#SmallJoys

Came across this (above) tag on my twitter timeline and thought it would be great to make a post out of it!


# eating panipuris.
# Finding exact 10 rs or a dollar bill in pocket to buy five star/milkyway/ mars bar.
# Reading old letters.
# People watching.
# Parallel Universes.
# Tender coconut ice-cream.
# Calvin and hobbes.
# Buying (for myself)/gifting/watching flowers.
# Thinking of calling/pinging a friend and getting called/pinged by the same friend at the same moment.
# Madhuri dixit. (I caught a few scenes from beta yesterday)
# Learning any new language/words.
# cheap thrills (as mentioned by neha in her post. I had forgotten how joyful they are!)
# Getting up to see 15 unmoderated comments in blogger inbox.
# seeing updated blogs in my reading list and hurriedly devouring them all! (There was a time when KP was not as frequent in her blog updation as she is now :D)
# Clearing any angry birds level with a 3 star. without it also actually.
# Writing notes with gifts/greeting cards.
# Making greeting cards.
# Beating baba (dad) to the remote at 9 pm. [He wants to watch some bajirao serial and I want to watch Master Chef]
# Imagining filmy reactions to situations to spice them up.
# Sachin Tendulkar.
# Watching SRK romances.
# Wearing ironed clothes.
# Planting pranks on friends/aai.
# Watching chors like Kalmadi getting punished.
# Winning a game of solitaire/mine sweeper without any strategy
# Books.
# Writing blogposts.
# Aai trying to include my kitchen methods/short cuts/styles in her routine :D
# Beating myself to catch the bus. [Chicago days]
# Taking long walks on my own.
# Exploring neighbourhoods.
# Gossiping about random hostel-mates with kt, rinku, lee, prady, kp, rupali.
# Not letting go of  old clothes. [OK I do let go if they no longer fit me]
# Not saying 'I told you so'. Instead being SMUG about it. :D
# Running away from boring/nosy relatives/people.
# Shooing off a lizard after much deliberation and finding courage to do so.
# Forgetting the umbrella at home and getting wet later.
# Accidentally finding the iTouch to be fully charged in a long journey/boring lecture/session.
# Getting to know interesting people.
# Selective forgetfulness.


Oh My God! I can just go on adding stuff to this list and it will become never ending.
So must add this one 
# Trying to make such a list and finding out there are so many small things to be joyful about! :)


~nightflier

the cooking lessons

Few days back I was staying with a pregnant friend as she was advised bed rest and needed some help in daily chores in the absence of her husband.


I cooked a lot in those 3 days. Making breakfasts, lunches, dinners, tea/coffee/milk shakes and the likes. In between all the cooking friend continued giving her two cents in the form of instructions or telling sometimes 'this is how I do it' not at all sounding smug but more out of a compulsive need to make sure her kitchen was in good hands and being taken care of. Well, like an obedient guest cook I obliged and ended up impressing her more than I had ever hoped for. Because instinctively/unintentionally I was following aai. The way she is resourceful, fast, has back up plans and takes care of everyone's taste. 


And then I read Upasna's article and smiled. I always used to be a fussy, process following, fancy cook around aai in her kitchen (I used to watch a lot of cookery shows and even had one myself where the only audience was aai or sometimes brother). And she would say in the long run not always will you be able to keep up with your fancy ways. Being productive and efficient mattered more. Sounds like corporate lingo no ?


~nightflier


P.S. Upasna is a college senior and we are used to addressing seniors with a suffix 'didi'. So somehow addressing her by first name sounds super weird :D
(I am process/instruction following in other walks of life too :D)
Oh and like her I also ask aai to pray for me or wish something for me. She also believes that its hard for me but I do get things the way I imagine/want them. Its a strong belief that she has in me that I ask her to root for me, may be :D

and then it sounds like this...

I was reading maximum city a few days back and liked the way the author talked about life defining moments/decisions. Life defining in the sense they would decide where you land up, what you end up doing etc etc. In the sense of shorter periods of life defining larger ones.

So should one be practical ? should one always listen to one's mind/instinct ? Similar questions cloud my mind. How does one decide ? May be if the belief is really strong enough what one's gut says remains the only choice and becomes practical, no ?

Silences are deceiving. Not letting them deceive you is the real test, then ? And to have the courage to fail but still not feel like a failure is better deal no ?

