La Fille Occupée

Ah, it’s been a busy few days – busy and tiring, but equally satisfying and fun…except perhaps for my weekend class which is beginning to be a royal pain with those stubborn, unenthusiastic students who refuse to get rid off their blinkers and perceive the world beyond their well! Translation assignments, a soirée that was quite exhausting because of the high levels of boredom and exasperation that I experienced (the saving grace was the wine!), Aristera’s weekend visit (I so love that man and it’s been so long since we spent so much time together, just chilling out, that this was the highlight of the weekend! ! The noise I’ve made about this visit has certainly got some people very jealous of his presence in my life – hehehe!), good films( Mon Oncle, Parzania), great meals(Parsi food at Dorabjee’s, Rosti and Pizza at Swiss Cheese Gardens, Chinese at Silk Route and Mainland China, apart from some pretty decent home-cooked food!), greater conversation (be it with Aristera, D, or my students S and J)– all in all the last few days have been pretty good. The one thing that has been irritating me is out of my control, so I’ve decided not to let myself be bothered by it. De toute façon, que sera sera, je n’y peux rien, alors pourquoi agir avec frustration?

Musical Motley

“how do I live without you… don’t talk just kiss… and I hoped all the time you’d be faithful to me… how do I breathe without you…when the night falls, the loneliness comes…all I’m asking you for is for you to be my baby…oooohhhh…let your tongue fool around…i wanna dance with somebody…i wanna feel the heat with somebody…yeah!!”

Hehe…wonder if my choice of music says something about me! Freud sure would have a field-day with the randomly selected phrases that I’ve just thrown together I’ve just posted from the songs playing on my Windows Media Player. Well he can have his fun; moi, all I care about is keeping my spirits buoyant, for I’m going to have a rather awkward discussion tomorrow and I need to feel my confident best in order to do so…que dieu me bénisse!

Current Music:- Dressed for Success – Roxette
Current Book:- Bloodlines – Fred D’Aguiar (an engrossing novel in verse form – the first of the type I’m reading since Vikram Seth’s Golden Gate and I do believe I quite enjoy the style.) Yes Yes I finished Incest on Tuesday – don’t I just rock?
Current Mood:- Not Taking No Shit From Anyone…Not Today

Bonjour Bookworm

Oft have people questioned my habit of splurging my rather meager salary on books, specially since the kind of books I buy don’t exactly come cheap – there are those who wonder at my insistence on buying original copies, instead of the pirated copies available freely on the footpaths and at small book vendors. Apart from that fact that I firmly believe the author deserves his royalty even if he is dead and buried several feet underground, there is the fact that these kind of oeuvres simply aren’t available in the pirated version, since they aren’t exactly consumed by the larger audience, and if I may, common audience! Tell me when you last saw a copy of Marquis de Sade’s Incest, or Ellen Feldman’s The Boy who Loved Anne Frank or Lawrence Durrell’s Monsieur gracing the footpath, beckoning you with open arms, inviting you to pick it up and take it home with you? And then, how do I explain the sheer pleasure of holding an original publication in one’s hands – the feel of those crisp pages, the words on each page staring back at me unwaveringly, urging me to devour each alphabet? I guess this, despite my increasingly regular (not to mention disturbing) spells of inability to read more than a couple of pages a day, is what marks me as a literary snob and a bookworm…

Bookworm – oh how I reveled in that pseudonym, even more so than my other plume de nom, Plain Jane…and how I ache to read once again with that voracity that made me devour books with a ravenous hunger of one who has been starved of Literature, even though reality was that I was always surrounded by it. Yesterday after a really long time I found myself lost in the book, oblivious to other commitments and responsibilities, and I spent a blissful afternoon transported to another world as I greedily worked my way through The Boy who Loved Anne Frank – a brilliant work that not only moved me, but has forced me to question my interest in the Holocaust. It made me wonder how I could possibly pretend to understand or even sympathise with the pain of the victims – me who was born in a society where “war” is something distant, when my only associations with starvation and poverty are with what I see (but not feel) on the roads as I commute in a bubble of comfort in my air-conditioned car (or even that rickety, uncomfortable bus which also puts me several ranks above them.)…

This morning I started Incest, a work that scandalized the readers when first published, with it’s exploration of the most devious and skin-crawling morally evil act. To be able to say that I’ve read one-third of the novel already (and this mostly while commuting) makes me want to gloat and crow in sheer exhilaration.

