So the whole discussion started when k started wondering about Lego Mindstorms possibilities! He bought himself a little toy over the weekend but I will let him do the honors and describe it with a page long essay, I will focus on what he thought his toy should be made to do.
"What if the robot could shop for us?! Then we don't have to go every weekend for groceries!"
This whole discussion occurred just outside our local Indian grocery store, Sagar and it left me puzzled. I actually look forward to going to Sagar every weekend. I mean, I am not a "Wheee! I love shopping" kind of girl but I do like to go to Sagar, read the desi ads on the store window, linger over the big pile of video cassettes and DVDs and I like to see human activity around me :p, greet and be greeted by familiar faces, once a week.
k on the other hand cannot understand why he should be pulled away from his robot for a precious half-hour to buy fresh curry leaves and expensive toor dal :)
And since we have had this discussion several times and have just agreed to disagree on the topic, I'll just file this aside as another one of those guy-girl things that I never seem to "get".
I rented out a Hindi DVD, Gangster this week, at least I have my excuse for my next weekend visit, "We have to return the DVD! It's a new movie and it's been lying here for a week!"
July 30, 2006
July 26, 2006
Daydreams...
Do you ever get the feeling that you are approaching the edge of a cliff? You have no idea what’s going to greet you once you reach the top, all you see is the few steps separating you from the top…and you wonder in the space and time that separates you, if you will find your destiny there, if it will be an epiphany that makes you a new person, a feeling of freedom, a moment of magic that changes you completely, a vista opened up for you to absorb…
Or perhaps such fantasies remain just the mere subject of day dreams filling the minds of lazy souls and what you see is just reality, no miracle to sweep you off your feet, just life as expected, everything as you would expect them to be…and then you will probably make your way back with drooping shoulders and nothing to show the people standing down but the tiredness of your feet...who knows? Life changes in an instant, doesn’t it? Maybe that instant will be mine in a few…
You don’t ever get that feeling? Sometimes, like now, I do and I eagerly await the breeze to embrace me, at the top of the cliff, and sway my existence to wisps of nothingness, until I feel light and free…my thoughts, myself and my body, all weightless and dream-like, dispersed everywhere with no boundaries, to experience...life.
Or perhaps such fantasies remain just the mere subject of day dreams filling the minds of lazy souls and what you see is just reality, no miracle to sweep you off your feet, just life as expected, everything as you would expect them to be…and then you will probably make your way back with drooping shoulders and nothing to show the people standing down but the tiredness of your feet...who knows? Life changes in an instant, doesn’t it? Maybe that instant will be mine in a few…
You don’t ever get that feeling? Sometimes, like now, I do and I eagerly await the breeze to embrace me, at the top of the cliff, and sway my existence to wisps of nothingness, until I feel light and free…my thoughts, myself and my body, all weightless and dream-like, dispersed everywhere with no boundaries, to experience...life.
July 25, 2006
UPDATE blog SET content = {SELECT random-thoughts FROM RS} WHERE theme ='quirky'
Movie Update: The past two weeks have been "Bollywood vaaaaram" for me, watched a whole bunch of Masala movies: 36 China Town, Fanaa, Shaadi Se Pehle, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, Malamaal Weekly and Krishhh (yet to watch)...whew!
Book Update: Still working on “The Monk who sold his Ferrari”, it says we need to rise with the sun. I really want to do that, at least once in my life! “I am that” – talks with Sri Nisargadatta is next (My library was sweet enough to get the book for me :)
Dream Update: I woke up remembering bits of a really strange dream, that I was still not married and my parents were selecting a guy for me. I was actually chatting with this guy and talking to him on phone…I vaguely remember dreaming that he was cute, he also looked a bit like k but had morphed features from a number of familiar yet unfamiliar faces (this is such a common occurrence in my dreams – the face is so familiar, but I can’t place one name on it!). How does this dream process work anyway? I am pretty sure my subconscious was not mulling over anything related to a wedding, especially mine :)
Quirky Update: So, I bought this chapstick at the airport and it was kind of frozen. So, I left it out in my car so that it becomes a bit more goooey, and it did. When I opened it the next time, a tube full of liquid squirted out on me and promptly solidified. Never try to melt a stubborn solidified chapstick.
Talk Update: We were discussing work, vacation and time-off and what we would do if we took a half-day off and I remembered the time k did that. When I came home in the evening, a tasty aroma wafted from the kitchen, books and magazines were neatly piled up on the table and everything was in it’s place. He opened the door with a ladle in hand and a welcoming smile, I almost had the urge to say, “Honey, I am home!” but then I didn’t have the hat to toss :)
Acronym Update: Heard of SAHM? What?! You don’t know about Stay-at-home-moms? Bus told me about S/D-INK (Single/Double-Income No Kids). Hmm…we learn something new every day!
