random this and that

its the middle of the week i think...i have no calendar at home and need to keep flicking at my phone to tell the date and time (when not wearing a watch)......i wonder why?? because i loathe the free calendars that we would have with big numbers and M/s shantaram and sons (or any other name of a comapny) written in the biggest print on the walls of my home....those were the memories calendars bring to me...so i dont have them on the wall....and anyways, with the phone and the computer having them as options, who needs the big ugly ones anyways....trouble is when i dont have the phone and comp handy.....and there are quite some times i am in this situation....especially since i quit working....

choco classes have come to a stand still because of the heat....which is enough to melt my brains...or have i mentioned that already??

i think i am in denial of being a net addict....i wake up and sip coffee at the computer...and spend most part of the waking day (and night) here.....i get pissed when i am called an addict..... and i get pissed when i cant spend as much time as i want here in front of the computer....i am beginning to speak lesser and lesser....gosh!! i think i am getting worse!!

i have hardly cooked this week....well you cant blame me can you...firstly, i have amma dying to be lady of the manor...so i am letting her play (that it suits me fine is another thing) and this heat.....its driving me insane....did you check out how many times i have mentioned it already?? there are times in the day when i think if i breathe any quicker i will melt......so getting into the kitchen is like not an enjoyable thing for me.....despite the chimney...that claims to suck out all...it miserably fails to suck the heat from the sun.....another whiner of a reason is that with amma here i have become so lax...with time and everything else...i know if i dont put food on the table, she will!!

actually i think i need to bring about some change....i need to stop snoozing my alarm clock and wake up at a decent hour...........somehow things look better earlier in the day!! alright...its a deal then...am signing off....and hopefully i will rise to shine tomorrow....

dear diary.....

i'm reeling under the heat...today we touched a blistering 41 degrees C.....i think i will go insane....is it possible that the heat makes you want to vegetate?? i dont want to cook or eat...which happens only in depression and death....my ghost isnt typing this out...and i certainly am not depressed....i cant think of anything else but the heat....anyone asking me how i am...gets the standard...."my brains are melting" reply....its true...i am listless.....unenthusiastic and not wanting to move lest i may sweat!!

ok enough...i dont want to be a cribber....despite the heat....the happiness has been provided by something that is totally mine....i am driving like a dream....!! i dont know how many people are reading this....and if they know what a big deal this is to me!! here is the story....and here too....

i have been blessed by two most wonderful gifts of friendship....wait...i meant friendship...and gifts too!! so unlikely....that its surreal...one is my namesake.....someone who i bumped into quite accidentally....infact i cant even remember when we visited each other's blogs....and if i always knew her 'real' name...we chatted....and discovered so many similarities....not just in the name we share....but the opinions we had, the things we like, the stuff we do, temperament (i think), some really bizzarely similar personal profiles....and now i discover writing too!! i come home a couple of days ago...to find what i thought was a self addressed package.....i love gifts...but have never sent myself one ever....till i took a closer look and realised it was from her.....i am so touched!! (note: this isnt being said in the past tense)..... some yummy nankhatais that didnt make it to the group photo, some ready to use curry paste, a packet of fake chicken drumsticks (she remembered from a conversation loooooong ago), and a packet of potato flakes.....all to write me a letter to tell me how much more we had in common!! i am grateful for this friendship.....and damn all those people who think it is weird to make friends through blogs!!

then there is this lovely doc.....what can i say.....i was a big fan since i realised there were food blogs in cyber space....i've faithfully read and visited her blog.....but not leaving a comment very often and simply blogrolling them as a favourite wont get you attention.....not that i was looking for any.....some random stuff and we were attached through html!! we've been chatting nonstop...telling each other things like "hang on i am going to grab some chai!!".....we too have so much in common...arty stuff.....suckers for good looking interiors and food....we also both think that a certain celebrated south indian actress looks like she has downs syndrome!! i've so enjoyed being friends with her....and it makes my lurking on cyber space so much better!!

this post has taken almost a week to write.....before it begins to sound stale...i need to hit the publish button!!

the heat has still been relentless....i am grateful for a concrete roof over my head and the luxury of air conditioning.....the only thing i look forward to in the summers are the mangoes....and i got my first dose of them a few days ago....disappointing!! sour and so bad....they reek of carbide...the chemical used to force ripen them....i think another few weeks is what i will have to wait for ...hopefully to be able to relish the better stuff....

this week's been crazy busy too....guests coming over for dinners and lunches to see amma.....it also has meant that i havent had my daily fix of the internet!!

nails on the wall, shopping and shamshabad!!

this is surely becoming a weekly dear diary!! but i guess its better this way....which means i am having lesser gripes and dont need to vent that much!! that cant be bad can it??

