Bonne Anneversaire....

Yesterday was my "Heppy Bird Day" - one year older, but no less wiser! LOL - feels odd, 23 is an age by which one should have a reasonable idea of which direction one is headed towards..and I'm still weighing my options! Scared of growing up...

The day was quite good, despite the fact that I’m sitting in this town far-away from all my friends. At AF Pune you have to take a cake to class if it’s your birthday – so I baked a huge cake the previous day. Class takes off a light note, and our Prof is persuaded to take on something fun and not stressful. And plus we try our level best to sing “Bonne Anneversaire…” in the right tune!! Hehe…;-)

Plus all those e-cards, SMS and telephone calls made the day as special as it could possibly be. I know I have my share of eccentricities and have driven most of up the wall with my quirks and idiosyncrasies, my stubbornness and my absurd expectations, not to mention the fact that I’ve forgotten to wish many of my friends on their birthday this year– that they still count me as part of their life and remember my birthday means a lot to me! :-)

Phone calls filled my evening – and then we went for dinner. I decided to abandon my usual favourite Mainland China this year and chose La Dolce Vita, having seen a tiny advert for the restaurant in Pune Times, thinking it would be a nice cozy little Italian Restaurant. Nice it was – but definitely not small or cozy. The advert gave no indication of how fancy the place would be – needless to say I loved it! Gourmet dinner, wine, cheese – an absolutely divine ambience – oh yes I loved it! As Bhaiyya commented, “Trust Geetanjali to pick a place like this for dinner – and who else, but her to polish off the cheese platter and the wine!” LOL! Goes without saying that dinner at La Dolce Vita was the icing on the cake for the day! ;-)

At Peace...

Last night the skies opened and it rained and it poured – not just cats and dogs, but the entire animal kingdom! The Gods put up a grand show for us – the clouds thundered noisily and streaks of lightening illuminated the countryside every few minutes. Obviously we didn’t have electricity – actually the power would come and go so often every few minutes, that the invertor decided not too function at all. And eventually we got a bit fed-up of the disco-effect and stuck to plain candle-light! So it was candle-light dinner for a change (and since my brother gets free samples of aromatic candles, the room smelled of citrus mingled with the smells of a storm)…dinner of Kathi Kabab rolls and soup was wrapped up quickly and then everyone decided to retire early since there was nothing else to do…

Far from sleepy, I wandered around the house with a candle in my hand – and all of a sudden remembered the music video “Aa ja re” which featured a ghost walking around town with a candle, singing the haunting melody. Heheh…promptly set off in the direction of the other bedrooms a la Ms. Ghost trying to sing “Aa ja re…mere dilbur aa ja”…freaked everyone out, more by my attempts at singing, than by my ghostly appearance (or lack of!) – hahaha! Fun! Whiled away some more time, sending SMS to friends, but ended up sleeping pretty early, after my candle got extinguished by a gust of wind.

This morning I woke up to a wonderful day – the heavens seemed to have been washed clean with the night’s storm; azure skies greeted me when I drew the curtains apart. A gentle breeze was accompanied by the chirping of birds and the smell of the damp earth (best expressed by “saundhi gandh”). One of those birds visited our balcony and was fluttering around our plants. I took a picture when it rested on the railing for a few minutes. Quite a fascinating bird – it has what I’d call a “pyaazi” colour, a longish sharp beak and the undersides of its wings has a dash of green! Sadly I couldn’t capture that in the photograph.

All this put me in a wonderful mood immediately, and I began the day by listening to the 2 CDs I picked up yesterday – The Essential Billy Joel and Storytellers (18 of the Biggest Hits of All Time). A lazy breakfast of French toast & coffee was followed by a lazy perusal of the Sunday papers…:-)

Now this is what I call a nice weekend!

Random Rambling

So there I was standing under the shower, luxuriating in the feel of the scalding needles of water giving me a wonderfully relaxing back-massage – I was standing in my “stork” position, on one foot (Ekpad-asana position, for those of you who know yoga), as I’m often prone to when I’m thinking – and suddenly the world tilted! My foot slipped and the next thing I knew I was lying on the tiles! I’m not quite sure what happened, but I do know that I hit my head pretty hard on the floor and everything ached like hell for the rest of the day (some of me still hurts!) ….now any normal damsel in distress would have wailed, made some noise about the terrible fall she had, feigned weakness and stayed home that day.

Me?

I sat up, disoriented for a while, yelled at Schnapps who was barking outside the bathroom door like Sherlock Holmes out to solve the mystery of the strange noise emitting from the bathroom, rinsed my hair and then washed my clothes! Ah the joys of having clothes that can’t be put in the washing-machine with the rest of the clothes, because they bleed so much!