Article Update: Here's a nice article by Shobhaa De.
Food Update: Tried to be healthy and all and cooked brown rice! Pretty good for a first attempt!
“Mental” Update: Sometimes life’s just a series of rewinds and reruns. That’s what makes it so hard to live in the present, as the wise men say. They must be really wise, those men, they sure had a lot of things to say.
Book Update: Still working on “The Monk who sold his Ferrari”, it says we need to rise with the sun. I really want to do that, at least once in my life! “I am that” – talks with Sri Nisargadatta is next (My library was sweet enough to get the book for me :)
Dream Update: I woke up remembering bits of a really strange dream, that I was still not married and my parents were selecting a guy for me. I was actually chatting with this guy and talking to him on phone…I vaguely remember dreaming that he was cute, he also looked a bit like k but had morphed features from a number of familiar yet unfamiliar faces (this is such a common occurrence in my dreams – the face is so familiar, but I can’t place one name on it!). How does this dream process work anyway? I am pretty sure my subconscious was not mulling over anything related to a wedding, especially mine :)
Quirky Update: So, I bought this chapstick at the airport and it was kind of frozen. So, I left it out in my car so that it becomes a bit more goooey, and it did. When I opened it the next time, a tube full of liquid squirted out on me and promptly solidified. Never try to melt a stubborn solidified chapstick.
Talk Update: We were discussing work, vacation and time-off and what we would do if we took a half-day off and I remembered the time k did that. When I came home in the evening, a tasty aroma wafted from the kitchen, books and magazines were neatly piled up on the table and everything was in it’s place. He opened the door with a ladle in hand and a welcoming smile, I almost had the urge to say, “Honey, I am home!” but then I didn’t have the hat to toss :)
Acronym Update: Heard of SAHM? What?! You don’t know about Stay-at-home-moms? Bus told me about S/D-INK (Single/Double-Income No Kids). Hmm…we learn something new every day!
Article Update: Here's a nice article by Shobhaa De.
Food Update: Tried to be healthy and all and cooked brown rice! Pretty good for a first attempt!
“Mental” Update: Sometimes life’s just a series of rewinds and reruns. That’s what makes it so hard to live in the present, as the wise men say. They must be really wise, those men, they sure had a lot of things to say.
July 18, 2006
A motley post.
Hmm...it's 4.45 PM, so if we leave in half an hour, I can have a light tiffin, maybe bread with honey. Do we have bread at home? I wonder if we get that super-soft Sara Lee bread at Kroger...hmm, else we can stop by at Meijers and buy bread and some butter milk, maybe pick a Hindi movie from Sagar.
# # # random thoughts # # #
Man! my leg aches, am I not exercising enough? Or did I over-exert myself at the swimming pool yesterday? I really have to start lifting weights else I am headed towards Carpal Tunnel for sure!
# # # random thoughts # # #
If I find time, maybe I can arrange the pantry, it's really a mess...drat! I forgot to use the strawberries and it's been a week, so much for my strawberry spinach salad!
# # # random thoughts # # #
I have to, have to do my laundry today. Maybe I can put my clothes in the washer, finish vacuuming the kitchen...I need to arrange the closet and drop the big bundle lying in the trunk, at Salvation army...I wonder what k's mom would think if she saw the state my closet is in!
# # # random thoughts # # #
Let's see, it's 5 PM, If I leave now, I can...
Ping! A chat window appears on my screen:
K - "Hey! I am going to play TT here, be back in half an hour."
Sigh...so much for my over-active trail of thoughts and frenzied planning. Back to ajax or comet or whatever cleaning product is hot for web-based apps now!
Also, new story up. If you have nothing better to do - oh, come on, whom are you kidding now? Stop playing that stupid cycle game :) and do check it out.
I also changed the layout of my blog a bit because unlike you, I have lots of time - I don't play stupid cycle game :)
# # # random thoughts # # #
Man! my leg aches, am I not exercising enough? Or did I over-exert myself at the swimming pool yesterday? I really have to start lifting weights else I am headed towards Carpal Tunnel for sure!
# # # random thoughts # # #
If I find time, maybe I can arrange the pantry, it's really a mess...drat! I forgot to use the strawberries and it's been a week, so much for my strawberry spinach salad!
# # # random thoughts # # #
I have to, have to do my laundry today. Maybe I can put my clothes in the washer, finish vacuuming the kitchen...I need to arrange the closet and drop the big bundle lying in the trunk, at Salvation army...I wonder what k's mom would think if she saw the state my closet is in!
# # # random thoughts # # #
Let's see, it's 5 PM, If I leave now, I can...
Ping! A chat window appears on my screen:
K - "Hey! I am going to play TT here, be back in half an hour."
