tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109132252024-03-12T21:21:28.232-07:00The noviceI'm happily inflicting the world with some of my madness:)Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-64582718907036921062012-07-22T21:59:00.000-07:002012-07-22T21:59:21.672-07:00Return of the JediA lot has changed since I last posted on this blog. Actually almost everything. From my marital status, to my surname, to the person I am. It perhaps calls for a new blog altogether. But there's something about this space, this blog, that gets my juices flowing. So I shall keep it and go back to my past, once in a while just so I'm well and truly grounded.<br />
I shall come here to rave and rant, considering I have lost all my dedicated readers here. It should be that much easier for me to pen my thoughts and get a semblance of sanity every now and then.<br />
Some of the people I met here are still my friends, some have vamoosed and there are still others with whom I share a blow-hot blow-cold relationship. Ohh lala! But hey, whether I have anyone reading me or not, I just love being back here. It's like coming back to my cozy little nest. Welcome back Priya!Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-18233165559670598342008-08-05T22:23:00.000-07:002008-08-05T22:31:28.353-07:00Lost & FoundSheer bliss. 16 years later. Over the moon. Didn't ever think if I dig my grave deep enough I might hit a treasure chest.<br /><br />Now to hang on to the treasure with my life...Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-82896145240212515152008-02-14T05:03:00.000-08:002008-02-14T05:04:48.205-08:00V'day starts earlyLast Sunday we spent a fking bomb and went for this Mickey Mouse magic show with an ex-colleague of N's( quite a bomb herself) and her son. The cherub, Chrish ("My name is Chrish, with a C," he insists), all of 6 years, and G hit it off at first sight like long lost loves; clinging on to each other like nothing's business. After the show, and a cute photo session, we decided to go and have pizza at Pizza Hut and hang around for a while. The kids had to be taken to the restroom first which we mothers dutifully did, and sent them off to refresh ourselves a bit. From the loo I could hear Gubs wailing at the top of her voice and was feeling most embarrassed. So I rushed and asked her "What's the matter, Dahling?" Still wailing, she replied: "I want to sit with Chrish alone, far away from the parents"!!!<br /><br />Amen.Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-11605694357755395882008-02-14T01:08:00.000-08:002008-02-14T23:57:54.712-08:00XXX Rated<span style="font-size:100%;">3 unscrupulous women<br />3x pegs of vodka<br />3x the voices & vices<br />XXX rated revelations<br />3x excited gesticulations</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1 broken glass.</span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-79441968770499612762008-02-05T02:40:00.000-08:002008-02-05T02:42:35.799-08:00Dead woman rising<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Life,</p>Fascinated as I am by your irrepressible energy and innovative means of meting out surprises, must admit, sometimes you do bog me down. The last few months have borne witness to the myriad “situations” (largely sticky) I have been thrown into and the flurry of emotions I have fought, overcome or given in to. And every time I thought it was over and done with, there was a brand new set (or a modified version of an existing one) to deal with. <p class="MsoNormal">You give and you take. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">You love and you hate.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">You tide and you ebb.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">You kill and you save. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">You have your balance sheet to match, I understand, but at what and whose cost? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, just for the record, <span style=""> </span>your surprises don’t surprise me anymore. Your curses don’t bother me anymore. Your blessings don’t touch me anymore. For:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Like a bird on the wire,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Like a drunk in an old midnight choir<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>I have tried in my way to be free.<o:p></o:p></i></p>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-91648405897288036722007-07-12T05:44:00.000-07:002007-07-12T05:52:38.935-07:00Rare luxuriesLife's so full now, I hate any semblance of space in the crowd. Baba, Ma, N, G and I. When all of us are in the living room together-- N 3/4th out of the bean bag, sprawled on the floor, G on top of him, I in my sloth bearish (most <span style="font-style: italic;">lyad khawa</span>) posture on the futon and Ma and Baba, the only semblance of propriety, on the chairs - it an <span style="font-style: italic;">mela</span>-esque atmosphere. I ain't complaining, because, I don't have the same luxury when I visit them in Calcutta. So loving every minute of having them around.<br />Baba's been with us for a month now. Ma arrived a couple of days back. Baba flew down. Ma prefers the good old railroad. No amount of persuasion to get her on to a plane works. Her feet are too well grounded, I say. The train, wonder of wonders, arrived 10 mins before scheduled. She has come with one 24" VIP, a medium-sized red kit bag, a small overnighter, her trademark Guess shopper in which she carries her water bottles, a couple of plastic bags and of course her handbag. The suitcase has wheels so weight doesn't matter. But the red kit bag just can't be lifted. "what's in it, Ma?" "Oh just some stuff I thought you would need," she said, as a hint of embarrassment escaped her voice. Knowing my Ma, that was a really "loaded" answer.<br />Since she arrived on a weekday, I chose not to ask any more and got on with my daily chores before leaving for work. Ma quietly began pottering around revealing bits and pieces of the treasure she had brought from home and beyond. First, <span style="font-style: italic;">korapaaker jolbhora taalshnash</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">shondesh </span>(sorry non-Bengali readers, it is inexplicable, hence ethereal), white mishti doi (since I abhor the "lal" variety), a bag of "<span style="font-style: italic;">potol</span>"-- some 2 kilos of it. A packet of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dalpuri'r pur</span>, a watermelon, 2 cucumbers and before she came out with more, I left for office. On my return, I am asked what i want to eat. Aahh the bliss of being brought a glass of water, or even being asked about food-- I had quite forgotten about it. While I wallow in the attention, I look around for new additions to my kitchen. None that catches my eye. Very strange, I say to myself in the most Poirot-esque undertone. I wander leisurely in to the guest room and Voila! The flap of the red kit bag lies listlessly on the floor revealing stacks of "potato". Yes Potato -- in medium and small sizes. "MAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I don't try muffling such screams, I don't believe they should be. "<span style="font-style: italic;">Ki holo?