A piece of fabric so intricately woven,
Graceful falls, elegant designs.
When adorned nothing need be spoken,
'Epitome of grace and beauty', it redefines.
Six yards of Silk, Georgette or Cotton,
Violet, blue, green, red, black or even burgundy.
Combining various shades of colours long forgotten,
It transforms her into an ethereal beauty.
A dash of eye shadow, a dab of lipstick,
A spray of seductive perfume.
The twilight flattering her lock's mystique,
Their peace of mind, she consumes.
The Saree is an exquisite enigma,
Making heads turn is its intent.
"Thou shalt intensify her beauty", its dogma,
Six yards of Glamour, Refinement, Shapeliness and Elegance, it represents.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Friday, 20 February 2009
On Mistresses...
Have you ever wondered why men cheat? Is it just a genetic thing? Is it a need for comfort? Or is it just a need to be satisfied, and just one partner doesn’t seem to be enough? Or is it the need for intellectual stimuli?
You never hear of a man cheating on his lover/spouse with someone who is extremely stupid. Generally the mistress is a smart, independent and vivacious individual. Usually the mistress is someone with whom he can talk to about his dreams, aspirations, goals, ambitions and desires. She is someone who understands as she is going through the same thing (if not already been through it). She is the person who is able to talk to him about their common desires, common goals. But she isn't the one who is there for him at the end of the day. She isn't the one who is ether to comfort him and remind him that there is always a tomorrow. However, she is the one with whom he is able to converse and think out loud about whether what he is doing is sensible or not.
The spouse/ lover on the other hand is the one who gives him physical, homely comfort. She is the one who makes sure he is comfortable when he comes home after a tiring day at work. She is the one who is supposed to cook for him. But she isn't the one who he thinks can understand what work he has, what he does, what is important for him. She isn't the one who knows what he goes through at work, as she isn't there. However, she is the one who is there for him, the one he gets to vent his frustration on, the one he can yell at when he has had a bad day at work.
So whom does he choose? Does it really matter? Can’t he have the cake and eat it too? Well, most of the time he does. That is, right until his conscience starts pricking him. Until he realises that he has to make a choice. Does he choose the one who meets his intellectual capacity? The one who shares his dreams and aspirations? The one who is smart and independent and wants to do the same things as him? Or does he choose the one who has always been there for him? The one he gets to come home to after a tiring day at work?
Really, the choice is slightly tough. But if one introspects closely, it really isn’t all that hard. All you have to do is give the right one the choice to be able to do everything the other is doing...
You never hear of a man cheating on his lover/spouse with someone who is extremely stupid. Generally the mistress is a smart, independent and vivacious individual. Usually the mistress is someone with whom he can talk to about his dreams, aspirations, goals, ambitions and desires. She is someone who understands as she is going through the same thing (if not already been through it). She is the person who is able to talk to him about their common desires, common goals. But she isn't the one who is there for him at the end of the day. She isn't the one who is ether to comfort him and remind him that there is always a tomorrow. However, she is the one with whom he is able to converse and think out loud about whether what he is doing is sensible or not.
The spouse/ lover on the other hand is the one who gives him physical, homely comfort. She is the one who makes sure he is comfortable when he comes home after a tiring day at work. She is the one who is supposed to cook for him. But she isn't the one who he thinks can understand what work he has, what he does, what is important for him. She isn't the one who knows what he goes through at work, as she isn't there. However, she is the one who is there for him, the one he gets to vent his frustration on, the one he can yell at when he has had a bad day at work.
So whom does he choose? Does it really matter? Can’t he have the cake and eat it too? Well, most of the time he does. That is, right until his conscience starts pricking him. Until he realises that he has to make a choice. Does he choose the one who meets his intellectual capacity? The one who shares his dreams and aspirations? The one who is smart and independent and wants to do the same things as him? Or does he choose the one who has always been there for him? The one he gets to come home to after a tiring day at work?
Really, the choice is slightly tough. But if one introspects closely, it really isn’t all that hard. All you have to do is give the right one the choice to be able to do everything the other is doing...
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Nobody's Fault But Mine...
My defect is that I'm brown and yellow,
My flaw is that I slither along a crooked line.
My weakness is that I ain't a looker,
Nobody's fault but mine...
