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The coconut grove chronicles

Its interesting how people connect with each other at so many intimidating, different levels. Some of my connections have happened while trying to teach myself French in the company of lukewarm latte in a cafe quite outlandishly named after 'a brief spell of sex'. Some other have happened during the intervals between quality soul-searching me-times and bored drags of chilled smoke.

Well, I met a techie turned photographer junkie a long time back. One thing led to another and we discovered a burning passion for chilled, draught beer in the open. We met up, at Coconut Grove, and started what hopefully will translate to a voluminous read called 'The cononut grove chronicles':-)

And what levels do we connect on? In his words.."politics, roads, auto, auto drivers!! and everything under the sun...amen" Kinda traffic-centric me thinks:-)

Here's to a wonderful twenty-sixth, my friend! glug...glug...burrrp!

So long, and thanks for all the sutta

My friend's going away...to amreeka...for MBA...and he's not gonna come back!

me: btw wen u off to amreeka?
Ashish: july end, last week, will u meet me before that?
me: i don't think so...my trip's gonna be in august!
Ashish: huh?
ok.. does it look like i wanna give you a choice..
beans.. i'd be gone. ! for years..! you dont wanna meet me before i go..?
me: :-( oh no!!!!!....why don't u come to blr???...u can stay at my place...we'll hv a blast here!
Ashish: i wouldn't really care asking anyone this question.. and when i do ask someone .. this is what i get! because.. i dont have time left and i have to run for a lotta things in life..visa.. finances.. meeting up family in kerala.. asmi.. kathmandu trip
anyway.. i'll try to squeeze bangalore in for two days
me: awwwwwww
i think u should...come no!!!!!....i wanna meet u before u go...we'll try to do a manipal thing as well if possible....spend some more quality time at sheela before u go:-)
Ashish: you sponsor? i am broke
me: we shall see abou that:-)
Ashish: anyhow... we'll see.. i dont wanna set the wrong expectations
me: but come...it'll be awesome!!!!!
arre...if u going to kerala, u can definitely come to blr
come for at least a weekend

man you gonna go away!!..this is it...over!
"So long, and thanks for all the sutta"
I'm sad..hope you have a blast..

Tagged!!!

Last movie seen in a theatre:
Khuda ke liye- Pakistani Movie. Good one..bad direction, great story...very touching

What book are you reading?
The world is flat-globalization zindabad
A brief history of nearly everything-its big, very big!!!

Favourite board game:
Scrabble...dorkness personified I am:-)

Favourite magazine:
ummmm

Favourite smells:
Sambhar Rice:-)

Favourite sound:
Mona's baby talk

Worst feeling in the world:
uselessness

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
It's 8.30 already????

Favourite fast food place:
Anand bhavan-super fast masala dosas

Future child’s name:
What future child?

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d…”
not know what to do with it

Do you drive fast?
Nope

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Never!

Storms - Cool or Scary?
depends on whether i'm indoors or outdoors

Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
Yeah

If you could dye your hair any colour, what would be your choice?
white

Name all the different cities/towns you have lived in:
Bhadravati, Bhuwaneshwar, New Delhi, Manipal, Bangalore

Favourite sports to watch:
Tennis

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you:
He takes my technological disability in good spirits:-)

What’s under your bed?
I sleep on a mattress

Would you like to be born as yourself again?
WOuld not want to be born again

Morning person or night owl?
Evening creeper..

Over easy or sunny side up?
Boiled and peppered

Favourite place to relax:
Curlies at Anjuna

Favourite pie:
ones with vanilla ice-cream

Favourite ice cream flavour:
vanilla ice cream with brownie

You pass this tag to –
ashish nair, mirror cracked, nishant

Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?
well..

The taste of childhood

I do not deserve to complain. It was my call and I’m glad I took it, except whenever I’ve had three consecutive nights of indianized Chinese noodles posing as food, and also sometimes when Mount Laundry threatens to take over the world.

Much as I love the addictive freedom of living away from home, I hate the packets of glucose biscuits I call breakfast. They taste of a life processed in greasy overdoses of packaged meals and guilty late nights.

Well then, I do have meditative visits to home every now and then and get to taste childhood again. About the taste, it’s an all-consuming taste of being secured, pampered and being loved, for me.

For the rest of you, it would taste like thick, spicy Sāmbhar-rice with homemade ghee and lemon pickle…slurp

It’s therapeutic. A helping of steaming aromatic basmati rice, topped with piping hot Sāmbhar, cooked in succulent bits of assorted fresh vegetables and home-ground masala can actually have a mind-altering effect. Drop a bit of ghee in, and watch poetry in motion as it melts into your meal, and mix this with just a little bit of red lemon pickle and you are on your way to gastronomic nirvana.

I’m hungry.

Resuming the battle

I’ve been at it for the as long as I can remember. Whenever I got back from one of those exasperating shopping trips to Karol Bagh, having faced the ruthless sun and the sunless, oily smiles of the umpteen dilli shopkeepers telling me I’m too ‘healthy’ to be shopping at the kid’s section. Mom made things easier for the sensitive me, never cutting back on the sugar coated goodies she brought home regularly. Dad, on the other hand, tried time and again to tempt me with promises of a Sridevi-like flat abdomen and a better wardrobe, if only I’d go for that (too early in the) morning walk with him.

Well, battle it was; between mom and dad, between the chocolate shake and the salad, between me and my bulge. It never really reached the crescendos of an all-stakes war though. I’d try at times. The usual-cut back on sweets/fried things-morning walks-multiple mini meals. I also had a rather predictable relapse every single time.

Well, I’m hoping things would be different now. I enrolled at the gym last month and have been more regular than I’ve ever been (the usual tally is five days in a month). The mirror doesn’t lie; neither does it make any attempts at camouflaging the rolls and the breathlessness that takes over after ten minutes on the treadmill. What it does best is inspire, as we resume the long drawn battle against the image of what we don’t want to be. Maybe this time I’ll win. What do you think?

Mush is in the air

I'm gonna choke..

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those Valentine's Day cynics. I think it is almost sweet that the world goes cuckoo for a day every year and people actually make an effort to buy flowers/chocolates for one another..its the mush that's killing me...and also the pressure to get my own 'Valentine' (gag!!)

I fail to understand why a perfectly content independent single woman NEEDS to hook up just so she can expect some pamperin' and some lovin' on Feb 14..hello? Not getting a bunch of red roses is definitely not gonna kill me...but the attack of the heart-shaped things just might.

Well, I am kinda broke and am making plans with my equally broke friend and her boyfriend. Something on these lines...fresh, homemade khichdi, my terrace, some candles and me as 'kebab mein haddi'...and some mango pickle thrown in to spice things up!

Ok, I must admit I'm dressed in pink today and am idiotically wishing all a great Valentine's Day...why not, unless cupid strikes for all the wrong reasons, I'm good...

Except that I will be on a look-out for all the furry things with red hearts and 'I heart you' written all over them...help!