</span>" She comes running. "<span style="font-style: italic;">Eta ki korecho?" "Egulo Doshghora'r chasher aloo</span>," she says with the most unabashed smile (Doshghora is a pristine little village in Hooghly district where my Ma hails from. It's my Transcendental world). She's brought FIVE kgs of home-grown potatoes!<br />I know these days we pay for every morsel of our existence and hence "home-grown" or "from our farm" are rather romantic feudal concepts. But, I, dear friends have a long lineage of "landlords", commonly (de) recognized as <span style="font-style: italic;">Zamidaars</span> in Bengali. That too, both from my paternal and maternal side. Despite the feudal system and landlordship being abolished now, needless to say, my parents revel in the lineage and have their own ways of reinforcing it in GeNext, much to our disdain. The above is a perfect case in point. But to carry Five kilo of potatoes as a separate luggage? Jeees!<br />I was too dumbstruck to take the conversation any further, even though Ma picked up her favourite refrain " <span style="font-style: italic;">Aar joddin achi, toke diye jai...erpor toh aar keu debey na</span>." Thank God for small mercies to the last bit!<br />And let me tell you here, Ma comes from a different planet altogether. Ask her for a grain or a chaff and she'll get the whole paddy field for you. But very few people really honour the worth of such women. Sadly, including self.Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-82999926109968675752007-05-15T03:17:00.000-07:002007-05-15T03:35:41.224-07:00Losing outLife has its own ways to reward and punish. Even though I know we only reap what we sow and how we sow it.<br />I've had my share of rewards. Now it's time for punishments.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Rot in Hell.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-92224788484273622332007-04-14T04:59:00.000-07:002007-04-14T05:13:08.360-07:0020 minutes<p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Walking down alone, along the deserted pavement by<span style=""> </span>a busy roadside at 6pm.<br /></p><p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The clickety click of the three-inch heels; kicking up a little dust with every step. Licking on my favourite Kwality Walls Orange stick icecream; humming “It’s my life” and feeling the gentle evening breeze softly caress my</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> tired </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">face.</span> </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Never knew a walk back from office to home could be this blissful. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>I love my evening walks these days. I have 20 minutes all to myself. To walk the way I want. Eat what I want. Let my thoughts wander where they want. Weave my dreams out of incoherent thoughts. It’s my space, all mine. It’s my life. </p>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-16500491745108951792007-04-09T05:30:00.000-07:002007-04-09T05:34:28.199-07:00Poisoned<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You want me to be my vivacious self, the one you fell in love with many moons ago</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You want me to be chirpy, and listen to the music in my heart </span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You want me to be happy, and glow in my ebullience</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You want to see me alive again.<br /><br />But that's not possible anymore. The poison, it is spreading.<br /><br />Maybe in afterlife.<br /></span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-81013489201009115412007-03-13T23:19:00.001-07:002007-03-13T23:29:40.474-07:00Digging deeper<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Sitting opposite each other against a tangerine orange sky and watching the melting sun set into the unfathomable depths of the Ganges. The backdrop as enigmatic as our being there just then is inexplicable. Unspoken words, impregnated sentences. Uncomposed music, building into a crescendo. Unblemished bodies, erotic with desire. Uncalled for tears, unbound happiness of a </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">nubile nymphet.</span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-38692292656447344202007-03-10T18:58:00.000-08:002007-03-10T19:00:48.021-08:00Grave digging<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You have been playing havoc on my mind lately. After all these years since we parted amicably and promised to let our mind, body, heart and soul R.I.P. You who I chose to set free over him who I loved.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You were a man of so few words and even fewer actions. He was more vociferous.You loved discreetly. He dared to love. </span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You stimulated, he titilated. You played on my mind, he played with the tits and tush. You let live, he was alive and spontaneous. You were conspicuous by your absence, he was overwhelming (sometimes even overbearing) with his presence. You wrote me long mesmerising letters, never mentioning those fateful words; he told me, at least twice a day and wrote them in bold in every card, note and letter.<br />You cared, appreciated, encouraged and understood. He loved, lusted, demanded, misunderstood. I chose him over you. A momentary lapse of reason? Or a moment's pragmatism? Still wonder, why you play havoc on my mind after all these years.</span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-73619179973826403872007-02-28T21:49:00.000-08:002007-02-28T21:51:51.432-08:00Mindgames<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I love living in mind. Weaving tales of romance, lust, longing and desire ; tales of fun, frolic and mysticism; tales of loneliness and despair, in the dark crevices of my warped mind. Tales I read out to myself, listen to wide eyed and mesmerised and then, live out, line by line, on my mind's proscenium. Lives I wish I had but would rather prefer to preserve as dreams, for as a friend rightly said, reality can never match up to them.