Welcome back Bookworm – it was real lonely without you…hope you plan to stick around a while! Amen!

Current Music:- Don’t Talk Just Kiss – Right Said Freddie, Be My Baby - Vanessa Paradis
Current Mood:- Indolent and sensuously relaxed, after a glorious body scrub and long hot shower…and itching to get under the covers and finish that book ;-)

GRUMPF

I could just about sink my teeth into someone right now...

Ola 2007!

My first post in 2007 – I hope to be more regular this year, but I won’t promise – the last couple of months have proven without doubt that the best intentions don’t necessarily lead to the promised actions. The year kicked off in a rather sedate fashion – a very calm, lazy vacation in Bangalore spent surrounded by family. Great weather, peaceful days, languid routines, afternoons spent sunning myself like an indolent lizard on the terrace/balcony of my relatives homes and some shopping (though not much when you think of the shopper’s paradise that Bangalore is!)…I’ve returned back to Pune feeling very lazy, but itching to get back into action…and boy does it feel good!

After some initial confusion, I’ve managed to get the batches I wanted, with the timings I wanted – working just in the morning this time, so that I have the rest of the day to plan my next day, read up/study for my DFA course and actually accomplish other things as well, apart from le français! ;-) The Alliance Française (world-over but particularly in India) had changed its text and organization of courses from this year – so it means a little more effort vis-à-vis class planning, but I think I’m going to enjoy teaching the new book far more than the older one! Time shall tell…here’s hoping 2007 is a better year on all counts! Amen!

Wrap-Up

Last night, as the year-end drew closer and as I got ready for a short trip to Bangalore with Ma, I sat and stared up at the stars and thought about all that had happened this year and what lies ahead in 2007. It’s been a year like none other – it’s changed the way I think, my views and attitudes…

I think I’ve grown this year in more than one way. I’ve lost so much this year – losses that can’t be balanced out by what I’ve learnt or what I’ve gained for nothing can take the place of my father. It’s been over nine months and sometimes I still wait for him to walk in through the door, I still yearn to talk to him, I still miss those moments when he’d come and run his hand over my head before he went to bed…and I still regret the fact that I fought with him before he left for Kottayam. When I think of the other relationships that went awry this year, of the lies and betrayals I faced, all of it pales in comparison and I wonder why I gave them so much importance – I think I’ve learnt from my mistakes and I hope I never have to face those kind of heart-breaks again…but then who knows what lies ahead, for the biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that whoever is up there, pulling the strings of our life, has a very weird sense of humour and loves pulling the rug out from under us just as we start getting comfortable.

It’s not been all bad - after taking baby-steps towards my goal for so long, I’ve finally embarked on my métier and am slowly moving up that ladder of progress. I believe I’m learning and improving with each passing moment and despite some really embarrassing goof-ups (I still cringe every time I’m reminded of them), I think I do a pretty good job of what I’m paid to do…if all goes well, then next year I should finally be able to fulfill another long cherished dream. Amen. I’ve met some fabulous people and strengthened the foundations of friendships that were still on unstable grounds. I’ve done some crazy things, that I never thought I’d do – and much as I wonder where it’s taking me, I don’t think I’ll regret a single moment. Now if only I could truly toss caution to the winds, caring two-hoots about what the others think and for a change just follow my instincts, paying no heed to what practicality, common sense and fear of the unknown tomorrow dictates…

