Happy Diwali

It's been a while since I was here on Diwali. The living room table is piling up with boxes of sweets from friends and family. New clothes, oil lamps, and flowers all over. I even cleaned my room!


Diwali greetings from Bharat

Y'all livin in da hood.
I'm a wish you coz im told i should,
For a Happy Diwali - that thang thatchu do wid lights,
So kick it wid ure folkies n da homies - just keep it tight

Remembaa....aint watchu got dat matters - tis da love dat you show,
For he shall spread light in da hood, so hear me now n let it pour,
a few moments reflectin while y'all busy doin da acin pacin,
fink bout da shit thats goin down in ure nation,
da thugs rat racin, while iraqs fightin fo liberation,

We need no J, na G or E to fake us from a see - ure true shady colour
ahaan i know ya phony homies flip a blue a black n run fo cover,
free markets/quotas can rule yo mind blair n bush types- henceforth blair n bitch pipes,
dis be our world , our mind - no more ya thugs no more na snitch fights!

So c'mon down here brothas n sistas, let the festival of lights inspire,
Recreate the magic of the world we live in - everything we aspire (to be)

Lost my purse

Dropped it in a parking lot. I lost:

A beautiful handmade change purse
Rs.4000
2 credit cards
a little friendship note from a friend

In the grand scheme of things it's not too bad. The only thing is...now I'm broke.

Women's Lib!

I landed on Amit Varma's blog when someone quoted him. He's supposed to be a popular on the Indian blogger circuits.

An excerpt:

“Pakistan society used to be much more male-dominated,” he says. “But now women are being liberated. It is all because of Star Plus.” [Star Plus is a hidi TV channel that airs family dramas]

“Ah!” I say. “How is that?”

“You see,” he says, “there was a time – and I am nostalgic about it now – when I would go home and get my roti on time. But now I go home and my wife is watching Star Plus. I ask her for my roti, and she says, ‘drama ke baad.’ I wait, and wait, but until 10.30 I don’t get my roti. Sometimes she will get up in the breaks, do a bit of work in the kitchen, then run back when her drama starts again.”

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Star Plus and Ekta Kapoor: leading the revolution.

There are some friends in our lives we simply take for granted. These are those rock-solid individuals who will never leave your life. No fear of losing them. Or so you think.

But when the fear sets in the insecurity takes a comfortable seat inside you. You've just lost your peace.

But perhaps that's why we're friends. We recognize that each one of us has our own demons to face. When you squish your demons in one area they seem to reappear, in some other forms, in some other areas.

The joys of new music

I stole my friend Akshay's Ipod. I desperately wanted some new music and have plugged it in on shuffle all day. I don't even know half the artists but the new sounds and melodies have been a much needed refreshment to the ears.

David Gray
10,000 Maniacs
Don
Omkara
Apache Indian
Fleetwood Mac
Beck
Black Eyed Peas

And many more...

Yaaawwwnnn

Someone asked me about the anatomy of a yawn. In my research, look what I found:

The Ancient Greeks believed that yawning was not a sign of boredom, but that a person's soul was trying to escape from its body, so that it may rest with the Gods in the skies.

Some say that yawning is caused by the Devil, who sends evil spirits to enter a person's body when his or her mouth is open. Thus, covering one's mouth prevents the evil spirits from entering.

Some people cover their mouths because they are afraid their bad breath will put people off.

OK, I made up the last one. But I'm sure it's true.

Drama queen

I know, I'm saying so myself.

One of the emails I found:
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i started packing my things today. i have to move out of my apartment and i need to get rid of things i don't need for india. each year, as i sort through my life and throw away things that i don't need/want anyway, i go through a journey down memory lane. each item has a story, a history, a connection with another human. and i'm attached to it for one reason or another. but until now, i have never had a problem sifting through my belongings and choosing which parts of my life i will carry with me. it's a moment of bonding, be it some music, a book, or a piece of clothing.

this time, the retrospective journey is one of 5 years. i have to decide what i want to keep and what i want to leave behind in this country. the fact that i am moving has still not sunk in. the fact that i almost wrote an email selling my stereo brough tears to my eyes -- i couldn't let it go. the five years are flooding my eyes and my heart. this is the only adult life i know and love. it's hard to walk away from it.

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I've had no problem, whatsoever, re-accumulating tonnes of stuff here.

I've got mail!

I set my Outlook to download all my Gmail and it was so fascinating to watch thousands of emails filling up my inbox. As the subject lines scrolled past the screen, I got to relive moments from the last year and half of my life.

Email is like a journal. A daily log of what's going on in your life. A record of movies you watched, the dinners you had, books you borrowed, parties you went to. Every now and then you come across a little snippet of thought or a strand of emotion that you shared with a friend and you pause, you remember, the feeling passing through you again.

I've had fun this morning!

GAWK!

Was hanging out at a bar/club this past Sunday with some people. Learned some salsa, danced to some retro, and had a great time. I was happy until...

I met some new people. The standard "where are you from, where did you study, what do you do" questions were thrown around. This one guy gave me a quizzical, confused look. "Wait, if you graduated from Hyd Public School in 1998, how old are you?". I'm 26.

Silence.

I've never hedged around my age before. I'm still a baby! But for the first time, being surrounded by 23 yrd olds made me feel dated.

Sigh. Bring me my slippers and my old gown. I shall retire to bed early.