Signs

How much shall one read into them ?

When shall one stop ?

Do they really exist ?

Isn't it better to pretend your obvious ignorance about them, then ?

~nightflier

Jab we met !!!

I met him after an year today !

As I parked the activa and went inside, there was slight hesitation in my mind.

Will he recognize me ?

Will it be like the old times ?

Will we meet like kids, without caring for what others think ? OR

Will we meet like two adults who care for what people might think about such public display of affection ?

Will we hug or just pat each other ?

Will he let go of me ?

Will he jump at my purse to see what I have got him ?

Will he scold me with his typical growling voice for not visiting him for so long ?

Will he come outside to say me goodbye, later ?

Well, when we did meet finally, he did not move from his place first. His gaze was fixed on me. Yes, the same heart mending look, which had made me fall for him. My heart skipped a beat, but then he stood and started walking towards me !!! After the initial awkward moments, we let go of inhibitions and met like kids! I patted him and caressed him. He returned it with the heart warming hug. He had not forgotten me at last :)

Well, then I proceeded towards meeting other folks. As the evening progressed he could be seen to be constantly around me. He did everything he could to grab my attention. And I kept on pretending that I was not getting any of those 'subtle' hints ;)

Yes, Bruno still remembered me. Like the old times.

I just did not have any answer for his inquiring gaze, asking me where his real girl friend was ? I just said, sorry dude, she wont be here till December.

And yes, he did come till a very long distance to say goodbye, in his own caring and affectionate way of racing with my vehicle, till he could match with the activa's horsepower.

~nightflier :)

P.S. Bruno is a friend's dog :) And we have our history ;)

Spectacular !!!

It was my childhood dream. Something I nurtured since I was may be 6.

May be since I got to know the power of eyes and how much they could express. Or may be I was just fascinated.

Whatever may be my tiny brain's excuses then, my wish finally got fulfilled at the age of #^ (Girls don't reveal their 'real' age!! what!!). In retrospect it did take me a lot of years!! Geez!!

Anyways when I finally came out of the doctor's cabin holding my eye check-up report, I triumphantly acknowledged to my uncle 'Yes! Finally, some doctor agrees that I should get spectacles made! And yeah that to numbered ones!'

So this childhood obsession of donning my own chashma, started when my dad got his reading glasses done. I would wear them and ask my parents to click snaps (which they never did :|). After some years came my mom's turn. I used to doll up in her feminine glasses and get pleased when people used to tell me that I looked like a teacher (teacher-teacher is a favorite Indian indoor game for girls!). Then one fine day an older cousin gave me a long lecture on how one's eyesight goes bad because of wearing numbered spectacles, and my obsession became private limited from a public affair. And as I started growing up, mom-dad's spects had started to become less fashionable. As there was no other way of fuelling my passion of trying other people's spectacles, I asked dad to buy me those zero power glasses. I did not quite like the actual buy and hence stopped wearing them. But the little girl inside me who had always loved them, did not stop dreaming. What did she know, that it will take her more than 15 years to fulfill it!

So today I finally went to make the spects (you buy a lens and a frame and ask the optometrist to make it for you). I went to Lawrence and Mayo store first. Well some sale caught my eye. Apparently it was on a specific brand of frames, obviously out of which I did not like any. Then I moved to the lens part. The sales guy there did not take any pain in explaining me anything. So naturally giving him the usual 'budget ke bahar hai' reason I exited.

