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Dec 12, 2009

Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?! I'm going to watch a teeny-age-vampire-werewolf romance! To top that,I'm going to be watching it at the ghostly hour on a Sunday morning! 10:00 A.M.!

I've been trashing everyone who loves the books and who's looking forward to watching the movie Twilight all this time and now I'm actually going to be watching New Moon myself!

10:00 A.M. is just not fair...On second thought it's all right,I'll be getting to watch some objectified males and not females.I might even pick up some good eye make-up tips from Robert Pattinson.


Update : Its 4:00 P.M. and I've finished the movie.It didn't disappoint me one bit.It was exactly what I thought it would be like.I think I annoyed quite a few people(females)in the audience including my room-mate by laughing hysterically at the most 'romantic moments' in the movie.Ok,I wasn't hysterical but the movie was a riot! The second half was really funny.Robert Pattinson's make-up was good.I've even bought myself an eye pencil sharpener.The part in Italy with the Volturi was really dramatic with the human trying to forfeit her life for her monster love with a lot cheesy dialogue involved.I do think that the movie was better than its predecessor and the book. If you like the idea of Vampire-Human-Werewolf love triangle then you can watch this though avoid being accompanied by sarcastic people.You can also go just for the sake of watching all those shirtless men.

Dec 9, 2009

Its all so far away
Seems lost forever
I won't feel it again
No more in my dreams

Sometimes when I close my eyes
On nights like this
I can hear everything anew
Savor that same aura afresh

What did I just touch?
It melted under my fingertips..
to reveal my own ghostly likeness
through a distant haze

I was smiling,looking absorbed
in that one instance.
Around me were bright faces
It was a merry moment,
When all you heard and cared to hear
Was ringing laughter
And the frenzy of fervid plans.

All those people..
What ever happened to them?
They are still here.
We all exist somewhere..
In the periphery of each other's lives
Never to meet again

I know that jolly moment is gone
But will I never master this silly longing?
To feel it again as a real whole
And no more as a shadow in my mind..

But no,the warmth is lost
It should be buried deep
I will cover it securely this time
It won't pursue me again
Nobody needs it anymore.

Guess Who??


I had these two pictures playing in my mind at the same time all day today:
Me eating a huge burger at McDonalds...and
Me running in the park!

Life's like that!

Update: Skipped the burger.No surprises there I guess.

Dec 8, 2009

The best fork forward!

Today I attended a little session on dining etiquette :)
I have always been more comfortable with spoons and forks than eating with my hands so today's session was fun.I got to know a lot of things that I have been doing wrong all this while without realizing it.Think I'll put down some points here if I ever want to refer.Its fresh in my mind now.

1) Cutlery placed on either side of the plate should be used moving from outside working your way inward.

2) Solids to the left and liquids to the right.

3) Fork on the left and knife on the right.Both need to be held with the index finger pointing and placed down their back.

4) Napkins should either be folded diagonally or horizontally. When folding horizontally only about a third of the napkin should be double layered.

5) Soups should be stirred moving from the inside working outward. The spoon should be filled from the top of the bowl,tapped delicately on the rim and should be placed sideways to the mouth while sipping :)

6) Bread can be eaten using hands.( There was a collective sigh of relief from the group at this point.)

These were some of the many helpful tips we got today.After the lunch today I decided that I'll never order spaghetti or noodles while at a lunch meeting.Its so difficult to work it when it has too much sauce. No rice either due to some other considerations.

In a nutshell, At lunch meetings you meet and greet and not eat!

On the way back in the car,a colleague of mine sang some old hindi songs.He has a lovely voice.It was really nice listening to all my favorite songs after such a long time.I really enjoyed on my way back home with everybody cracking hilarious jokes.Everybody was full of plans for next year.Day-dreaming is so addictive and it doesn't help that I'm particularly good at it.


UPDATE : Looking around at my room I think I could also do with a session that goes something like this:

1) Coat in hanger,Clothes in cupboard,Shoes in rack,Books in the shelf etc.

2) See 1 above

3) Sigh.

Dec 7, 2009

I'm on a Coldact and Coffee diet today.Its like the coldact won't let me keep my eyes open and the coffee won't let me keep my eyes closed.Funny. That reminds of some hindi movie dialogue which I can't recall completely. I think it was something involving acid and something else...