Sigh...so much for my over-active trail of thoughts and frenzied planning. Back to ajax or comet or whatever cleaning product is hot for web-based apps now!
Also, new story up. If you have nothing better to do - oh, come on, whom are you kidding now? Stop playing that stupid cycle game :) and do check it out.
I also changed the layout of my blog a bit because unlike you, I have lots of time - I don't play stupid cycle game :)
July 13, 2006
Back to Normal?
So here I am, typing something inane on a blank document as a city tries to forget what should not be forgotten and limps back to normal. But “normal” for Bombay has changed…
Here is a city that pretends to go about it’s routine tasks as if it has not witnessed something terrible - an attempt to destroy the very cogs that make it function, like a well-oiled machine, is that normal?
Where there was not enough place to stand on both feet, where people were happy to swing with one foot in the compartment and the other dangling out just relieved that they had managed to catch the train, now there is place to actually sit on the seats. The same guy who dangled from the edge of the train now checks under the seats before sitting down, is that normal?
k’s cousin, Hardik who boarded the very same compartment that was blown to bits at Mahim now relives the terrifying scene every day even as the doctors have declared him fit to go home, he has cried not just once…relieved that he is alive or stricken that he would have to live with memories that cannot be erased? Will life be normal for him again?
Back in Madras, my mom tells me about my brother’s friends who wonder what unknown power still lets them live, breathe, feel…alive. They both usually board the same trains at the same time, on Tuesday, one decided to take the bus “for a change” and the other had an accident recently and stayed back because the doctor had advised bed-rest. Lucky souls in an unlucky time. Will life be normal for them?
And here in the US, as I fearfully clicked on a link that declared that there were blasts in Mumbai, as I anxiously scanned more articles online and then even more frantically dialed the 15 digits that I can now dial in my sleep, over and over again, as I imagined the unimaginable for those few minutes that it took for me to talk to familiar, tinny voices so many miles away…I wondered if it was all worth it? Did I feel guilty because I was so far away, safe in my cocoon while Bombay burned? Did I feel helpless that I could do nothing? Selfishly happy that my brother who works in Bombay was at Madras for a short vacation and that my in-laws were safe? Or did I just feel plain scared?
So, what’s your point, you ask me. I don’t know. Meaningless rants, emotional trash dumped on you all…anyway, I, will also be “normal” soon, just like Bombay.
God bless Bombay and the spirit of Bombay.
Here is a city that pretends to go about it’s routine tasks as if it has not witnessed something terrible - an attempt to destroy the very cogs that make it function, like a well-oiled machine, is that normal?
Where there was not enough place to stand on both feet, where people were happy to swing with one foot in the compartment and the other dangling out just relieved that they had managed to catch the train, now there is place to actually sit on the seats. The same guy who dangled from the edge of the train now checks under the seats before sitting down, is that normal?
k’s cousin, Hardik who boarded the very same compartment that was blown to bits at Mahim now relives the terrifying scene every day even as the doctors have declared him fit to go home, he has cried not just once…relieved that he is alive or stricken that he would have to live with memories that cannot be erased? Will life be normal for him again?
Back in Madras, my mom tells me about my brother’s friends who wonder what unknown power still lets them live, breathe, feel…alive. They both usually board the same trains at the same time, on Tuesday, one decided to take the bus “for a change” and the other had an accident recently and stayed back because the doctor had advised bed-rest. Lucky souls in an unlucky time. Will life be normal for them?
And here in the US, as I fearfully clicked on a link that declared that there were blasts in Mumbai, as I anxiously scanned more articles online and then even more frantically dialed the 15 digits that I can now dial in my sleep, over and over again, as I imagined the unimaginable for those few minutes that it took for me to talk to familiar, tinny voices so many miles away…I wondered if it was all worth it? Did I feel guilty because I was so far away, safe in my cocoon while Bombay burned? Did I feel helpless that I could do nothing? Selfishly happy that my brother who works in Bombay was at Madras for a short vacation and that my in-laws were safe? Or did I just feel plain scared?
So, what’s your point, you ask me. I don’t know. Meaningless rants, emotional trash dumped on you all…anyway, I, will also be “normal” soon, just like Bombay.
God bless Bombay and the spirit of Bombay.
July 05, 2006
About alternate lives, old friends and power cuts (this is one of those posts).
I wonder if it’s just me. I have this compulsive reaction to people and their places – to put myself in their shoes and imagine how life would be for me (as them), if you know what I mean. I do it all the time, when I visit the post office, the bank, Office Depot, Best Buy, yesterday it was HhGregg!
I watch the sales rep at HhGregg help us with our microwave purchase, I watch the teller count the currency notes at the bank, the friendly post office lady tell me the charge for my India packages and I always wonder how life would be if I were to be them.