Burnt indelibly into my conscious (and I think sub-conscious and unconscious as well) this year :-

• The first breath-taking sight of Parvati temple at Ellora caves.
• Papa, at work, sitting proudly behind his desk at Phoenix Mecano India.
• Papa stepping into the elevator telling me he’ll come back and discuss my plans for the future.
• My first batch of students presenting me with a cake that said “Alliance Française Rocks” and asking me to cut it.
• Rain drenched Seven Bungalows from the 4^th floor of Gayatri – I wonder whether I’ll ever think of any other place as “home.”
• The pride and delight of seeing my closest friend’s name in a magazine and hugging him – wish I’d done that the next two times as well!
• Papa, cold in that awful coffin – lying on the cold hard floor of the crematorium and being taken away from me.
• The disappointment in my friend’s voice, the fear of losing him…and yes, the peace and joy at patching up. I don’t ever want to go through that agony again.
• Being told that the song “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt reminds someone of me…being told that I am beautiful.
• That last hug at the airport before Appu checked in for her flight to Chicago.
• Those lazy afternoons with Kitana over cappuccino at Barista.
• Walking into Khadki cemetery with a friend and watching her face light up with delight at its sheer impeccable beauty and the possibilities it offers vis-à-vis photography.
• Teacher’s Day – my first as a teacher and being gifted that wonderful card…followed by my birthday, when once again my students presented me with a card and cake.
• The pride that surged each time my students fared well, despite the fact that I seem to set rather “high standards” for my students when it comes to exams ;-)
• The cold pit in my stomach when I realized I’d screwed up in class and the relief once I’d set things right and my students reassured me that they still liked me as much as they did before they were told I’d erred...and how!
• Coffee by the roadside, tea at the tapdi, popsicles sitting perched on the footpath.
• Sharing Nala Park (a.k.a Osho Teerth Park / Zen Garden) with someone I’ve grown very fond off over the last two months.

Dereliction of Duties

Oh I feel terrible terrible – not a single word for so long that Extempore got the opportunity to reprimand me for derelict of duties! It’s been a whirl-wind of a fortnight, and believe me while I thought several times of sitting myself down to blog, the energy to follow up on my thoughts simply wasn’t there. Much work has happened, minor crisis has been averted, and the cold/cough/fever that has been trying to make it’s presence felt since May this year finally got a chance to take hold of my respiratory organs and has since created havoc inside me forcing me to take class when I barely had energy to stand…and worse, forcing me to conceded defeat and cancel class! Oh how terrible I feel – double dereliction of duties. Could it get any worse?

Currently:- Cantankerous as hell bent over the monitor, sore/red-nosed, sniffing into a tissue, coughing like an eighty year-old woman and praying I can take class tomorrow.
Currently Reading:- Monsieur by Lawrence Durrel
Currently Listening to:- RFI on World Space

Licensed to Kill...

The Bond Mania has never made much sense to me – the way I saw it, they were just a series of films with a typical plot revolving around espionage of some sort or the other, solved by this hunk who apparently had superhuman capabilities and could get away with just about anything with a smile and his 007 tag! There was a time when I’d admit with much embarrassment that I hadn’t really seen all the Bond films – today if you ask me, I’ll tell you that I’ve only seen those with Pierce Brosnan since I am a loyal fan of that incredibly eatable man ;-)

I saw the latest Bond film – Casino Royale – a couple of weekends ago; I believe it was the very first weekend that the film was screened in India (now that’s impressive for a Bond-indifferent person). I won’t say I was bored or that I didn’t enjoy the film – but yes, I definitely didn’t see anything worth raving about…so, the dude believes he’s Spiderman (or was it Superman?), so the dude beats up a bunch of people and manages to extract information from them, so the dude has a soft-spot for hot babes…umm, tell me which leading man in an “action” film doesn’t have all the above characteristics?

