I Finished it to Win these ;)

Like I wrote here, I had also participated in CB‘s story-finishing contest – Finish it to win it. I finished it to win…these following awards. Well, my story was so lame, but I had fun participating, writing, commenting and then commenting again on the first prize winner’s post 😀

Here’s the link to the first half of the story. And here’s what I wrote, the second half 😀 Bear with me (and the story).

And here are what CB gave!!! Yey!

For participating...and writing a story 😉

...and for guessing who wrote which one 😉

I wonder what…

I wonder what it takes to convince someone to take care of their health (the loss, finally, is theirs, isn’t it?).

I wonder what it takes to make someone shed their negativity and shift to positive paths.

I wonder what it takes to make two people love each other (in spite of years of its absence).

I wonder what it takes to stop someone you love from being that one person you dread to have to live with.

I wonder what it means, to live your life for someone else forever, and never be valued for what you are.

I wonder what it takes to make people realise that God is in your minds, actions and thoughts; and not in how well you display and talk about it.

I wonder what it takes to convert a non-believer (and I don’t mean just the belief in God) to become a believer.

I wonder what it takes to make people look at the bigger picture than at the pixels!

I wonder what it takes to imbibe a sense of ‘togetherness’ in someone.

I wonder what it means to not be loved, but be expected to slave.

I wonder what it takes to make someone shed their ego and arrogance (even after suffering for it multiple times).

I wonder what it takes to make someone you love walk WITH you (and not lead, follow or tread).

I wonder what it takes to make someone accept everyone else as idividuals with their own lives.

I wonder what it means when you finally give up on someone:
     is that the end of real love?
     is it the beginning of disinterested acceptance?
     is it a sacrifice of your own interests as well?

I really do wonder…

Alive and kicking…

Don’t know what’s happened to me; guess this is the price one pays for being a full-time “writer”…or rather “copywriter”. All I know to do now is to ‘copy’ and ‘write’ 😀

Gosh! my last post was EXACTLY 5 whole months back. Sheesh! I need to get a life! Seriously!

I don’t even remember the many excellent bloggers and their different styles of writing. Damn! And I don’t even think half the people in my blogroll writes anymore 😦 It was a damn good bunch out there. Where are all you guys?? Have you all become professional copywiters as well? 😀 😀

Well, someone once told me it is extremely tough to come out of it once you succumb to “writers’ block”. In my defence, I must say that I’ve fallen into that trap one too many times — and crawled out of it successfully: only to fall into a freshly dug one 😉

So, apologies to you people who has my blog on their feeds (because you’d be now reading this not out of interest and extreme happiness at a much-too-frequent “comeback” of mine, but because your feed reader must’ve forced you to!), but you’ll be seeing more of such nonsensical posts in the days to come — until one of you get exasperated enough to dig a new one for me to fall into.

Till then, cheers — and have a great bloggy life 🙂

P.S.: A namesake once told me she loved the use of “pink over grey” in one of my posts. I dedicate this one to her 😀

Onam’s here again…

Yet another Onam’s here — and this year I don’t get to celebrate it at all (for one year, we’re off all celebrations ‘coz granny passed away). My first Onam after marriage and there it goes down the drain! Hmmm.

All these years, when we ‘had’ Onam to celebrate, it never was a big deal for me. I used to love getting all decked up in the Kerala traditional wear, have all the relative buzzing around, have that sumptuous sadya…but well, Onam was always just another festival. But somehow, this year, seeing everyone else celebrate makes me feel weird — and guilty for letting poor Onam never get that importance and high-office! 😀

And to add to all that, the husband is totally down with fever — high temperature and body pain and all that. And I am also sneezing my way to the same condition. I read somewhere that if you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib; if you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. Surprisingly, I’m still alive, and my ribs are in perfect order 😀 Hope it remains so for at least another week — because my parents are coming tomorrow! Yey! The only thing I can say about continuous sneezing is that it makes you look like a drunk, sleep-deprived Chinese! (The red eyes, small and squinted) 😀

