That is when I heard from my manager (who had also been a student there once up on a time) that MDS reschedules only once, and after 2 attempts, if you are not regular, they blacklist you. I freaked out. Two years ago, I’d paid Rs 4000 to a man who did not even brush his teeth. I’d now paid MDS Rs 6000. I could not waste money on this anymore! But how was I to explain all the goof-ups?

That is when I made TQS tell the folks at MDS that I was sent out of India on official duty
“But why can’t she call and let us know!?”
“She’s in Singapore, you see. On official duty.”
“So? Can’t she call? If she can tell you, can’t she tell us?”
“Well, you see, she is on international roaming, and did not think it was thaaaat important to call from there.”
“Hmmmm. Ok. Tell her we will send a revised schedule.”

So well, I got another revised schedule, and this time I was a good child. I attended every single class, and finally got it over with. Or so I thought. Well, the RTO was waiting.

On Oct 20, Saturday, I went to MDS to get my paperwork done and head over to the RTO for the driving license (DL) test. But the previous day’s dinner had poisoned me, and I was real weak. So I decided to go the following week. On Oct 27, Saturday, I went to MDS to get my paperwork done and head over to the RTO for the DL test. And guess what? Since the previous day was Bakrid, RTO was closed that day. So well, left with no choice, I decided to go the next Saturday. I did not despair. I’m a staunch believer in the Malayalam saying “Onnu pizhachaal moonnu” which translates to mean that if your trial fails the first time, it will work ONLY the third time. This one is ALWAYS true in my case. See how I had to get three schedules for my classes?

So, on November 3, Saturday, I went to MDS to get my paperwork done and head over to the RTO for the DL test. No poisons, no holidays, no glitches. After finishing paperwork and simulator test in 15 mins, I headed over to the place I was asked to wait at, for the Inspector who would give us the test. I waited under that tree for 5 hours. Whether I pass the driving test or not, I sure passed the patience test I did not walk away! The inspector came then, took the test, finished it off in 5 minutes, and that was it! That evening, I called MDS, and was told I was licensed to kill The weapon however, would take a month to reach me. Today, it came. A driving license bearing MY name on it.

Moment of joy. Sense of accomplishment. Happiness. Yay!

Dear Queen of Subtlety, I’m deeply indebted to you for making me see this through till the end If it weren’t for your incessant yelling and prodding and motivation and encouragement, I would most likely have given up Thank You for bringing me some much-wanted joy! I owe you a big one And every time I’m behind the wheel, every time I open my wallet and see the “D.L. SMART CARD”, I will remember you

Richard Parker is breathtakingly beautiful!

After months of waiting, today I saw Richard Parker. And Oh My God, is he breathtaking!

It has been over 4 years since I wrote this. Life of Pi is the best book I’ve read. No other book had me completely flabbergasted, left me wondering if it was fact or fiction. I vividly remember Googling certain things described in the book, to find out if those were for real.

Of all the things in the book, I was most impressed by Richard Parker. Totally taken, completely smitten. Head over heels in love I was 24 then. Grown up enough to not be taken over by a Bengal tiger, and an imaginary one at that Well, four years later, Richard Parker stormed into my life with the same enchantment and had me gaping with such glee. What a beauty he is! I thought at least the movie would make me give more importance to Pi Sorry Pi, Richard Parker stole the show

I lost count of the number of times i went “oooh!” and “so beautiful” and “awwww” and “wow” over Richard Parker and his antics. The look in his eyes as he hung on to the lifeboat, body immersed in the sea…I wanted to hug him, say it’s alright, you’ll be saved, and squish him! Gosh, he is so so so beautiful, I can’t stop gushing over him

Since the day I heard this movie would release by the end of 2012, I’d been waiting, patiently but eagerly. Being a non-movie person, quite a few people were surprised to see HOW much I looked forward to this one’s release I normally do not read movie reviews, especially of the ones I intend to watch. I’m particular about having my own views, ones that will no way be coloured or tainted by another person’s views.

Just yesterday, a team of people from work went to watch it, and returned saying they were slightly disappointed; that it was a good watch, but did not meet expectations. I was warned to go without expecting too much. I refused, and the nearer I got to the theatre, my excitement began bubbling within. I sooo wanted and hoped to love it.