I can’t compare the latest Bond with his predecessors, except perhaps for Brosnan – and I have to say this…I’ve been re-watching the Brosnan Bond films the last two days, and the sheer style, charm and smoothness of that man make all those bizarre stunts easier to digest! I mean really – wrecking half a city with a tank, just because you have to rescue the babe? For that matter, do tanks swerve that fast and that smoothly? The only reason I wasn’t rolling my eyes and snorting in disbelief was the presence of Brosnan in the same frame – and I’m quite sure that’s the reason behind the success of all those many Bond films – the film-makers obviously chose their Bond carefully. There are those who are drooling over this latest guy (I don’t even remember his name; I had to google it, beat that?) – give me Brosnan any day and I’ll happily convert to a Bond fan! ;-)

In the pipeline :–

• A Good Year (am going to see this one, since it’s based on a Peter Mayle script and it features one of my favourite French songs – Lolita, by Alizée – hopefully the French countryside will help me ignore Russel Crowe’s presence in the film!)
• Busier, longer days with more than one class a day – it’s going to be 4-6 hours of French a day from next week! Yippee???
  

On my bed-side table :- Malaria – Susan Hill Mori, Paroles – Jacques Prévert, Le Français Dans Le Monde (a magazine for FLE professors, i.e those who teach French as a foreign language)

What Do You Say...

When someone tells you that the moon in all its sublime glory can’t be more beautiful than you?

But But But...

It’s been a tiring week and I’m feeling awful about not having written to friends even though I’ve been back for over a week now, not to mention not being able to accomplish everything on my agenda. Time just seems to slip out of fingers like loose sand and before I know it, it’s already past midnight and I still have a dozen odd-things left to complete. I shouldn’t complain – I’ve got pretty much what I asked for and it’s not like it’s been all work and no play. Despite the fact that I’m now working weekends, this weekend was much fun, with a movie, lunch and a soirée organized by my students. Actually managed to dodge a potentially traumatic weekend merely by keeping myself occupied from 6 a.m to way past midnight! But…there’s always a BUT, isn’t there?

I don’t know…while it’s wonderful to be so busy, to be on my feet and constantly doing something and putting those grey cells to work, I’m finding myself wishing for something more. What I really need right now is…

- Someone who will hold my hand and tell me that it will be alright, someone who will just hold me and be there for me when I’m feeling so incredibly tired of putting up a brave front, when all my reserves are wearing thin and when I’m reeling desperately out of control.
- To organize myself into some kind of a routine, that helps me balance work (which is surprisingly becoming more and more challenging by the day) and studies, along with my other responsibilities.
- But what I need more than anything else is for Papa to tell me that what I’m doing and what I plan to do is the right thing…

Why...

Do I have this over-whelming urge to stick my head in sand?

20/20

When I packed my bags before I left for Bombay, it was with some trepidation – I didn’t know what to expect from the “stage” – all I knew that I was going to Bombay for a fortnight, something that will probably not happen again for a very long time. To say, that I’ve returned satisfied with my experience would be an understatement. The programme was dense, to say the least, and there were many days when I left the center feeling the burden of information over-load and grasping for words in English, having spent 8-10 hours with the French language and the best ways to teach it! (Yes, it led to much exasperation and frustration for my dear friends who had to bear the brunt of my “Frenchification” and at least one of them got back by talking to me in Marathi !) I hadn’t counted on the programme being this demanding, intense and exhausting – I definitely hadn’t imagined that I’d come down with fever and have to take class when I was burning with temperature! But it was worth it – all of it, from getting up at 5.15 am daily and commuting to other corner of the city, and then putting in 8-10 hours of work before heading back home…

The amount I’ve learnt in this short span has made me realize just how much more I still have to learn – it’s also made me painfully aware of my short-comings and the areas where I need to work and improve myself. Needless to say, if I were to re-do my self-evaluation post, I’d probably give myself a 6 on 10 – maybe a 7, but that’s only ‘coz I’d be cutting myself some slack for being a “professeur debutante”! On the other hand, I can’t deny the fact that I see an improvement in myself – in terms of fluency with the language, comfort levels with Didactic theory and the related notions and ofcourse my class preparation – I’m putting in a lot more time and effort into my class plans and I can already see the results in class!