</span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-10930940740331964492007-01-09T03:22:00.000-08:002007-01-09T03:35:38.725-08:00Sorting out<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Excuse me while I figure out my life. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I realised in the interim that less than a year's blogging has given me more friends than I could've found in a lifetime.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Heartfelt thanks to each one of you who has been around in some way or another. </span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-56742949312912232302007-01-02T01:20:00.000-08:002007-01-02T01:29:46.173-08:00New year, new look<div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">HERE'S TO A DELIGHTFUL, PLEASANT AND HAPPY NEW YEAR </span><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 51);">Just thought I'd try a fresh look; start the year refreshed and relaxed. And hope its pays to dream. At least sometimes.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></span></div></div>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1165899138444238932006-12-11T20:43:00.000-08:002006-12-11T20:52:18.463-08:00Small talkGuys, this one is for you, to balance out my sisterhood post. For all of you having problems choosing a sexy Christmas present for your wife/girlfriend. Here's <a href="http://uk.news.yahoo.com/12122006/140/men-smalls-talk-buying-lingerie.html">help</a>.<br />Now go, splurge on her!Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1165828127375749042006-12-11T00:46:00.000-08:002006-12-11T01:08:47.526-08:00Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood<p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Weird place this blog is. When I first started out, rather warily as a novice, it was only to comment on <a href="http://urmea.blogspot.com/">Urmi</a>’s blog. Yes, it was that specific. Because, all these years that I’ve known her (sorry can’t really give the numbers, I’m severely mathematically challenged), we’ve only verbally interacted or at most chatted.<span style=""> </span>So I had no clue just how well she wrote, when she deigned to write, that is. Purpose clearly defined, I had to set up a personal blog since, madam wouldn’t allow anonymous comments on her’s. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Once into blogosphere, like a toddler in playschool, I started discovering the wonders of this world. Since I’m also seriously technically challenged, I made Urmi’s blog my centrepoint from where I could branch out to read several others, most of whom were nameless heads, some merely names and some pseudonyms. To me of course, except for Urmi, no one really mattered. I simply dropped in to read good writing, because I<span style=""> </span>couldn’t write to save my not-so-blooming life. I soon realized, it wasn’t all that easily to be an objective, emotionally uninvolved, casual reader. There were people out there who seemed like they read my mind, wrote about things that affected me, made me happy and even terribly annoyed me. Hellooooo. This is the kind of emotional bonding one feels for people. Not inanimate objects like a web log, for Heaven’s sake!</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Upon some introspection, I realized, there were some blogs I got badly hooked on to.<span style=""> </span>And these were the ones where I found some similarity with either my life or the way I thought about certain things in life. And, much to the utter surprise of some people who claim to know me rather well, they were blogs written by women. (I did read the men, too, so stop raising your eyebrows, right now!)<br /></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">It must’ve been the subconscious, which unfortunately I still don’t seem to have any control over (damned, where are my powers of wizardry?). In spite of staying away from typically soppy, bitchy and opinionated women in real life, I was being drawn to mellifluous, pellucid, vitriolic and rather conceited posts! Damn! Damn! Damn!<br /></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">But they were fun. To read and to comment upon. And thank God for the comments, that I developed a kind of familiarity with some of the people I read. Dawn of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood!<br /></p><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://treadsoftlyupon.blogspot.com/">M(tread softly upon)</a>, being among the first such. Again, I’ve forgotten when I first read her, but it was an instant liking for this mysterious woman, who seemed to read my mind just too spookily well. Every time I read her, it is as if I know, I realize a little bit more about myself. I don’t know why or how, but somewhere along the way, she felt a similar closeness and we bonded, like reunited old friends. Or was it like siblings? Naaaaah! (Holding hand down and telling self, “Don’t get carried away, not just yet. Long way to go.”) <span style=""> </span>Ok Clarification. So M’s a doc, she knows a little bit about psychiatry (you know, must have been part of her medical course) therefore, she just knows how the mind works and writes about such things fluently. And I, the emotional fool, like many others, only am drawn towards such spontaneous outburst of emotional feelings. Right M? (Winks)<br /></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Then there’s <a href="http://myownfairystories.blogspot.com/">Princess B(itch)</a>. Let’s just say she’s just too much fun to ignore.<span style=""> </span>She’s too old to be my daughter, and too young to be my sister, really. But the babe has just the kind of spunk and sweetness-tinged vitriol that excites me. Oh and yes, there’s something about the bandwidth too. 440MHz, Love?</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">And, finally a few months back, Urmi directed me to a certain lady who shared her surname, she told me. And was it a pleasure to discover <a href="http://lalitalarking.blogspot.com/">Missus Em</a> or what? A self- proclaimed dinosaur but with the zest of a twenty-year old. Not a glitch between the heart and the head in what she writes and how she writes it. The mistress of pickles, Lali emanates a warmth that can melt the most frozen person. For me, of course, she’s now my dictionary, encyclopaedia, agony aunt, my personal therapist, friend, sibling all rolled in to one. Phew, that lady knows how to juggle her roles, alright! </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">I can’t really say what Urmi means to me in a paragraph or even a whole book, so I’ll desist. Suffice to say, she’s a part of my existence. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Apart from Urmi, these are people I have no qualms sharing a bit of my personal self with and vice versa. These are my much needed girlfriends who I can virtually go off on trips with, fall back on or look up to. We each have minds of our own, we agree, we disagree, we agree to disagree on issues, we whine, crib, bitch, pat each other’s backs, we sympathise and empathise with as well as choose to ignore attention seeking behavioural disorders. We have the panacea for each other’s ills and we serve as an elixir of life. And of course, we share our little secrets of a happy, healthy and long youthful life. <span style=""> </span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1164971954814092712006-12-01T03:12:00.000-08:002006-12-01T03:19:14.863-08:00Small pleasures of life<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">It’s amazing how sometimes we’re overwhelmed by the simple pleasures of life. Like a few words of reassurance, a compliment, a look of the eyes that tells you it’s one of genuine concern, a squeeze of the hand, a kiss, a hug or even a phone call. <span style=""> </span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">It’s a pity that we often overlook them in our daily grind and look for more expensive means to tackle our depression, insecurity, self doubt, self pity, and the works. And thanks to our myopic vision, the psychologists, marriage counsellors, education counsellors, and whathaveyous are having a field day out there. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Relationships and marriages are the worst sufferers. They are falling apart like nine pins because neither can take the stress at work and obviously they don’t have the patience or tolerance to hear each other out amicably once back home. The war’s given up even before it’s begun. They agree a third party intervention is essential to sort their personal matters out. And sharing confidential information with third parties always come for a price. A rather hefty one at that. But no worries, there’s enough disposable income to waste on the quirks. One’s pain and loss provides vicarious emotional and financial pleasure to another. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“Am in love” is a phrase that has been duly replaced with “Am going steady” “or am in a relationship”. Being in love, feeling the warmth of his/her presence, wallowing in love, blinded by love are all passé and one runs the risk of being branded an emotional fool. It’s all about a “workable relationship” now.<span style=""> </span>Will it or won’t it work. Simple.<br /></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Move aside heart. Step in head. Don’t dream about those never-ending walks into the sunset or the cosy rain-soaked cuddle. Stay awake and just do it. (Ok , Ok, I know you do much more. Good for you!)<br /></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Don’t just plunge in and say “I love you.” <span style=""> </span>Think of the kind of “investments” you need to make and <span style=""> </span>the various “exit plans” you must keep handy before saying “I Do”. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Alas, why didn’t I think of these ever? Haven’t made any investments, nor do I have an exit plan. Just plunged into the deep end and swimming my way through. Is my future doomed? Or am I just being an incurable romantic? </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">At the risk of all those rotten tomatoes landing in my comment section, I'd still say: People, save that money, take some time off to sit down and look into each other’s eye, hold that hand, smile, hug and kiss. And, when you are miles away, just call. Priceless ways of working wonders on that mind and heart.</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">PS: For those of you who think I’m being extremely <span style="font-style: italic;">nyaka</span>, go screw your happiness.</span></p><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1164612586246051162006-11-26T23:27:00.000-08:002006-11-26T23:29:46.266-08:00Censored<p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Something inside this head has snapped. And it isn’t a very nice feeling. The world and its inhabitants seem a distant lot. To hell with it. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Detachment rules.</span> </p>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1164112076733430622006-11-21T04:12:00.000-08:002006-11-21T05:11:44.370-08:00MOS code<p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Liz Hurly’s reportedly carrying 13 outfits for her wedding while Lindsay Lohan changed thrice at a friend’s b’day party. These are celebrities and their tantrums. Then there are dappers like my N, who need to change with the times of the day, especially when on a holiday. You’ll never catch him in the same clothes throughout the day. And, it’s not just for the photos, because he’s rarely in them, preferring to click us. Sample this. If we’re going out for a long weekend, which means max three days, N necessarily carries at least 9 shirts/t-shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, a pair of cargoes and a pair of cool linen chinos.<span style=""> </span>Need I say what size of suitcase I need to carry if it’s for 7-10 days? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">These are people suffering from Multiple Outfit Syndrome (MOS).<span style=""> </span>They just can’t be happy with what they wear. The Adman that he is, N’s extremely brand conscious and nitpicks while shopping for his clothes. Oh, and it can’t be just the brand. It has to be the right colour combinations, the cut and the style. And of course, he knows best, the long and the short of them. And funnily enough, the man has a body that fits into a 38, a 40 and a 42 size with equal panache. Ok, I’m talking about the casuals here, the branded formals are almost always 40. But if he falls in love with something that he must own, size doesn’t really matter. He manages to fit in, and the snugger, the better. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">The story was quite different a little more than a decade ago. (P sits down with her coffee, to tell a long story. )<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">When we first started dating, or let’s put it this way, when I left him no option but to date me, when he was this bespectacled JUDEan , the norm was a full-sleeved semi-formal shirt, properly tucked in to a pair of jeans or semi-formal trousers. I’d never, yes, never seen him in a half sleeved shirt, torn jeans or any thing else that could be remotely considered cool and casual. Dressing down for him meant at most, a kurta and jeans!