Shoe Stopper

So this is the update on Baby George and his antics....

Baby George accompanied his brother to a shoe shop... the aim was to buy a spanking new sport shoe for the "always under inertia" Christy.... sensing that his brother was getting something more than he had Baby George insisted that he be given the same treatment... He insisted and insisted and insisted till he got his own pair of green shoes!! And apparently went around the colony showing off his new shoes....

So I am not the only one in the family to have a shoe fetish...

Yes I am

Yes I am. Sitting numb watching TV. Waiting for the terror strike to end. Waiting for Mumbai to breathe again. Waiting to let myself grieve.

No. I am not trying to sensationalise anything. I am just trying to be human again. To feel fear. To accept fear. To acknowledge that I am feeling scared and threatened. To allow myself to feel lost and helpless. And above all to feel anger.
Yes I am angry. Angry at the Government who let this happen. Angry at Narendra Modi for milking this situation. Angry at L.K. Advani for trying to get mileage. Angry at Manmohan Singh for total collapse of leadership. Angry that at a time like this, India has not leaders who can inspire us.

Am I justified? I dont know. I just know that I do. I am angry, sad, lost, confused, worried and scared. Yes I am. And I dont know whether I Can.

Bdays and all that goes with it

So October - November is a big month in my family for b'days... first there is me! and then within 3 days of each other Christy and Baby George celebratet their b'day.... so this year was the 8th b'day for Christy and 2nd b'day for Baby George... Last year I remember having bought Christy a remote control ferrai car... yayyyyy!!! I think the ferrai car is now languishing in the bottom of my sisters "never to be used" again pile... so when I asked him what he wanted this year, Christy was prompt in his response - he wanted a remote control car! Again! So when I reminded him (more than once) that I gave him a remote control car last year as well Christy finally in exasperation said "How many times are you going to keep saying the same thing?"... well the kid knows how to shut me up....

Last year for Baby George was quite a blur... I really dont think he knew that he had turned a year old... and spent most of his time eating and sleeping.... not that it was any different this year round... he still slept and ate ...and I decided to gift him books......

except for one difference - Baby George decided to fight his brother for the remote control car!....

So there I was watching a 2 ft Baby George pulling at the remote control with all his might and screaming "gie me" and Christy refusing to let go at any cost.... I am not sure what the outcome was ..... except that I am pretty sure the car cannot be driven again....

Obama - oh what a day

This is just illogical. I mean I am an Indian. I am not the one who would be affected (at least not directly). I have issues in my life that he will never be able to solve. Yet why is it that I feel that Obama's victory is in some way a victory for all ....

I have been feeling elated ever since Obama was declared the new president of the United States. I saw the black man walking with his black family on stage greeting the american people courageously saying "Yes, we did". Truly an inspirational moment! To me the victory of Obama represents the victory of all people who have ever doubted their capability of overcoming innumerable obstacles. Its an inspiration to people who are constantly berated, constantly told that you are not in the pecking order of things, that you should be grateful that we allow you to breathe without any taxes, who constantly go to bed with a heart as heavy as lead wondering what purpose they serve in life. For them, Obama is an inspiration.

Personally for me, I loathe the drama that accompanies the US election. The ballons, graffiti, the crowd arousing speeches. But I have to admit, despite my obvious support for Hillary, I rooted for Obama silently. His presence, his calm demeanour, his diction, his freshness etc in some way made me long for a leader like that in my own country. I know Manmohan Singh is not a bad PM but is it him that I am inspired to vote - no Sir. Having heard stories from my father about how Nehru and Gandhi inspired millions of India in an era where there was no internet, telephone or even planes, I always saw leaders in that manner - committed, determined, thinking of the greater good and above all inspirational.

But today its about the man who came from difficult and strange background to become the most powerful man in the world ( I hate acknowledging it). And if I knew him personally I would say - Thankyou! Cos now I believe that anything is possible for me. I dont have to be bogged down by the limitations that the world sees in me. I can change.

Yes, I can. Yes, I can. Yes, I can.

The world be damned!! I feel like re-strating this blog space for my own sake... and if anyone feels compelled to read and pass comments, be snide or be judgmental then so be it... I am glad at least I have given you a distraction from your humdrum existence...

The best realisation I had was that this blog is for me and for me alone....I write for myself.. it is my space, my therapy, my life......

Hello world?

Is anybody out there?

Just taking a peek to see how the world is?

I really miss this blog space... hmmm....

Goodbye folks!

I have been wanting to shut down this blog for a while now... mainly cos i was not able to say what I wanted to say on this blog freely.... my pleasures, my pain, triumphs, tribulations...

and that is stifling my ability to write what I feel like...So I think it is time to say goodbye .... and move on.... to better and bigger things hopefully.... I will miss this blog cos of the familiarity, cos of the excitement of not knowing who the reader is, cos of many of you who gave me such valuable feedback about my writing, my blogging, my experiences, my photographs etc.... I will miss all that....