Anyway I watched a movie today that a friend recommended. 'Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind' Heavy name huh? I wonder what I'd choose to erase from my memory if I had the chance.I enjoyed the movie though I still don't understand what the name means.

Tomorrow I've got to be at work at a very ungodly hour so its off to bed now!

Update: Thats the one! " Raabert..isko liquid oxygen mein daal do...liquid isse jeene nahi dega aur oxygen isse marne nahi dega."

Thanks D!

Dec 5, 2009

Night Owl

Tonight will go down in my life history as the night when I didn't get any sleep at all..for reasons unknown to me so far.I have never stayed up so late even on exam nights.

I don't like it one bit.

What do I do to kill what's remaining of the night? Wake up the rest of the house accidentally? ;p

Update: The owl's got an awful cold and a headache. Flap Flap

Dec 4, 2009

A move is on the cards!!

Yay! I'm so excited! I might move to another city soon Tra la la la la!

J'adore??

I am going to list down all the things I like in this post.

1)Water - A cool refreshing drink which tastes good with lime and without it too. It doesn't make you fat and is free.

2)Meeting Janis - Cute little gluttony doggie who welcomes me to her home like no one ever has or can.

3)Music - Aerosmith,Jackson,Metallica,Rihanna,Janis Joplin and Sinatra, drown everything out please! I don't want to hear anything else tonight.

4)Memory - All the letters ever written to me between the ages of 5 and 15.

7)Make-up - Gives confidence and can be gotten rid of at the end of the day.

8)Book - I read this line in my favourite bookshop "Gone to bed with men,women and children."

9)Stiletto - Things look best from a height.

10)Night - A good long blackout is what I really need!


Wow! I have all this and more! Life's good again!

Dec 3, 2009

My brain feels frozen this week. I've been thinking and thinking and thinking about tomorrow and I still don't have a plan!! My usually dramatic brain seems to have hibernated early this year.If I don't get a miraculous idea in my sleep tonight,I'm going to make an ass of myself in front of a zillion people..*shivers*

I came to see Janis and D in hope of some inspiration.I didn't get much inspiration but I did get some laughs and walnut cakes for my efforts.Janis has learnt quite a few new tricks since the last time I saw her.Now she's taken to beating her head against the door when she sees us leaving.She's becoming quite smart.She seems to realize that I'm a sucker for dogs pulling cute faces.Her activity levels seem to rise 200% when she sees me which I can't say is always good for all the adoring humans around her.

I ran into one of my college teachers at a shop today.She asked why I didn't come to the alumni meet.That was news to me!

The best thing I did all week was buying Ruskin Bond's Horror Omnibus! Yay!!I've heard some great reviews about it.. Well my review is coming soon too!!

Update: Horrendous day at work.I'm so tired and have a back ache added to the plot!

Nov 26, 2009

My prayers for all those who lost their loved ones and who got injured last year in Mumbai. Lets all be careful around us and lets hope something like that never happens in our country again.

Nov 25, 2009

Birthday Wishes!



Happy Birthday to one of the nicest people I know - Asha!

Have a great day. You will always have my best wishes!
My heart's in my mouth!!! And I bit on it!!

Nov 22, 2009

The best therapy in the world

Its so curious that you never feel that you need any kind of companionship until you're actually receiving it. Its a strange moment when it strikes you that this must be what you've been missing for a while..

For me,there's no therapy like hanging out with the girls.It puts things into perspective. I met some of my previous room-mates after a long time. It was a pleasant afternoon and evening.

I think a good old conversation with a friend is loads better than any romantic relationship a person can get into. How often do you get anything without any strings attached? Its like becoming hungry at the sight of food.

The moral of the day is that every single person in the world has his/her struggle.
What sets one person's struggle apart from another person's is how they've responded to it.Its your choice if you want to clean up the spilt milk or just let it stink on your floor while you bawl over it.

When you get hurt,you either pick yourself up or you don't. That seems to me now, to be more a choice than a play of fate or destiny. Blame the world all you want but you're still hurt and nobody likes a sob story for too long.Yeah,they don't.I never said the world wasn't cruel.

Today I got a hint from my friends about how to keep my sanity in this world:

Take Care!

Its actually as simple as that!To think that one of the shampoo brands has been screaming that tag line for ages to an audience that hears things selectively! Look good and you'll feel good (Works for me). Its never good for your self-esteem to be way behind your parlor appointments, breakfast times, early morning jogs or whatever suits you...Its stupid that the first thing we sacrifice is our health and well being when in a crisis.

