aMUSEings

Change

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:23:00 +0000

People never change, they just very slowly reveal who they actually are.

Read this somewhere once, and found it quite enlightening and even refreshing.

I have often met people who have difficulty coping with change in the people around them. It angers them, it hurts them, that the template that had been created for a person dear to them, no longer matches the reality.

I may not be immune to this; but I do think it only natural that people never stay the same, because change is an inevitable truth of life, and change is growth. And without growth, one would feel stagnant, out-of-place and lost. But this truth doesn't really console a mind disappointed or let down by change, unless you think of it the way it is quoted above.

Karthik comes from South India..

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:43:00 +0000

..as do AnitHa, ShrutHi, AnantH and NitHin..

What's with the extra H that South Indians add to all their names? I've heard countless non South Indians ask with so much shock it amazes me. And then they say that if you spell it AnitHa it's actually A-ni-thhha (you know, thhh of thhhumb, or thhhirst). Its supposed to be Anita.

First, what warrants so much surprise?

Second, supposed to be ??

Third, .... so???

I'd like to clear this up here on this space: It's just the way we spell! So there! Say, how do you pronounce water? Tomato? Terrace? Tamatar?

So is it OK to use the single 't' for the sound of t from tea? Well, we think so too! :)

Then we add an extra H to soften that hard T.

Its as simple as that.

UPDATE/EDIT/DISCLAIMER (a side effect of being surrounded by too many north Indians :P): I'm NOT saying this is the correct way to spell. I'm saying it's not incorrect. I'm saying its OK either way. I'm saying what's the big deal??

Logic.

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:39:00 +0000

Traffic congestion at a railway track crossing.
Recognize the need for a road over bridge at the railway track.
Plan to spend Rupees 15 crores and 18 months on building it.
Actually spend 20 crores and 5 years.
Complete it.
Wait a month.
Wait another month.
Paint (??) the walls on either sides of the ROB beautifully.
Make the Chief Minister inaugurate the ROB.
When it is time to finally use it to alleviate traffic:
-* Yesterday *-
Block routes all around the area because the CM is coming.
-* Today *-
All routes around the flyover are jammed. The bottleneck shifts to the next junction.

Sigh. I wish I had a picture.

on how he saves the city..

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:59:00 +0000

..one auto-wallah at a time. :)

I can go on and on about auto-rickshaws given my extensive dealings with them and those who drive them, for 3 years and over. But wait, i'm not going to (go on and on, that is). (Read: Don't leave me yet, pleeeease.)

Although I would still like to record today's incident. Today we decided to take an auto-rickshaw back home. I succumbed earlier than usual for the wun-ann-haff-lagega-achha-ok-twanty-rupees-ekshtra, even though A. still had a little bit of fight in him. I persuaded him to settle for the first auto ~~that we found~~ that offered to take us home.

Surprise of surprises, we had landed ourselves into one of those specimens that zip and zoom in and out of traffic. These have no apparent fear of death. They can zoom into a lane of traffic from nowhere and even drive into opposing traffic (to swerve at the last moment) with alarming calm. Societal rules and restrictions hold no meaning for these carefree spirits. They are not ones to be bound by the rigidity that is human society.

The next precious minutes of our life consisted of me holding on to the edge of the auto, auto-walla merrily flouting all conceivable traffic rules like jumping the red signal and jumping ahead to the front of the signal by risking our lives onto oncoming traffic.

A. was already not in the best of moods, so when, after about 20 minutes, he tapped on the auto driver's shoulder asking him, "Aap bangalore ke hain?", I knew what was up. I gave the quiet signal to him that said, let it go. Duly ignored, he asked again, Are you from Bangalore?

Auto driver's response: Grunt. (In an affirmative questioning tone)

A. then began doing the hero-dialogue in all his anger. I wish I could do justice to his Hindi rebuke. You are from the city and even then you do all this. You break all the rules. Don't you care, being from the same city. Don't you know anything about rules. Look at all the others, aren't they following the rules. What is your problem? I can't understand you guys, you are from the city and yet you do this. And on and on.