~nightflier

P.S. Moral of the story - Really need to indulge in something really really fun.

Quotes misquotes

There is stuff that resonates within you and stuff that you make yourself believe. One must be very very wary of the latter.


~nightflier


P.S. And I am back to one liners.

learn. un-learn. re-learn.

The problem with an analytical mind is it thinks a lot. And if gets even better company, it goes into over drive.


I think I am pretty much self aware (with an annoyingly strong (sub)conscious which always advocates not being mean). I not only observe myself, I also end up analyzing behavioral patterns of myself, people in my life and sometimes on larger scales (depending on how much free time I have) society.


So it is something related to very mundane. 4 years back when I had to learn electric machines, I did it without much fuss, in spite of knowing I had a phobia for it but very well aware that studying is the only way to pass. 4 years down the line, I am required to study some mathematical stuff which will not be asked in any exam (rather more experimental and research kind of stuff), I do it without any doubts/questions/fuss. Again. Very happy about the entire process. But few days ago I was asked to study those darned machines again and I just could not bring myself to give my 100%. So in this growing old process, my awareness that my life will be better without putting 100% to it, killed the fun/excitement I once found in learning ? [part of this sentence is as put by the even better company I talked about in the first sentence]


So in a sense, in trying to make myself learn something I had 4 years ago, I have to get rid of the baggage of this awareness by un-learning it. Re-learning will not look that hard then. May be.


Attitude, they say, determines your altitude. No wonder Mount Everest looks so tall from here. :-|


~nightflier


P.S. I tried and I failed. Again. Electric Machines are stupid that way :D
also pardon any inconsistent sentences. I have a bad feeling about the grammar here.

...

A friend commented on a really old picasa picture related to this and I suddenly realized how happy I was during that entire time. It was a strange feeling. I feel an emptiness inside. :-(


Missing Shayok and Krishna and working with them.


~nightflier

life and its offerings

* What's with Indian television ? Initially it was alright. But n years after that initial moment we are still churning out soap after soap which capitalize on female characters being victims of some evil skewed plot of the in-laws. Ekta started it, everyone else followed and we still oblige. Such a waste. Woman/man kind all over the world, I urge you to abandon them. Otherwise I will judge you. Dhamki nahi hai sachchi!

* What's with asking others' kids really personal questions like, 'beta haven't you searched someone for yourself? settle down like our *munnu* soon'

First polite reaction - smile and umm hmm

Second polite reaction - YAWN

Third polite reaction - rant on blog whose existence is non existent for you.

:-|

* I am getting renewed lessons in harry potter. Having made brother start the series, and making him quiz me about random stuff most of which I don't remember now, is proving to be fun. Oh and he is hooked. As I write this he is reading the last few pages of the first book. Oddly I feel very proud! :-)

* I miss snow. The pristine white-ness all around. The random flight of the snow flakes as they make way to the ground. A long chilling walk in the cold. Winter here is over. The temperatures are already rising. After that short spell of winter, no use of all those comforters/sweaters/jackets, no desire to drink hot coffee/chocolate (bournvita) or even tea. Weather gods' mood swings are also having short shelf life these days. Sigh.


* I just watched Hachiko. I feel so full of love and emotions right now! Hachi!!! You made my rather dull Sunday. I wish to make a dog a part of my life soon.

* I am going through a I can't relate with you anymore phase. Happened quite a few times. I also ranted to Ketaki about it. And I can't seem to get it out of my head. Sometimes I have this compulsive need to be the perfect friend or at least try to be. Well, I have a crazy scheme, I will ask all my friends to start writing blogs. Not to put out personal stuff on public forums (the way they see blogging. ugh.) but to give options to express themselves, make effort to get out of the routine and write stuff down to reflect. We all have stuff over which we obsess, why not put it online where your friends can read it objectively, give opinions if needed and make the sharing easy and thus ease the pressure on the friendship ? 

I just re-read the above paragraph and I feel so shallow suddenly. I already have my rant/express myself/give opinions space. That does not mean I should expect others to do the same and act all less burdened in face to face meetings. 

Sheesh. When I put things into perspective, growing up does not look fun anymore. :-(

Time to take out the magic wand. May be.

~nightflier

P.S. The post title was a subtle way to put it this way - most of this post was a rant.