While the “stage” was complete success, at least from the point of view of pedagogic training, social angle was…interesting! Surprisingly, I got along with everybody in the group and had quite a bit of fun as well – there were also many moments of pure mirth and befuddlement at the attitudes and behavior of some of my "co-stagiaires"!

I didn’t quite manage to do everything I had planned, or meet even half the people I’d wanted to meet, but I finally got to spend a reasonable amount of time with my closest friend and with another dear friend. Strangely, in hindsight, even that time doesn’t seem enough! Squeezed in a rendezvous with another friend, with whom I haven’t spent time since last year – that was a nice evening. Spent a day with the parents of another close friend – and was hit very hard by how much I miss her and the reality that we truly have chosen our different paths and life is taking us all far away from each other. If our friendship had to pass tests before, this one’s going to be the toughest!

Met people about whom I’d heard a lot and had been itching to meet for over a year now – and apart from the fact that it involved watching one strange film with too many brains being blown out, it was an extremely fun evening! Make that three evenings and one very satisfying dinner-n-dessert! There was also this one painfully catastrophic night, which I’d like to pretend didn’t happen – but unfortunately it did, and I have no option but to face up to the fact that amongst my eccentric friends, there also exist(ed) some truly weird personalities which I can do without.

Apart from that…

I’m glad I went to - the Hard Rock Café with Aristera and A.S – the combination of rocking music and good company went down quite well with the beer.
I blew up money on – books and music at Landmark, stationary at Chimanlal, chappals at Colaba Causeway, a facial and radically short hair-cut (for me) at a nieghbourhood salon.
I was zapped and then just died of amusement when - I was addressed as Kundamini, Pratibha and even Gajgamini in class by a forgetful formatrice!

I’ve tried hard to sum up the experience in one word but I’m afraid it’s a motley of words that I’ve come up with – enriching, frustrating, fulfilling, exhausting, satisfying, thrilling, enlightening!

Mes Affaires

Voilà – mes affaires!

A hopeless romantic who is boringly sensible and quite practical, even though undeniably eccentric – what else would you expect on her bed-side table?

White Mischief

We had a guest for two days – Schnapps, our adorably regal cocker spaniel fathered eight cute puppies two months ago. As the rules of mating dogs state, we got one of the puppies – unfortunately with a zoo already running at home (Schnapps, Shaurya, Shaurya’s dad – my brother and some fish) there was no way we could have kept “chicklet” without risking our sanity! So it was that when the uber-adorable puppy had to be given away (luckily, a friend has adopted him, so I’ll get to meet him regularly)…

Chicklet, as I started calling him is the most affectionate puppy and the first dog to enter our home, who was following ME around and not Bhaiyya. I melted within seconds when he wriggled his plump little body onto my foot, curled up and fell asleep there! He was following me around everywhere, would mewl and wait outside the bathroom, wake me up in the morning by nibbling on my fingers – ofcourse he also had my work chalked up by his incessant urinating! I fell in love anyway…miss the little chap scampering around our home!

- Off to Tinsel town for nearly a fortnight. Officially, to attend a “Stage Pédagogique” and get trained rigorously as a debutante professeur du réseau Alliance Française, which shall hopefully give me a helping hand up that ladder of professional progress. Unofficially, for twelve days of complete freedom and letting down my hair! :-) There’s loads of people to meet, tons of catching up to do, crazy amount of fun to be had – shall toss in some serious back-breaking work as well and voilà the Quintessential Bombay Life that I miss all the time! Now that’s what I call living the life!