I know that from now on I'm going to put in a little more heart into my efforts to be healthy. I will not miss on the good things in life which I can have even if Mount Vesuvius was erupting in my cupboard without my knowledge.Amen.

Nov 19, 2009

I saw Kellan Lutz's appearance on Ellen Degeneres's show... gasp! *drops*

I really didn't care who he was until I saw him do push-ups on the show. I can't describe it! You've got to see it! How does one person have so much energy?The ease with which he was twisting and turning and clapping his hands while doing the push-ups!I don't know if he lost a breath or two or not but it took my breath away! He suddenly seems very attractive :p :D

Came to see Janis. She's so cute and loving.

Nov 18, 2009

Damn! I missed the meteor shower!

Nov 17, 2009

Feluda

I've been reading some mystery short stories by an Indian author, Satyajit Ray. Anybody who has a soft spot for Bengal and all things Bengali the way I do,should definitely grab this book called "Feluda". Of course, you can also read it if you like the occasional nice,clean and pleasant mystery which doesn't scandalize or overpower you.

Its inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. The main character Feluda is a huge fan of Holmes and keeps saying "Sherlock Holmes showed us the way". It still has original tales of mystery though.

The main character Pradosh Mitter a.k.a. Feluda assisted by his young cousin Topshe solve mysteries in various cities of India and sometimes abroad as well.They are joined later by a novelist Lalmohan Ganguli whose every twitch and turn provides comic relief.We have our Moriarty in Maganlal Meghraj and Mycroft Holmes in Feluda's uncle.It does borrow a teensy bit from Sherlock Holmes as far as the characters are concerned.

The stories mostly start in Calcutta.Its set in the good old days when most things used to cost around a rupee and you didn't have to bother your head considering a lot of options for anything.It has short and nice descriptions of places which the trio visit while solving mysteries.

I loved the simple narrative and the fact that it proves that mysteries can be written and become successful too without heavy doses of drugs, sex, violence and illicit relations. I don't mean to say that there are no murders in the stories. The books were aimed at young readers and all the stories keep the sensitivity of that age in mind. I wish I knew about this one when I was 13 or 14, I'd probably have given up Tinkle earlier than I did and maybe,just maybe passed on the Godfather for later too! The stories were only written in Bengali. They were later translated into the English version that I've read.

Feluda's character is quite different from Holmes's. He isn't unemotional which I liked about him and he's intelligent too. It was easier to understand and relate to cause his behaviour sounded so Indian :p.Another difference between Holmes and Feluda is that there is a lot more humour in Feluda.
There isn't a lot of detail about Topshe but he is the good,faithful sidekick. All the humour comes from Lalmohan Ganguli and his mannerisms. Throughout the book, he's writing various adventure novels. The stories he writes are unintentionally funny and have a lot of mistakes which Feluda keeps correcting. Its not the kind of humour that makes you fall off your chair laughing but it is pleasant and does make you smile.

I haven't seen any of Satyajit Ray's movies but will definitely try catching one. It would be nice to read the Bengali version of Feluda but I have lost touch with the language since I left West Bengal.I'm proud that I can still summon an occasional Bengali poem from memory :D

There's one joke that I read last night and must put it down here. It was so cute.
Our threesome are in Hong Kong following a criminal in a Hong Kong taxi.Topshe looks at the meter and says "What the meter showed in Hong Kong dollars was the equivalent of a 100 rupees but we had no choice but to pay".

Indians! I fell asleep grinning on this one.

P.S. I have only one silly little wish. I wish there had been some descriptions of Bengali food!! I miss Sandesh,luchi,toor dal,and rasgullas :( Ah...Stop shaking your head and ignore the post script!

Nov 16, 2009

I am so bored. Having nothing to do is making me so lethargic,I don't even study anymore :(

Its unbelievable how bored I am and yet unwilling to move a feather.

Nov 15, 2009

Night in the Elfin Grove

Last night I went to the elfin grove
I looked into the lake to find that I had wings
As light as the dew on a spray of dark grass

My wings were a dull pink in the moonlight
and I dared not touch them lest they should soil
I moved with a newlyfound spright under the black woods

The cold wind billowed through the leaves
It stung my cheeks and carried me with itself
Into a blinding glade that seemed to be singing

I fell on the snowy white ground
Looked around for the bright light,it had ceased to glow
I heard a hiss that startled me
Was that a tree who whispered to me?