But like sharks die if they remain stagnant I must also move on.... we had some pretty good times here.... now it is time for me start afresh on a new blog and be anonymous for a while.... am not sure whether I will just shut down this blog completely..... I may come back with some innocous posts... but its mostly done here....

anyone who is curious about my next blogging destination can email me at alice.george@gmail.com...

This picture reminds me of Baby George and me... Baby George usually finds me sleeping and comes over and rubs my cheek.... and while I may sometimes mistake him for Christy and slap him for disturbing me, he is what Douglas Adams would say "mostly harmless"....

Age Old Battle

When growing up I vaguely remember my father telling me about the conflicts in the middle east.... he would talk in biblical terms about how the jews were the "chosen" people of God and how their land was being targetted by others... and then there were the books about the holocaust which made me even more convinced about the need for a separate state...understandably my sympathies were always tilted towards Israel.... growing up I got exposed to the "other" side.... I learned about how the palestinians were suddenly uprooted from their homeland and how they were fighting for their survival.... it still didnt make any dent in my sympathy for Israel... after all my father was always right about such things....

That was till I went to Jordan where 75% of the population is palestinian refugees...and our tour guide itself was a palestinian refugee... and he explained to me how he had a temporary citizenship in Jordan ... at any time the Jordanian Government could throw him out.. and that time he would have no country to go to..... he was literally in no man's land all his life... no country, no citizenship, no homeland, no security...... can anyone imagine living like that for your entire life?? palestinians have lived like this for 50 years and are still continuing in the same vein...

this brought out the entire irony of it all... if you were to believe in one God for everyone irrespective of the form....God's chosen people were literally chasing out people (who were albeit not chosen) who were also created by God....where is the justice in all this... it just does not seem right to require a whole country of people to suddenly survive on doles handed over by sympathetic governments... everyone should have a country and not temporary citizenship....its unfair to have killed so many jews during the holocaust but it is more unfair to exploit to illtreat more people....

I have no idea about how it feels to have no country to call your own... In fact it is so basic for me that I take it for granted....

Sorry Dad, I am sitting this one out...

Baby George is in Kerala.....his first trip after he started standing on his own two tiny feet..... so my mom gave him the phone to talk to me.... all he blabbered was "Ta" and "ello".... and then keeping with his character he promptly started licking the phone....

His brother Christy on the other hand is refusing to come to my house saying it is "boring".... he has his other cousins to play at his paternal house so the maternal house seems really boring.... hmm... city life does spoil you....

"We think it is a good thing that countries are developing, that more and more people have higher and higher standards of living," Deputy White House Press Secretary Scott Stanzel said in reply to a question in Washington on Monday.

Mr. Stanzel, Thankyou so much. All this while I was cying myself to sleep feeling guilty about my country developing. Now you have given me relief from my daily bout of guilt. Thankyou. Thankyou so much.

Lets Save Bush

Okkk this is the "Save Bush" campaign... apparently he is forced to have lesser food cos We, Indians, are eating better...

Damn you Indians, dont you know that you should always be eating less food so that Bush can get elected back, and dont you know that your life is not as important as that of a citizen of US??? I mean how dare you lowly Indian consider eating better food when the American has not had his fill.... and worst of all how dare you educate your millions and make them enter professions such as software engineering instead of making them farmers so that the Americans could continue to have a nice life... what? you want a better life? Why? Its your place in society to work so that Americans can be happy... Please dont have any aspirations beyond that... after all they will protect you in the event you are an oil rich country and attacked by a neighbouring dictator... so all you have to do India is to find oil and we will protected by America for generations to come...

Sorry a slightly caustic post - but who wouldnt get pissed off with America if they talk like this?

Few People I would like to meet

I would/would have liked to meet the following people before I die (or they die):

a. Nelson Mandela - reason being obvious. When I went to South Africa I felt like seeking an appointment with him but with the likes of Chelsea Clinton vying for his attention I figured I would fall very very below in his priority

b. Sonia Gandhi - It would be interesting meet her personally and figure out how she is in real life. Does she really feel "Indian" or is this all a show?

c. Richard Branson - I would really love to meet him to understand how to be rich being so crazy... what I like about him is that he has no problems being himself in public also..

d. Bill Clinton - his charisma really draws you to him. I want to meet him and I am sure even the 5 lines that he speaks with me will make me learn so much in life

e. My Grandmother: From all perspective she was a very courageous, bold and independent woman. She died when I was one year old. A woman who dared to go for her medicine in the 1930s and was capable enough to take care of her family, husband and her career at the same time. If she were alive, am sure I would have been great friends with her.

f. Dalai Lama - just want to see if he really can induce peace in you... to understand whether he really practises what he preaches...