I LOVED it. Absolutely loved it. Like, really gobsmacked I was more than satisfied I loved it all. Pondicherry, Munnar, the mighty Pacific Ocean, the meercats. Pi – the liltle boy, Pi – the big boy, Pi – the man. The mother, father, brother, writer. The 3D, the blue whale, the sparkling sea, the visual extravaganza. Most of all, Richard Parker

It was brilliant. It is never possible to make a movie out of a book, doing complete justice to it. And when the book in question is one like Life of Pi, it is all the more difficult. To even endeavor to make a movie out of such a brilliant book itself is an act that deserves much appreciation. To do the kind of justice this one did to the book deserves a bow I thought it was awesome! I just wish I went to a better theatre, one with better 3D effects.

It was so goooood, I did not even WANT popcorn! Now that should say it all!

Richard Parker, you are awesome! I dedicate this post to you!

The Queen of Subtlety

Subtlety, if you ask me, is not an art possessed and practiced by many. Some think they have it, but don’t. Some actually have it, but never put it into action at the right moment. And well, some others have it, and practice it quite well.

And then there’s Princess (you need to spend 5 continuous minutes with her to know why exactly she is Princess) who does not know that subtlety exists. Which makes her nothing less than The Queen of Subtlety.

Incident #1 why Princess got titled The Queen of Subtlety
Princess and her two friends (which includes me) were on a break; sipping tea at the pantry. There was no one else in the pantry. If the three of us weren’t talking, there would be no other sound there. We were discussing random life issues, friends, relatives and other such. For once, there was ABSOLUTELY no gossip about colleagues happening right then. After a few minutes, our manager’s ex-manager (who still likes to act the part of our manager’s manager) walked in to fill her tea cup. There was a moment of silence right then, as we had just finished a random conversation. For no reason in particular, on seeing the lady that walked in, Princess said “Shhh” at us (but alas, loudly enough for all of the pantry to hear). We were not talking about her, but I’m sure after the “Shhh”, she thought we were. Sigh!

Incident #2 why Princess got titled The Queen of Subtlety
Princess and I were at our workstations, quietly going about our lives work. And then, Princess rolled her chair towards me and we began discussing something — I’m not sure if it was work or something else. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw our manager’s manager walk into our bay, and launch into a conversation with our manager. I whispered to Princess to check them both out, that they’re colour coded (they were both in red shirts). That’s ALL I said. Princess turned around, looked, and burst out laughing. And then she turned back to me, saw my horrified expression and went “Ooops” and eerily quiet. I dread to even think what he might have thought! Sigh!

Incident #3 why Princess got titled The Queen of Subtlety
Princess and I work on the 7th Floor of our office building. We have a friend on the Ground Floor. Once, after collecting a courier that Princess received (a reasonably sized box which looked suspicious even to me!), we decided to walk over to our friend and have a chat. As we walked in, I told Princess that we’ll tell our friend we’re here to have a serious meeting with her and her manager, and that Princess was to hide the courier from the friend’s view. We walked to her seat, and found her seat vacant; she was in a meeting room with her team. As we were contemplating whether to stay or leave, the meeting room door opened and the friend’s teammate walked out. Instead of being a normal human being and just staying calm, Princess did something very close to acrobatics and tried to hide the courier box from the girl’s sight (don’t ask me why!!). Of course, quite unsuccessfully at that. We got a look of weird displeasure from that girl. Sigh!

Incident #4 why Princess got titled The Queen of Subtlety
Princess and I were walking to the pantry, for a cup of tea. Just as we got out of the bay, we saw two foreigners standing by the door, having a serious discussion. I walked on in silence. But not the Princess, oh no! She took one look at the two (fairly older) gentlemen and said “Oooh! Nice.” With smoke coming out of my ears, I hastened my pace, looked at her horrified and asked her what the hell that was! And she explains, “But I meant one of their bags; not them!” Yes, very evident that was. Sigh!

As The Queen of Subtlety continues to rule, the rest of us are sure that we’ll have many more foot-in-mouth moments, handed over in a golden plate, even without having to say a word! Secretly, I think I need to make new friends.

More pumbaastic updates

It’s been long since I wrote this and this about him. It’s time for some more.