Anyway, yesterday a friend popped up on chat and asked whether I had a bath in the morning and went to the temple after that. Well, when I told her Onam had no religious connections, she asked me why, then, Mahabali roams around with a “kuri” on his forehead. I told her it was the then Devas‘ and Asuras‘ version of our modern bindi 😉

Well, Onam really has no ‘religious’ aspect about it. It is the day the Asura King Mahabali comes up from the underworld ‘Pathalam‘, to visit his beloved Kerala and the ‘citizens’ there — a once-a-year allowance granted by Lord Vishnu . The day when all of Kerala is dressed at its best, is laden after a good harvest and awaits a grand year ahead. (The story behind all this will give enough material for 3 posts!!)

Onam, therefore, is significant in two ways…
One, it is the commemoration of the community at large and celebration of past history, the Mahabali legend; and two, it is the celebration of the harvest, tied with the memory of the golden age of prosperity. Onam is the time when Kerala is all set to welcome back its favourite King for a day of feast and enjoyment. After the monsoon drenches this beautiful state for almost all of the Karkidakam (the Malayali’s ‘dark’ month — when nothing inauspicious is taken up), Chingam walks in,bringing with it spring and auspiciousness. Chingam signals harvest, which is celebrated in the form of Onam!

This sense of joy, prosperity and merrymaking is celebrated traditionally with folk games, family get-togethers and lots of sadya. 😉

The best part of Onam has always been the Onakkodi. People gift one-another and wear new clothes during Onam. ‘Vastra’ (dress) also stands for ‘heart’. So, new dresses signifies the ‘renewal’ of the heart with new thoughts, cleansing it of all bad memories!

Atham pathinu ponnonam… Onam celebrations start on the day Atham (the Malayalam star) falls — 10 days before Thiruvonam (another Malayalam star). A huge circle made on the courtyard, coated with cowdung (to keep the flowers in place), is beautifully decorated with flowers and called ‘Onapookkalam’. In most houses, this is done with great mastery and ends up being a beautiful work of art!

On Thiruvonam, before Mahabali comes for his yearly visit, houses are cleaned and decorated with flowers and traditional lamps. A beautifully enchanting display of fireworks and lighting turns the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram, into something of a fairyland!

Sumptuous sadyas are spread on the greenest of all plantain leaves. The sadya is an important part of Onam — its the yearly feast even the poorest person in the state doesn’t wish to miss. “Kaanam vittum Onam unnanam“, they say. It means that to have a share of the Onasadya, one should be willing to sell even the bare necessity he owns! The sadya is a full course meal, served strictly in the following order: 3 pickles (ginger, lime and mango), a thoran, a kitchadi, avial and koottucurry on one side of the leaf; on the other, banana chips, banana pieces dipped in jaggery, a small banana, pappads, rice and parippu. Then follows sambar, a milk-payasam with boli, a jaggery payasam with banana, and finally, a bit more rice with pulissery, rasam and then buttermilk! (The sadya varies from district to district in kerala; this is the Thiruvananthapuram style and I know only of this!) 😀

Different parts of Kerala celebrate Onam in their own different ways: Athachamayam (a cultural procession in the royal town of Tripunithura); the Thrikkakarayappan further north; Kathakali dancers in gorgeous costumes enacting the legends in Valluvanad;. an impressive procession of elephants adorned with their nettipattoms in Thrissur, where masked dancers perform the colorful Kummattikali; the famous Aranmula Vallam Kali in Aranmula; Pulikali (Kaduvakali) all over the state..everyone has one’s own concept of Onam! And, these are but a few of the various traditional activities that are enjoyed during Onam.

The swing, one most important part of Onam, is enjoyed by everyone:  decked in their best, they sing Onappaattukal, swinging to and fro from high branches.

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Oh! Good ol’d Onam. I miss it sooooo much this year…and when a friend send me a pic he clicked of the lit-up roads in Thiruvananthapuram, I saw nostalgia run across the room and take a huge leap on to me! Sigh!