All the while the auto driver adopted a what-do-i-care attitude with Aapka kya jaata hai? Baaki logon ka problem hai yeh to. Aise karenge nahi to chala nahi sakte yahan.

(Meanwhile I'm now down to trying the let it go let it go let it go to no avail)

I braced myself for impending doom. I half-expected him to tell us to get out of his auto, or even stop and start yelling and then who knows, find some friends to get together and and start yelling at us and god-knows-what.

But surprisingly, once the verbal sparring was over, auto-walle-bhaiya settled down, much like a sulking teenager who knows you're right but just won't admit it. He didn't stick to his lane (that's a bit much to expect from him ;)) but he slowed down, didn't jump the next signals; basically he didn't pretend he was on a racing track.

I couldn't believe it, A.'s admonition had worked! And I suspect (and really hope) it will stick for some time atleast. Dropping the chalta hai attitude, if momentarily, had done some good, and I'm pleasantly surprised. :)

Do you have any saved-the-city tales?

as is tradition..

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:21:00 +0000

..we do a year-end post.

Only we procrastinate, and then it becomes a new year post.

I like the new year day, even though I agree that its just another date. I like the feeling of being on the edge on one year, reflecting on all the events that happened, and then on the dawn of the next, hope alive for all that you wish for.

2009 has been a BIG year for me. Landmark, direction-changing, preserved-forever-in-the-memory kind. Come to think of it, the marriage has been such a huge event for me, I struggle to remember what else happened in 2009. It seems to have overshadowed all else that in an otherwise marriage-less year, would be deemed blog-post worthy.

So let's see: January. Ah, how could I forget? See I have this crazy set of friends at work. By crazy I mean awesome crazy :) A couple of them decided it was time to do something .. well, creative. That couple inspired (and bullied) the rest of us into the scheme. We then thought of the kind of performances we wanted to do - dance, drama, music (we even had the popular 'miscellaneous' category ;))

We practiced day and night. Well we practiced in the early hours of the day, worked in the sane hours of the day and dreamed about it in the night. We tried our hands at things we'd never thought we'd do before. (To give you an example, I sang.) We co-ordinated an entire event from scratch, booked a place, organised a caterer, timed performances, created a schedule. And then we just did it! We performed in front of a 'select' audience, and never felt better. I have to use the word 'crazy' again because this is one of those things that other friends still tease us for (self-inflicted torture or something, they said :D) but it was one of the best things I've ever been a part of. The bonding, the fighting, the re-bonding, the struggle, the learning, the mastery (well sort of) - I wouldn't take it back for anything!

February and March were a sort of repeat : we held a similar event at work. We had more of the fighting here unfortunately :( but then we sorted it out. The event was a big success, I got to dance again, and thats all I need.

Come April and I had the best birthday ever! Beyond April was a very difficult redefining of relationships around me. I realized that the roles of every relationship around me were so tightly defined that a change in them brought about a lot of resentment. It brought out uneasiness even from those not directly involved. But well, such is life. More on that later.

May and June started off the whole marriage thought process. Ashish is a big worrier, and I am the don't-look-problems-in-the-eye kind of person. He is the cautious pessimist, I am the foolhardy optimist. It was in our face that the kind of marriage we wanted to step into wasn't going to be an easy one. Our families were/are very different : culturally, socially, geographically..you get the drift. We both also had traces of those differences. There were many questions with regard to this that we both had to answer. We answered some, we left some unanswered. And then we went ahead with it anyway. Everything went extremely well, rocky at first in some areas, but smooth at the end (oh right, the beginning ;))

Cautious Pessimist: 0, Foolhardy Optimist: 1

Maybe I should give him like half a point here. You see, he thought of all possible situations in which there might be trouble between us or the families, so we were all prepared for much of it and didn't get too much of a culture shock.

Cautious Pessimist: 0.25, Foolhardy Optimist: 1 :)

Anyway, away from score-keeping and back to reflections. So that and that in a nutshell, was 2009.