Then I entered Titaneye+, a tata enterprise. Entry to exit I was made to feel like a person who should be wanting to buy herself a pair of glasses and not hating her doctor for giving her the report! (I was obviously naturally inclined towards 'wanting to buy glasses for her own Sukh, Shanti and Samadhan' (Mind you these are not Rakhi Sawant's prospective better halves)). So I almost tried their entire aisle of 'on display' frames and ate the sales guy's and my brother's head over which frame suited me the most. Both proved pretty useless in the end as they started approving anything random I was trying. After settling down on a slight geeky, less nerdy and more Yo! frame, we turned towards the lens section. Titaneye+ people sell only essilor, nikon and canon lenses. The most reasonable for me were of course Essilor starting from 1800. I gulped. And decided to take off, when my brother pulled me back. The sales guy tested his 'always works' marketing gimmick. He said local vendors might sell you anything under the name of Essilor, whereas here you get guaranteed stuff and also an year's warranty (I felt like blurting out, its of no use as I am not going to be in India, mr. smarty!!). Anyways the next thing he did was open up the big fat lens booklet and give me some jargon. I understood a mere 5%, but I was impressed. I ermed and errrred and finally said yes. Then he also gave me a free eye check up (again!) where their doc told me some really cool eye exercises. Sharing them with you, as I know most of you just cant take your eyes off the laptop :P

1. 20-20-20 rule : take a 20 second break for every 20 minutes work on the laptop. In the first break consciously blink you eyes. In the next break concentrate at your infinity (distant) point. This would avoid your eyes from getting dry and the occasional blurring syndrome will also disappear.

2. tip of the pen exercise : take any pen and concentrate on its tip. Keep moving the pen towards your eyes until you get blurred image of the tip. Do this every hour.

So as I finalized my bill and payment, I was told that my spects would be ready in an hour. My jaw almost fell to the floor. Otherwise I will get a call, as to when I should pick it up. So much attention !! I was mighty impressed.

In a long long time I have had a truly satisfying experience in terms of shopping. I am recommending it to you. Sadly they are not paying me. Yet !

~nightflier :)

When a prick reads an epic!

Recently I read a Marathi novel named Yayaati. (Mind you its a dynanpeeth award winner, which is the highest award any book can get in India). It is written by V.S.Khandekar.

It's a great work of art. It carries deep social message. But frankly I did not like it. I guess my faculties are not yet developed to understand such heavy stuff.

Some things which I did appreciate about the book are its strong characters and mythological background.

There are 4 main characters in the book

1. Yayaati - the lecherous prince (and of course king) who has no control over his mind

2. Kacha - the godly man. the real hero. I went weak in my knees as his character started developing!!

3. Devyani - the ultimate self centered bitch!

4. Sharmishtha - the unconditional lover/friend anyone can desire for.

Actually all the 4 were the extremities of human behavior.

The story develops around the 4 and engulfs their fate. There are so many twists and turns, that one feels like caught in the middle of a K series serial. So many villains, so many 'situations', so many emotionally shitty circumstances, so many monologues, so many co-incidences, so many returning characters, so many curses and counter curses, the list is pretty endless..

At one point, I actually went like 'Aww come on!! Don't tell me this is the girl who wants to marry Yayaati's son, and looks like Yayaati's ex-lover who accidentally got killed some 20 years ago!!' I know this wont make any sense to you. But mind you reader, great works of art never make sense!

So moral of the story, is (or was considering the 'k' magic is fading now) Ekta Kapoor reading all this for inspiration ? The thinking part of me took over so never mind!

Read at your own risk reader! As for me, I shall just keep away.

Sorry mom! (its one of her younger days ka first novel and kinda favorite! She read it sometime in the 70's!)

~nightflier

Have I earned it ?

I don't happen to listen to the President's or the Prime Minister's address on the 15th of August or the 26th of Jan. Normally! Past few years have given me the benefit of doubt, in terms of staying in hostels, work life, no TV at apartment, etc. This time I happened to be at home and dad as usual asked me to renounce my rights on the TV remote, for he wanted to watch the live telecast (Read he's very religious with such stuff). Reluctantly I sat through the whole speech. Not that I was paying attention, but the line 'Our ancestors have earned it with great efforts' caught my ears.

