I have Moved..

(yet again!) to http://purpledpages.wordpress.com/

Will take 3 seconds exactly…see you there!

The feeble fragile second

And then it came crashing down. A toast to the free life ended in a mess of shattered glass and sparkling intoxicating liquid on the marbled floor. The armour of struggle does have its weak links which buckle sometimes, and promises of the ‘tough’ going away make that hollow sound when you knock on them.

And then, for an orgasmic second, spinelessness prevails, crushing all character and guilt under its tiny toes…what a moment!

Updates

After a false start announcing shamelessly to the world that I’m back, I’m sure that you’ve noticed the scrapbook hasn’t quite been buzzing with activity. And there’s a good reason for that. Life overtook me for a bit and threw up a slew of changes I knew about but never really got around to preparing for. Let me update you:

Update no. 1: I went home for a longish break, met with old friends..good fun

Mona & Asmi

 Update No. 2: Shraddha got a tattoo

Update No. 3: We won a bottle of whiskey for being the happiest table at Opus one lucky Thursday

The trophy

 Update no. 4: We finally found a carrot stick similar to PJ’s finger

Update no. 5: Apurv declared himself Russel Peters

Update no. 6: I got a tattoo!

Update no. 7: Sanah came down to Bangalore for a (very) quick visit and lunch

Update no. 8: We all got seriously drunk at Shraddha’s farewell party

Update no. 9: Shraddha left Bangalore

Update no. 10: Anish turned 23

wants to spend Christmas at home

Lukewarm chai

I am back. To blogging. Its only 6 pm and I cannot believe I couldn’t come up with a more inspired opening line. I cannot think of anything funny/significant/passionate to write about and am doing this because I know forsaking is an emotional crime and I really don’t have much on my itinerary for the day…not much that can be my alibi for the unexplained long withdrawal from my own blog anyway!

Well, I’m back…and it feels good:-)

Thank you for not smoking

I am amazed. Very amazed, in fact, with the way law gets twisted and stretched to fit the blubber of archaic moral policing in my country, barely concealing the obscene, and yet, covering up just right. OK, there were five commas in the last sentence. So what?

I spent the three weeks in Delhi fretting over the minute details of, and the general public opinion about, the brand new anti-smokers’ law. October 2nd meant carrying coffee in a snooty paper cup to the car and looking at the sorrow-crowd outside the purple-red cafe. The day spoke to my kind in whispers of a foreign language and the only word we could catch was ‘discrimination’.

Oh, I’m totally against curbing rights, even if they are of non-smokers forced to duel armours of nicotine rings which them smokers have around themselves in self-defence. Well, I still do not see why the addict needs to leave his drink mid-way and run down four floors for his fix by the roadside when the bar could’ve have a separate non-smoking floor if it weren’t for law. Will the law-churners protect the girl in the short-skirt stepping out at 2 am from the club to light up her Classic Milds? Maybe she shouldn’t try such ‘adventures’ when ‘the streets aren’t safe in the city’ (quoting Ms. Sheila Dikshit).

Whats a woman’s doing with a cigarette anyway? Aren’t we Indian women supposed to ‘maintain dignity’ and ‘values’ and simply indulge in some quality bitching and schemeing when we wanna have a little fun? Ooh, I can almost imagine Ekta Kapoor’s vamp in a saree (and slutty make-up) lighting up with a flashy smirk, while schemeing to take over her in-laws’ bank-balance right after making love to her chocolate-boy (and negative IQ’d) husband.

Anyways, coming back to the law which thinks roads aren’t public enough and private cars with windows rolled down are, I think I need a smoke break. Will see if I become poorer by 200 bucks in the process.

Ecolitis-Gastroentitis..

or something like that! I was down again two weeks back with something that threw my digestive system out of gear and also gave me half-hourly cramps suspiciously similar to contractions. I finally decided to visit the doctor when no amount of water or curd-rice could alleviate the damned cramps. The doctor decided to run me through a list of symptoms…regular sharp pain? check..fever and headache? check..nausea? check.. and also scolded me for not taking antibiotics!!! Umm, and I thought self-medication was a bad thing.