Which brings us back to 2-0-1-0. Wait, do you say two-thousand-ten or the very yankee sounding twenty-ten (twennyten)? I came across this condescending comment on the web about people using the former. "Its as if they don't want to be in the future," it said. Me no like.

Or ooh, are you a two-oh-one-oh ;) ?

In 2010, I'm trying to be more in touch with the people who I think are special to me. Also, in general, more out there. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad one, its just something I want to try for a while and see if it fits.

In 2010, I want to restart dance classes. This isn't a very hard thing to do. Its just an example of procrastination: that first picking of the phone, making that inquiry, committing to spending more than a couple of hours each weekend (including travel). But I do know, that once I cross these hurdles, I'll have a lot of fun.

Current status on this one: I got 3 numbers of the same place, called all of them. "Switched off", "doesn't exist", and "incoming calls on this number barred"! That's how far I have gone till now.

In 2010, I want to have a lot of water. On a regular basis. Everyday. Current status: A. made me keep a glass next to the bottle of water at my desk. So far its working; for the last 3 workdays this year I've had a lot of water for my standards :)

So there you have it. If you're still here, I congratulate you on the ability to bear with me. You have what it takes to be my friend. Ping me sometime.

In conclusion, may 2-0-1-0 be, in the words of Barney (yes I finally am catching up with HIMYM)

LEGENDARY

for all of you :) I'm looking forward to all the newness in sight :)

Rakhi, ab kya reh gaya baaki?

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:48:00 +0000

You've got to hand it to her:

She never fails to come up with something to top her previous whatchamacallit. She was once some barely clothed item girl. Sometime later she started appearing in tiny forgettable roles in just-as-forgettable movies. Then the nation saw her hysterics on the popular reality show Big Boss (is there a bb or a gg somewhere in that?). This was the place where producers watching realised how much potential she had to bring up TV show ratings. This was where she declared her love for some wannabe model when someone else ridiculed her.

And then life was all cosy. And rosy. She and her beau appeared together in more reality TV shows, won some, lost some, but they were together and happy. The couple who made it from scratch. Together forever. She even had her own chat show!

Or not. Then the nation had to survive Mika's kissing hullabaloo and another news-channel-worthy Boyfriend-slapping episode. And she had to survive hearbreak.

Cut to today. Rakhi mourns the lack of love in her life. And then decides to do something about it.

And how! First, she cashes in on tradition. She not only commercialised the whole business of arranged marriages, making money out of the whole affair, but ends up becoming Princess Rakhi with her very own swayamwar!

In a nation where men and their families are still visiting potential brides to 'see' them, asking them to display their 'talents' and valuing them on how well they sing, cook or dance, or better, how much richer they could make them, she, the RAKHI SAWANT, makes the men dance and sing and woo her with love letters, while the nation watches. Some in shock, some out of curiosity of this whole new process, and the rest for the pure entertainment that comes out of watching people proclaim their love to Rakhi Sawant.

If you haven't seen the show, these are just some of the gems you missed ;)

Rakhi's ocassional pearls of wisdom (main apne pati ko humesha khush rakhoongi, kabhi bhi aisa nahi sochungi ki ab to mera ho gaya, ab kya karna),
Rakhi's laments (mujhe kisi ne nahi sikhaya ki pyaar kya hota hai, 'date' kya hota hai)
Ram Kapoor, in his unconvincing, if anything, role as Rakhi's friend and confidante.
her falling in love with some of her suitors (Manmohan ji ne to mera mann moh liya),
the attempt to show the simple girl Rakhi beneath the glamourous getup (oh the shock when she was offered a drink - Bacardi *beep*),
fluttering eyelids as she swoons to almost everyone saying a sweet word to her,
suitors ranging from the romantically poetic to the obnoxiously absurd

And...
COMING UP:

How much can you do for Rakhi?
Do you really love her?
Will you tattoo her name on your hands?? (Suspense music, shocked faces)
STAY TUNED ;)

I've moved!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:31:00 +0000

... to this little place I call
A Li'l Drop of Me.

aMUSEings is still around, but its not going to be active anymore.