g. Margaret Thatcher - obviously cos in my eyes she is the only woman politician who came up on her own merit... and successfully led her county for close to 15 years... commendable in any event

h. Golda Meir - yet again for the simple fact that she reached pinnacle of political power in a male dominated society... and to lead a country in a war situation is even more commendable.

i. Hitler - to ask him - what were you thinking?

j. Jinnah - to find out how he lives with the guilt of partioning the country... also ask him whether it is ironic that his descendants are still in India.... whether he would done things differently if he saw what came of Pakistan today....

k. Audery Hepburn - to learn how to be graceful from her

l. Nehru - most likely I would ask him whether he would have taken me in his cabinet... in my view he is the best thing that happened to India after independence.. ofcourse he didnt get everything right.. but he set the foundation for our economic development by concentrating on the sound foundations such as education, food security and government support for growth of industries and most importantly secularism

m. Santana - I would just want to see him play his guitar and perhaps take a few classes from him as well.

n. Karan Johar - ofcourse to have coffee with him! And perhaps I will also get to meet SRK. They are easily the best entertainers in this country. I think Karan Johar always has an interesting thing to say about anything.

When I was in my 10th standard somebody in a bid to insult me called me a "feminist"!... I remember recoiling with shock at that insult... wondering when did feminism become such a bad word...



I guess feminism has earned its own disrespect the same way NGOs have now been discredited... a lot of it is wellfounded .... but still does not digress from the fact that both movements are intended at bettering the lot of some weaker section of society or remedying a social evil.....



I am not certain I am a hardcore feminist... I know I am an advocate for womens rights and will be the first one to argue (after all who cant?) against any MCP.... but sometimes I look at others and realise that I am sooo far behind in my "evolution".... they are way ahead in their concepts while I am still taking baby steps....

Anyways my basic concept is you should treat people well... and people include women as well... a job is not lesser because you earn lesser... so a woman who looks after the home should also be given equal position in society.... development of society is actually hinged on the few years that the mother gives to the child..... and you cant value that in terms of money....

my feminist leanings have never been popular... and nowadays I have considerably lessened my arguments against such discrimination at home.... I feel it gets you nowhere... nobody is going to change overnite and you might as well not get crucified doing it.... just live your life.... and do what you have to do... afterall nobody will judge you once you are successful at whatever you are doing!

Christy and Baby George look so alike now.... infact the only distinction between them is their height difference.... a few days back while I was sleeping I felt someone touching my face.... I opened my eyes, saw Christy and immediately gave a good whack..... only later when I opened my eyes a bit more I realised that Christy had become shorter.... and then when I opened my eyes a bit more I realised that it was Baby George staring at me... with the most hurtful look on his face... cos his aunt had never hit him before and he seemed perplexed at the sudden change in his aunt.... ofcourse I hugged him and made up later.....

Ohhh my poor sister, not only do they behave alike they look alike as well! Now the real culprit will never be caught....

Who do I choose?

On one hand there is a woman who is aiming for the most powerful job in the country and then there is charismatic, handsome and "everything positive" man who is competing with her... I am torn between the two.....

As much it is cliche to say this - it is tough being a woman in this world... at first your gender just gives you back seat in many people's mind... you are suddenly characterised, ensured that you are introduced to the soft side of things, expectations are set... and every step of the way you are fighting gender bias, burden of societal pressure and above all juggling everything at the same time... I think being a woman infinitely requires more strength than being a man..... and hence to see a woman come this far, for me is pretty encouraging....

On the other hand there is a man who appears direct, modern, smart, charismatic, able and above all promises change... everytime i watch Obama I wish that we had someone as charismatic as him in India...

I will just sit on the fence for this folks

The moment I saw this picture I thot of my sister and Baby George.... I dont know why but this is such an affectionate picture of a mother and a child (no matter which species)..... while I said this to my sister she just smirked as if I had gone mad (ofcourse no likes to be compared to a bear I suppose)....

Motherhood is supposed to be joyous ... yet my sister is one of the most harassed moms... Its never easy to bring up kids in any event but to run after kids like Christy and Baby George is an art by itself... so most often she is screaming at the top of her voice, trying hard to sleep in the midst of the cacophony of the kids or just plain trying to get through the day without killing someone.....

yet once when I asked her whether she likes being a mother our conversation went like this....

Sis: "No, I dont particulary think motherhood is the best thing to do'

Me: "Really? Everybody says so but.."

Sis: "Well show them to me... I will sock them"....

Me: "Then what keeps you going ?"

Sis, while looking at Christy: "The thing is that I really really really like this kid"

Motherhood is as simple as that I suppose.

Its so easy ?

Its so easy to brush off things as being irrelevant or even unecessary in one's life.....its so easy to downplay a person's character and go along with the world to say "oh this is all a gimmick".... its all so easy to make a person fall ..... and jump with glee watching the person struggle to get up and dust the dirt off....