• In another 3 days, he will turn two! Oh my god. How time flies. Beeg boy he is now; only, he doesn’t know that, and refuses to even want to know .
• He had an attack of gluten allergy recently. The last time I was home, no matter how lightly you pat him, anywhere on his body, he’d be extremely ticklish. Took him to the vet who said it could be a gluten problem. Asked us to avoid giving him his favourite chappatis and cake and generally all things sweet. Poor baby.
• Whenever my brother raises his voice (generally in frustration at technology issues), Pumbaa runs to pacify him, thinking his presence can make everything alright. And well, works like a charm, every single time
• Whenever I video chat with my folks back home, I call out to Pumbaa, with a few words ONLY I use on him. He comes, peers at the screen for a while, registers my face…and then goes mad, wags his tail furiously…and eventually jump on my brother or Amma, whoever is sitting there
• The moment he realises he may have done something wrong, he bolts and hides under the sofa He thinks we can’t reach him there. Happened twice last time i was home, and how much I laughed! We were all sitting around the dining table in the evening, having tea. Pumbaa was also lying beside my chair. Amma slowly stepped around him, and in the process knocked over her cup of tea. And I loudly asked “What are you doing Amma?”…and Pumbaa bolted. ROFL. Took a lot of convincing before he believed he was not at fault for the spilt tea. A day later, I was playing tug with him, and as I let go of his toy, he jumped towards me with the toy dangling from his mouth. It came and hit me on my nose, right where I’d pierced it. And I went “Ouch”. In fact, I did not make a sound. I just stiffened, and clutched my face. And he bolted. ROFL. Despite the pain and the million stars dancing around, I had to get down on all fours to convince him he didn’t do anything, and was still my sweetheart
• He gets two boiled eggs every morning, between 10 and 12. Wherever he is — terrace, near the gate, in my brother’s room, in a slumber — at the sound of shell cracking, he’s at Amma’s side!
• Whenever Amma goes out, he goes into depression. From the time she dresses up till she actually leaves, he’s this nicechild — all love, convincing her that it’s absolutely safe to take him along too. And when she actually does leave, he cocks his head to the right and looks at her, asking “How can you!?” Awww moment it always is. And no matter what treat she leaves him with, he refuses to eat till she’s back. And when she returns, he grabs the abandoned treat, goes to his ‘snack bar’ and munches on it, as if to say “Oh!I’m busy, and don’t really care you’re back, you abandoner!”
• Amma made him an excellent bed, got him accustomed to using a pillow and everything. It lasted for 2 days. He prefers the settee in the living room Being the sensible one he is, he knows NOT to get on it during the day. And when it is bed time, dad brings out his bed sheet and covers the settee with it. All the while Pumbaa keeps trotting from one side to the other, impatient to get on it. It is only when dad says “OK” that he gets on it, though. Darling.
• He hates ticks being plucked out of him. but the moment we take on out, he gets all restless, and has to be allowed to peer/sniff at it before we kill it Such a funny sight it is!
• He loves the fisher woman that comes to our place. All the while that she’s at work cutting and cleaning the fish Amma buys, he sits by her side, giving her company. He does NOT lick at the fish. He has no plans to run off with a piece. No hidden agendas. Just wants to patiently sit by her side, making sure she doesn’t feel lonely. She loves him too, which is a good thing. Calls him her “muthu” (pearl/something precious) there. Cuteness overload.
• Whatever we buy — stationery, clothes, all non-vegetables — have to be given to him to sniff, and approve for use It’s funny how he religiously sniffs every single item, then walks away without claiming any of the items. Chakkara.
• Dad buys a kilo of beef every Sunday, then chops it up and divides it into 6 equal packs and stores in the freezer; taking one measure out everyday for his meal. Every Sunday, as Dad chops the beef, Pumbaa sits beside him patiently, drooling a sea around him, catching with precision the few pieces dad tosses at him Want to learn the art of patience? Be with Pumbaa during Sunday beef session

What hasn’t changed

• The ass sniffing
• Understanding every.single.thing we say about/to him
• Loving us unconditionally; being loved right back, equally unconditionally
• Being a blessing
• Being a joy to be around
• Being the light of our lives
• Being Pumbaastic

That’s all for now. Again, for certain people who “turn to mush seeing his pics”, here are some of the more recent pics on his very own page. Scroll right down!

Been a while since…

…I blogged last — not just posting on mine, but commenting on the million other posts I religiously read.

…I cooked a proper meal. Like, a complete lunch/dinner the way I used to.

…I really got down to gardening. I force myself to water them frequently to keep them alive.

…I spoke to my best buddies from school.