I pictured a teary eyed note of farewell as I put to a close this blog that I started 3 years ago.

Heh. I'm looking forward to putting drops of me across over there.

Please update your feeds :) We'll meet more often.

With regard to food..

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:15:00 +0000

..my other almost-love. Unfortunately, this one manifests itself in some of the most unseemly ways. And then of course, there's all this thing about testing one's self-will.

So, dear handful of readers, I'll tell you all about my vow off all meat for a month.

Why? How? I was sitting in a not-so-fancy fast food joint one day with my two very vegetarian friends, and discussing what stops them from trying out meat. While we spoke about their conscious choice and the environment they grew up in, it struck me that when I go out to eat, I never consciously pick out anything vegetarian. The realization that I was so hooked on to chicken descended in all its glory. And didn't sit too well.

And so I imposed on my self, a month without chicken and other such meat. I figured one month would be just enough to see how I do. And how much further I would be able to. It started last monday, that 22nd day of June, which means its been about 10 days, and I've not missed it much. Considering I still allow myself egg, I haven't been too tough on myself.

Which should make me feel all elated and all, but as if to show a downside to everything, I've discovered the pleasures of unhealthy vegetarian food, especially if its fried, or served with butter or cheese :)

Also I fell sick on the 8th day, as though my body was trying to prove a point. But it shall not be allowed to rebel so. I still have another 20 days to go. And I have plans for the 30 days after. Further foody updates to come :)

Revisit 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:06:00 +0000

Its been a year of firsts; an eventful year to say the very least!

Its December, Christmassy, cool, and since I'm holidaying, the atmosphere is perfect for me to sit back on a couch (the one at home - my couch - do not be mistaken) and reflect on the last twelve months.

- Had some ~~good~~ greaat times with some great people.
- Let down by some, and
- Had faith reaffirmed by some others. :) :) :)
- Went to GOA ! Had an abso-fantasto-amazing time. Fought a lot with the people of my blood for this, and I'm glad I did.
- Wrote an important exam :) and did well at it.
- My first job out of college suddenly ends as my company suddenly shuts shop. First layoff, if you can say that. Sniff.
- Frantic job search launch.
- A quiet and well, disappointing-for-the-most-part birthday in the midst of that chaos.
- Negotiation with potential employers.
- Adieu to the old place.
- Ooh - another secret first that i'd like to signal to people that already know it - how best can I arrange to do that - Umm.
- New job. New things to learn, new and amazing people to learn and get inspired from.
- New and different friends. A peek into bonds already formed, and an effort to make a place for myself in there.
- Old friends going through a lot of tough changes - and standing up for themselves. Yay!
- Coming to terms with the fact that some friends will be friends no more.
- An attempt to define a purpose: introspection on a deeper level than normal.

Its been a fine year. I do have a few complaints, I admit. But its a net positive. I learned so much about myself, and to an extent even applied those learnings in an effort to improve the self. :) That doesn't happen so often, successfully, at least. I'm still trying.

Although of course, there are a few things that the heart wishes it had. I wonder if 2009 is the year for any of those. I hope it is.

Vacation Chronicles #1 - Are we there yet?

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:12:00 +0000

Would you believe the Bengaluru International Airport is home to birds? That little tiny birds move about at a height of about a foot from the floor with carefree abandon? Is it planned? To make it look like you were in natural surroundings?

That was the only thing surprising about my first international flight out of BIAL. The rest has been spoken, written and ranted about enough to keep me informed - but no one told me about the birds :)

I travelled by SriLankan Airlines - which dictated a transit at Colombo. I spent two-three hours there, not before a short flight with a little energetic boy on one side (who was anxious to ensure that his food was vegetarian) and a man on the other side of the aisle who caught fancy with the fact that I read I guess - till I gave him a cold stare.