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Happy Onam, everyone! Have a great day today…and a graaaand year ahead — while I head off to sneeze in piece peace! 😀

Image courtesy: Google Images. In the spirit of Onam, forgive my borrowing your images; if you do not like it being posted here, put in a word; they shall be promptly removed 🙂

the day I almost thought my last thought!

August 14: The day I almost thought my last thought! The day I thought about a lot of things in such a rush, for fear of never being able to think about anything, anymore! The day I thought I was dying. Gosh, I guess I’ll never forget this day! 😀

August 13: Went out with my brother to Garuda Mall, Bangalore. Walked around for a looong time…in and out of shops, without buying anything, driving the sales-people crazy, until I got myself a sprained muscle on my left shoulder. The pain kept bothering me, but I gave no heed. Cooked dinner, made idly batter for the next day (one helluva job, I tell you!), saw part of some incorrigible movie, quarreled with the husband for some silly reason (I blame the pain for the irritation) and went off to sleep.

August 14 (again!?): Woke up with the pain again. Made breakfast, by the end of which I realised I couldn’t adjust myself to a lot of positions, thanks to the pain that sent me buckling every now and then! Had loads of office work, which I managed to (grossly uncomfortably) complete by 4.30. Meanwhile, I checked the Internet for symptoms of appendicitis, kidney stone, tumor and what not. The only disease I didn’t check for was swine flu, thanks to the half dozen mails that keep pouring in everyday on the subject.

I was in pain — breathing in and out, sneezing (mere thoughts of sneezing, even), burping, laughing, walking, lying, sitting, standing, crying, yawning…just about everything I’ve learnt to do in life hurt like hell!! Till about 5.00, I managed to sit around with my brother, trying to laugh at myself and my antics, without moving my belly. Then I retreated to my room, decided to lie down. And oh God…in the next 10 minutes, the pain shot up so bad, I hardly had any voice. My brother, right in the next room, couldn’t hear me whimpering, crying out in pain, calling out for mom!

In the next hour, the husband, back from office, came in with my brother to see me in tears, writhing on the bed. And of all the things in the world, he asks to no one in particular “Is she really in pain or is she just trying to pull my leg?”  I’d been pitying myself for almost an hour, taking in the sad fact that I would be alone and in pain when I die…with no one to even share my will and last wishes…when he asks if I were pulling his leg! Bah! (Well, in his defense, I must admit that when I called him up, asking him to come home fast, I was laughing and trying to keep the pain at bay.)

Anyway, the next 2 hours flew by. I was almost carried to the car, taken to a hospital (where I managed to crawl up the stairs and settle myself, screaming and moaning and whimpering) which turned out to be just for preganant women, turned out, again carried to the car, rushed to another hospital, given an injection and sent for an ultrasound abdomen scanning. Turns out, it was just a plain old muscle spasm. Anyway, the doctors doubted a possible infection in the kidney and prescribed a urine test. After 4 full glasses of water, hopeless PJs, incessant laughter (which still hurt, by the way) and relief over being “alive”, we left the hospital, leaving the receptionist and her colleague laughing over my adamant bladder that refused to refill itself. 😀

There’s slight pain, still. A deep breath / or a sharp one before a sneeze, still hurts. But it feels great to be alive! 🙂 It feels great to not be in pain! It feels great to be able to blog about it…and laugh about the pathetic condition I had been in yesterday! The husband says I’m like a car with perpetual ‘patch work’ — it’s either backpain, or memory loss, or headache, or some sort of problem! Health seems to be the only blessing I was never endowed with in abundance by God! 😀

But whatever! Yey! I am alive 🙂

P.S.: My idea of adopting a child has been reinforced since yesterday’s incident 😀 😀 I just cannot take any pain. 😀

a strange weekend…actually, two!

No no… I did not disappear again. Had made an impromptu trip to Trivandrum, my hometowncity.