Anyways, this was barely five days from my annual leave so I didn’t freak much. I did the usual 6 days in terrible state before I recovered. Why am I blogging about this? One, I haven’t blogged about anything at all in many days, and two, Ecolitis-gastroentitis happens only once in a while so might as well:-)

Another valid reason is, of course, I’m back in Delhi for my annual leave and got little else to do. Its almost

Well, almost:-)

delicious how jobless a long vacation can make you feel. I’ve been doing long meals, long coffee breaks, unhurried newspaper reading, surfing the internet just for the heck of it, reading leisurely, playing with my dog, bonding with my family big time, and also trying not to think about Bangalore. Just two more weeks to go..

And the award goes to…

Me!

The award!

Nikhil has graciously felicitated me with the ‘Brilliante Weblog 2008′ award. Thank you my friend..its definitely an honour coming from you!

The past three weeks have been a mad pirouette juggling three press conferences, umpteen client meetings, reviews and a few crises thrown in. Though I’d jumped and shouted at the news of receiving the blessed recognition, I did not really find the time for the written celebration. So here it is!

I’d started blogging last year for timepass, and also to show off the meagre writing skills that I think I possess:-). Now its more like my sounding board for thoughts I can only express in typed English.  

So, I have the honour of passing this award on to 4 fellow bloggers:

Nikhil: Mirrorcracked For a seriously funny blog:-)

Nishant: Unconventional life For the lovely photos and great stories:-)

Gary: Wishbone For the some of the most arbit writing I’ve come across:-)

Shruti: A rock n roll journey For being candid..scarily candid at times!

Cheers to you all!

Single and unavailable

I’m guilty of indulging in chick-lit for bed time reading in the past week. My shoe fetish didn’t allow me to ignore the paperback (with a neon green patent leather on a 4 carat Harry Winston ring on the cover) lying tantalizingly on my roommate’s desk. The book talks about the fab lives of three women in New York, in short. One of the characters, Adriana, is this super-hot Brazilian woman who loves fun, cocktails and shopping; and hates monogamy. She chooses to be single and happy.

This post is not a book review of ‘Chasing Harry Winston’.

Its about me. Single and unavailable:-)

I’m surprised at the connotations the word ’single’ implies-unattractive/unlucky/unhappy/lonely/AVAILABLE!!! WTF

I get funny looks from people when I add ‘unavailable’ to my relationship status, and also demands for an explanation. ‘Not looking’ somehow implies alternate sexualities or tragic past experiences. Ahem, its none of the above! I’m single and unavailable by choice. Because I love the freedom. The freedom to make/change/drop my plans when I want and as often I want, freedom to curl up with a book for hours and not talk to anyone, freedom to work as late as I want to, freedom to spend time with whoever I want, freedom to ogle at anyone, freedom from insecurities and jealousies…the list is endless!

Ok, so I miss out on romantic dinners and love songs and a few others..hmm so what?

I love being fabulously single:-)

The man who sold the world

I must have died alone,

A long long time ago…

Who knows, not me,
I never lost control,
You’re face to face,
With the man who sold the world…

These words were the first to overpower me when I reached Gokarna, my first ever trip to the divine beach, even before I could hear the waves or smell the bidis.

My first trip to Gokarna was stressful. Before we got to the golden sands by Namaste cafe, my friend and I had to endure a very painful bike ride lasting 10 hours in the merciless Konkan sun and humidity. The distance from Manipal is a blissful 200 kms. We had expected to make the sunset, having left at 1 pm. Of course, there was a puncture, and no garages were open on account of some local festival.

We had trekked 2 kms on the highway before we found a chap who’d agree to help us out…We were tired, dehydrated, sun-burnt and nowhere close to the beach. I started to reprimand myself for the big idea of biking to Gokarna instead of taking the train like good children.

Anyways, we reached 11 pm and Cobain’s drugged murmurs filled my head as I walked down the steps of the cafe, building anticipation, and tranqulizing the blessed day. It was the beginning of my first real escape to a pretty place without the Hutch network. I’d spent the next two days doing absolutely nothing, looking at the gazillion stars, sleeping at the beach, and trekking.

And I go back everytime I hear that song.