The Constant Gardener (2005)

I went for the film like an ignorant viewer – I hadn’t heard of the film, didn’t know it was based on the novel by John Le Carré and definitely didn’t know that it had won accolades at the Oscars. It was the opening film for the European Film festival organized jointly by the Alliance Française de Poona, Max Mueller Bhavan - Pune and the British Council - Pune at the Natinal Film Archives of India, Law college road, Pune – and that’s all I knew about it.

In a way my ignorance turned out to be for the good, since I went with absolutely no expectations and definitely no idea what the film was about! I walked away silenced and quite disturbed by the film’s portrayal of the immense betrayal and the double-standards that continue to be practiced by the “colonizers” against the “colonized” even though I was well aware that it still isn’t an equal world. The extent to which the “third-world” countries are exploited by the super-powers (in this case against the backdrop of the powerful pharmaceutical industry and a drugs being developed to combat killer diseases) has been brought to light with an almost brutal efficiency – the silences and the vast landscapes of Africa bring to fore the stark reality that we all pretend doesn’t exist. Even now, weeks after seeing the film I can’t obliterate the image of the white birds circling over a bleak terrain characterized by dry bushes, fecund swamps and a wildness that doesn’t even spare its human inhabitants. Even now I get goose bumps when the strains of the haunting African soundtrack flash through my mind. Yet, despite this impact the film has had on me, I know I’m not going to do anything about it, that I shall move onto the next topic of interest and this too shall fade away forgotten in the pursuit of more inane matters. And I think to myself – am I any better than those that colonize(d), oppress(ed) and exploit(ed)?

The film is definitely worth watching for its brilliant treatment of subject and for the acting par excellence by Ralph Fiennes – I am, however, not convinced by recognition Rachel Weisz got for her role that made its impact more by its absence than its presence. The character certainly deserves a mention, but in terms of acting – from my point of view, she was barely around to act and it certainly wasn’t exceptional! Ralph Fiennes, on the other hand, is superlative, as usual!

Instant Gratification

Oh come on, don’t give me those looks! Haven’t you seen all those issues of Cosmopolitan and the like, screaming about how instant gratification is the thing in today’s world of instant-this and instant-that? So, anyways, since I need some instant mood boosters right now, I’m going to talk about instant pick-me-ups (talking about my mood here people, rein in that imagination!)

• Head-banging to Bon Jovi with the volume at an ear-splitting level that is sure to make the neighbours raise their eyes heaven-wards praying for deliverance! (they were probably doing that this morning, since the song playing was Born to Be My Baby by the one and only!)
• Waking up at the crack of dawn to the sight of the sun-rays piercing through the cottony clouds, the smell of freshly watered earth and the sound of nothing else but the fan whirring in the room.
• Slipping into my oldest and most comfortable pair of jeans – yep the same ones that hug my body so faithfully and have that green spot right below the knee, marking me as a messy painter. They may look like they need to be shown the way to the trash-can but no other pair makes me feel sexier ;-)
• Being the recipient of that one comment of appreciation in the middle of a frustrating day – nothing like a little ego massage to make me feel a lot better!
• Switch on the television to find one of my all-time favourite numbers playing on VH1 (it was King of Wishful Thinking by Go West, this morning)…
• Escape a boring (yawn) session of food/clothes/relative gossip talk at a soporific dinner party, to a conversation with one of my wicked buddies. Oh, I’ve done this so often!
• Being gifted flowers – even a random bunch of wild flowers. Actually better those, than boring roses! *hint hint* (again this happened very recently, so happiness again!)
• Shopping – it doesn’t have to be a truck-load of bags, even walking out of a store with a new set of fun, sexy lingerie, or a new book (don’t you just love the look and feel of a new book that hasn’t been read as yet?), or even some new stationary (I admire my new books for weeks before I can finally convince myself to use them)…retail therapy rocks. Totally. (Had picked up all three last week, so imagine how indulged I was feeling then!)
• Lifting my head from dreary accounting work, at the sound of my phone beeping and read a message from my one of my favourite people.
• Last but not the least - sinking my teeth into a Cognac or a Cointreau filled Lindt chocolate, letting the liqueur flood my mouth as the chocolate slowly melts on my tongue. Sheer ecstasy within seconds.