Emerging from the bathroom I told mommy dearest that I had a fall; she asked if I want to go to class and I said “Ofcourse, why not?” Later as I sat in the bus and started feeling the beginning of a headache, backache, leg ache (so and so forth) I realized why she had asked me to stay home! Smart, ain’t I? LOL – and the bitch that I am, I thought to myself that if I’d been one of my cousins (I’m being prudent by not naming anyone) I’d have fainted in the bathroom, at the least sprained a few limbs and been carried around and fussed over for atleast a week. Sigh – not my style though. All I do is swallow a Dispirin, continue with the day as planned and blog about my misfortunes!;-) Hahaha!

Thought for the Day :-
Why do women in Indian insist on seeing a “Lady Doctor” when, who they really want to see is a Gynecologist? Is it some kind of miscomprehension on my behalf when I fail to immediately connect a “lady” doctor with a gynecologist? I so fail to comprehend why an educated woman of the 21st century insists on using Victorian euphemisms for such issues. Some of the analogies they come up with are so ludicrous they should be awarded for their ingenuity and creativity!

A Jeremiad

Today was one of those days when just nothing seemed to go right – as if my already escalating feelings of despondence weren’t enough, the bus ride back home turned out to be one of the most annoying I’ve ever had. I’ve said this before and I say it again – I fail to understand why women think there’s no reason to complain if the person leaning heavily against you is another woman! Sorry boss, you violate my privacy irrespective of what sex you are. I do not like to be pushed – so what if you’re a woman? The offense is no less. Argh!!! Consequently, I’ve returned home with a throbbing shoulder, a headache and very little patience left to deal with the morons and irritating vermins of the world. Grrrr…

A few weeks back my friend Kunal was here – he came back with me after my last trip to Bombay & stayed a week. It was so nice having him around, being able to talk him at the end of the day that now the enforced isolation is grating even more. I have never been an extrovert and always found it difficult to strike up a conversation with a stranger or get acquainted with new people; it’s harder at this age than ever before. Friends from childhood may have drastically different temperaments, interests and lifestyles – but they are the people you grew up with. So the differences just seem to fade away when you’re together. Frankly if I were to befriend someone today, the person would have to think on the same wave-length as me, atleast 50% of the time, or else we’ve got to share a great chemistry. Call it a failing in my personality, but I simply can’t get myself to “make friends” with people I meet – just like that. A question I face very often these days : “So have you made any friends yet? There must be people your age in your colony or in class.” It'snever been more difficult to explain that I don’t “make friends” so easily, that I’m not a vibrant, out-going person. *Sigh*

I miss my friends more than ever these days – I always knew that we’d go different ways after graduation/post-graduation, but when the distances grow, and more and more friends seem to live on the other end of the globe, the world seems to become increasingly lonely.

Historical Facts About Ancient & Modern Afrikans

"History dictates that if you do not know your past, then you cannot analyze the present and plan for the future.
History also suggests that correct, historical information empowers a people, while incorrect, a historical albeit mis-information only leads to the powerlessness of a people."

Last year while studying New Literatures in English, we studied the works of several African theorists and authors and I learnt many things about the "Dark Continent" that were previously unknown to me - for instance, till then I hadn't the faintest clue as to why the borders of African countries are so straight as if drawn with a ruler. It's because they were drawn with a ruler - at the Berlin Conference, 1884, when European colonisers sat at a conference table and cold-bloodledly drew lines across the continent, dividing it amongst them, without sparing a second's thought to the havoc they would wreck over tribal communities across the land. It's also the reason why so many of them speak a European language in addition to their native tongue (which also faces the danger of being wiped out)...

Today, while doing a French assignment on "Asterix and Cleopatra" (of all the things) I came across a very interesting site, compiling facts about the Afrikans, most of which were unknown to me. While the entire page is worth reading, these two retained my attention :