<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">You know what they say about a man being known by the company he keeps, right? So it was my schemes and his brain. A lethal combo that drove him all the way to <a href="http://www.mica-india.net/">MICA</a> and, that my friends, was the turning point of this match. In two years, there emerged an ad rookie. Beau Brummel knew all about brands and their case histories, how to position, manage and market them. I gradually found out, he even wore some brands on his sleeve. The man had fallen prey to his own profession and with age, the sense of dressing has acquired a style and class that is most often envied more than it is admired. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">The wardrobe which used to have only whites, off whites, pale and pastel shades, solids and checks, now has almost every hue and shades of them from a dark purple to an ultra marine blue in checks, stripes</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, geometric patterns, floral prints and other weird and stylish prints. Oh and the sleeves have gotten shorter too. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">In trousers and jeans, he’s moved over from the staid pleated to the flat fronts, chinos and the cargoes. I see there are courdroys, frayed, faded but not tattered jeans, cargoes with 6-8 pockets ( haven’t tried figuring out why he needs that many) and white linen trousers, which I firmly believe look more like pyjamas, but am told, it’s the ‘in’ thing. Sigh! <span style=""> </span>In short, he hates admitting it, but considers himself quite a Candy man, and knows more about men’s fashion than even my Dad, now! <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Ladies and gentlemen, in the last few years, he’s spent a sizeable fortune on clothes and needless to say that he occupies, 3/4ths of the three wardrobes, with G and I just about managing to wrangle a couple of shelves each. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">But recently, the man’s not been fitting into his pants, thanks to a bulging paunch. Considering he’s a teetotaler, don’t ask me where he got that from. Something he’s always hated and the only thing he’s been particular not to acquire all this while. He’s been complaining about it for sometime, but of course the fat annual fees at Talwalkar’s is only accumulating interest for the gym, because Beau Brummel has absolutely no time to indulge in such luxuries, bijee man that he is. <span style=""> </span>For the first time today, I heard him resign to fate, caressing his little potbelly, “I hope this is truly a sign of prosperity.” <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Inshallah! Amen!</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />I hope so too, Dude.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></p>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1163756461117348752006-11-17T01:09:00.000-08:002006-11-17T01:55:12.373-08:00Wingdings<p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">G wants wings so she can fly. Green wings (Environmentalist, that she already is), to be precise. This emanated from a conversation that went something like this:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">“Mumma, see mermaid" (pointing to its picture on her fancy glass).</span> </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">I smile and give a pseudo-excited look with a ‘Hmm’ while trying to shove a spoonful into her mouth.</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“Mermaids fly in the water?” (never imagined, but worth a thought now)</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“No, Baby, they swim under water.”</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“Then, only birds fly?” </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">With a ear-to-ear grin, I say “Yeesss”. (Hoping I had sealed the Q&A session and could get on with the never-ending dinner.)</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“Why do they fly?” (Oh no!)</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“Because they have wings.” Then a quick quiz, “What else can fly?<span style=""> </span>Tell me, tell me.”</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“Plane (With a very distinct Duh, Mumma! look). You can also fly, Mumma?”</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“No, I don’t have wings.” </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">“Why don’t you have wings?” </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">(Err ummm…) "Because God didn’t give me." (Ok, P, gerrout of the Standard mode and get a wee bit more creative now, willya?) I need to be very careful what I tell G, because, the Resident Lawyer decides to catch us off-guard and cross check every once in a while on certain circumstantial arguments provided to her. And the midget has an elephantine memory. So God help you if you retract or tweak your arguments.<br /></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">G, very authoritatively, “Tell God to give you wings and me also(sic). OK? I want green wings. You get blue and Puppa will take red! OK?" (shaking the index finger at me)</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">"</span>OK, Dahlin'!"<br /></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Wings in myriad hues to take us all where we want to go. How I wish, such wishes were granted. Philosophy was never my cuppa, so instead of indulging in it, I’ve been wondering how to grant G her wish, indulgent Mom that I am. The first thought was to call the <a href="http://myownfairystories.blogspot.com/">Fleeting Fairy</a> for a solution. But she has exams and papers to deal with. Then I considered my very own, 911, the <a href="http://lalitalarking.blogspot.com/">Lilting Lark</a>. But she, I thought would be busy making pasta or solving her anagrams. So wracked my utterly non-creative, useless brain for a change. But alas! I don’t have a green dupatta to make-do with. (Digression: In fact, my wardrobe is devoid of green. I hate the colour as much as I hate the smell of a rose.) So for now, I settle on the wings of poesy (the oft-recited nursery rhymes) and take her on flights of fancy either on Alladin’s magic carpet or on the Prince’s pristine white horseback. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax are waiting in the wings with the broomsticks.</p><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" >(P.S.: I just realised, our blogs are becoming very incestuous)</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1163657571512760532006-11-15T22:07:00.000-08:002006-11-16T02:08:43.033-08:00Passion fruit<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The dancing Toots has revived many a fond memory and I am not sure, I like it. I don't like it simply because I miss it. Once upon a time, it was a passion. <i style="">The term passion, and its adverb passionately, often express a very strong predilection for any pursuit, or object of taste -- a kind of enthusiastic fondness for anything. -- Cogan.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">It wasn't just strong, it was almost a compulsion, a very thin line separated the obsession from the passion. I haven't a clue why my insightful (almost psycho, she just knew everything) Ma admitted me to a traditional <a href="http://in.geocities.com/medhahari/bharatanatyam/bharatanatyam.html">Bharatnatyam</a> dancing school the same day I started pre-school at two-and-a-half years. But since then, except for a brief break due to a stomach injury, I have trained in Bharatnatyam for 15 long and painful years; every Wednesday, come rain, sunshine, high fever or whathaveyou I'd go on my weekly pilgrimage to Mastermoshai to exercise my skills in Bhava, Rasa, Tala and Natyam - the core that comprise Bharatanatyam. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Mastermoshai wasn't a very hard task master but a sweet old man who knew and recognised talent. Once I’d grown out of the initial infatuation for the jingling sound of the ghungroo, as a toddler, he initiated me into my first <span style="font-style: italic;">mudras</span> and the first steps of <span style="font-style: italic;">Aduvu</span>. <span style=""> </span>From that day onwards, I happened to be his blue-eyed girl. In the early years, it was more the enthusiasm to learn something new, a little about peer pressure and a fancy dream about being a star performer, someday. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal">I wouldn't just go to class to learn the steps, it was not just about dancing, but observing the others ( the seniors, really) and making mental notes of improvising certain postures, because the mudras and the aduvus were sacrosanct. They were what comprised <span style="font-style: italic;">nritta</span>, that is dance in its purest form. But it was <span style="font-style: italic;">natya</span> (the dramatic art, a language of gestures, poses and mime) and <span style="font-style: italic;">nritya</span> (a combination of nritta and natya) where one had the scope to develop one's skills as a dancer. That's where my greater interests lay.</p> <p face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">With each passing year, as I progressed from </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Alaripu</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> to </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Jatisvaram</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> (thanks Lali) and mastered more complicated steps of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Shabdam</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Varnam</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Padam</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> it was more about internalizing my ability to express happiness, anger, sorrow, fear and the works. I realized, they all happened rather naturally. I could do the various steps in my head ten times over while Ma was screaming her guts out at me for not living up to some expectation or another. I could break into Jatisvaram when I was depressed and I’d soon feel better.</span> </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">By the time I had flexed every muscle in my body and used every part of my face to delineate Tillana, dance had become more a way of life, a spiritual expression of corporeal angst. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>I've been on stage since the age of 4 or maybe younger, I don't remember, and from the photographs I recall now, I'd always be centrestage, which meant all eyes would naturally be on me and that I guess impelled me to know, to learn and to imbibe every step that much better. </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>It’s been over 15 years now since I even attempted a <span style="font-style: italic;">mudra</span> or an <span style="font-style: italic;">aduvu</span>. Years ago, back then in the Jurassic age of classical dancing, I was a bit of a puritan (and a snoot), even as a child, since I looked down upon those gyrating movements that were passed off as dance in Bollywood flicks. Over the years, I have grown immune to the Karishma Kapoors, Kimi Katkars and more recently Rakhi Sawants and Isha Koppikars of the world. But, today, I am forced to do the same shakin’ your booties stuff at sundry discotheques or parties as they do. I don’t like disappointing friends. So I stand amidst the crowd and shift in my shoes. <span style=""> </span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against modern dance, as long as it has tala, laya, that is it’s rhythmic and graceful. But alas, even those basics are often not there. The TV show Nach Baliye is a classic example to the point. There are couples with two left feet, who can’t dance to save their lives and yet, they are there on stage, making royal fools of themselves, shamelessly so. I feel angry when I see such stuff.</p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Before anger consumes me, I should end this long rant. But, let me tell you, “I could’ve danced all night, and still have asked for more.” </p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1163067098360456412006-11-09T01:26:00.000-08:002006-11-09T03:53:56.463-08:00VGLDSW Day<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Ladies, beautiful ladies, good looking ladies, very good looking ladies, smart ladies, damned smart ladies, I am reliably informed that today be <span style="font-weight: bold;">International Very Good Looking Damn Smart Woman's Day</span>. So come my bevy of fellow VGLDS women, let us virtually gather here to celebrate our special day. </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Dress code: Sexiest dress in your wardrobe- noodlestraps, strapless, backless, halternecks, mini skirts, shorts, the works. This is your chance to flaunt your booty and show it all. (Oh yeah, the mothers of 1,2 or more, do tuck in those tummies with a good fitting corsette, honeybuns.)