They Said It...

The other day, at work, one of my colleagues had bought a lot delicious goodies for all of us..chocolate rolls, orange rolls, cakes..she had all this mouth watering stuff placed at her desk asking us to help ourselves with them. And people came over, one after the other..some helping themselves to another round of chocolates. I had had a very tasty chocolate roll and was tempted to go for a second helping when a gentleman crossed her desk. She asked him to help himself with the chocolates. To which he responded, "Thanks but no. Body is a temple" and he marched off.
I realised what I should be doing!!!
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I was boarding a lift and in entered a gentleman and a lady. As the gentleman pressed the button to close the lift, it refused to close. He tried pressing it again, this time harder but the lift refused to close. The lady asked him to be gentle saying the lift could be sensitive. To which he responded, "the lift must be a lady to be senstive". Whoa!!

Of Promises and Hope...

Overcast with blanket grey
of clouds that seemed to surmount
hovering above, threatening to split open
the city below lulled in daze
surprised by the change.

There she sat, her eyes grim
unaware of the commotion around her
staring fixatedly at the darkness enveloping above
blinking as the first droplets caressed her cheek
before falling at the ground beneath.

Red and blue, green and yellow
they sprung from nowhere
to adorn the halo around the head-
the umbrellas that bloomed to welcome the rain
bathing in the glory of the season.

She remained frozen, unperturbed by the downpour
her vision piercing through the gathering above
the tears dissolving in the downpour
continuing to flow through with the showers
disguising all along their way.

Around her, moved the din in a sudden spurt
of men and women hastening through puddles
clammering under roofs sheltering from the pours
unaware of her existence amidst them
while she remained as plain as a stone.

Ached her heart, from betrayal of promise

for here had arrived the season of monsoon
the season that had symbolised togetherness
as she had waited for this day
with hope and faith.

Walked away had he, aeons ago
promising to arrive with gait and joy
before the first clouds gathered together
spilling out the showers of the season-
a promise she always believed in.

passing through the days, did she
hold her spirits high and might
as she anticipated the day of her reunion
with the heavens opening up above them
showering with the promise they held.


Now she sat, the promise broken
all alone, her spirits damp
wondering if this was what the truth was,
wondering if the first clouds had gathered earlier
hoping he was on his way.

Tag-Know Your Alphabet

I have been tagged by Srividya. So, here I go. The letters of the alphabet all the way...

A - Available?
Family and friends say I am available for them anytime :)

B – Best Friend
Many from different phases of my life. Each has been a wonderful part of my life and is indeed very special:)

C – Cake or Pie
Hey! choosing between the favourites?? Maybe I would say both:)
Cake:)- my latest fav- Strawberry Cheese Cake:) and my all time craze for Black Forest will never cease. For tea time, I owuld love a carrot cake or Aiyer and Co sponge cake:)
Pie- Apple:)

D – Drink of Choice
Hot filter coffee, steaming, in a tumbler and davara:) anytime:)

E – Essential thing(s) used every day
Lakme Eyeliner, Water, Oxygen:)

F – Favourite Colour
I think each colour brings out a beauty of its own. For instance, the ocean that's deep with blue, God's own country reveberating with green pastures, the horizon showing a tinge of orange...the list is endless

G – Gummi Bears or Worms
Neither

H – Hometown
Coimbatore, Chennai

I – Indulgence
Chocolates, books, dance, music,a warm oil bath,pot of cofee

J – January or February
January for a beginning and for looking forward to
February for sailing along through the year

K – Kids and Names
Hmm..maybe you shoult try googling..you would find loads of names:)

L – Life
Life is beautiful:)

M – Marriage
1+1 = 1x1
I had given this as a topic when I conducted a debate contest in college. I think this summarises what marriage is.

N – Number of siblings
Would cousins count?:)

O –Oranges or Apples
Can I say clementines?
Apples- of course-apple pie, apple tarts, apple juice:)

P – Phobia
Cockroaches

Q – Quote
Live the moment:)

R - Reason to Smile
Hey! Smile and the world smiles with you:)

S – Season
Spring- for the beauty and freshness it brings along with it
Summer-for the melons and lassis and lime juices I drink
Autumn-for shedding and giving an opportunity to start afresh
Winter-for cosying up at home, feeling the chill on the face and the snow:)

T – Tag three people
Viji-Kriti-Phani(I consider them as one as it is going to be on the same blog), Sheelu, Priyamvada

U – Unknown fact about me
Reminds me of the Johari Window. The known and the unknown!!
Don't you think it should be unknown?:)

V – Vegetable you do not like
None- I love food and being a vegetarian I love all vegetables.

W – Worst Habit
Biting Nails (I will definitely get over it)

X-rays you have had
The latest being the one I took before travelling for an onsite project

Y – Your favourite food
Fooood is all that matters. The list is long but let me list a few.
Kaara kozhambu
Veg. Biriyani
Pasta
Sizzlers
Drumstick Sambar with Potato fry
Channa Rice
More Kuzhambu
Avial
Hey..I think I am listing a menu from a multi cuisine restaurant!!

Z – Zodiac
Capricorn

Creamed!!!!

No, I don't feel embarassed to do it. In fact I love doing it.
In fact most of you would have done it at some point of your childhood.

I am talking about splitting a cream biscuit into two and licking the cream off neatly from the biscuit. I still do it. It is one of the pleasures of life- taking a crisp biscuit filled with luxurious cream, splitting it into two, careful enough not to break the slice and then resting the cream filled layer on the tongue. Wow..it's heavenly!