And would you believe it, the Bandaranaike International Airport had a blackout :( How tragic is the state of affairs. The electricity was restored soon enough, but only the main lights and basic requirements. The shops, internet connectivity, and anything beyond the basics were gone. And then the second flight that i had to get on, got delayed by another forty minutes. :)

The flight to London - looooong :(
Oh btw, to all those who wished me well before I left, no I did not get the drop dead gorgeous man by my side, who I would hit it off with really well ;)
I did have a sweet old man though as a travel partner, who watched all the movies peacefully.
I read the whole of a book called Girls of Riyadh. Quite interesting, and not surprising, if it is true.

And finally I reached hooome, my dear brother was there to pick me up with all the winter wear that he could possible wrap me up with, before we stepped into 5 degrees C of weather. I didn't feel the cold much, possibly due to the fact that I was one big Desi Wrap. Hah, I said 'desi'. I'm glad about that though, because the cold was one thing I was terrified about before leaving. I hope it snows before I leave !! :)

More to come later, I better live some vacation off the net too :)

Wednesday Weirdnesses #5

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:22:00 +0000

I missed it last week didn't I.. Matter not, since no one noticed/pointed out. Anyway, my excuse is cliched : forgot. I did remember, in the middle of the day, when I had absolutely no time.

So then I asked a friend to point me to some weird stuff on the net. And he said, I don't go weird hunting!!

Me: No one does... (except me off late.)

And then he suggested I post something non-weird... for a change.

Me: That sort of defeats the purpose.

End of conversation.

In parallel, a conversation with another friend.

He: Yeah actually I found something on reddit, list of sex offences, really funny, and weird.

Me: NO no, my blog is PG!

He: Heh heh, ok... so am I.
ME: How are you PG?
He: I'm very PG

Me: ????????? [Exactly that number]
He: whhaa... you son't think so?
End of conversation.

Forget not, that I really had no time.

Aaanyhoo. That would be quite enough of making public my chat conversations with friends. Lest my friends (aka the readers of this blog) not endeavour chatting with me anymore.

For today, I give you a word I haven't heard before. I say this because I have this funny feeling from the core of my womanly intuition that I am probably the only one who hasn't heard this before. But I'll tell you anyway.

The word, dear mathematicus, is Zenzizenzizenzic. :)

What fun!! - say I.

It means the eighth power of a number, derived from zenzic, "square of a number".

Also, since I skipped last week, here's a bonus one!

Honorificabilitudinitatibus !! which means the quality of deserving honour or respect.

Enjoy. No, really.

Alone! Yeah!

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:07:00 +0000

I had a thought. Yes, time to celebrate. So I mentioned to this guy that there are no songs that inspire you when you are alone. There's nothing that celebrates being alone. Remember the song, 'Akele hain, to kya gham hai..' ? Starts off well enough, but then you realise that he's only saying its ok to be alone, as long as you're with someone. Sort of an anti-climax.

My friend says, Yeah, because it sucks to be alone.

Hmph. Whatever happened to finding happiness within yourself and all that? Self-dependence? INdependence.

That's all fine, apparently. You need companionship, he says. It's boring otherwise.

That's just plain wrong. One should be okay with being alone. Primarily because there is nothing wrong with being alone. And by alone, I mean I mean either a lack of friends or a lack of love, or the lack of whatever makes you feel alone. Because there is nothing wrong with it, a lot of people live all their lives alone, and its OK.

Write me a song that celebrates the idea of being alone. I hear so many people announce they love to be left alone to themselves. That they don't like company. How they're so proud that they are anti-social. And blah and blah.

Write me a song. Or better still, find me a song that's already written. Come on. Please. Pretty please?

Wednesday Weirdnesses #4

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:30:00 +0000

Yeah, I get that its not a good sign that the only posts on your blog are the ones that were supposed to be just a side affair. A lot has been going on. Aaand I have been granted access to (many) episodes of Grey's Anatomy. So guess where my time is going :)

Coming to the lot that has been going on.. (Yes, I have this new found love for increasing the font size at random points) Nothing new has happened : work has stepped up a notch, hence I am coming home late. Once I come home I log in again. I have this other really important work to do, but I am the master of procrastination. And then I do what I do really well - nothing.

