Spartan

I wish I was spartan.... you know the type who uses words sparingly to describe a feeling.... yet those words are packed with a punch that delivers the message right on the nose.......... now I am not exactly that creative to think about spartan, witty, pack-a-punch word..... But there are some words that I use to describe how or what I want to convey...

The first set of words that I use regularly are the words "Not Yet".... so when anyone asks me "are you getting married?" I reply Not Yet!.... "are you going on a world tour?" Not Yet Mate.... "are you going to buy that 15 crore pent house?" Once again Not Yet... I learned these words from a girl who was sitting next to me on my flight to New York from London.... for some strange reason she started talking to be at the fag end of the flight... and since I am mostly whoosy when the flight lands I was holding on to my seat when she asked me "Are you married?" ... and I answered "No".... and she replied saying "Not yet, you mean".... and I looked at her and said "Yeah. Not Yet." There is such a postive ring to the words "Not Yet"...something that tells you that maybe it has not happened yet but will soon happen or will happen sometime when you want it to.... I just love the feel of these words.....

The other powerful phrase I have used is "This too will pass".... a reminder that no matter what times you are going through, good or bad, it will pass..... it also keeps you grounded in that you are reminded not to get too proud of your good fortune because in a second all of that can be snatched away... and when it happens you can remember that "This too will pass"... what a wonderful phrase.... and to all the hard working money minded lawyers (that includes me) who plug away on their computer on Sunday these words are a good relaxant - "This too will pass"... ofcourse you know you are fooling yourself since the work load will never die but for the moment you can visualise the light at the end of the tunnel...

And yes you can judge me all you want for me relying on simple words to get through life.... but whatever it takes to take the load off....

All in the Family

Family matters.... and guess how I know it ? Cos I realised that I am no different from my mom and dad when it comes to small small things....

For instance I went for a short weekend break to Kochi where I met up with my parents.... and I was excitedly carrying around my camera and clicking away.... and in what I thought would be a life changing revelation I told my mom that I think I will pursue photography seriously.... quite contrary to my expectation my mom replied " yeah even I had such lofty ambitions. You remember your childhood pictures? They were all taken by me. I gave it up because in India photography was too expensive"... Now that was a life changing revelation to me.... I am just like my mom in this respect.... my baby pictures are truly the best pictures I have seen of myself... I look like an adorable, cute little baby smiling and laughing always... and now I know it has to do with my moms photography skills rather than me being photogenic.....

and I am observing the same thing in the new generation.... Christy has a creative bent of mind.... while he may wreck many many things he has a pretty good sense of colours..... he once gave me a painted cup which was actually so beautiful that I wanted to keep it.... and he regularly draws cars, gardens, people etc... and recently he even won a painting contest.....

Ofcourse Baby George is yet to develop his skills... but one skill that he has inherited from the family is the love for food!... If Baby George could walk he would have been the first one to run towards the food counter.. unfortunately he has to rely on adults who dont go as fast as he wants and he is left with no option but to kick his legs in the air to show his extreme disappointment at not been fed..... and once the food is given to him, he doesnot even tolerate a one sec break of your hand going back from his mouth to the plate to gather food again.....

And here I was thinking I am so different from my family... I am not... I am just a more recent version of them....

India at 60

Ofcourse Independence day came and went...and like most Indians I slept through the "midnight hour" and woke up to watch our erudite PM wax eloquent about the plans he has for our country.... now my friends always consider me to be extra patriotic and little over the top with the India stuff... and while I believe I am much less of that now I have few things that make me really proud of my country... and I know many wont agree with this... but heck! we are a nation of 1 billion people.... so here goes my list of things I am proud of India at 60

a) I am proud of the country's educational system - yessss I know it lacks a lot of child specific development oriented courses blah blah blah but I think for a developing country to achieve so much in terms of just education is a marvel.... I see Africans and Arabs coming and studying in India... and I geniunely believe Indian education system equips an Indian to go out and face the world with confidence...

b) I am proud of the fact that India has one of the strongest IT industry in the world...

c) I am proud of the fact that in the last 15 years our country has progressed so much economically... Indian are just more prosperous and raring to go....

d) I am proud of the leaders that India has produced... especially people like Nehru, Sardar Patel (his RSS leanings notwithstanding), Ambedkar, Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi (albeit minus her evil doings).... I am especially proud of Nehru's emphasis on self reliance as the theme for India .... and I truly believe that it is the foundation of industrialisation coupled with the education system that has enabled Indians to make a mark for themselves...

e) I am proud of our beaurocrats... Before you jump please let me explain... one of the courses I did at LSE was the difference between Indian economic development and the south east asian countries....and one of the fundamental reasons why India didnt crash like they did was because we had a very well educated, aware and intelligent set of people sitting at the helm of affairs in Delhi.... we developed but at our own pace..... if not for them we would have become another failed story

f) I am proud of my democracy.... I take it for granted.... I love it that we can make it work despite our population and our differences...

g) I am proud of press in India.... they may have their bad points but they are there to check governments and the evil in society...

h) I am proud of the diversity in my country... I love the fact that there are so many people to meet, so many different cuisines, so many different dress styles, so many different places to go to...

Even as I write this I am aware of the various things that are wrong in my country.... but somebody needs to remember that surviving as a democracy is in itself an achievement.... lets remember that for one day at least....

Kerala over a weekend

I will support you

I know it is really rare and it is priceless when it happens but one of things that make life worth living is when someone says the words "I will support you".... now it can be ranging from emotional support to financial support..... whatever be the instance these words act like a balm ..... soothing all the emotional pain that you are going through.... and I think I vouch for every person when I say - there is nothing more calming in the world than hearing the words "I am here for you" or "I support you".......... I just wish everybody would hear it more often...

I guess that is why God brings us into this world with two support systems... your parents.... and then S/He adds on the siblings so that they can support you in addition to your parents....

Dont know why I thought of this but I just felt like sharing this thought... and for those who have supported me and who will support please know I really appreciate it...

Fine Tissues

I have bought these really realllyyyy realllyyyyy expensive tissue paper..... and I really didnt intend to buy it.... it was one of those situations where I liked to cover of the tissue box, picked it up, went to the check out counter, popped my eyes when they told me that the price was above Rs. 100, quietly paid and then walked out of the shop mulling my fate....

Now this box sits pretty on top of my fridge.... for the longest time I didnt feel like opening it...... I needed a reason to open it up... so there it sat - all pretty and nice.... and finally when I opened it up and took one really expensive tissue paper I felt like laying it on my bed and asking it to relax - it was soo fine, soft, perfumed.... it just didnt deserve to be used for wiping my face or anything else...

So that is the status right now... The tissue box is as it is... and I wipe my face on the towel now....