My bad luck I'm not bigger,
My vile fortune, on rats I don't dine.
My ill fate I feed on smaller prey,
Nobody's fault but mine..
My rotten luck to have been there,
My abysmal fortune, at the wrong time.
My doomed stars to have been under his blow,
Nobody's fault but mine..
Don't they understand that I am harmless?
Should I move with a 'I am non-poisonous' sign?
Ah, who am I kidding? I'm a snake,
Nobody's fault but mine...
My flaw is that I slither along a crooked line.
My weakness is that I ain't a looker,
Nobody's fault but mine...
My bad luck I'm not bigger,
My vile fortune, on rats I don't dine.
My ill fate I feed on smaller prey,
Nobody's fault but mine..
My rotten luck to have been there,
My abysmal fortune, at the wrong time.
My doomed stars to have been under his blow,
Nobody's fault but mine..
Don't they understand that I am harmless?
Should I move with a 'I am non-poisonous' sign?
Ah, who am I kidding? I'm a snake,
Nobody's fault but mine...
Saturday, 11 October 2008
The mind is a fickle friend,
Scores of thoughts and promises it holds.
Deepest and darkest secrets reside within,
Dreams, are its outlet, I was once told...
Never can you really erase a thought,
No matter how hard you try.
It might have just been for a fleeting moment,
But it's there, and your imaginative juices never run dry.
Good, bad, shocking, no matter what,
They're all in there.
Sooner or later, they come creeping out,
Dreams, naked to your soul, they bare...
Scores of thoughts and promises it holds.
Deepest and darkest secrets reside within,
Dreams, are its outlet, I was once told...
Never can you really erase a thought,
No matter how hard you try.
It might have just been for a fleeting moment,
But it's there, and your imaginative juices never run dry.
Good, bad, shocking, no matter what,
They're all in there.
Sooner or later, they come creeping out,
Dreams, naked to your soul, they bare...
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
Hummus and Pasta
You know, preparing food for 40 people isn't an easy feat. But then at the same time, it isn't all that hard when you have good company helping you, and a sense of happiness at the thought of feeding others.
The day before, 6 of us decided to prepare pasta and hummus for 4o of our friends while doing the Art Of Living course. So we met up at an aunty's home (I really feel sorry for her, for the mess and all the trouble we put her through) at around 1 pm. Shilpa didi was there to help us only during the initial stages (sigh)... Anyhow we had to make pasta from the wheat variety as we aren't supposed to take maida during the course. Guess what brilliant thing I did? I put the pasta for boiling, without adding any oil and before allowing the water to boil. So the most obvious thing happened-the pasta coagulated and became like some goo!! We had to wash it under the tap and separate the stands and then keep it aside while we prepared the second batch. That thankfully came out well as Bala added olive oil before adding the pasta :)
So while the pasta was ready, we took butter, olive oil, fenugreek powder and some salt and mixed it in a huge pan on a low flame. We added mushrooms and tomatoes and loads of water to make the base slightly liquidy. We then added the pasta and prepared the first batch (which still ended up looking like some thick sticky substance!). Anyway we also made the second batch, which was a success, and mixed the two (to even out the sticky substance!!).
Now we started to make the hummus. Boy, this was fun!! Grinding chickpeas at an alarming rate as current was scheduled to go at 5 pm(load shedding), Mayur frantically kept adding the chickpeas to the grinder and scooping out the mashed paste! Isai kneaded it properly and was removing the unground peas. Bala and I were making the butter base with tulsi powder, lime and salt. Guess what happened... The current didn't go!! Jai Gurudev. We managed to make the hummus with 45 minutes to go till serving time. (By the way, I'm glad none of the people eating saw the snaps we took of the food in the "preparing" process. I'm sure none of them would have wanted to eat! - But the end result was good, mind you!)
We applied tonnes of hummus on the bread slices (almost as thick as the slice itself!) and garnished it with slices to tomatoes. After that we cleaned up Aunty's kitchen, washed what ever dishes she would let us wash, packed everything and rushed to the centre.
There we prepared Tang with ice cold water and served the food on the plates and waited for the break when we would serve the meal.