But once in a while you have to stop, think and make sense of the mess that the world is in... and to see an action that challenges your sensibilities, moral codes, values, views and above all your cynicism is a thing to be taken seriously!....

All this talk is in relation to the recent newspaper article that talked about how Priyanka Gandhi visited her fathers assassin in jail.... Why am I so affected by the news about the visit? Cos I will never be able to do it... Never.... Never... I just dont have it in me to forgive so much..... It takes character to forgive the ones who have done you wrong... it takes even more character to hug them, cry with them and enquire about their welfare... it takes courage to accept a loss.... it takes even more courage to accept and move on.....

I am not certain whether all this was politically motivated... even so I dont believe it is easy to act so much with your fathers killer......... even more so I dont believe the world is that harsh and materialistic as yet....

I just had to share my feelings on this... now lets move on...

Where have I been?

Being in Thailand is like being in a red light country.... I mean I have never seen a country which is more attuned to "serving" the tourists as much as Thailand.... to be honest it was quite sad to see 13 year olds being taken around old white men.... but I am no one to be judgmental about anyone - I am not in their shoes and I had different choices in life .... but you turn away from the country hoping that things dont go worse (they could legalise child porn or something) and in some way wishing that these women have the freedom to get out... I dont know, I am not sure, I dont want to know....

Other than that the most amazing part of my Thailand trip was the parasailing and the sea walking that I did... I have always been paranoid of water... and to finally fly above water was an amazing experience.... and sea bed walking was even better.... Was able to see the fish at close quarters - ofcourse having bread in your hand helped a lot in getting the fish to come to me...

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of Thailand..... didnt find anything interesting enough..... Sorry....

Whats in a name?

Lots it seems if you are named Alice!... I mean i have been subjected to jokes about my name whenever I have introduced myself -
its always either "Oh Alice in wonderland! Are you in wonderland?" (Gee, so original dude) or "Alice, Who the F#*@ is Alice?!" Again I crawl under the table everytime these really cliched and boring jokes are made at a social gathering.... sometimes I take a nonchalant approach and look at the person with eyes that mean to say "Seriously? Why do you even exist?" For a long time I thought of changing my name cos it was getting so tiring dealing with all these sad jokes cracked by sad people.....

Anyways change my name I did not .... I am still stuck with this name.... and now I have a new complication in life - whenever I asked for a delivery home I have to repeat my name 10 times or spell it out before the person on the other line gets my name ... questions like "Alix?", "Sorry Madam, Cant understand" is most common response I get.... Finally in frustration I just confirm that my name is actually Alix and ask them to deliver....

If my life was not hard enough, the name of my building is also a tongue twister ... as innovative and witty as it is with the name "Wits End" for a building, your life just got a little more difficult.... "Widths End?" "Wet End?" or "West End?" are all common terms that I have been given over the telephone.... and then there are the endless stream of jokes which revolve around the obvious meaning of the term "Oh, so you are at your wits end?" (Not before dude but now with this joke I am)

I guess life does go on, crazy name or not... but if I ever have to name a kid I will ensure that it is a simple, soft, common name ...... which is why after repeated feedback (and someone calling me Baby Potato) I stopped calling Baby George Baby Tomato.... apparently I was setting the ground for him to be scarred for life.... well at least Baby Tomato would have had his aunt for company in dealing with the trauma.....

Charmed Life

I think at some point we all want to believe that we are "favoured" by the high being.... that out of the 8 billion odd people in this world we are the only ones meant to have a charmed life.... the one who will ultimately get what is deserved in life...

I wonder how many such people died waiting for that charmed life......

crazy post - but I feel crazy at this moment...

Holi-- are you holy?

Playing Holi has never been on my agenda ever... the first time I was introduced to the thrills of playing was in my first year in law school.... and just that year the director of our school decided to issue show cause notices to all who played holi and thereafter the festival was always something to be avoided...

until this year that is.... Christy and Baby George decided to play Holi and bought special guns for the occassion...and that meant I would also play Holi ..... ofcourse Baby George could not hold his gun so had to be content with his brother taking away his gun... Christy was even smarter - he traded the two guns for a larger gun which his friend had .... At the end of all the holi celebrations Christy has so much colour on his face that his own mother could not recognise him - and could identify it was Christy only because of his broken tooth.... Baby George was bundled off to the house since instead of playing with the coloured water, he started drinking it .....

Jordan - A MUST SEE

Jordan surprised me totally - I was expecting a poor country with no infrastructure for tourism etc etc... it turned out to be a real tourist friendly place... and ohhh so lovely... I had the best time there... imagine driving through a road where you spot almonds and cherry trees on one side and olive trees on the other.... and where you can actually float on water in a sitting position... imagine, imagine, imagine.... I loved this country a lot.... A MUST SEE!