• The stark historical reality is that during the B.C. era when the Emperor of Rome, Julius Caesar, had a sexual liaison with the ruler of Kemet (Egypt), Queen Cleopatra VII, a son named Caesarion was born on 23 June 47 B.C. in Kemet as a result of that sexual encounter. However, what is historically vital and relevant is that the birth of this boy child, Caesarion, was not a natural birth. In other words, the High Priests of ancient Kemet had to perform a special surgical procedure to deliver Caesarion; this surgical procedure that the ancient Egyptian High Priests/physicians performed in 47 B.C. to deliver Caesarion is what is called the “Caesarean Section” in modern A.D. medicine today. The ancient Egyptian High Priests named their medical procedure in honor of Caesarion’s father, Caesar.
• The ancient Egyptians had a test for pregnancy. A woman was asked to urinate daily on two cloth bags, one containing emmer (wheat) and the other barley. If both germinated she was said to be pregnant, if neither did, then she was not. It has been known since 1927 that a particular hormone is present in the urine of a pregnant woman and so modern pregnancy tests are based on this ancient Egyptian medical practice. The ancient Egyptian doctors first tested the effect that urine had on grain simply because they associated grain with life and they expected that a woman who was carrying new life would have a spiritual affinity with the grain. They therefore observed then what medical science only knows today that the urine of pregnant women can sometimes cause grain to germinate, whereas that of women who are not pregnant always causes it to wither.

(Courtesy : Historical Facts about ancient & modern Afrikans)

Philistine

Phil·is·tine
n.
1. A member of an Aegean people who settled ancient Philistia around the 12th century B.C.
2. A smug, ignorant, especially middle-class person who is regarded as being indifferent or antagonistic to artistic and cultural values.
3. One who lacks knowledge in a specific area.
adj.
1. Of or relating to ancient Philistia.
2. Often philistine Boorish; barbarous: “our plastic, violent culture, with its philistine tastes and hunger for novelty” (Lloyd Rose).

Etymology:
From Middle English Philistines, Philistines, from Late Latin Philistn, from Greek Philistnoi,
from Hebrew Plitîm, from Pleet Philistia.

It has never been good to be a Philistine. In the Bible Samson, Saul, and David helped bring the Philistines into prominence because they were such prominent opponents. Though the Philistines have long since disappeared, their name has lived on in the Hebrew Scriptures. The English name for them, Philistines, which goes back through Late Latin and Greek to Hebrew, is first found in Middle English, where Philistiens, the ancestor of our word, is recorded in a work composed before 1325. Beginning in the 17th century philistine was used as a common noun, usually in the plural, to refer to various groups considered the enemy, such as literary critics. In Germany in the same century it is said that in a memorial at Jena for a student killed in a town-gown quarrel, the minister preached a sermon from the text “Philister über dir Simson! [The Philistines be upon thee, Samson!],” the words of Delilah to Samson after she attempted to render him powerless before his Philistine enemies. From this usage it is said that German students came to use Philister, the German equivalent of Philistine, to denote nonstudents and hence uncultured or materialistic people. Both usages were picked up in English in the early 19th century.

I spent the entire weekend trying very hard to remember this word - like my dreams and goals, even this word seemed illusive and out of reach. Was quite frustrated and as a result I spent quite a few hours indulging in self-pity and as usual I digressed from the main issue and started wondering how people can be content with mediocrity in life...

This morning I woke up - and the word was there! Right there where it should have been - within reach and easy to access! Hallelujah!!! I'm feeling nicer about myself today - and I think I can wait for a few more years before writing myself off! After all, I have miles to go before I sleep! ;-)

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

We both lie silently still
in the dead of the night
Although we both lie close together
We feel miles apart inside

Was it something I said or something I did
Did the words not come out right
Though I tried not to hurt you
Though I tried
But I guess that's why they say

Chorus:
Every rose has its thorn
Just like every night has its dawn
Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song
Every rose has its thorn
Yeah it does

I listen to our favorite songplaying on the radio
Hear the DJ say loves a game
of easy come and easy go
But I wonder does he know
Has he ever felt like this
And I know you'd be here right now
If I could have let you know somehowI guess

Chorus

Though it's been a while now
I can still feel so much pain
Like a knife that cuts you the wound heals
but the scar, that scar remains

I know I could have saved a love that night
If I'd known what to say

Instead of makin' love
We both made our separate ways
But now I hear you found somebody new
and that I never meant that much to you
To hear that tears me up inside
And to see you cuts me like a knife
I guess

Chorus

- Poison

As always the song struck a chord inside me - and then I read this and I wonder if it's possible to walk away, without a backward glance, to move on and build something new?

A Prosaic Ode to Bangalore!