…I sang a full song, loud and clear.

…I’ve met some ex-colleagues I’ve been really wanting to meet (some things just do NOT happen).

…I’ve gone about taking random photographs. The camera is dying under a layer of dust (not literally).

…I’ve been fired by anyone for a really weird reason.

…I’ve done something mindless.

…I spent some real good time with family.

Been a while since I’ve been me. Sucks. Bah.

In Life. Just be fair.

I’m tired of writing come-back posts. So, don’t count this as one. For, I’m almost sure I’ll go off again.

Blogging, when in a bad state of mind, is not something I do or even want to do. Hehe…too many people may get hurt, shocked, whatever. So I’m not here to explain why I have been hibernating, for the umpteenth time. I just wanted to tell you…

I’m still kind of reeling under the effect of a major insight into what we fondly, angrily, exasperatedly and hopefully call ‘Life’! That no one has any right to judge another person—no matter what that person may have done or said.

I’m not the kind who sees or meets someone, judges them immediately (as being funny, nice, trustworthy, full of attitude, creepy, and so on) and compartmentalise them. I take my time, give them their space and study them well before I decide if I like them, love them, trust them, dislike them, hate them… But yes, over a period, I do end up judging them—as being good or bad. If they do/say something that is so against my principles and what I consider ‘right’, I do judge them. I suppose it is human.

And when I say we should not judge “no matter what that person may have done or said”, I mean it quite literally. Now, if you ask me if we should not judge someone who has committed a heinous crime—such as a murder for instance—well, I still think we shouldn’t. While you may judge someone for a physical murder, you may reach a point in life where you murder someone’s spirits, kill them mentally. As long as you destroy a person, it does not matter how. The end result is the same in both cases.

So yes, whatever whoever does—there is always a reason. The only thing is that their right maybe our wrong. What we cannot fathom, must have come so naturally to them, thanks to a lot of catalysts. Someone hates his parents, someone cuts off her best friend, someone falls out of love, someone cheats on a partner, someone walks out on his marriage, someone takes another person for a ride, someone steals, someone kills… They all have their reasons which we may never even be a million miles close to finding, ever.

So, when we judge someone, I think we need to know that at some point in time, invariably, we will find ourselves in that spot—the spot where that person we judged stood. At that time, our eyes will open wide, something will go smack in the head, make us stop in our tracks, feel our body go limp, sense our jaw drop…and we’ll be like ‘Oh my God…I never thought I’d ever be here /do this /say this…”

But one day, you will. We all will. I did. And I’m still shocked. I did NOT have this in mind, ever. I did not think I’d ever be where I am right now. But the fact is that I am…and I’m really shocked.

I guess the best we can do in life is to be fair—to the ones we love, hate, hurt, respect, bear with… Just be fair. Be fair, but don’t be sacrificial. Give them their chance at life, but not at the cost of yours. Grant them their happiness, but don’t lose yours.

OK, this is a little strange right now. I’m bad at these kinds of talks. So let me just admit I’m shocked, but I’m not sad about it. It could not have been avoided. Really. I did try. Quite many times, in many ways.

God, I’m shocked.

Some more Pumbaastic updates :)

It’s been long since I wrote this about him; and boy, has he changed!