The trip turned out to be one of those “totally unplanned, outright fun” ones! All the cousins and second cousins and uncles and aunts were cooped up under the same roof — and we all had so much fun there! Apart from marriages, Onam, and a once-in-a-while first-birthday party, we don’t get together like this: and I can’t really remember the last time we all were together like this…the last time we all had such fun. About 40-odd people — adults and us ‘kids’. Everyone forming tiny little groups in every single space available and chattering, laughing (and even singing), merry-making…

Occasionally, when our laughter crossed the allowed decibel level, aunts and uncles came barging in, admonishing and ordering us to behave ourselves. Yet, at the same time, we could see the ‘elders’ in the family sitting around and sharing old-time stories…their childhood and their pranks — and laughing their hearts out!

But it was all very strange throughout — this merrymaking in the family; the neighbours must all think we’re a bunch of sadistic, barbaric  tribals! Well, can’t really blame them: because it was not really one of those “planned get-togethers”; and I was not really on an “unplanned, fun” trip. I had hurried off to Trivandrum to attend my grandmother’s funeral…

Grandma’s death was much anticipated…and entirely “prayed-for”, I might say. She was slowly entering a phase of immense suffering…and everyone was hoping she’d be called away before too long. So, in a way, we could defend ourselves, saying we were celebrating her ‘escape from sufferings’ or such crap.

Granma

There! She was the last member of that generation’s lot. Now, apparently, “we all” will never ever get-together like this anymore. Grandma had perhaps been a unifying factor: the reason why everyone got together under that roof occasionally. Now, each to one’s own.

Guess it’s true; four of my cousins are in the middle east; one’s in Delhi; one’s in Cochin; one’s planning to go off soon to Australia; two of us are here in Bangalore; one is off to UK…and God knows when we’ll all see each other again. Unlike those good old days, none of us seem to be really pulled home by force, excitement and urge to attend to weddings and childbirths in the family any longer. We all have our excuses: projects to be completed; horrid bosses who grant no leave; new job, so no leave; exams, so can’t skip school/college; low attendance, will get into the professor’s black list ; out of the country, can’t be bothered to make a presence…and so on. Somehow, a death seem to bring a jolt to each one of us (and to the bosses, teachers and professors as well, God-knows-how!) and everyone turns up somehow or the other.

So, maybe sub-consciously, we all knew it was one of those “this-wont-last-too-long-and-may-very-well-be-the-last-time” times together…and must’ve taken full advantage of it. Bonded with each other asap…sang, danced, wrestled, fooled around, had palmistry sessions, had PJ-sessions…had “tonne kanakkinu fun, fun” (like the tagline of a local radio station goes)!

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Now, its all over. Everyone’s gone back to whatever they were up to before 3.00 a.m. on July 16th!

yey! happiness is happening!!

Very little had been happening in life to be ecstatic about — of course, I’m generally a happy soul, so it takes unbelievably lovely news/things that’ll make me feel like I’m feeling now — about to burst with happiness!

What do you think could be better than a mail (comment, in this case) from a friend you’d thought you ‘lost’, saying:

I need yu beside me no matter what(I/Yu) do, for I kno il never find another yu…..;)

Yey!!

Jaya, I  just cannot tell you how happy I am….how happy those words have made me. I had almost given up on being forgiven…and while I never expressed it much, it used to tear me apart that you’d lost that ‘connection’ with me! But now! Wow! I…I love  you! 😀 I am just so happy! 🙂

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For all you people who gave me consolation, chided me and assured me “it’ll all be ok” when I wept about what it takes to lose a friend…here’s what she said…here’s how she forgave 🙂 Yey!