So we found you a weird link. Actually a link talking about something weird. We don't think we came across this in the papers. We haven't been reading those much these past few days. We think after reading the above two paragraphs, you must understand. We don't even know if it is true. So take with a peench of salt.

Behold : Indian man killed for urinating on wall

Can I still say Happy Wednesday?

Wednesday Weirdnesses #3

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:30:00 +0000

Flying cars, they said 50 years ago. I think they meant the Metro. I believe there was even some talk in the papers a few days ago.

Well here's a Time.com article from 2001.

Sneak preview:

"Now, stop," Kamen says. How? This thing has no brakes. "Just think about stopping." Staring into the middle distance, I conjure an image of a red stop sign--and just like that, Ginger and I come to a halt.

Have a fun day.

Wednesday Weirdnesses #2

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:30:00 +0000

I realise how subjective the definition of weird is. But we have a vague idea, and we'll go by it.

Today's weird find is MapOfStrange, describing itself as 'Strange things in Google Maps.'

Check it out, its got beach writings, google errors, and pics of crop circles!! Its also got a tag on 'ghosts' - I can't figure out what it points to - but I am curious!

Have a good day :)

Analyze this.

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:40:00 +0000

It's the last week. Bangalore felt quiet and eerie all of a sudden. Oh, definitely not the Diwali nights. Bomb bomb bomb, those went. I mean the mornings after. For a blissful few days, the streets were empty, the city was silent. And accompanied with this strange new avtar of Bangalore, was a sense of nostalgia. I felt I was in the Bangalore of 10-15 years ago, of when we had just moved here. Of course I attributed the 'feelings' to the fact that half the city was away on vacation, and hence, not in the city.

But then.

The noise has now returned. As the city warms back to its present cacophonic self, I haven't lost the 'feeling.' I have this surreal feeling from time to time of being back in the past. Not recent past, but atleast eight-ten years in the past.

What could it be? A sudden stillness. An odd quiet. A few elements of the present I feel more distant from. Freud would've had something to say.

And what about you, perceptive reader? Do you have a Freud-like-or-not theory for me?

Wednesday Weirdnesses #1

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:30:00 +0000

I've decided to start a weekly post celebrating the eccentricities of life. So every Wednesday, starting today, I will present to you one hand picked Weirdness from across the globe.

For today I present a Weird Word.

Presenting to you, slubberdegullion.

As if the world wasn't short of invective already, slubberdegullion means a filthy, slobbering person, or "a slobbering and dirty fellow, a worthless sloven."

Its etymology doesn't seem to be consistently agreed upon. Slubber seeming to come from the english 'slobber' and the second part likely from French goalon "a sloven." It could also apparently be "cullion, an old word for a testicle (it’s related to French couillon and Spanish cojones), which by the sixteenth century was a term of contempt for a man."

There you go, one more way in which to show your wrath to the world outside. And probably not have them know it!!

Happy Wednesday !

Cafe Aarogya

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:49:00 +0000

This might be the first time I am doing a review of sorts. I don't usually care enough to review too many things, [sheepish] but this place deserved mention. This is a place that I happened to chance upon today. I'd gone to Jyothi Nivas College, Koramangala (Bangalore!) to see Russell Peters in action. Looked around for a quick bite before the show started, and happened to find this place called Cafe Aarogya.

The website tells you a lot, but I can give you an idea. It is in very simple terms, a healthy food place. Tasty food with healthy ingredients.

I went with a couple of friends. I had walked out of the restaurant below because they didn't serve sandwiches. Then we decided to try our hand here. No sandwiches => disappointment. A different sort of menu with exotic and 'healthy' sounding dishes => some disappointment again. But we decided to try it out.