• He is now a year and 5 months, almost; a grown(p)up but he refuses to acknowledge that. He still is (and looks like he always will be) a kid.
• He devours bananas. He takes—one at a time—from a bunch that’s kept on the fruit tray below the dining table, goes to his snack bar, peels it, eats it and leaves the skin there. The first time I saw this happening, I gaped.
• He eats dates, most carefully. He devours it like it’s the last morsel of food he’ll ever get—and then he slowly lowers his head and rolls out his tongue, from which will roll out a spotless date seed.
• He is no longer the aviyal-loving, curd-loving, give-me-anything-home-made-and-I-shall-eat sweet little thing. He has preferences. :-/
• There are days when he just decides he does not want to eat on his own. So he’ll look at his plate, walk around, look at one of us, walk around…generally letting us know “I’m hungry, but I am not going to eat by myself”. When one of us (mostly mom or me, no one else falls for these ) take it bit by bit and feed him like feeding a little kid, he finishes every morsel of food on his plate
• When in one of his moods, he hunts out every single piece of chicken/beef/fish from the rice-meat mix we give him and leaves every grain of rice there!
• He does NOT appreciate Pedigree or anything similar for more than a day (or two, max!) at a time.
• The ONE thing he cannot stay away from, and drools till there’s a sea around him, is “the cake”! He cannot even control himself from jumping up and biting it right off your hand (without hurting you of course!) It always amazes us, his greed for cakes
• He understands every.single.thing we say about/to him. How he responds/obeys, is totally dependent on his mood though
• The one command he obeys unconditionally is “Stay”. For every other command, he obeys or ignores based on the presence or absence of food in the commander’s hands
• When we ask him where his “toy” is, he scrambles all over the house like mad till he finds it. After that, he expects us to play with him till he tires out. And if we try to ignore him, he catches hold of our legs (one paw across a leg, holding it close to his head so we wont move!) and makes sure we say “OK, let’s play!”
• Every time he comes with the toy to play, if we tell him “I have work, Pumbaa. I’ve to cook/eat/clean up. I’ll play with you after that”, he puts the toy down and lies beside it, following our every move. The moment that particular work is done, he comes to us with the toy, almost asking “You’re done now. Can we play?”
• We have different names for his toys, and he identifies each one when we ask for a specific one by name! [Yes, I know some kids who can do that ]
• He is in love! With pretty little “Twinkle”, a Beagle that stays in our neighbourhood. Well, I’m in love with her too! But this is like serious love! The minute she reaches close to our gate, she starts pulling on her leash and makes sure there’s a stop at our gate. As for Pumbaa, whatever he is doing right then, he ditches it all, and bounds down the stairs. Then there’s much kissing and licking and pawing from two sides of a gate. It’s the cutest sight. Really. And when Twinkle is led away and looks back forlornly, her owners promise to bring her the next day, and she lets out one tiny woof and goes off. Replay happens next day evening
• He gets extremely jealous if he sees any of us hugging/kissing someone other than him. Suraj hugs me, he jumps at Suraj. My brother hugs me, he jumps at my brother. My brother hugs my mother, he jumps at my brother. I hug my mother, he jumps at my mother OK…looks like my mom and I are his alone!
• There are times when Suraj leashes him to our living room door (for too much mischief), and he lies down there patiently. Till he sees that I’ve sat down beside Suraj on the couch. He can no longer sleep, but he would still lie there, watching us all the time. I would then slowly lean on to Suraj…and Pumbaa would invariably sit up straight and let out pathetic whines. And then Suraj would put his arm around me and hold me close—and Pumbaa would be on his feet, whining, barking, pulling at his leash and being generally pissed off till we both say “OK…we won’t touch”. He then becomes quiet, and sits, but not quite happily, till I go pet him. He then goes off to sleep till I sit near Suraj the next time
• He thinks anyone except Amma is allowed to scold him. Amma, however, is his playmate. No matter what he does how, she is NOT supposed to scold. He sulks like mad if she does
• He sniffs our backsides all the time I read somewhere that that’s how dogs collect data/information about people. Why he has to collect data on the same people every time they get up from their seats, beats me! There are times we have to stand pressed to the wall and say “No, Pumbaa. No!” and he gives us a forlorn look and backs off. Not for long, though. He has even learnt to do it discreetly. The embarrassment, however, is when he sniffs and then blows his nose loudly and forcefully, shaking his head, like he just inhaled some hydrogen sulphide!

That’s all for now. Waiting for him to finish off his 2-month vacation, to come back and give me fodder for more updates For certain people who “turn to mush seeing his pics”, here are some of the more recent pics on his very own page. Scroll right down

Faceoff!

I deleted my Facebook account a week back. Ok, that’s a lie. I only ‘de-activated’ it, I didn’t delete it. I promised Facebook that “This is temporary. I’d be back”, before I hit ‘Confirm’. Plenty of people asked me why I did it.

-  “What ARE you saying!? Why?” I’m saying I deleted my FB account. Why not?
-  The plain old “Whaaaat!?”. What whaaaat?
-  A more concerned “What happened? All OK?” Nothing, why do you ask? All OK.
-  And a shock-inducing “why on earth did u delete ur FB account????….did u delete it or jus deactivated it ???.. seriously??? ..y did u delete it??…anybody offended u or something??…” Why on earth do you use so many punctuation marks?????!!!!!!
-  Someone also gave me the “:-o”, and did not even wait to see my own “:-o” in response.