I finally finished reading Hari Kunzru’s Transmission a few weeks back and started devoting all my attention to Kavita Watsa’s “Brahmins and Bungalows – Travels through South Indian History” (2004). One of the chapters deals with Bangalore – though I would love to post excerpts from every chapter, for I found something worth sharing in each chapter, I have to restrain myself to one chapter. I picked this city, since I know so many people who stay there or have visited the city – all of whom are charmed by this cantonment city! I think after reading these excerpt you will want to head for the nearest store and pick up a copy of the book :

The residential areas that developed within the cantonment (which was also called “Laskar” Town) were called “towns” and even today bear British names such as Langford, Fraser, Richmond and Benson. Their large bungalows were set in generous gardens, and the townscape was dotted with tastefully designed parks, churches, clubs, schools and shopping areas. One of these establishments, the Bangalore United Services Club, still functions as the ‘Bangalore Club’, and its pillars, verandas and simple but elegant proportions constitute an excellent example of the architecture that was popular in the mid-nineteenth century. It was this originally white male preserve that Churchill left an unpaid ‘due’ of thirteen rupees, which the club eventually wrote off as irrecoverable.

-Not to mention the sign at the entrance that prohibited entry of Dogs and Indians! I believe, it is still difficult to get membership at this club – some things never change, eh?

In recent years, if one can forgive the senseless attrition of heritage architecture, it is possible to appreciate the stable urban identity hat has developed after a period of careless growth, an identity that borrows much from the character of the old cantonment in its leaning towards the West and its taste for the good life. Today’s Bangalore owes much to the liberalism that was in vogue here long before the Indian economic revolution of the early nineties. Here, globalization was not contrived; it was merely a matter of re-packaging an old tradition in twenty-first century wrapping, and allowing Westernisation to spread out of the cantonment and into suburbs once known for their orthodoxy. People who move to the city, even the freshest of settlers, now tend to discard their prior identities and become Bangalorean with ease. Although there is a tendency for new Bangaloreans to behave as if they invented the city – and who can blame them, for so little is left to remind anyone of the old days- it is a pleasant and sought-after place, and people who live here for a time often find it hard to adjust to city life anywhere else in India.

-Don’t I know that! I know more than one Bangalorean who’s sung praises of the city so often, its almost a refrain! :-)

The one restaurant I dearly loved, and to which I would have directed any traveler without wasting a second, no longer exists: it was appropriately called The Only Place, and was situated in a dreary compound at the bottom of Brigade Road, sandwiched between a guest house so liberal that it allowed only one lady to love there with a dozen pet snakes, and Snaize Brothers, the local undertaker’s. None of the existing restaurants, sophisticated though they are, could ever rustle up enough savoir-faire to serve beef-steak followed by peach pie in a tiny bougainvillea-clad bower, even as carpenters hammered nails slowly into half-finished coffins strewn about within view. The people who frequented The Only Place were characters all, from long-boned socialites with diamond earrings who fished insects gingerly out of their wine, to sad-faced Americans who lingered in the cantonment for months or even years in search of the meaning of life. There is no OP’s now; yet another shopping mall has been erected in the old compound. The restaurant did resume its activities briefly in one of the mall’s boring corridors, but in this new location, and with its new clientele, we all agreed it might as well have been called Pizza Hut.

-And to think I was so charmed by its “Pizza Hut” avatar – makes me want to travel back in time, to experience The Only Place in its hey-days…

Much as the desecration of its architecture and the congestion of its streets bewilder me, there is always a sense of homecoming when I return to Bangalore, for wherever my interest in travel has subsequently taken me, I have found no other city in the world to match its particular charms, and no other such concentration of like-minded people. Some aspects of the city come to mind at the oddest times, bludgeoning me in some unfamiliar place where nothing but a map connects me to reality, and all of a sudden my heart fills with a great desire to go home again: to sip a lime juice at Koshy’s and listen to the conversation of college students and journalists; to watch the low, violet clouds of the monsoon roll in across the plateau in early June, transforming the hot weather overnight to something akin to Scotland in summer, and reminding me that the British used to call Bangalore a hill station; to catch my breath while driving past a park in full bloom with jacaranda and frangipani. As long as there is still a high bank of flowers on one side of South Parade, and a few bungalows left to uphold a gracious aesthetic; as long as there are old-timers to mourn the passing of the old days, yet accept the new with lightness of heart; as long as I can walk into a restaurant and order a beefsteak without batting an eyelid; and as long as the night train still pulls into a little grey and grey station in the chill of a Bangalore dawn, there will be reason for me, and hundreds like me, to return to the vanishing cantonment for a few decades yet.

The last paragraph in the chapter on Bangalore – perhaps the most touching – paraphrases beautifully her love for the city. I know quite a few Bangaloreans who would echo these sentiments…Bangalore to them is their Mecca!

While I’m on the subject, I’ll make a small concession to my dearest jijaji (a self-confessed Banglo-phile!) that apart from Bombay, I think, Bangalore is the only city in India where I could be happy…ouch I can see the onslaught coming again! ;-)

Her passion for the city shines through every word - now if someone could write something on similar lines about Bombay!!!