Its not everyday that you get a friend who thinks like you, acts like you, eats like you, sleeps like you, talks like you and what not like you… But when you know the other person like yourself, its hard to be angry with the other person for long. But when you do get angry, its even harder to get over it…. Cos, for my wedding I dint really care about the 1000-2000 ppl who came ter (I din even kno half of them). And above all my friends it was yu who mattered the most, cos it wos yu who i told first when I went bonkers for the guy, yu wer te first person to kno when the dates go t fixed for te wedding and yu wer te first person I expected to be at my home b4 te weddin. ……….…………………But I also know that I was tooo rude to you even though you tried a lot of ways to make it up. But I guess wot tey say bt time healing is true  Cos I just wnt to say I am all over it now and I am reelly SORRY for being so rude. Im taking back all tat I said n yur still my best friend.
Cos like te song goes,’I need yu beside me no matter what(I/Yu) do, for I kno il never find another yu…..;)I kno im bein a lil mushy here, but I don care.Lov yu loads diiii….;);)

I’m just so so soooo happy today, that I could even be convinced into liking Bangalore! 😉

Yey! 😀

five (x) five fortuitous facts :)

Vimal tagged me a few days back to reveal 25 random facts about me; that too, right wen I’d posted something at the end of which I’d written it’s too early to write about myself. So, I’d delayed this on purpose 😀

Statutory warning : This post can be very boring; I’m already bored (because I can’t think of more than 5 things about myself…and I can’t imagine why anyone would want to know 25 — 25!! — random things about me). Whoever created this tag was bonkers! 😀

Anyway, here they are.

1. I cannot survive without music. I sing/hum all the time — all the time — and I refuse to talk to/answer anyone who tries to communicate with me at that time. 😛

2. I wear my watch on my right wrist. 😎

3. I hate watching movies…and the thought stifles me and messes up all my good spirit! 🙄

4. I will not sacrifice my sleep for ANYTHING in this world. Not even for my brother — now that says it all! 😉

5. I’m generally confused — and can never make up my mind. 😦

6. I have a bad memory (I have a feeling I inspired the script writer of Memento/Ghajini)! 😕

7. I hate going to hospitals / doctors. 😮

8. I have the greatest stage-fright. I go into a dumb-spell if I have to face more than 3 people at a time. 😯

9. I am claustrophobic. I cannot bear to be alone in an elevator. 🙄

10. No matter how cold a room, once I notice that all doors and windows are closed, I break into sweat! 😐

11. I hate orderliness — and am most comfortable in the midst of utter  mess and disarray; ‘Laziness’ was probably discovered after I was born! 😀 😀

12. I love smileys (which is verrrry evident from this post! Sorry, Priya!)

13. I love travelling — prefer train to plane; bus to auto! 🙂

14. When I like a particular song, I can keep listening to it over and over and over and over and over again!

15. I’m highly unpredictable — I don’t know when and why I say what. 😕

16. I keep having uncontrollable cravings for things I do not usually like — sweets, ice creams, etc — the craving vanishes immediately after I get these things in hand! 😀

17. I cannot stand SRK, Mohanlal (since the last 5 years or so) and my grandma (oh, she’s no celeb!) 😛

18. I hate doing the dishes. 😡

19. I believe in a superpower — but not in any particular “God”.

20. I like myself a lot (this is to ensure that there’ll always be one person who likes me, at all times!) 😉 I love my name too.

21. I do not think smoking and drinking makes a person ‘cool’; I cannot stand such people (except for a few dear ones!)

22. I think my mother is the best thing that’s happened in my life — and in the lives of everyone who knows her! 🙂

23. Palatino Linotype is my favourite font! WordPress doesn’t have it 😦

24. I love the colour blue — but I don’t have a single dress in that colour. Since green suits me very well, I have decided to make green my favourite colour. 😛

25. I prefer incandescent lights to tube lights!

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Sorry, all you guys; but I warned you — I’m not that exciting a person! And I guess that was as random as it could get! Now, if you are tempted to take out your fury on someone, please get in touch with Vimal! 😀

P.S.: Must be the only post that started and ended with the same word — a name! 😀

Elections. Whose choice is it?