Recent Film :- Astérix et Obélix: Misson Cléopatre – the one with Monica Belluci (as Cléopatre), Gérard Depardieu and a whole bunch of very good French actors. A totally fun film, and a must watch for Astérix fans. Make sure you go with someone who enjoys Astérix and that particular brand of humour.
Current Books:- Bloodlines by Fred D’Aiguar and Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl.
Current Music:- Free Your Mind by En Vogue (remember them?)
Current Mood:- Strange 'coz I'm in a limbo between downright melancholy and a completely-abnormal elation of sorts.

PS Belated but heartfelt greetings for the festive season to all in Blog-world!

My Current Wallpaper

Self-Evaluation It Seems...

“Why B.A? Why M.A? Why Literature? Do you want to become a teacher/lecturer?”

These questions have dogged me ever since I decided I’m going to take up Arts, and specialize in English Literature. And I’ve doggedly dodged the questions refusing to satisfy anyone’s curiosity or appease their frustrated attempts at making me consider more lucrative career options. My decision to take up French was met with some relief, for most people thought I was aiming for the corporate world and the well-paying field of interpretation. Yet, through-out my under-graduate years and even during post-graduate studies I never, in my wildest (or most sober, if you please) dreams, imagined I’d end up in the teaching profession. I knew I’d do something related to Language and Culture, but what exactly, I wasn’t sure. Frankly back then, even I didn’t know the answer. So when I took up teaching, most people around me weren’t as surprised as I was (specially since I started with the dreaded kid’s course)!

Yesterday was the last day of my fifth session with Alliance Française de Poona. I’ve had a rollicking time this session – it was more of fun and sharing my knowledge, than actual teaching/working. Today, I got a call from an ex-student from my weekend batch, asking me if I’d be teaching a 1B in the next session and I burst out laughing on the phone. The current batch has been asking me the same thing for the last few days – initially I thought they were just asking because of the comfort level that is attained by the end of a session between a teacher and students, which makes you want to continue in the same group – but now I’m beginning to think that perhaps I am a likeable professor, irrespective of the fact that I do make them write a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot!

I don’t think I fit any of the stereotypes one has about teachers, except maybe the fact that I am bespectacled ;-) and that I was a sincere student who had an astonishing 90% attendance in college and expects the same from everyone else ;-) Yeah well, I have high expectations from the world in general! Seriously though, I was thinking about my classes and realized that with my appearance, my attire (faded jeans with glass-paint stains!), my attitude and my antics in class (I talk to myself, I tap my feet and swing my hips when I’m teaching them a song and I threaten to throw my pen-knife at them when they make silly mistakes), it’s a little wonder that I have such an easy, relaxed relationship with my students. Plus I’ve lost my cool only thrice and am generally quite lenient, since I think my students are old enough to decide where their priorities lie and thus old enough to choose between responsibility and discipline and the opposite.

I attended an Alliance Française organized cultural event yesterday with some of my students (a Nouveau-Cirque group that calls itself “Méli-Mélo” )…my brother was also there with his partner and after the event, they both had one thing to say – that they would never have guessed I was their teacher, not their friend, if not for the fact, that most of them address me as “Ma’am” (atleast the ones younger to me – still can’t get them to call me Mademoiselle)! I’m not quite sure how to react to it, but I do know that it feels nice when my students stay in touch and want to continue with me as their teacher. I’m guessing that means I rock as a teacher. I think I’d give myself an 8 on 10 ;-)

P.S The current batch has done quite well, making me even prouder of them, than I already was, after having replaced a colleague for 4 days and walking away from that class horrified at their lack of comprehension and required level of fluency, not to mention complete lack of discipline!