The looks on our friend's faces is something I'm never going to forget. Joy, happiness, wonder, amazement - you name it and it was there! And the happiness that was welling up inside of all of us is another memory that will be etched in my mind forever.
Happiness isn't in only getting materialistic things. It isn't in only listening to praises. It isn't in only being on the receiving end either. It comes when you do something selflessly, with all your heart and not for personal gain, but for others without expecting anything in return. :)
I guess I went all philosophical there, but then it's true. I had an awesome time preparing that meal and I'll be glad to do it all over again :) (i.e. if Aunty will let us vandalise her kitchen once again!!)
The day before, 6 of us decided to prepare pasta and hummus for 4o of our friends while doing the Art Of Living course. So we met up at an aunty's home (I really feel sorry for her, for the mess and all the trouble we put her through) at around 1 pm. Shilpa didi was there to help us only during the initial stages (sigh)... Anyhow we had to make pasta from the wheat variety as we aren't supposed to take maida during the course. Guess what brilliant thing I did? I put the pasta for boiling, without adding any oil and before allowing the water to boil. So the most obvious thing happened-the pasta coagulated and became like some goo!! We had to wash it under the tap and separate the stands and then keep it aside while we prepared the second batch. That thankfully came out well as Bala added olive oil before adding the pasta :)
So while the pasta was ready, we took butter, olive oil, fenugreek powder and some salt and mixed it in a huge pan on a low flame. We added mushrooms and tomatoes and loads of water to make the base slightly liquidy. We then added the pasta and prepared the first batch (which still ended up looking like some thick sticky substance!). Anyway we also made the second batch, which was a success, and mixed the two (to even out the sticky substance!!).
Now we started to make the hummus. Boy, this was fun!! Grinding chickpeas at an alarming rate as current was scheduled to go at 5 pm(load shedding), Mayur frantically kept adding the chickpeas to the grinder and scooping out the mashed paste! Isai kneaded it properly and was removing the unground peas. Bala and I were making the butter base with tulsi powder, lime and salt. Guess what happened... The current didn't go!! Jai Gurudev. We managed to make the hummus with 45 minutes to go till serving time. (By the way, I'm glad none of the people eating saw the snaps we took of the food in the "preparing" process. I'm sure none of them would have wanted to eat! - But the end result was good, mind you!)
We applied tonnes of hummus on the bread slices (almost as thick as the slice itself!) and garnished it with slices to tomatoes. After that we cleaned up Aunty's kitchen, washed what ever dishes she would let us wash, packed everything and rushed to the centre.
There we prepared Tang with ice cold water and served the food on the plates and waited for the break when we would serve the meal.
The looks on our friend's faces is something I'm never going to forget. Joy, happiness, wonder, amazement - you name it and it was there! And the happiness that was welling up inside of all of us is another memory that will be etched in my mind forever.
Happiness isn't in only getting materialistic things. It isn't in only listening to praises. It isn't in only being on the receiving end either. It comes when you do something selflessly, with all your heart and not for personal gain, but for others without expecting anything in return. :)
I guess I went all philosophical there, but then it's true. I had an awesome time preparing that meal and I'll be glad to do it all over again :) (i.e. if Aunty will let us vandalise her kitchen once again!!)
Friday, 23 May 2008
Wicked Wicked Girl
May 23rd was the day that we-book lovers in Bangalore- would get to meet one of the best novelists of our time.
I reached Landmark in Forum at around 615 pm. After waiting for 45 minutes, the author that everyone in the bookstore had been waiting for arrived at exactly 7pm- the time he was supposed to arrive. The excitement rippling through the air was so electric that you could run the Reva with it! Of course, that sort of excitement was expected, for after all we were seeing the man who wrote books that you couldn't keep down. Books like 'Kane and Abel', 'Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less' etc. Yes, we were meeting with Lord Jeffrey Archer.
Archer mesmerised us with stories about how he began writing to how he has fallen in love with R K Narayan's works.. He then spent a half hour answering our questions. I got to hear all sorts of questions, some weren't even questions but merely remarks or statements. Some were received with applause by the audience, while some others were booed!