I was surely under a spell of my own doing
My feet took me to a fire that glowed like rubies
Thats when I saw them dancing in a chain

They looked at me with a smile
I froze,Did they know me?
They didn't say a word
but took my hand into their tiny grip

A ripple of light flowed through my veins
I opened my eyes to the smell of roses
I felt glad that I had come here
my heart warmed inside me

I moved with a grace matching their's
Now I saw the roses,red petals twined in my hair
I spun around with an abandon,I hadn't felt before
Their laughter a musical note.

There was no music
Except from the twigs and the leaves,
the gush of strong wind striking the trees
The birds were awake watching us in the glade

I danced and whirled,
And I knew I'd never be weary.
They whispered in my ear

They would watch me by the moonlight
When it was crowned by a thousand sparkling stars
They touched my eyes and I felt lost again in sound sleep

Nov 14, 2009

Joke of the Morning!

The MNS has refused to let the cyclone into Mumbai until it is given a marathi name!

At a loss for words

Last night, I saw some really disturbing news on TV. A girl took an auto from Forum Mall in Bangalore. She was talking on her phone while the auto driver was driving her to her destination. On the way, he turned into a deserted stretch and sprayed something on her face which made her lose consciousness immediately. She was found lying on the street a few hours later by some people who took her to the hospital. She had no recollection of what had happened to her. The doctors told her upon medical examination that she had been raped.

She consulted a counsellor who visited her. The counsellor hypnotised her and while under the effect of hypnosis she remembered that she had been raped by more than one person in the auto. The counsellor stayed with her for some time and then left her asleep. The next morning, the girl jumped off her apartment building and died. She was from a North-Indian family who refused to file a complaint with the police. The counsellor decided to come forward anonymously to report this incident to the media as the auto driver is still at large on the roads of the city and will obviously never be caught. There will be no one to testify against him even if he was caught.

This is such appalling cruelty. I couldn't sleep for a long time after listening to this. To think that I see Forum mall every day of my life, sends shivers down my spine. I don't think I'll dare get into an auto for some days now. Its an occupational hazard being a girl,working and alone.

An evening with Aaj Tak

I was watching the news on T.V. after a long time. I flipped the channels to aaj tak for some fun. The Headley-Bhat story was on and after some time even my little pup's (innocent that she is) mouth fell open at the way they were narrating the story. But even this story wasn't half as funny as the special report on Sachin Tendulkar.

First things first before I go on. I don't care a fink about Kcricket!

Apparently yesterday was twenty years from the day that Tendulkar first started playing international Kcricket for India. I won't get into the details of his glorious *yawn* kricketing career.
They were doing a story about how he met his wife and how they had come from completely different family backgrounds..loads of pictures thrown into the mix..It described their relationship from courtship to marriage. It might be sounding slightly bland here but I wish I had video recorded the entire thing. I could have listened to the entire thing and included some of the finer expressions of that anchor here. I have a feeling Kekta Kapoor has taken over the kcreative control of that channel by secretly buying their kshares.

Nov 12, 2009

Wanted : A Miracle cure for unruly hair!

I hate winter for more reasons than just the cold. It makes my hair stands in all directions possible :( It looks like its been pulled a lot. Is there something in this beautiful world that would make my hair straight,soft,not as dry as a dead leaves (when I come back home from office) without any complications in the long-term?

There was a time when I used to dream of bleaching all my hair pure white! I didn't colour it white though I did colour it something else...Those were fun days *sigh*

I wish I could find the answer to this problem in the Sherlock Holmes mystery I'm going to watch next.

Nov 10, 2009

Heights of Desperation

How desperate can a person get?
I was checking my mail and saw that there were no mails in there. I found myself looking into my spam folder a second later! Need to get a grip!
I think I'll be making quite a few blog entries in the coming days. Saw Taylor Swift's Saturday night live appearance on youtube. It was hilarious. She will be having a concert in San Jose in April next year. I intend to catch it!

