31.12.08

The last day of the year!!!

No deep and meaningful insights. No nostalgia. No year end confessions. No resolutions. No witty limericks. No wise anecdotes.

Yes wishes from the heart. Yes bright and prosperous new year. Yes make new friends don't forget the old. Yes be safe on the roads. Yes spreading cheer. Yes pursuing peace. Yes hello and gratitude to all who read my ramblings and encourage. Yes more and better blogs.


Happy New Year!!!!

30.12.08

Goodbye Tickle

Tickle is closing down...*sniff*. I will never forget the hours spent discovering my emotional quotient on Tickle..or the nice things it always said about me. I have precious memories and fond sentiments attached to the website and now that I've learnt that its closing down..I pay my last respects.


Tickle, you may be gone in another day, but you will forever remain the only one ever to have called me a 'borderline genius'. I will miss you.

29.12.08

The Christmas 'Tag'omine

I've been tagged by Jolly! This one was easy enough (read: didn’t have to think too much or bare my soul out-both make me uncomfortable in different ways!) So, here goes!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Neither. One cup filter coffee, please!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Puhleeeaazze! Santa doesnt wrap presents....the elves do!!!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Subjective. If the house is already brightly colored- stick with the decorations alone. If the house is white- go on, give the colored ones a chance. However, if white meant snow - then, dont try anything stupid, you could have a fall or worse, an electric shock - Just draw funny faces and leave a note for aliens to read from their UFOs.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nooo! No need for that...*blushes violently*

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Used to be the beginning of advent. This year, it was two days before Christmas, and that too, courtesy mom!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Biryani!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child:
Carol singing, late into the night!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
*panicking*...what truth?? He is fine, isnt he??

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Gift? What gift?

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Recently, I found a bookmark lying on the floor, I was in a hurry to leave, so I stuck it in the Christmas tree..hehe!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Inside my room, warm and cozy, with a mug of hot (you guessed it!) filter coffee - Love it!
Covered, head to toe, my house just another few steps away, and its snowing - Will probably enjoy it.
Snow stopped, now melting, slushy everywhere - Dread it!

12. Can you ice skate?
Given my history of misplaced centre of gravity....I'm sure I can - on my behind!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Yes.

14. What is the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
The evasive Christmas spirit!

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Plum cake =D

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Plum cake =D (and coffee)!

17. What tops your tree?
Star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Both.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Oh Holy Night

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?
Yum (until, I get high on Sugar and cant have another crystal, that is!)

21. What do you want for Christmas?
Someone who'll switch places with me, to do the rounds of sharing Christmas 'palagaram' with the neighbours.

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas Party?
Nopeee.

23. Do you dress up on Christmas or wear PJs?
PJs =D (assuming, we are talking about Christmas day and not, Christmas eve, where we attend midnight mass).

24. Do you own a Santa hat?
Used to, lost it (the hat, I mean).

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?
Family and family!

26.12.08

Think Hell, think 'hell'

I have evolved over time, and so has my perception of my faith, my understanding of the divine and my relationship with God. I am not a fanatic, neither am I lukewarm. I have my beliefs, my own doubts (but of course! Faith that doesn't have its occasional, "hmmm..??" moments gives no space for growth) and my own way of 'setting it right'.

Anyways, recently, I was going through some random questions on Straightdope (which is my latest addiction!) where someone had asked Cecil Adams (the guy who answers the questions) about 'Hell'. Among the many things written there, there was something that I could immediately relate to. It said, that Hell is the state of mind/being one is in, when away from God (aka- the state of mind/being one is in when the conscience is pricking with several thorns).

I equate conscience with God. So, that feeling you get when you know you've done something wrong, yet you justify it in your heart, convince yourself its OK and have your meal and try to sleep - yet, sleep evades you. When you feel this serpentine something that squirms within you, your heart in its mouth, stealing the twinkle from your eye, the mirth from your laughter, the peace from your soul. Being away from God...so, that is hell, huh?

I wholeheartedly agree, because, I think its worse than a raging fire.

17.12.08

Best of both worlds

Its an absolute bliss being a woman! I mean, the emotional roller coasters, the dastardly PMS, the uneven distribution of weight, the inability to immediately convert fat to muscle and several other unmentionable flips aside, it really is an absolute bliss being a woman!

The way we think, has among many millions, caught my curiosity too. Since a long time ago I have been trying to understand/analyse/accept some genetic traits inherited from Eve herself. I know, for instance, that we women have a lot more connections that run between our brain cells, that we have a larger corpus collosum that facilitates the transfer of data between the left and the right brain. But, here comes the icing - we are adept at using both sides of the brain effectively!

Good news, right?!!! Yes, true..yeah..hmmm...ahem! Indecisiveness I guess is a direct derivative of this physiological advantage (or dis, depending on the circumstance!). So, today, when I asked the person responsible for beverages in my office ,for tea, plain old chai, and he rattled, "elaichi? masala? ginger? lemon?"; it was embarrassing to stand there stumped, brain rooted to its stem, unable to speak, since the brain was still processing the information and trying to come to a conclusion. It was an unearthly forty seconds or so before I decided on cardamom, if not for anything, but to get out of the room!

Embarrassment aside, I am quite proud of the left brain, right brain adeptness! As a daughter, it gets me to feel guilty when mom is working alone in the kitchen (and yell from in front of the TV, 'ma, want 'ny 'elp??') and at the same time tell myself that one day, I would be there making burritos and carrot halwa for my off springs and their father, so I can offer my culinary services during the commercial break for Balika Vadhu!

Just to confirm things, I wanted to quickly check the dancing girl test - an interesting test that tells you whether you use the left half of your brain more than the right or vice versa - and guess what happens there! The girl turned clockwise as soon as I could see her, a blink later, she was turning anti clockwise! And another blink later, clockwise!

So, women, enjoy among many other things, this full use of the brain!!!

Agendas and winning

When my children were toddlers, I had a quote stuck on my shelf which read, “When we lose our agendas, everybody wins.” At that time I was j...