Kaif Halak - 2

Egypt in all its glory..... if you had not guessed already

Kaif Halak? (How are you in Arabic)

More to come....

Goodbyes and all that jazzz....

Goodbyes are a strange lot.... some goodbyes are sweet, some goodbyes are painful, some goodbyes are necessary, some goodbyes are expected, some unexpected, some goodbyes bring happiness....

It seems Baby George has now got used to my goodbyes.... at first while leaving my sister's house Baby George would watch intently when I would start putting on my shoes .... and then come running along to me thinking he will also take a joy ride with his cool aunt..... only to be disappointed.... despite his valiant attempts to hang on to my legs or clothes (sometimes even my neck) saying goodbye to him would always evoke a burst of tears from him.... ohhh how cute!.....

But seems like Baby George has learned from his experience..... the other day when he saw me getting ready to leave he watched intently like always... but instead of running to me he decided to run to the door and open it for me... except he could not reach the door lock..... so he did the next best thing he could ... he picked up my shoes and brought it to me - one shoe at a time.... and promptly went to his mother and asked to be picked... and comfortably perched on his mothers arms he said "Tata".... and when asked for a kiss, he bit me with his 5 teeth and send me off packing.....

Which goodbye do I prefer??? well it certainly feels good that Baby George is involved in helping me get ready to leave.... but whoever complained about a few tears being shed for them???... i certainly did not!

Talking about goodbyes - finally I am off on my long overdue vacation ..... I am off for 12 days ..... where to??? hmmmmm... why dont I let my pictures speak for me....

Until then Goodbye! And no thankyou for all the fish!

Evening Out...

Life is a Bargain .... you never get what you want in its entirety...

Perhaps prior to your birth there was an auction held by God of all the good things on earth .... so up for bid was good looks, intelligence, personality, good health, lovely family, spouse, siblings, kids, friends, wealth, property, excellent work etc etc... and God laid down certain rules of which I am certain the following were critical - "thou shall not bid for more than 3 good things" and "Notwithstanding the above, the optimum mixture of the good things that a person will get will be decided by God and His decision is final "....

So if you bid for good looks, personality and wealth - the chances are that God gave you only good looks with no personality (there are exceptions ofcourse) and instead of personality you would probably end up with excellent work (after all you are goodlooking!) and needless to say wealth follows.... or if you bid for intelligence, good health and family, the chances that you got personality instead of good health but your family is there to support you through your bad health..... or you may have been the emotional fool who asked only for family, friends and kids... and you might end up getting wealth, friends and kids..... afterall who can ignore a rich friend and a rich dad/mom?.... or if you wished for family, good health and intelligence you probably ended up with a good spouse, intelligence and good health and a really screwed up family ....

Hmmmm.... Everything in life evens out, dont you think? So next time you have a problem in life you might as well think - this is not a bad bargain - at least I am goodlooking or at least I am wealthy or at least I have a good family or at least I have a good spouse...... Cos that is the truth....

If you think about it - you didnt choose life but life chose you... you were born into this world and then made to live this life...be it the life of a pauper, a prince, a jetsetter, a gorgeous woman, an ambitious woman...whatever life deals out you are forced to tackle... you have no choice but to live this life ... ofcourse you can choose to end it but if you are one of those die hard optimistic people you dont want to exercise that option anyways.....

This post almost feels like a sermon .....

Book a Face

Finally I joined the bandwagon of the "facebook" culture.... I mean it was like a war zone with every e-mail requesting for a friend confirmation or the other... and I would watch people talk about "finding" long lost friends and it stroked my curiousity immensely... and then all it took was a Saturday evening at home for me to finally succumb to its lure ....

The attractiveness of Face Book is that you get to meet long lost friends and can easily get in touch with your friends... I found nearly 10 friends who I had lost touch with .... all good... but I realised that after a point of time there is nothing else to do on face book... other than going and seeing what your friends are upto - who is doing what where and with whom seems to be paramount guiding factor.... and it is also an excellent way of informing your friends about how fantastic your life is... net net Face Book should be rechristened LOOK AT ME - I AM A SUPERSTAR. COM ....

Okkk this is my personal opinion and one that is after two days of surfing.... so please dont murder me yet on this blog - I will give Face Book a chance... and book my face for scrutiny by all my lost lost enemies and friends in cyberspace.... haahahahahahahh

Domestic Help

I know people would think I am crazy for saying this.... I didnt particularly like living in London.... yes yes it was a really lovely city, broad roads, clean streets, lots of history, lots of cold, lots of white people, lots of international students, variety of cuisines etc etc etc.... but for some strange reason I just didnt feel at home..... this was not my home and I was not a fit there ... No dont get me wrong I was not abused or illtreated but for me everything back home made more sense....