Seriously, being born and brought up in an Independent India, I am like that Indian, who has not voted till date, who has no idea when the budget gets announced and how it affects people, who does not care if its the Prime minister or the President addressing the nation, who has ideas about improving things but is still clueless about what she is going to do about it, who does not even know (till recently) who heads which ministry in the newly elected parliament, who follows bollywood/hollywood with fervor and gusto, but has shamelessly poor appetite for national news. (I hope and pray that you agree with 'at least one' of these!)

In short I do symbolize the Rang de Basanti youth (though I know I wont go to their heights to bring about a change). I belong to the generation who are a link between the coming 'super power India' and the 'generation our parents belonged to when they were young'.

I think though we have heard and learnt about India's Independence struggle and the stories, my generation is more about individualism. I find great satisfaction in being independent. But my independence means, having my space (my blog!), being able to take my own decisions (whether to write this particular post or not :|), doing things at my will (well, of course I am talking about staying up late :P), having the courage to stand by my own decisions (deciding to buy a new brand of shampoo to solve the agonising problem of hair fall!!??), etc etc. This can be called micro independence. I think this is what the freedom fighters fought for. A free individuals country! The individuals rights!

And I think we all have earned it if,

we have thought about the power of choices we make everyday.

we have been responsible and considered the effect of our decisions.

we have acknowledged the importance of being independent and to be able to take our own decisions.

we have not taken our independence for granted.

(I speak in collective pronoun cos it somehow makes me feel less guilty if I have failed my independence anywhere)

I know I speak in self introspection. The post was supposed to be less serious and more funny. Guess I lost it somewhere.

To many such independence days to come, which make me value it and treasure it :)

~nightflier!

Perspective

There are times, when

I don't feel the need for words.

I don't feel the need to feel.

And times when I am too tired to understand anything.

Then I give myself the tiny little potion called perspective. It is a heady mix of life from a third person's view. It takes me to a state of being a mere spectator, an observer. When the dose finally ends and the effects wear out, life is not rosier, but yeah greener for sure :)

It's all in the perspective !

~nightflier.

Better late than never..

My blog turned 2 on 26th June. I was busy packing, shifting and planning my India trip then. So that special day kinda skipped my mind.

And when I finally reached India and decided to post my wishes, I thought let's make it special by gifting my blog a new template.

I searched endlessly, sometimes for hours together for a suitable xml template. I used my jet lag period on googling random sites and templates. I would ask people for opinions. I would make my mom sit with me and ask her to choose a template. I even asked random friends who had never read my blog about their choice. But a common verdict could not be reached. And slowly I forgot about the gift and change my blog deserved.

But they say better late than never..

So here's wishing my blog (1.5 month) belated birthday wishes!! As we move on and ahead, may you be my partner in trying to capture some memories along the way. May you continue to witness my growth as a person :)

Ab aur senti nahi maar sakti..sob..sob..sniff..sniff (I don't have the swine cold :P)

jiyo mere laal !! :D

~nightflier!

the book bug

Most of my friends do call me Hermione Granger. So a tag justifying this name tag !

Rules - take 15 minutes to list out 15 books that come to your mind, of course, the ones you have read (in no less than 15 minutes). Next, list out the reasons (take your time for this) what makes the book special. (I kinda modified the otherwise simple tag)

My list is as follows:

1. Partner - V.P.Kale - It's one of those books, for which I kept book-reading sessions for my non Marathi friends, during hostel days.

2. Harry Potter and the deathly hallows - J.K.Rowling - It is the only fiction book I carried to the USA. I still read some chapters before going to sleep.

3. There's a hippie on the highway - James Hadley Chase - One of the first thrillers I ever read.

4. The Fountainhead - This book had hypnotized me (Well, the writing style was supposed to do that). I would like to read it again.