a whirlwind of a week actually.... i'm happiest i think that i have finally said adieu to bare walls!! yep!! after almost three and a half years, and countless to do lists....and (half hearted) begging for carpenters....i finally nailed the damn thing!! ofcourse the carpenter made me melt my brians while i waited for him to arrive on the scene in the first place!! his "abbi aaroon" in typical hyderabadi made me want to chew iron....but i swallowed my pride and anger at the prospect of going another few years with bare walls....so though i heard his kids screaming around him, an hour past the time he was supposed to arrive, and when he claimed he was in the market buying the "material" (which was some screws!! am not kidding!! basic screws) i grit my teeth and said, "theek hai jaldi aa jao bhai".....two hours later than scheduled...the drilling and nailing did begin......i went berserk....and he went berserk too....couldnt believe this looney woman was getting about 50 nails onto the walls!! i now have more bare nails than walls!! i have yet to decide what goes where and all that...but suffice to say that for a couple of days, each time i unlocked the door and walked in...it felt like someone else's house!!

a couple of afternoons spent shopping for K's freind.... and i realized that men aren't all that different like they claim to be from women... they too agonise over colours and shades and fits for chrissake!! S very graciously though indulged in me and bought me some pretty gifts that i picked out.....check their website out...i picked out a spoon / cutlery holder, some dishes and some awesome terracota coasters!! what's to complain when a gracious man wants to buy you gifts for the pleasure of shopping with someone else's money!! dinner was a farewell of sorts and we headed to my favourite eating joint....i was a little apprehensive, cos we were a motley crew...but the food was truly well appreciated!! i couldnt care less though...i will drag any carcas....willing or unwilling to this place!! leftover shopping was done the next day.....and then S, R and i went to my favourite watering hole for the Retro night!! when you begin to sing along on with what is called 'retro' music, you realise how old you have gotten!!

yesterday K and i took about 45 mins to reach Shamshabad (my mom was arriving from bangalore) ...the swanky new international airport in hyderabad.....contrary to many horrifying reports of traffic jams and chaos and confusion at the airport, we got there in record time.....stopping more than a couple of time for instructions....yeah one part of the road really sucks...but as you drive into the airport, your heart swells with pride for what has been made.....its a massive structure....still unfinished....i think theres at least 30% more work to be done and the landscaping in this scorching summer is going to be a challenge....but it is huge!! and sprawling!! and swank!! love the self metred parking tickets...which at 70 bucks is cheaper than begumpet!! amma's flight was delayed thrice and we panicked when we saw hoards of Kingfisher passengers come out...an announcement that the flight had landed and still no signs of her!! she's got partial vision...and hates being treated like an invalid...so the brave heart ( i call her jhansi ki rani) is a prime candidate for confusion in the new airport.....we sent a battalion of four luggage handlers of kingfisher to search for her...had a few anxious moments when one chap came out and said there was no one with her name inside!! and then a few minutes later someone came to say she was waiting for baggage claim....another few minutes later, she walked out, escorted by one person from the airline.....we chatted on the way back home....and haven't stopped....we stop only to swallow our food!!


so there will be more tales of our combined escapades here!! and i will spend lesser time online!!

is this me now?

there are some days when you wake up feeling you have'nt slept a wink..........or worse still...that you slept through the ringing of the doorbell and missed you milk, paper and maid.........when you wonder what the heck you have done to feel so deadbeat early in the morning......

i guess today is one such day.....

i am very upset because i have been called an internet addict....i wonder if it is true...on the other hand i wonder if it matters.....

if this is a great way to keep myself occupied and interested in stuff i like then what the heck?? if i am able to manage long periods of "alone time" with it....then why not??

i read about internet addiction....and it says that as long as it isnt affecting real relationships, its fine....as long as i dont substitute virtual in place of real.....i am good..... i havent...atleast not yet....

what's wrong with the ordinary??

i seem to be making this a weekly affair..........is that bad....or good?? does it really matter?? and why is it important to come to a decision and conclusion about everything?? from colouring your hair to world peace?

the week actually zipped by pretty fast....and i am neutral about that....i've had all the time in the world to read blogs i found these past few weeks and am in danger of getting addicted to.....i also have been murderously stalking a few flickr id's because of the fabulous pictures they contain.....

chatting nonstop with a friend....actually someone who i admired from a distance, and can now call a close friend....over the last few days we have shared so much....her's is company that i enjoy....and we've discovered such similarities of taste....is'nt it funny what this internet does to you?? makes you friends with people you'd never have met, but are thankful to have.....

we've had friends staying over this weekend too...and a load of cooking has happened....but all that is the blah bit....and i am not about to chase away the few readers of this blog by going into the details!!

i've been trying to organise a few things and get some work done....things which have been long overdue....and all this has made me wonder...what's wrong with just allowing things to be the way they are? i dont know....i think there is an inertia happening now that i cant seem to shrug off...

i've had a movie overload....or let me rephrase that as "bad movie overload" .........Race during the week...last minute plan with friends....i cant make up my mind...i think i didnt mind it...but it wasnt anything...and i mean ANYTHING at all to write home about....anil kapoor made me sick...all those double entendre dialogues are so unbecoming of him.....and pray why in hell's name does he need to do films like this?? and sameera reddy....girl after all that heavy duty name calling you did in a film rag a few months ago....is this all you have to show ( i mean she did some ample showing....) you looked every bit the silly bimbette you were supposed to be....and whatever happened to that twist in your character you were carping about?? i guess it got edited out....and if not anything else, please get a new stylist and a hair dresser....there were scenes in which you had some strands of hair in all directions of 360 degrees!!