I have often been given sympathy by people for having come back to mumbai.... after all I had left the better lifestyle that whites have to come back to the "non exciting regional" life of brown people... Are you crazy?? Some were even mean about it - making snide remarks about how I had come back to the same life and didnt "improve" on it by jumping on to the bandwagon of white people and their brown slaves..... and to be honest - I fell for this tirade... I remember landing in Mumbai and feeling lost and disoriented in the city.... and I remember feeling sad that I had left London.... going to my sisters place lessened the pain a bit but the overwhelming feeling in my mind was WHY DID I COME BACK?

The reasons why I came back were many and too detailed to set out over here.... but if I had indeed stayed back I would have been doing it only to conform to the societal norm of being in London rather than being there because I wanted to stay in London... Now dont get me wrong - I would not have turned down a top law firm to come back but let me put it this way I didnt make much of an effort to stay back.....

Why you ask? Again the primary reason for this was the sense of "not belonging"... I was always going to be an outsider, a brown amongst whites, an Indian immigrant whose mere presence was somehow indicative of the backwardness of my country..... and I would miss all the events in my family ....

But as curious as it sounds the one single thing I missed in my life in London was .. hold your breath.... My loyal Bai!!! Yes the lady who comes to my house, cleans my house, washes my clothes, washes my plates, cooks for me - all for the grand price of about 10 pounds a month!.... I cant survive without my Bai coming to my house everyday.... IT IS ABOSLUTELY CRITICAL FOR MY EXISTENCE .... I am too busy to clean my house everyday so someone who does it for me is akin to a life saver.....

Okkk stop judging me and my life style .... you know it as much as I do that it is not easy to be working and maintaining a clean house ..... and those who can do this - please tell me the steroids you are using...

Speaking of help around the house Baby George has started helping around the house.... one of the persistent problems faced by any Mumbaikar is the curious pigeon who comes into your house... and my sisters house is infested with pigeons ... and everytime one enters the house my sister runs and starts hitting the cupboard trying to scare off the pesky birds.... and her assistant in this is Baby George .... however he has taken his job so seriously that anytime he hears the word "pigeon" he starts hitting the cupboard and gets very angry when there is no pigeon flying out.........

Pigeons better beware!..... One year olds are the latest terrors in town...

Sometimes the world is so crazy.... I have difficulties figuring it out.... the most perplexing questions that keep coming back to me are:

a. Why do bad things happen to reallllly realllyyy nice people?

b. Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?

c. Why are the yummiest things in life fattening?

d. Why do thin people eat anything and not put on weight?

e. Why is there no cure for common cold and flu?

f. Why are we all asked to fear old age?

g. Why do parents have to die?

h. Why do people make sacrifices for their children only to watch them to go away?

There are many things in life that you long for ... and then there are things in life that you realllllllllllllllllllly reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly longgggggggggggggggggg for...... infact the entire mission of your life is getting that one elusive goal.... you adjust your life around with a view to achieve your goal, you make compriomises, you change for that one thing, you sacrifice time with your loved one with the single minded goal to achieve that goal....

But do you find that sometimes when you have worked so hard to get some goal and when you finally achieve that goal the taste of success is not really that sweet?..... you are just relieved that all the sleepless nights are over and you can finally move on to better things in life.....

Changing Times

When I had just come back to India I was most excited about the advertisements - the advertisements were all so different from the ones I had seen and full of life... there was Sangeeta Bijlani (of the Azhar fame) telling me to use only Nirma, Kapil Dev endorsing a shaving cream and sprouting someting in punjabi, Only Vimal ads and ofcourse the famous "Vicco Turmeric, Nahi Cosmetic"... Vicco Industries is on the way to my sisters house and everytime I see the Vicco I find myself singing "Vicco Turmeric, Nahi Cosmetic....

Just yday I saw an advertisement which showed a girl buying her dad a car.... and the dad being so proud of her.... now daughters buying their dads a car is a common occurence in India ( I would think so at least) but this is the first time I have seen an ad actually showing women as being responsible .... women as being capable or actually in need of financial planning... I was very very impressed....

ofcourse needless to say that there are very very regressive ads still prevailing.... the most irritating ones are the ICICI ads which show the sindoor that is put on a woman at her marriage as being the sign of protection.... with catchy lines like "make sure that she is protected after you are no more" .... What in the world!!.... and to think ICICI is dominated by women and they still manage to maintain such a regressive position in the air waves - Kamat, if you are by any chance reading my blog - please walk with the times or at least change your advertisement agency....

okkkkk... the bug has bitten me again - the urge to fly off again.... and the biggest dilemma is where to go... Should it be Fatehpursikhri or Haridwar....

Both unique in its own way - one is a religious city and the other a historical city ... I am not sure which one to go to....

Hair and there

Hair cut makes or breaks you.... actually it is nothing as dramatic as that ..... its just that with a good hair cut you can look younger, sexier, prettier, thinner, hipper etc etc... frankly I have always had a bad run with hair cuts.... during my college days I sported a crew cut so I really didnt have much style... till a friend convinced me that I should grow my hair to see where it goes...