I deleted Orkut one fine morning, and did not miss it at all! No one questioned me, no one even realized. I guess ALL of them were too busy on Facebook to notice. However, in this case, I did absentmindedly type “faceb” on a new tab right after opening Gmail a couple of times, each time going ‘Oooops’ before I closed the said tab. Well, it had become a habit, I suppose. Open Mozilla, type in gmail.com, open new tab, type in facebook.com, open new tab…

Anyway, nothing happened. I only deactivated it. No one offended me. I just decided I should de-addict myself and stay away for a while. It was not adding ANY value whatsoever. The ones I was ‘really’ in touch with was available on Gtalk, all the time. I did not have to ‘connect with them’ on a public platform and have interesting conversations just anyone could ‘Like’, comment on or ‘Share’. And well, I began feeling a bit sick about telling the whole world what I “did” with whom during any part of the day or night.

Plus, a couple of things did make me feel ‘ugh’ in general.

- Random people sending me friend requests.

o Hey-I’m-your-friend’s-friend-and-i-love-the-comments-you-leave-on-his/her-pages-so-let’s-be-friends
o I-have-this-urge-to-send-friend-requests-to-any-profile-that-has-a-girl’s-name-and-picture
o I-just-sent-you-a-request-but-maybe-you-did-not-see-it-so-I’ll-leave-you-a-message-as-well-so you’ll-remember-to-accept

- Blatant ‘ownership’ drives for old jokes, not-so-famous sayings, philosophical thoughts and the like…

o Type it down in own words and pretend it is something the person just came up with while having pasta and kanjivellam
o Type in one of my own pjs and post it as a quote (!!) followed by a hyphen and that person’s name! (No, I did not feel flattered at all.)
o Basically, too much Ctrl C + Ctrl V without giving credits where they are due.

- People questioning me on why I took them off my friend list (the options I can offer are):

o We’re not really “friends”
o Because, after the first “Hi. Good to find you on FB…”, we’ve never commented on or ‘Share’d or ‘Like’d each other’s pics/updates,
or even had a chat ever
o Because I like figuring out who my ‘friends’ really are, and keeping just them
o You did not do anything to me (and I really don’t want you to, either)
o No, you didn’t hurt/offend me; if you did, I wouldn’t stop at just ‘unfriend’ing you

- General fatigue from all the fakeness overload.

o You don’t talk to me if we meet in person;
o You don’t ever make the mistake of getting in touch with me;
o You subtly say or do things to let me (or people you know will convey it to me) know that you really don’t like me.
o BUT you ‘Like’ my pics, updates, comments and even “wish there was a ‘Love’ option over ‘Like’. Phew.

- Updates that end up spamming my wall some of which could go like:

o “Having tea out on my balcony before I have a 45 minute bath, put on my Sunday best and head out for lunch at ___ restaurant with (spouse), meet X, Y and Z for tea and party till midnight at K’s place. Life is sooo good. What are you doing today?” Is “trying to unfriend you without you getting to know” a suitable response?
o Heavenly breakfast — with ABC DEF; Awesome lunch. Full tummy, empty wallet — with ABC DEF; Dinner couldn’t have been better — with ABC DEF; Off to bed – with ABC DEF (Will you update again in a couple of hours? Should I wait? )
o Must buy a new bulb for the kitchen (hmmm…how about one for the brain as well?); About to change the bulb in the kitchen (should I pray for you? or for the bulb, perhaps?); Changed the bulb in kitchen. (Hooray, big round of applause, people!)

- Having to worry about who all in the friend list will tell who all that is NOT in the list, about what I update about what, when, who, why—and then be held responsible for hurt feelings, broken hearts, blame games and the likes. (Dang. Where is the ‘delete account’ option?)

So why did I not just delete the account? Well, silly it will sound…but that’s for Pumbaa’s sake To keep all the awesome comments he got on his photo album in my account. I really did not want to delete them forever. What if, later in life, he asks me what people had to say about his days as a pup? So, till I’m back to FB-ing, I shall badmouth the various kinds of FB users and pretend to be the enlightened one who is above them all

P.S.: This whole post materialized after a conversation with a certain someone to whom I said — Hey, I deleted my FB account two days back…so would you be a darling and post this there, saying “Dedicated just for me, by Priya Nayar. She thinks too much of Spiderman love can do this to me verrrrry soon.”? ’

.

Now most of you know who fired multiple questions at me, with an overload of punctuation marks