P.P.S The Nouveau Cirque performance was amazing – I’m not sure I managed to interpret it correctly (the main theme being the delicate balance and transition from childhood to adulthood and the over-all absurdity of our existence), but in terms of performance it was a really well-executed and entertaining display of acrobatics, gymnastics combined with dance and mime. The backdrop of the Shaniwar-wada fort highlighted the absurdity of their act, though the acoustics could have been better had it been in a closed auditorium or else at least quieter environs, not bang in the center of the old city and one of the most traffic-congested areas of the city.

Current Music :- Pretty Child by Indus Creed.
Current Book :- Nearly done with Perfume – it’s made my hair stand at ends, yet drawn me to it, like a moth is drawn to fire. It’s definitely not a book that you can read, without any kind of reaction. Perhaps it wouldn’t qualify as high-brow literature (one never knows), but considering the fact that I’ve not been very impressed by most works that are hailed by literary critics these days, I’d rather read something of this sort, than well…other literary trash! *chortling with wicked mirth*
Current Mood :- Satisfied.

Je Suis Contente :-)

At long last, I’m sitting in the peaceful haven of own environs, in front of my computer, with my own headphones clamped firmly into my ears, crooning along to the familiar tunes of Françoise Hardy’s “Tous les garcons et les filles de mon âge” – I could just about sink into an oblivion, so intense and deep-sated is the satisfaction right now.

It’s been a strange, strange three weeks deprived of the computer and thus continuous connection with the “other” world, as it were. Three weeks of enforced isolation and distance from what I considered my only outlet. And this close at the heels of my decision to distance myself physically and emotionally from two people whom I’d grown to love a lot. Expected to feel adrift, lost and lonely (more so, since guardian angel Kitana caught that flight to La France – and I do, so miss her!) – but strangely enough what I found was the peace and content I’d been craving with desperation. It’s been three weeks of re-acquainting myself with the quintessential Geetanjali. It’s been three weeks of learning to love myself again, of letting myself let go and do as I feel. Most importantly it’s been three weeks of being in control of my life and making things happen for me…and of smiling from within, once again.

Current Mood :- Optimistic. Light-hearted.
Current Music :- Hasta La Vista – Mc Solaar (merci encore une fois Kitana – j’ai finalement écouté les chansons que tu m’as donnée le dernière fois que j’étais chez toi. Ma pirate préfèrée..je t’embrasse ma chère !)
Current Book :- Perfume by Patrick Suskind (a most riveting read vis-à-vis the descriptions of perfumes, as well as the hair-raisingly bizarre plot)

Grihasthashrama

Friday 29th September 2006

I woke up with an uncanny feeling that something's changed...well not really, just woke up to see plenty of missed calls and messages from people who wanted to wish me at midnight, but forgot my eccentric habit of putting my phone on silent. I'm now 25 years old - a quarter of my life has whizzed past me, and I'm still not half as intelligent as I'd like to be, nor have I found what I"m looking for...and then there are those who remind me I've entered Grihasthashrama and should think of "settling down" - *puke*

I thought I had a nice materialistic gift-list which included Anne Hathway's wardrobe from the film The Devil Wears Prada, books, music, flowers, chocolates...but that morning as I read my messages and spoke to my friends, I realised all I really wanted was Papa...obviously not a gift anyone in this world is capable of giving me...

Didn't want to do anything special, but three days later, I'm still reeling under the whole Birthday after-effect. Messages, phone calls, cards, cakes (yes in plural, five to be precise), flowers, visits from unexpected and expected quarters, gifts, lunch treats - everyone (from family, to friends, to students) seems to have worked over-time to make this birthday special...am still recovering from all of it...

Update :- Registered for and started DFA (remember I spoke of it earlier?) last week. This time I didn't tell anyone till after my first class! LOL!

Request :- Am devoid of computer and this the internet, so please bear with my prolonged silences in blogger world and elsewhere on the internet.

Current Book : Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle (a continuation of the Provence series, one of which I read and reviewed some time back)