“Why vote you say? The youth make up a majority of our billion plus population, but how many of us vote? We complain about bad roads, corrupt politicians and unfair reservations, but what are WE doing about it? The first step to resolve these  issues is to vote.” – This is what jaagore.com says.

These statements by jaagore.com sounded lame to me! 😡 Haven’t we been voting for many years now? Is not corruption still rampant? Unfair reservations keep sifting out deserving candidates everywhere! And bad roads…well, gone today (when elections loom ahead); back tomorrow (when somebody gets the throne!). So, is voting the ultimate solution to these problems? Bah! I don’t think so.

Again, is voting a right or a duty? Nowhere does it say in our constitution that voting is a duty; it’s a right. That gives one the freedom to (or not to) abstain from it. Most people seem to think that voting is a duty, and if not followed, can lead to legal issues! Such people need to be informed that voting is a right, not an obligation/duty. They should do it after logical reasoning — and not emotional thinking: like succumbing to petty attractions (like an offers of money/property/job)!

Now, irrespective of it being a right or a duty, how much choice does a voter get? In an election where none of the candidates represent the voter or his interests, what should the voter do? Is there an option of voting for “None”? No!  So, the ideal/moral thing to do would be not to vote. If you ask me, in such a case, by not voting, I’m declaring that I do not find any of the candidates acceptable. 😐

They say the Rule 49-O allows this. The rule says: If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.

Now, the ballot paper / voting machine has only a list of candidate names. So one who wishes to make use of this Rule will have to inform the presiding officer at the election both — so where is the secrecy!? And taking into account the number of goondas who loiter around in the area, one can only imagine what safety one would have if such a thing is informed! So, that ‘option’ becomes a joke! 😕

The e-mail doing the rounds — claiming that if the ’49-O’ votes more than those of the winning candidate, then that poll will be canceled and will have to be re-polled, and that the contestants will be banned and cannot contest the re-polling for their life time — is apparently a hoax! 🙄 Personally I feel a rule like this would mean a lot of national waste: considering the amount of public funds spent to conduct an election!

And what makes a person eligible to be a candidate? Why, even the post of a “stenographer” requires some minimum qualifications for a person to get that job. But any Tom, Dick and Harry can get into politics — and then lead the nation! I don’t say all leaders should be MBA graduates, but the least one can expect are candidates who have a ‘clean’ portfolio! Is that asking too much!? Along with the right to vote, people should be given the right to demand certain “minimum qualifications” of the contesting candidate!

Apparently, it’s the responsibility of eligible voters to enroll the names of eligible contestants. So, if people hate all the politicians, who is to blame for the state of affairs? The politicians or the citizens ? But for quite a few years, have the young voters had a choice, really? I mean, politics has become a family business mostly…and everyone knows who’ll contest for the next 10 years! (OK, I’m exaggerating; but even if a new comer contests, people now seem to have no faith. They still go on voting for ‘those who’ve been in the business for a while’ now.) What I mean to say is…the ‘chance’ to enroll new contestants at the grassroots level seems to be a distant dream!

Hehe…we seem to need a fresh start! Like.. lay offs in politics! Send all the existing ones home — with a nominal pension, of course! — and start afresh with younger, competent people. Who? Well, I don’t know! 😳

“The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don’t have to waste your time voting“, said Charles Bukowski.

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I agree with him. I will not vote! 😀

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Now that you know what I think, let me know what you think! Tell! Tell! Tell! 😀

all it takes to lose…

Doesn’t matter how many years you’ve been friends for; doesn’t matter how many times you’ve stood by each other; doesn’t matter how many jokes you’ve shared; doesn’t matter how long you’ve been there for each other; doesn’t matter how many jokes you’ve shared; doesn’t matter how many pranks you’ve played; doesn’t matter how many, many times you’ve told each other “You’re my best buddy!”. All it takes to lose a friend is not to attend her wedding!

I learnt this the hard way. May none of you ever!

P.S.:

My apologies! You’re still my best friend! 😥