Some hair cuts have been pretty sucessful... but till very recently I never did get the hair cut exactly the way I envisaged it .... and finally I found a place and a hair stylist who actually gave me the hair cut the way I wanted it ... and I feel good sporting it... and most importantly my mom thinks its awesome too....

Well Baby George also had his hair cut .... except in his case he looks like an escaped convict hiding in his mom's house.... the only thing missing is his striped jail suit.... he he .... curiously he looks more like Christy or Kitty with his hair cut... net net Christy looks like an escaped convict too.... am sure my mom wont approve of escaped convict look alikes in her house....

Its so difficult not to get pissed.... yet everytime it happens I feel like turning into Jim Carrey in the mask, do a little dance on the persons head and bring out about 70 guns and set them blazing....

who am I venting about ? People who see other people go through bad things in their lives, look at their own momentary phase of good fortune and say "I am better off than this person".... people who need another person's bad fortune to feel validated .... I have come to the strange conclusion that some people are really weird - they just need competition in all aspects of their lives to get out of their mundane existence...

Dude, get a perspective!!!!! you really are not immune to the rule of life which dictates that what goes up must come down also or that life is all about series of twists and turns all intended to lead you to a balanced life... or as the Gita says - everything in life is transcient - friends, spouses, wealth, jobs, happiness, parents, children... why and how can you be proud of something that you really have no control over?...

All that matters in the end is whether the people in your life count on you and whether you can count on them ....

I am sure when Baby George starts counting he will count on me too...

Baby George's vocabulary

Well Baby George is learning ..... he has added an array of words to his modest vocabulary.... Christy is "Kitty", Akshara is "Aksra", Dog is "Dogu", crow is "Kaka" (mallu)..... and about the last one he also sings a mallu song asking the crow where its nest is....

All this is well and good.... but in the Lords name when is he going to say "East or West, Vavaaunty is the best".... I had started singing this song to him even when he was in my sisters stomach and I am surprised, nay, SHOCKED that it was not the first thing he said when he started speaking....

In other news, Christy or Kitty is upset that his parents didnt invite him for their wedding.... he feels bad that his parents had so much of fun without him..... I told him I would invite him for mine... he didnt seem too excited about that ... hmmm..... you think he will be excietd if I have a clown at the wedding ???

They say this is a man's world ... and I have to agree.... I mean look around you and you will see that the world couldnt have been so badly managed if it were not for the men.... for centuries we have heard nothing but the jargon that men are inantely superior to women and women are only good at managing the house... and thats where they should stay..... well all I can say that at least women are good at what they do!

I recently met a stay at home mother... and I could sense that she was feeling soooooo underrated amongst the working women... and tried to cover up her feelings of inadequacy by trying to talk about how to manage work force... while I was amused I kept thinking what is it about the working women around her that makes her feel like she is not doing enough... now does every woman have to be the super mom, super employee, super wife, super daughter, super sister... can we just not take one role instead of rolling all into one .........

and after all this we hear statements that women are meant to be in the kitchen only....my response, Buddy, thank god for that, imagine a man in a kitchen??!!!!!

This is unacceptable - I diet and someone else loses weight!!!!!

The latest person in my family to lose weight is Baby George - he is slim and trim... so much so I can feel his rib cage... and when I asked him why he had lost weight he told me (in his own language) that he lost weight as he always runs to get his food which results in a lot of calorie burning.... hmm.....

Anyways there is only thing that is consistent in my diet plan - I have been doing yoga and eating home cooked food for all meals - once in a while I get enticed somebody else's home cooked food....

Social Behaviour

Okkk I am no Miss Manners but there are certain fundamental rules that have governed my socialising... actually to be honest I have myself failed at complying with most of them but I feel angry/hurt when I see some really bad behaviour.... The rules are as follows:

a. Always smile when you meet a new person - no matter whether you are meeting Sonia Gandhi or Ratan Tata or even the local postman.... it is quite natural for me to smile at most people... but seriously - what does it cost you to smile at the new people you meet? Is your life so pathetic that you cant see other people being happy?

b. Always introduce the person you are with to others in a party - now it is a diff matter if you dont remember the name of the person you are meeting at the party but I think it is EXTREMELY RUDE to be with someone, meet someone else and not introduce the person you are with to the other person - confusing???? welll life is confusing....

c. Dont stick to your partner through the evening - well this is something you would do as a teenager cos you really didnt know better .... you should mingle about and let your partner also be free to talk to other people... I really get irritated by people who feel they have to be with each other all the time in a crowd.... okkk this is my personal view and most wont subscribe to this but what the heck - they are not writing this blog!...

d. However, if you see that your friend/partner not having a good time at the party, it is important to go and make that person feel ok... otherwise you are just a jerk who got lucky enough to get someone to come with you to the party...

e. Dont make comments about another person in front of others - you can ofcourse have your opinions (who doesnt) but it is RUDE to openly bitch about another person at the party

f. Finally, always thank the host for inviting you. How much of an effort does it take to actually say thankyou?