When I was a kid, I used to love 'Bourbon' bisuits because of its delicious chocolate layer inside. I still love Bourbon biscuits. As more marketers came into picture, my preferences became large. I had a whole load of options to choose from:) Still, Bourbon remained my top favourite cream biscuit. The chocolate layer inside was rich enough to tempt anybody, even someone who had vowed to remain on a strong diet plan! And even today, Bourbon biscuits do bring in a memory of my childhood where, in school we used to find these bisuits in our snack boxes, munch them while travelling in the bus....

Soon, Jimjam introduced its jam biscuit. It was certainly a pleasant variation to find the taste of jam within the crispy encounters. And the way the jam used to stick as I used to bite into the biscuit was a pleasure:) And the bright pink packaging certainly appealed to the senses. It was attractive to catch the consumer's eye while shopping. Neat!

Britannia next introduced Pure Magic and this was absolute ecstacy. Imagine rich choclate melting within the territories of your tongue as you engulf into its crispiness. Wow! What a treat it was/is! Two circular biscuits joined together by a rich layer of chocolate cream. It was a treat for a chocolholic like me. Hostel rooms always had a stock of this pack. The purple packaging again was attractive. There was a period when I used to walk down to nearest potti kadai just to buy this pack of biscuit. I used to be hugely disaapointed if I could not find this. I tried dipping this biscuit in tea and it was ultimately heavenly to taste the melting chocolate cream.

I firmly belive that to taste a cream biscuit is to sepearte the two layers of biscuit and polish off the cream inside. Infact, it is the cream that lends flavour to the biscuit.

The Obvious Disparity

My stomach was rumbling. I had just made adai and it was lying in a plate near the gas stove. I opened the fridge to remove the can of milk. As I poured the milk into a bowl, I was immediately transported to the good 'ol days when milk never came in milk cans but was just fresh. I remember how we used to wait for the milk man to come in the evening so tht we could have a cup of fresh steaming coffee.
The timely ring of his cycle bell accompanied with 'Amma, paaal' would be the manner he would announce his arrival. I would immediately rush to the door, with a coupon on one hand, and a steel vessel on the other. He would measure it carefully in his measuring glass and pour in a litre into the vessel I held. I would tell him 'innum konjam vidunga...oru litrekku kammiya thaan viturikeenga'. Invariably, he would have this habit of dropping at least a drop on the kolam which had been drawn to precise perfection irritating me time and again.
And he would grumble and pour and I with a triumphant smile would walk back to my kitchen.
Despite the fact that we used to grumble saying 'paal inniki thanniya irukku', the joy of setting the fresh milk that still had froth on it on the gas stove was immense.
And all this appeared as a vision in my mind as I opened the milk can and poured it into the bowl. Subtle differences- fresh milk or Aavin paal vs canned milk. These differences though are glaring. But we are now used to it as a way of life.
When I was in India all these did not matter. The milkman came in the wee hours of morning and by the time we had woken up and brushed our teeth, steaming hot coffee would be ready. For many of us, the arrival of the milkman was the alarm clock. Combined with MS' ''Venkatesha suprabatham', The Hindu,the steaming coffee would be a treat to all the senses.
There used to be some mornings, very rare, maybe once in a blue moon, when the milk would not arrive on time and we would sulk.
But comparing with what I am today, I understand there is no time to sulk. You need to go, get the milk, ensure there is always stock, else walk down to the super store and buy milk. Skimmed, semi-skimmed, oragnic..the shelves are full of them. I wonder how it would be if our milkman came to every house carrying three milk cans, one containg whole milk, the second carrying semi-skimmed milk and the third carrying skimmed milk. I am sure most of us would not even look at the second and third cans. 'Coffee thick-a irukanum..thanniya irundhaa yeppadi kudikardhu' would be a comment that would ring across the house if you serve filter coffee in skimmed milk.
I come back to reality. These two experinces are vast apart-completely different-yet a part of the same life.
Now, that is indeed philosophical considering the subject of this post!!

The Bridges of Madison County

My eyes are moist. My cheeks are tear stained. And my mind is still. Just conjuring the thoughts of Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson.
I just finished reading 'The Bridges of Madison County'. When I picked up this book, I never realised, I would turn the last page shut with a tear trickling down my face.
Immediately after I completed reading the book, my mind started thinking of all the ways Francesca Johnson would have exhibited her will to stop contacting Robert Kincaid, all the years of self control, all the years when she may have debated within herself if she was doing the right thing by commiting the act of 'adultery' or did she every use that term within her? And yes, what transpired between Richard and Francesca. Did he ever realise what was happening?

I just could not stop myself fromm googling more about this novel and simultaeneously wondering as to whom I was feeling sorry for.All the three for the way destiny had shaped their lives?

And before I could conclude, I chanced upon the results of my googling. And viola! These sites claimed that 'The Bridges of Madison County' was in fact a work of fiction but conceptualised like a true story. I heaved a sigh of relief. And my tears stopped flowing.

I also chanced upon a site where a discussion happened as to why the author, Robert James Waller gave the effect that this was a true story.

The images of the county are still etched in my mind and I can still feel the old truck, the hot summer afternoon, the presence of Robert, Francesca...is this what they mean by the term 'Lasting Effect'?

The Known Unknown

I wrote this last year. I found it as I was rummaging through my old stuff.

...and hence life takes its pace
on a journey that seems like a maze
winding through every nook and corner
at times, making my vision blur.

Embarked I, unknown of my path
the actions and their aftermath
for life presents the unknown
only to be accepted and borne.

I probe further deep into darkeness
only to see it mystify more-neverthless
my search for a reason continues
as this unpredicatability never ceases to amuse.

I may never discover
life's purpose and answer.
But I keep treading on
for I know, that's the way to dawn.