We were greeted by the store manager who explained to us that all the food is made with healthy ingredients, cooked with olive oil only, a minimal amount. We opted for a soup (Tomato and Basil) which was very impressive. It had just the right touch of spices. We also went for the whole wheat aloo paratha with Low Fat curd, again very nice, with zero oil as far as we could see. Also the Corn Sheekh kabab, which they serve with green chutney - tasty! I also tried low fat chocolate smoothie :) which is made from unsweetened cocoa powder, palm sugar, skim milk and other healthier alternatives.

Overall, we were a very satisfied three. I'm very impressed at the effort that has gone into experimenting and coming up with a fabulous array of dishes that are definitely low on oil and tasty. Their food is prepared without heavily processed and refined foods, sugar, dalda or vanaspati, soda or artificial substances/alternatives, preservatives, artificial flavourings.

This place is like a heaven for the health-conscious or even slightly-health-aware. Strongly recommended. Check out their website to know more about them.

The.. brain.. hath.. stopped

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:32:00 +0000

It's not working anymore!!

Now, now, those who would merrily like to take this opportunity to inform me that it never did in the first place, calm down. Remember those merry old days when I would use the blog to say the silliest of things without inhibition? I would tell you about sneezes and commuting, God and slimming advertisements. Sigh, even that isn't happening anymore!

Have I stopped finding joy at the silly nothings?
Hell, have I grown up ??

I actually do have some things to tell some people, but unfortunately I cannot tell everyone, so this blog is not the place for it :(

But then, what do I do to revive the rusting grey blob resting within my skull? It does exist. It does rest there. No arguments.

My dear readers, i beg of you, save me, save the blog.

COMMENT!!

Well actually, just tell me what to do to get me ideating again! (Ideating, hmm, isn't that a weird sounding word?)

Help!!

The mystery..

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:15:00 +0000

..of the perfect pair of jeans..(or genes, for that matter.)

This time I'm even willing to settle for near perfect. :) Then why does it elude me so...?

I find it hard to believe that the makers of this fashion product do not cater for the masses. Why else could any pair that looks half decent otherwise, not look half decent when you well.. wear it?

And if they do cater for the masses, I find it hard to believe that 'the masses' have such perfect bodies. I mean, take a look around. Its not all lovely.

And therefore.. shouldn't more effort be going into making the 'imperfect body' jeans? Or am I so far removed from the average? :( That's so depressing I'm going to go indulge myself some more. Chocolate anyone?

Getting. Wanting. Needing.

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:40:00 +0000

There was this song, not so long ago, that caught my attention with these lines: I want you, I don't know if I need you.

As I write this today, I am overwhelmed by instances of us not being happy with what we have anymore. A friend recently said this was because we had too many choices. I said the availability of options should make us feel empowered. He said it only leaves more room for dissatisfaction. Meh, glass half full, half empty, thought I.

Life wasn't supposed to be this hard, was it? I envisioned myself years ago having to make a few choices at different points in my life, and making them easily enough. You can roughly translate this post as "Coming to terms with reality." :)

But seriously, I speak not merely for myself, but also close friends that are a part of my life. All of us have, in some way or the other, well within our reach, that, which is close enough to what we always wanted, but is not really "it". And as a result of that, we are not willing to settle. Is this the arrogance of youth? (The grey-haired wise men do not think as we do.) Or is this the type of persona, that we got conditioned to grow up into? Will it change? Will we settle once we hit the rough spots? Or will our adamance pay off?

And do we always know ourselves well enough to know if what we want is really what we want?

Relative perception, ladies and gentlemen, the killer. Reduces you to knowing nothing about anything. At all.

The cat got killed.

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:45:00 +0000

I read an article that told me how to be successful.

It said I should know something about everything.

Then it pointed me to an article on how to do that.

That article said I should be curious about everything I come across.

Then it pointed me to an article about how I can cultivate curiosity.

Curiously enough, I was curious.

That article told me that the way to cultivate curiosity
In many many many words was
To be curious.. (who'd have thunk!)

Then it pointed me to another article.

I wasn't curious any more.