Level 1

Okkkk... I am officially in the league of good cooks.... today morning I had dosa and sambar... well nothing spectacular about that except that I MADE IT!!! All by myself.... I am sooooo proud of myself .... i never thought making dosa and sambar would be possible in my house...

it was a proud moment for me ... and one which I religiously called up my family and told them about.... my sister asked me "you called me to tell me that you made dosa and sambar????" as if it is an everyday occurence... oh comeon!.... it is a HUGE DEAL.... I am officially on my way to becoming a totally efficient and self sufficient person...

I need to do a liquid diet one day of the week.... I have to decide which day.... I would prefer it to be over the weekend since I dont have to come to office.... but then weekend is also the only day I can be at home and cook up something I like.... also need to also explore how I can liquidify chocolate... hmmmm....

Being on the plumper side of life is not easy.... and there are enough people to make you feel bad about it at some point in your life... as a kid you feel bad and sit quiet... now as an adult I feel another person commenting on another person's weight is totalllllly uncalled for and unwarranted and smacks of bad attitude..... and now my fav retort to anybody who by any chance comments about my weight is: "At least I can lose the weight. What will you do about your ugly face and the various personality disorders that cant be cured?"

hmmmmm.... harsh???? then please feel free to give me a better insult....

Update on the battle of the bulge

Okkkkk.... so today started with a one hour yoga..... all went well... except my body is still aching from all the twists and turns they made me do.... and I really pride myself on being really fit...

and then I dutifully made 5 dosas at home.... ate 2 of them for b'fast and packed the rest for lunch.... came to office... worked till about 12:30 looking forward to my lunch break...

that was until my friend came along and asked me to join her for lunch... ofcourse I resisted... I said - "what will happen to the dosas I have made ?" quick solutions were given by my friend.... will there be low fat, low cal food? My friend waved with such a disdain that jolted me from my seat and follow her blindly into the realms of culinary delights... net result was that my lunch comprised of parathas from "only Parathas" and half a slice of pizza and diet coke... and rounded it up with icecream (fat and sugar free)....

Okkkk since that deviation I have not eaten a morsel...

Self Evaluation: Learn to say no! to non dieting office friends

Christy has been giving me "lessons"... about how when I come to his house, eat and go off I should thank my sister.. ofcourse I chased him around the house and pinned him down till he screamed ..... and then started the process of telling Christy that I am his mothers sister and how she can come to my house and eat and vice versa (though ofcourse it is always the vice versa!!!) and we dont need to say thanks to each other...... Dont know whether he understood anything cos he was still watching me his mothers food when I went there the other day...

Baby George loves playing in the bathroom... he splashes around in the bathroom as if he was born a water baby... so once while he was playing I decided to take the mug and pour water on him... that excited him soooo much... he started filling up the mug to throw the water back at me ... but at all times losing his balance and pouring the water on himself.... he tried and he tried and he tried.... with no success at dousing his aunt.... until in frustration he walked up to his mother and asked to be taken out of the bathroom....

it was sincerely the cutest thing I had ever seen............

The strife to just be

One of the books that I am reading tells me that the aim of living organisms is to "just be"..... it was really heartening to know that the basic aim of every living organism is to just be.... yet I could not help but wonder why it is that we humans cant let another human just be.... we have to judge, poke fun at, pull down, pity, and generally behave badly to another human being who is not like you.... I find it extremely frustrating.... ... Why?... just be... and just let be...

Anyways the New Year has not started on a high note... first there was the Bhutto killing which marred new years, then there was the reported molestation of the women in my city, Mumbai, then the continuous stories of women being raped and attacked all over India..... its shameful and I am so glad everybody is as pissed off as I am....

I remember reading Benazir's autobiography when I was in school.... and now I recollect reading how as a girl growing up in a third world country you are soo scared that men would rape you and you would be defiled for life with no option but to cringe and go underground... and she recollected how this fear stalked her through her Harvard days when she would get scared just seeing a man in her dormitory.... if that is the plight of a powerful woman I wonder how the ordinary women feel....

I have no answers to such madness.....

Wooohoooooo....

My kitchen can actually produce good food!!! yeah yeah.... Good food meaning goooooood foood.... the one that your kids will call their friends over for.... lip smacking, happiness inducing, fulfillment guaranteed, nostalgia inducing foooddd.... food that takes you back to your small town house where lunch meant 3 vegetables, 1 non veg curry, 1 moru curry and several accompaniments......

What do you need to do to make all this good food, you ask?

Simple. Call Mom.