5. Swami - Ranjit Desai - I read a marathi book almost after 2 years. So this book is special.

6. Eagle in the sky - Wilbur Smith - Love stories can't get any better :)

7. Yayaati - V.S.Khandekar - I always wanted to read award winning books. This is my first Dnyanpeeth award winner read.

8. To Kill a mocking bird - Harper Lee - Simple and moving. To the core. It's one of my favorites!

9. Lord of the rings (The fellowship of the ring) - JRR Tolkien - I have read this part of the epic 3 times now. :|

10. Life of Pi - Yann Martel - An astonishing tale of survival and life. I managed to lay my hands on the copy which had illustrations by Tomislav Torjanac.

11. Panchatantra - According to wiki there is no specific author, it's just a collection of verses. (and sadly I also dont remember). But these were my favorite bed-time stories.

12. Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - I was (still am) so much influenced by Mr. Holmes that as a kid I wanted to be a detective. :D

13. Mrityunjaya - Shivaji Sawant - One of the literary classics. I like history and mythology and this book epitomizes all that I love in a book.

14. Ek hota carver - Veena Gavankar - One of the awesomely inspiring books I have read during my school days.

15. Love story - Eric Segal - If you ask me the one book which made me cry like a child, it's this one. I liked it's sequel too.

I am tagging every book lover (if you have a blog or don't, doesn't matter), who would like to refresh old memories.

~nightflier :)

Joblessness

Recently I was tagged on facebook for some random thing. That reminded me its a good time to post these tags on my blog, since my blog needs some interesting posts, desperately! (Read Reuters recently came to me telling that how pathetically updated my blog is!)

So here are the rules - post this list on your blog replacing my answers with yours.

Tag people to do the same thing.

If I did not tag YOU, it's because I don't want to know more about YOU! :P
So I tag everyone interested in an interesting blog-post :)

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
No. Surprisingly dad conjured it up! :S


2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Last saturday, after I had a small fight with one of my friends, whom I was meeting after an year :(

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Now or when I was in school ? My handwriting NOW depresses me. But I have heard stories that earlier my teachers used to ask mom for assistance.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Chicken. Considering its the ONLY type of meat I eat.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Isn't there a legal age bar for this one ? YOU are not supposed to ask such questions to kids!!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
But(t) obvious!! You don't find such creatively funny individuals everywhere!!??

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Refer 6 above. (And I am not doing any management degree!)

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
huh... is that a metaphor ??

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Tell me when and where!!!! wheeeeeeee......

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Kelloggs 'original' corn flakes.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Yes. It's good for the shoes' health, I have heard.

12. THIS IS A FREE ONE, PUT ANYTHING:
NOTHING.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Dinshaws - Roasted almond, Kavre - any sundae, Dove - unconditional chocolate

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
girls - footwear, guys - eyes, hair, kids - their parents!!

15. RED OR PINK?
Orange :P

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I get bored pretty soon :|

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
Its situational. Right now I am missing myself.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
I will respect you anyways! :)

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Too personal :P blushes PINK ;)

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
wind chimes in my room.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Blue.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Methi ki subji, thecha, mere desh ki khushbooooooo :P

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My bro.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
NA :P

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Tennis, beach volleyball.

27. HAIR COLOR?
Black

28. EYE COLOR?
Dark Brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
I have no wish to turn into Amir Khan from Ghajini.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
Paani Puri, barbequed chicken, salads, varan bhaat (lentils and rice) :)

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
MOVIES !!! big time!!!

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Love-Aaj-Kal

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Refer answer to question 19.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Winter :)

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Right now hugs :)

36. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Yayaati by V. S. Khandekar and World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
I don't use one.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
House - Season 4 - episode 14.

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).
The sound of onions getting fried. Waterfalls.

43. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER?
white roses/gerberas/carnesians (how do u spell this ?? :|)/gladiolus/lilys/orchids/nishigandha

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
USA (Chicago)

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I can watch n low class (equivalent to himesh bhai's) movies without getting bored and still find each one uniquely different.

46 WHERE WERE U BORN?
Nagpur

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
Yours , if you are interested in answering :P

~nightflier