katrina...the lesser dialogues the better ....she's lost a tonne of weight...or was it all padding?? i always remembered all her pictures having her look very voluptuous till some backless things happened in race.....

akshaye...he has the best role .....and most of the punchlines....i feel sad that he has to wear a wig...whats wrong with looking like a man with a normally thinning hairline?? looks like a rodent though....really thick neck and pinched face...and he has put on weight or muscle?? i couldnt make out...

saif.....i dont know why he did this movie.....other than wanting to consolidate his position as resident stud....he looks like an ageing stud though.....and looks like, any moment now he will mouth "the name's bond....james bond"....

bipasha....looks scarily bad in some scenes...wears like some weird watch like bunty had in bunty aur babli.....but she has a substantial role....

what i couldnt understand, is why the movie was called race.....because other than one at the beginning and one in the end....it isnt there....and how come everyone from the cop, his assistant, the registrar of marriages and everyone else in South Africa speak in hindi? or i shouldnt be asking such logical questions about hindi movies??

its ok to watch on TV when you have nothing else to do....and on the screen if someone else is paying for the tickets.....

the other one we saw, was the latest Pavan Kalyan Starrer called Jalsa.....again i dont understand why it was called that.....and i didnt like it one bit....too much violence and loads of "masala" elements...needless songs and so much flesh show (parvati melton) that it amazed me.....especially after the stories i have heard from reliable sources about how these women are treated....i cant understand the lure of money and fame...for them to want to do all this.....through the movie i indulged in my favourite pastime of trying to spot where the scenes were shot....infact it went on and on so much that i asked K whether there would be an intermission in the damn movie......towards the intermission though, i thought the twist in the tale (pavan is an ex naxalite) would take the movie to another level...and it did...plummeting down.....they made a caricature of the whole thing and within about 5 minutes of telling the audience that he becomes a naxalite....he surrenders and joins mainstream pretty comfortably.....

there is so much violence that it made me want to throw up...what i am appalled about, is how the censors can pass such scenes.....someone has made a lot of dough for sure.....hammers, axes and swords are used with ease, to crush, cut and chop any body part..........it was disgusting.....all i could manage was to cover my eyes, because i couldnt believe i would actually gratify those scenes by watching them.....by the end of the movie, i had a glorious headache and i think the director after going all over the place, wanted to just wind it all up and give it some closure......oh and as for the heroine...illeana...she's a pretty thing....but cant act to save her life....the only thing i liked in the movie...was the way her house was done up and was trying to spot elements that i will like.....

but again....there are very few movies which meet my expectations.....and considering this movie is doing pretty well....i guess i dont agree with most people who are obviously enjoying it.

driving lessons

so i am a licensed driver now.... after two near misses and lots of frayed nerves...i earned my driving license on saturday.....little credit to me....most of it due to this person we shall call 'V'....consider this...despite driving a two wheeler for a good 12 years, i never naturally transited to the four....for various reasons....multiple attempts (with brother and later husband in the teacher's seat) ended in tears and cursing (of the Screw it...i will never get into your damned car again...variety)....it was something that intrigued me....something that intimidated me...and made me resolve last year, that learn i would....so i did the sensible thing and joined a driving school....imagine my expression when at the appointed time, i was picked up in a run down car that had definitely seen better days and was on its death bed....and the instructor was something close to one of those archetypal "road romeos" ...... i soon reprimanded myself for judging too quickly....and submitted myself to sincere tutelage.... now for an eon i have been going for classes.....am sure i'd have earned my stripes earlier, had i heeded to regularity....couple of classes...then a couple of weeks break....so that saga which began in dec, finally ended last saturday.....

S my partner in crime and i would exchange glances at the antics of V.....he in all earnest, would try to decipher some of the conversation we'd be having in tamil....many times i would hardly understand what he was trying to say....imagine being told to "fush the clutch" and don't get tensed when there is "troffic" ...there were other gems too "tones" as in stones and some weird hand gestures which i didn't know what to make of.....this all apart, V managed to give me what everyone else so far had failed in "confidence" with a nonchalant expression, regardless of how much i was doing the wrong thing, he never failed to encourage and tell me i was doing better than the previous day, when he sensed i was apprehensive on the road, he would say with a smirk "kuch nahi hota madam, aage jao....dara do usko"......i never once saw him flinch when i veered too close to another vehicle, or even change his expression when i was really screwing it up.... he just kept boosting my confidence...and there in lies his competence....i will never know if he was just humouring me, or doing his job really well....the fact of the matter is , that after all these years, and after much apprehension, i had the confidence to take the car out on my own with just 7 days of classes, in chaotic hyderabad traffic....and not sweat....so today when i walk towards my perfectly parallel parked car, with a spring in my step and the keys hanging on my fingers, i thank V, and if i were to appraise him, i'd give him an far exceeds expectation