Nov 9, 2009

I need some help publishing pictures on my blog...I'm not getting this thing right :-/

Fun time with Comic Books

I recently prepared a presentation on comic books. I had a lot of fun doing this thing. It was very enjoyable reading the story about its beginnings and development. Its amazing how comic strips styles and content were influenced by the occurrences and events of those times. I actually saw a comic book featuring the superhero Captain America punching Hitler on the chin.There were several other anti-Nazi superhero comics. Some of these were unbelievably racist too.
I found the Green Lama comic quite intriguing. A superhero who practices Buddhism..devoutly! :p
Another astonishing thing I found out was that the creators of Superman, Siegel & Shuster only ever received $130 in payment in their entire lifetime for their efforts from Diamond Comics. That was seriously crazy! DC still makes billions of dollars from Superman. We sure live in a great world!
I had only read Tintin, Calvin & Hobbes and various Hindi comics like Chacha Chaudhary, Pinki, Billu etc until I started making this highly interesting and rewarding presentation. I wish I could get my hands on those 'Yellow Kid' comics. They went out of print in 1897 :-/
I remember my younger cousins used to be crazy about some Indian superheroes like Dhruv and Sabu etc. I'm going to have so many comic books in my library!
I have a Japanese Manga at home which I haven't touched. Actually now I remember that I did touch it but didn't understand anything beyond the first two pages which made me abandon the book. I have some renewed enthusiasm now. Think I'll try it out again.
The guy who created the first comic strip in the world - Rudolphe Toppffer was an absolute genius. I really liked his idea of Les Amours de M. Vieux Bois (The Loves of Monsieur Vieux Bois) It was later called as the adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck in English. It was hilarious! He narrated the story of a young man hopelessly in love with an extremely fat woman who rejects him. He describes Oldbuck's numerous failed attempts at suicide. In those days,the idea of speech bubbles hadn't occured to anyone, Toppffer used captions under his panels. I think I'll put some pictures here.
The material for the presentation came from a Michigan University professor! It was actually a course being offered in the History Department! Isn't that amazing? Our teachers here would probably have fits if I told them I was researching comics!
Making this presentation makes me feel like researching some more on some other interesting topic. I will have to think of something soon. Wine-making?? :p
I only hope that the actual presenting part for this presentation which happens on Wednesday goes well.









Nov 2, 2009

The Yellow Kid

I've finally decided what my second presentation is going to be on! Here's a glimpse for those who feel humorous at times

I'm going to try really hard to not make this blog resemble a private diary. I'm not sure why I'm not deleting it. Something tells me that I should just keep it here even if I never write anything again. It will probably do me good to get rid of it but I don't have it in me to delete it. Too bad.

Oct 31, 2009

The Dilemma

I often get the feeling that isolating myself from people has always been bad for me. I'm in danger of losing my voice due to insufficient use :p

I have to make two power-point presentations soon in office on any topic that I like. I've chosen one topic "Famous haunted places in the world". I wanted to do another one on making compost but D thinks its a boring idea. I'm wondering which topic to choose.

I love classic movies!







I've been watching a lot of old movies lately with my room-mate. It started with the musical "Singin' in the rain". I enjoyed it a lot. Gene Kelly was simply amazing and so was Debbie Reynolds. I also liked Joan Hagen. Debbie Reynolds looked so cute while performing 'Dream of you' and I like to watch the video of the song 'I'm singin' in the rain' again and again.

I've watched other old movies like "To catch a thief", "Gone with the wind" and"Dial M for Murder" so far. Alfred Hitchcock sure knew how to make mysteries and he had great taste in clothes too! I went absolutely crazy about the clothes Grace Kelly wore in "To catch a thief". They were stunning,especially the blue dress in her first scene. I can't say that I became a fan of Cary Grant. I don't find the brooding types very attractive :p Its so easy to see that most hindi mystery or thriller movies have been copied from Hitchcock's movies.

There is so much thought put into "Dial M for Murder,its pure genius.Its no wonder it has been re-made so many times by various other people into different languages. Nothing can beat the original though.

Vivian Leigh is one of the best actors I've seen and also one of the most beautiful. Her clothes in the movie were very pretty too. It was fun to know that she was born in Darjeeling. I also liked Olivia de Havilland's performance as 'Melanie'. I think the casting directors did a really great job.

I'm looking forward to watching Roman Holiday next :)
Update: Roman Holiday was such a nice and simple story! Very enjoyable!

Mar 13, 2009

The first of many firsts

I actually did it! signed up for a blog! Lets see how it looks!!