After that, at 8pm or so, we stood in a 'queue' to get our books autographed by him. People cursed, people pushed, people swore, and people fainted. Finally I got up on the stage where this great man was sitting and signing books without a pause, and I handed over my pirated copy of his latest novel "A Prisoner of Birth"! He took a look at it, looked at me and said, with a twinkle in his eyes, " This isn't an original... You naughty girl... You're no longer loved!!!" All I could do was laugh at him and thank him profusely for having signed my book nonetheless :)
Anyway, after that I waited a patiently for quite awhile, with my cousin till Archer finished signing over a thousand books. Then I once again went up on stage (as he started doing personalised autographs now), with my pirated book, opened it and ask him to address it to my mother as it was her birthday! He looked at my book, and then took a look at me, and remembered me, as I was the "naughty girl" with the 'fake book'! And then he called me a "wicked girl.. Wicked wicked girl!" and mockingly scolded me for bringing a pirated book for him to sign!, all with an evil grin on his face, shaking his head in mock exasperation!
(Earlier during his half an hour talk, he had mentioned that he knows he is the most read author in the country as usually when he's stuck in traffic jams while commuting, little boys come to sell Archer books to commuters!)
While I was getting my pirated book autographed and he was calling me a wicked girl, someone waiting there said "she's got this form the little boys on the road side!"... I grinned and told Mr. Archer that yes, I had bought it from the road side! He laughed and then finished personalising my book. I had the guts to ask him to pose for a photograph with me, and I held the pirated copy up for everyone to see! I shook Mr. Archer's hand and I thanked him, and told him that his books are simply amazing.
Mr. Archer is one of those few people, who, despite their fame, still remain down to earth and comply with every fan's request, no matter how 'fake' they might be!! He is a true gentleman, and apart from being a fantastic author, he is also an excellent orator :)
You know, being called a "wicked girl" by Lord Jeffrey Archer isn't something I'd feel bad about! I guess I was the only person in the crowd with a copy of his book that wasn't an original! Big deal if he remembered me as the girl who had a pirated book for him to sign!
The bottom line is - he remembered me, right? ;)
Friday, 28 March 2008
Death Reminds Us All....
Death is a silent observer. He takes without warning. He chooses who ever He wants. He has no mercy. He reminds us all that nothing is permanent. Change is the only constant.
Day before yesterday a close friend of mine was taken away, consumed by the Darkness, wiped out from the face of the earth is a moment. Gone. that too when he was becoming responsible, and was realising that he had a task to achieve, a goal to attain.
Reasons for the tragedy are not important. But what is important is the fact that one should not take Life for granted. One should not abuse the gift given to us. One should cherish, respect and treasure the boon called 'life' that has been bestowed upon us.
"Life is too short to be taken seriously", people say. Yes, but life is also too short to be wasted away. Life is too short to be abused.
Death reminds us that He is watching. We buy our time from Him. We should realise that He can snatch it away in a second. We should realise that He is the ultimate judge of how we live our life. If He feels that we aren't fit for living , or if He wants to remind us that He is present, He sure has his way of making his presence felt.
If we believe in God, we should believe in the Devil too. God gives, and Death takes. We should learn to balance both (i.e. what we have been given, and what has been taken from us) and be grateful for what we have, for how much ever time we have it. Life is too short to bear grudges.
Death reminds us all.... He is watching.....
Day before yesterday a close friend of mine was taken away, consumed by the Darkness, wiped out from the face of the earth is a moment. Gone. that too when he was becoming responsible, and was realising that he had a task to achieve, a goal to attain.
Reasons for the tragedy are not important. But what is important is the fact that one should not take Life for granted. One should not abuse the gift given to us. One should cherish, respect and treasure the boon called 'life' that has been bestowed upon us.
"Life is too short to be taken seriously", people say. Yes, but life is also too short to be wasted away. Life is too short to be abused.
Death reminds us that He is watching. We buy our time from Him. We should realise that He can snatch it away in a second. We should realise that He is the ultimate judge of how we live our life. If He feels that we aren't fit for living , or if He wants to remind us that He is present, He sure has his way of making his presence felt.
If we believe in God, we should believe in the Devil too. God gives, and Death takes. We should learn to balance both (i.e. what we have been given, and what has been taken from us) and be grateful for what we have, for how much ever time we have it. Life is too short to bear grudges.
Death reminds us all.... He is watching.....
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