P.S - You can find my review of "Brahmins and Bungalows" on Literary Mosaic

Paradise In Pune!

Yesterday, we visited Nala Park a.k.a Osho Teerth Park. Nestled in a by-lane of Koregaon park, it is the most idyllic place in Pune. Unlike the commune which is open only to members, the park is open to public as well. I’m glad, for I’d have missed a divine spot if it had restricted entry. They’ve made the park over a “Nala” which has been cleaned up and winds its way through the park like a stream, its waters flowing smoothly over certain regions and gushing down or bubbling over some rocks in others. Narrow winding lanes lead you through the cleverly landscaped park – the dense green foliage has an appearance of natural growth. No space for artificiality there…words really can’t describe the sheer beauty of the park. It’s a most serene experience to walk though the park early in the morning, with the sun-rays filtering through the leaves of the tall trees, the only sounds being the birds chirping in the distance and the water murmuring to you as it makes its way through the park…
As Kunal says :
“At the very end of the park, nestled amongst these “rainforest-like” trees rests this serene statue of the Buddha, which is where I would like to take Milton (twisting his ear all along till I get him to this spot). I will sternly reprimand him for his pessimism- now that you have regained paradise…sagla bara aahay na?”
Truly, paradise in Pune! :-)

My Love Affair With Bombay Continues...

Last week’s trip to Bombay was almost disappointing – the saving grace being my friends and FabIndia (Kala Ghoda).

Met Amisha for dinner the very first evening, bumping into Aditi at the restaurant and later over coffee at Barista. That was a Bonus!

The seminar I had gone for, though organized by one of the most brilliant ladies I know (my MA prof Dr.Bharucha), was disappointing. Not so much because of the speakers, as their lack of oratory skills and the bad acoustics of the room. If they weren’t mumbling to themselves, then their voices got lost in the room. As a result, what could have been a very interesting seminar ended up being an exercise in straining my ears to catch what they were talking about. I did run into a college teacher at the seminar, which was a great pleasure. Mrs Subramanium was one of our best teachers, though also the most demanding. Her insistence on perfection hadn’t endeared her to me during the first two years of college. However, by TYBA I grew to respect her and realised how much I could gain from her as a student. Till date I maintain that when it came to studying the parts of the syllabus that she taught us, I had to put in minimum efforts!

We escaped before the last session…and then the fun started…
FabIndia at Kala Ghoda is a most divine experience – even if you don’t want to shop, the place is a must-visit, for its lay-out. The wooden ceiling, flooring and steps, the distinctive units, the amazing graphics, not-to-mention the spacious aisles! Add to all this their fabulous stock…bliss!
Mondegar – it’s got to be one of my favourite places in Bombay…Mondegar with its hybrid fan following, with its dimly-lit smoke-filled interiors, with its caricature-painted walls, with its Juke Box, with its pastas…

The next day, apart from work, I managed to catch up with another friend Sherry – Pop Tate’s it was this time…the Gnocchi was excellent – so was the company!
After seeing her off from the bus-stop, I headed to the beach…a long walk down 7 bungalows to the beach…rolled up my jeans, took off my sandals and set off down the beach. The timing was perfect – the evening crowd had not yet come in, so I had the beach almost to myself, except for some kids playing and the numerous couples hiding in the rocks! The sea-breeze felt wonderful on my face and in my hair…after while I clambered onto a relatively empty rock cluster and sat there observing the kids mess around in the mud, enjoying that scene and observing the people slowly drift onto the beach, marveling at the changes in the area and feeling the pinch of nostalgia…

I so, so, so love Bombay!!!! :-)

Mirror Mirror On The Wall...

Well I don't want to know who's the fairest of them all, coudn't care a flying fig about that - just tell me, why is it that the things one wants to most in life are the ones that are most unattainable? The ones that you keep reaching out for, but keep slipping out your grasp?

What Do The Signs Say About You?

Never followed the zodiac signs and what they say about personalities - mine, your's or Tom's - but I had to work on this subject recently...so I browsed alot...and quite liked this very concise presentation of what the Zodiac signs say about your personality:

ARIES - " I am "
TAURUS - " I have "
GEMINI - " I think "
CANCER - " I feel "
LEO - " I will "
VIRGO -" I analyze "
LIBRA - " I balance "
SCORPIO - " I desire "
SAGITTARIUS- " I perceive "
CAPRICORN - " I use "
AQUARIUS - " I know "
PISCES - " I believe "

(Courtesy Bejan Daruwalla )