Sulk and Grumble

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:37:00 +0000

Friend tells me my blog is a mess. No he wouldn't insult the writing (right at my face.) He was merely pointing at the splattering of unnecessary thingummies on the blog page. Ironically it started when I said I was a messy person, in general, and he said yeah, look at your blog. Hence the erstwhile l-o-a-d-e-d aMUSEings blog page has been stripped down for a newer lighter b-o-r-i-n-g look.

And then I grumble grumble mumble nevertheless.

That's the thing.. So how come we can't take criticism when its not even something we're unaware of! I've never been the gracious acceptor, Mommy knows that very well. Its not a tragedy either, but well, at least I can write about it.

Why does one twitch when someone else points to you what you already know? Ah its this person who goes by the name of Ego, that sits pretty in the way of what is potential betterment.

Note to friend: Do not fret. Do not take me seriously either. Now try viewing it, don't you tell me its crashing again. And again.
And yeah, see me as the bigger person, who did the right thing. :)
Still grumbling though.

Feeling like a child today

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:31:00 +0000

No the worries did not disappear.
Neither did the unacknowledged fear.
But I felt like a child today.

I giggled, I grinned, I smiled.
The way it was as a child.
Seems so long since I felt this way!

Reminds me of the song of yesteryear:
Main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya

Har fikr ko dhuein mein udaata chala gaya.

I volunteered for an event at CRY recently. We had a street play near an anganwadi and also had children of the community performing to current popular songs. It was fantastic! A treat to the senses. I will link you to the details of the campaign once I get hold of the newspaper article which will sooooon be out. But meanwhile I can only tell you what fun it was to help these kids learn the 'steps' for the dance, get them ready for what was possibly their very first public performance, and watch them dance beautifully. (It was their innocence that bought me the beauty.) It was wonderful, to say the very least.

And then of course the post event celebration :) Dancing with the stars I will call it. And then the pack of stars attacked me when they saw I had a packet of chocolates.

I also met some great new people, refreshed my life just a tad bit. Yay!

Live to Die? No, Live Forever!

noreply@blogger.com (Rach) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:10:00 +0000

Above were the words on a pamphlet handed to me a few days ago as I was walking on Commercial Street.

Science has advanced in so many directions, even to exploring space - but the subject of DEATH remains largely unexplored. Few are the doctors, scientists and philosophers who have studied the subject of Death - of the phenomenon of Death itself and of what happens after Death. Scientists are ever expounding to the world truths about the human body and its brief existence on this planet, about the atoms, and about natural cataclysms - but little is taught about this terrible end called Death that comes to every man.

Religious fundamentalists have long stopped considering science as something they can condemn, or even make people condemn. Some time during the battle between religion and science, science won, not in the sense that the battle succeeded in getting many to abandon blind faith, but that religious people now began to accept science (while not letting go of religion) and people who favored scientific and rational thought in the first place, have long abandoned religious ideas.

The stance changed from 'There is no science' to 'There is science in religion too'.
So now how could we still incorporate something scientific into our teachings, and yet make it sound like we're the ones to follow?
And then the answer, that comes, I presume, after extensive research, is Death.

.. One person alone has unlocked the mysteries of Death and revealed to mankind the "New and Living way" to life and immortality..

Since you can guess the rest, I won't quote it.
But it was distasteful. The common man is afraid of death. To play on a person's fears to convert them to a particular religion is distasteful. It is just not right. Our country grants you the right to follow whatever religious practices you might want to. But to mislead and market a religion taking advantage of the vulnerable man's fear of death is wrong.

I disapprove of trying to convert people to another religion in a way that one would want to take over the world. If you want to co-exist with science, you can also co-exist with other religions.

It reminds me of childhood days where all of us had come up with explanations of why we all prayed to different Gods. There is only one God we believed, we all just have different versions of him. No one wondered why the one God wanted to go through the trouble of being available in different versions to different people on the earth and yet didn't want to actually show himself. A lot of things didn't add up, but we were peace-loving, unquestioning good kids who didn't try to one up each others deities. We had a lot of respect for one another.

Wonder what happened to that kind of thinking.