What if I worked at the post office, wearing my smart grayish blue uniform, weighing letters and packages and answering questions posed to me in different accents, sitting under the ceiling fan (there are there in our local post office and for some reason ceiling fans always capture my fancy because I see them so rarely), would I make any friends there? What would I talk to my colleagues there at lunch?
What if I didn't work and had more time (the lack of which I complain about every other day), would I actually sign up for those yoga, swing dancing and keyboard classes? Or would I just make myself like "Manaivi" and such exciting soaps on TV (recently I realized the American ones are just as bad)? Would I be one of those oooh-my-dress-has-to-coordinate-with-the-house genteel hostesses with perfect nails and a perfect house?
Such a weird trail of thoughts but it happens all the time...
* * *
Another of the is-it-just-me mulls – ever gone back to visit old friends having this image in your head of them that you have carried from the last time you met them (which may range from a few to a several years)? And then you notice small changes? Essentially, they are still the same person with the same quirks but them many more quirks have joined the wagon and several other factors play a role now to dictate how they talk, how they react, how they spend their time…but then you catch a bit of the old college slang, a facial expression, a gesture that reminds you of old times and a younger you and them…when things were less complicated, when you felt more at home, more to act on an impulse and say just what you feel…now you think for a second before you speak and that second makes you wonder what has changed...still, is fun to catch up and reminisce of times when we were younger, more foolish and probably had more fun?
* * *
Okay, I see the "You are a weird one" look nice and clear(come on, haven't you got used to these kinda posts by now?!), so, I’ll proceed to talk about more normal happenings around here. Yesterday and today, after heavy rains, we had a power cut! The first sign was the alarm clock blanking out on me this morning, (thank God I had set a backup alarm on my cell phone), then I wondered what we would do for hot water (the water decided to come out hot for a short while and we managed to get ready quickly!), we couldn’t have coffee (read – two cranky zombies driving to work), and then the unexpected side-effect – we couldn’t use the automatic garage opener, so early morning, we sleepily read through the garage manual and figured out how to open it manually. It will be interesting to cook tonight without electricity (now I see why gas ranges are just as popular as electric ranges!)
So, that’s all (as Meryl Streep puts it oh-so-saucily in “The Devil Wears Prada” - watch it, it’s fun!)
I watch the sales rep at HhGregg help us with our microwave purchase, I watch the teller count the currency notes at the bank, the friendly post office lady tell me the charge for my India packages and I always wonder how life would be if I were to be them.
What if I worked at the post office, wearing my smart grayish blue uniform, weighing letters and packages and answering questions posed to me in different accents, sitting under the ceiling fan (there are there in our local post office and for some reason ceiling fans always capture my fancy because I see them so rarely), would I make any friends there? What would I talk to my colleagues there at lunch?
What if I didn't work and had more time (the lack of which I complain about every other day), would I actually sign up for those yoga, swing dancing and keyboard classes? Or would I just make myself like "Manaivi" and such exciting soaps on TV (recently I realized the American ones are just as bad)? Would I be one of those oooh-my-dress-has-to-coordinate-with-the-house genteel hostesses with perfect nails and a perfect house?
Such a weird trail of thoughts but it happens all the time...
Another of the is-it-just-me mulls – ever gone back to visit old friends having this image in your head of them that you have carried from the last time you met them (which may range from a few to a several years)? And then you notice small changes? Essentially, they are still the same person with the same quirks but them many more quirks have joined the wagon and several other factors play a role now to dictate how they talk, how they react, how they spend their time…but then you catch a bit of the old college slang, a facial expression, a gesture that reminds you of old times and a younger you and them…when things were less complicated, when you felt more at home, more to act on an impulse and say just what you feel…now you think for a second before you speak and that second makes you wonder what has changed...still, is fun to catch up and reminisce of times when we were younger, more foolish and probably had more fun?
Okay, I see the "You are a weird one" look nice and clear(come on, haven't you got used to these kinda posts by now?!), so, I’ll proceed to talk about more normal happenings around here. Yesterday and today, after heavy rains, we had a power cut! The first sign was the alarm clock blanking out on me this morning, (thank God I had set a backup alarm on my cell phone), then I wondered what we would do for hot water (the water decided to come out hot for a short while and we managed to get ready quickly!), we couldn’t have coffee (read – two cranky zombies driving to work), and then the unexpected side-effect – we couldn’t use the automatic garage opener, so early morning, we sleepily read through the garage manual and figured out how to open it manually. It will be interesting to cook tonight without electricity (now I see why gas ranges are just as popular as electric ranges!)
So, that’s all (as Meryl Streep puts it oh-so-saucily in “The Devil Wears Prada” - watch it, it’s fun!)
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