<br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Accessorise self adequately. Get those Louis Vuitton, Liz Claiborne, Prada, GAP bags and shoes to match your dresses. <span style="font-size:85%;">(yeah, yeah yeah just go, ransack the guy's wallet, his money, credit cards et al.) </span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Oh and please, do get the right tone of foundation. White, patchy faces look ghastly.<br />Once you are here, we can start comparing notes and check out who's the smartest of us all, ok?<br /><br />Cuisine: Men and booze. We shall make steaks, sizzlers, sausages and mince meat of them and wash them down with vodka (orange-twist, anyone?), bloody mary , tequila shots and sex-on-the-beach.<br /><br />See you soon, babes!<br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Men: good looking, smart or otherwise, you are requested to escort the aforementioned women and patiently await their return in your respective cars (Do hire the best looking ones, please, if you don't own one yet) .</span></span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1162885234441668732006-11-06T23:38:00.000-08:002006-11-07T00:03:58.546-08:00I have company<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I have just too many things craving for my attention; too many ideas dying to be shaped into something remotely readable and too many people seeking my company. And here I am just not knowing how to handle such celebrity status vonly. First, I try to prioritise my work, then the people I want to give company to and finally try sorting out the ideas. The work, has to be done, there isn't an option there. The better half and best quarter must be given ample quality time, so the ideas can play "Me first" and chew my brain till I find some time for them. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">For now, of course, all eyes are on the newest member of my extended family. My good friend R gave birth to this bonny 3.8 kg dude on Nov 2. A cherub he is, with swollen pink cheeks, a saintly smile and chinky eyes. A mini monk now, till the tail grows ;) In the meantime, a raging debate has ensued in the confines of the hospital room on who he resembles - "the lower half of the face is like R's Mom, the upper half like S" was one line of thought. The other authoritative line was "looks just like S" (including the height. S is a six footer and the baby's really tall,too) And amidst all the argument and counter-argument, our man sleeps peacefully without a care in the world. He might as well finish his quota now, before the world descends upon him.<br /><br />G's most excited about R'baby (the whole family's identity revolves around my friend R- R'mashi, R'kaku, R'mamma and so on). She of course wanted a baby girl, so her initial reaction was " Naaa, it's a baby girl!" and she insisted on referring to R'baby as "she". After some patient explaining, she agreed to accept 'him' and play with trains and cars with him and initiate him into the world of SPD, Pokemon and Spiderman. She was busy choosing gifts for the baby at the toy shop the other day - dinosaurs, rattles and such like. Now we must visit R baby everyday to monitor his daily progress. The most delightful part of my daily routine, the only one i really look forward to, apart from meeting G after a painful and gruelling 11 hours, everyday.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />R'baby hasn't yet been christened. But he was born in the wee hours of the "Don". Like it or not R, I did warn you, if it's Nov 2nd, it just has to be... the one and only... Bad Shah! (evil grin) </span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1162292298581696322006-10-31T02:57:00.000-08:002006-10-31T03:03:08.510-08:00Birthday bumps<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I took G to a birthday party on Saturday. An old college friend’s son’s. Needless to say then, it was a gathering of probashi bangalis at the town’s hottest party spot, Pizza Corner. I’ve mentioned before, I love their party organizing skills. Nothing short of impeccable. Long live outsourcing! So, while the friendly pizzaboys and girls conducted the games for the kids and handed out the winner’s gifts, the accompanying parents huddled together to talk shop.<br /><br />There was a clear divide between the hep Bong and not-so-hep non-Bong Moms. There was that Cosmo-educated Mom who looked almost ready to replace the cover babe from the magazine; the seasoned jean-clad mother of two, with a figure those 22-year olds would die for; then there was the non-Bong Mom in sequined capris who first wanted to know where my hubby worked, based on which she’d decide how snooty she would be next time she met me on the road; there was the paavam, trying-to-be-hep Amma and finally, there was the quintessential Bong Ma.<br /><br />The conversation of the hep lot essentially veered around the recently released movies, aka Don, Dor and Devil Wears Prada. (I swear I didn’t make that alliteration up!) and there was actually someone who hadn’t seen the original. So obviously she “quite liked” the new Don as did her kids. Thankfully, everyone else acquiesced the remake was F’all (ok so this is my language, because they were all prim and propah, unlike me). And that SRK sucks. I was impressed muchly by such sublime intelligence of the most superfluous Moms. Coincidentally( ok, so there isn’t anything called coincidence, big deal), none of us have watched the other two. Promptly, Yours Truly floated the idea of a Mom’s Day Out to catch both the movies. Sadly, both have gone from the theatres, but seeds of a MDO have been sowed (evil grin), nice and deep into the kitschy crania. And while they were planning the day out, I picked up sound bytes of “No, now they hab pheeneeshed that, they hab staarted counting huwith their phingaars.” I turned around to see her animatedly showing how to count with the fingers to the other equally engrossed two Non-Bong non-hep Moms. “They are now counting backwards, sebhen, seex, phaibe, phour, like this…” The hep Moms too caught the drift of the conversation and giggled and smirked condescendingly at their neighbours, faces conscientiously turned to the wall. In the meantime, talks moved further on to homework and such like which I chose to ignore to save my sanity. <br /><br />Amazing though, hep Moms or no, the boys all go to the same school, the most renowned school in this city of soon to be has-beans.<br /><br />As for self, felt quite out of place, honestly, since I belonged to neither group and had only a pretty Cinderella-esque daughter to dote on, while I mentally noted points for this blog. Whattosay, I’m just lovin’ it. To be at your service, that is.<br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10913225.post-1162193009263263162006-10-29T23:17:00.000-08:002006-10-29T23:29:51.480-08:00Holiday Hullaballoo<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:9;"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Holidays are the most anticipated few days of our lives, no matter which stage of life we are in. Of course, the connotation of a holiday has evolved over the decades quite disproportionately with our disposable incomes, but we shall not grudge that, shall we?</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:9;"><span style="font-size:100%;">As school kids, summer and pujo vacations, more than the winter one, were the few months of freedom we desperately longed for. And of course, planning for a vacation was the only topic of discussion at the dinner table or during a drive to a boring relative. At that stage, the execution of the plan was of course, the parents’ dull job and I was happy to have accomplished mine by merely suggesting a preferred locale. Not that I always got a chance to do that either. But never really cared much as long as I knew I didn’t have to stay home in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Calcutta</st1:place></st1:city> for at least 10 of the 30 days! And those were the best days of my life!<span style=""> </span>(Please note that we were angels as kids, never demanding such things like a resort with swimming pool, AC, TV etc. during<span style=""> </span>a holiday). So whether it was closer to home in <st1:city st="on">Darjeeling</st1:city>, Kalimpong or Hazaribag or a little further off to <st1:city st="on">Agra</st1:city>, Nainital or Ranikhet or even <st1:place st="on">Goa</st1:place>, I have wonderful memories of each vacation. Over the years, of course, I started getting bored of accompanying them on holidays so summer holidays were invariably pilgrimages to cousins in Delhi (yes, 5 weeks of the scorching summer were spent in utter bliss at the then happening places. Don’t ask for details please that was 20 years ago!!)</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:9;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >I stopped going on holidays once cousins left <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Delhi</st1:place></st1:city> and life found other excitement in creatures such as boyfriends. Vacations were the only time when we could find friendly alibis in even our worst enemies and go for movies or spend time together over never ending games of Scrabble (yes, in those days life wasn’t all about ball games, you see,<span style=""> </span>so we were happy to indulge in sundry boardgames) or Boggle( again, very mind boggling stuff!)</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:9;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Post</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">marriage, holidays have been great fun. Family holidays have been few, in fact just that one to </span><st1:place style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" st="on">Goa</st1:place><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> and another Down Under. But we have a close knit group of friends who we go out with and so far, touchwood, each one, whether it was to Gadiara (West Bengal) or to </span><st1:city style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bangkok</st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, has been a riot. The reason I’ve enjoyed myself to the hilt, I realized, is because I wasn’t the one planning any of these holidays!</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">One of the friends was with Thomas Cook so we really just had to</span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">land up at the destination and the rest were very well taken care of</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:9;"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >. Tension-free, adulterated fun is all that mattered.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:9;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >This time it’s a little different. The friends have decided to descend upon us, in namma Bengaluru.<span style=""> </span>And from here, they want to go on a “holiday” together.<span style=""> </span>Having been made hosts, we’re expected to organise the tours and sightseeing plans. And to be the perfect hosts, all bookings must be done well in advance to avoid any disappointment, especially since the period of travel is between December 22 and 26. They couldn’t have chosen a better “peak season”.<span style=""> </span>So the last few days have been spent on surfing the Net for the best possible package since someone wants the forest, another wants the hills, and yet another the beaches! Never had to contend with such variety. <st1:place st="on">South India</st1:place> does provide all these and more, but to chalk out a route map and then book the hotels all within a given budget? The Planning Director has been very proactive, especially since they are, strictly speaking, his friends and their respective wives.<span style=""> </span>But there’s been some shared responsibilities, especially the hotel surfing and booking. The route map’s chalked out, thankfully, and no, we’re not pandering to everyone’s tastebuds. Just not possible. They get what we give.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>And I’m just short of going completely bonkers. The more the options, the more the confusion. If the photo on the net is decent enough, a phone call proves just how inefficient the service will be. Not only do I not want to go on a holiday, I don’t even want to play host now. But for the sheer fun of it, I don’t want to miss out on it either. So let’s just go on a holiday guys, and the more unplanned and adventurous it is, the better it will turn out, trust me on this! (pleading, with folded hands).</span><span style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size:9;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">PS: This is my first post on my recently acquired new toy: a laptop. Thanks to my company, they thought I needed one to work from home. Ya right! They have no clue of the work I’ll now be doing from the cozy workstation. So there, my Angels, satiate those curious minds;)</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span>Priyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914154556408007204noreply@blogger.com4