Of a spirit called Christmas!!

You better watch out

You better not cry

Better not pout

I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list

And checking it twice;

Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice

Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping

He knows when you're awake

He knows if you've been bad or good

So be good for goodness sake!

O! You better watch out!

Of lights, decoration,chocolates,turkey,cookies,movies,sales,presents,colors and a spirit called Christmas. A foreign land, snow landscaping the view in a stunning white blanket, the local councils decorating the town in a shade of Red and hues of golden, every store with a Christmas window display, smell of fresh bakes cookies and cakes filling up every senses in your body, eyes going wide with the ostentatious displays, ears ringing with the xmas carols on every corner and all little windows in littles houses twinkling with streamers,toy trains and tastefully done Xmas trees.

The Christmas day itself is another story in itself, on christmas eve the family delights on the meal which includes a Turkey waiting to be carved with sage and onion stuffing generally served alongwith, pork sausages covered in bacon,roast of some kind, savouries like mince pie, scones which are delicately sweet, skewers of chicken, brussel sprouts which is a kind of green veggie, traditional Christmas cake or pudding and a trifle which is a dessert which has various layers of chocolate,cream,sponge cake,raspberries or cranberry sauce, the menu sure sounds enough to feed an entire army but every inch of dinner table is occupied by some dish. The food is served in silverware & christmas crackers are opened, Christmas crackers are long tubes, wrapped in bright paper that has been twisted at each end. A person pulls on each end of the cracker and when the cracker breaks, the contents fall out. Christmas crackers traditionally contain a paper party hat, a small gift, a balloon and a joke or old saying. The jokes are generally old ones, and most Britons will recognize them instantly, since the same jokes have been used for many years in Christmas crackers. It’s part of the charm.Everybody donnes the Crown that drops out of the cracker.

and then you lay out some milk and cookies on the table near your stockings to wait for Santa to fill them up!! Ho Ho Ho !!

Merry Christmas !!

Of snow and sniffles

My first brush with snow fall, it was magical,almost felt as though candy floss was flying from the sky right onto our heads & melting even before it hit the grass. It made me feel as though there were flakes of dandruff falling all over, funny but as gloomy as i had thought weather would get it had the exact opposite effect on me. It was one of the happiest moments, its rain but without the muck at least with the first snow. Everyone walking about in the freezing weather look like steaming kettles of tea with steam whizzing out of every nose and lips which even quiver as they speak. Its a true beacon for Xmas converting us into part reindeer with a right red nose and brings a shade of pink on every shade of skin you might think of. They say the worst if yet to come, the winters would get harsh, the fun & enjoyable snow will turn into the horrors of iceland, i just silently pray that with the dropping temperatures somehow i can gather the strength to face & write about the Winter in its full bloom

yaad watan ki mitti

i guess this is one of the nostalgic moments in my life which are rare..like big boys dont cry..big girls dunt cry either..lolsss. i ve habit of editing, re editing and going nip snip snip on my blogs. I ve always been quite attached to the idea of writing a diary since i ve been a kid but somehow i ve not associated very good memories on the storage of those diaries which eventually led me to stop writing them. I bought myself all the strength i could muster to start writing a blog which could be my alternative to writing my diary but i handed out the address of my blog to my frnds and at times i dont feel comfortable exposing my feelings, maybe its that weird feeling where you are letting your guard down and gets you uncomfortable.Why is it so difficult to open up?? or just to be urself?? wat is so mentally restricting which prevents me to rite things which are weird maybe and at times they dnt even make sense,the sentences are not even fugue which the psychoanalyst talks about..but i wish i could be a counselor myself..hush so many wishes..so many uncertainties. Thats the fun of riting something so abstract like this..like an abstract art,this is my abstract article..and in the back ground i think of my friend if he would ve been around, would ve given me some philisophical advice of how mad i am and how idiotic i do some things though i dunt come across as someone who would do that.. i miss u,,..i really do

may marathi

Chawali chi usal..ganesh utsav..Satyanarayan puja..mangesh padgaonkar...acharya atre..gavran godwa..Janta Raja..PrashantDamle..Ek jokha..dilip prabawalkar..smita talwalakar..marathi natyarangbhumi..bal gandharwa..Ashi hi banva banvi ..Mooruchi maoshi..Powade..Shur aamhi sardar amhala kay konachi bhiti te Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj!!! my head is can think of a million things which would distinctly identify the Marathiness to a non marathiness.

Marathi literature & historical characters have always been the epitome of my fascinationm Suta putra karna, his brother Shon, Jija mata & her brave son Shivaji, Rau, Swami, peshwa with their valour, pride and respect. I owe my childhood to all these who shaped the person i am today. Reading which has been my hobby since age 12 grew up with me, but somehow the marathi literature did not grow at the same pace. Am proud to be a marathi and need to figure out a way to carry on the torch. But someone sometime earlier told me that only minorities need to assemble in groups so in my mind my clan is not a minority ..maybe just Yet..;p

But something i really cherish is being able to debate with someone on the nuances of marathi literature to my childish marathi obession, and at times like these i miss talking to some people i love in my life Dad, sandeep & Krupesh.

Wish i can somehow someday but soon i can do it..

All days are nights to see till I see thee,

And nights bright days when dreams do show thee to me.~William Shakespeare, "Sonnet XLIII"

Blessed were the days which gave an oppurtunity to miss our near and dear ones. I guess it made the joy of meeting after a pause or a long spell a little sweeter. The excitment of listening to every trivial story while you were apart, the warmth of companionship & growing up on each other were the essence.

Of late i ve been witnessing a rather strange epidemic, the SSN ( Social Site Networking) disorder. Everyone seems to be obsessively complusively glued to some social networking site and had definately gathered more virtual friends than real. But the worst is yet to come, the competition to display and flash ostentious pictures & showcase lifestyle in the most extravagant manner which indicates the personal happimeter, the number of responses gathered by every statement made on those sites, the ease of peeping into anyones and everyones lives right from knowing their mood to their intimate feelings.

Sure the world is shrinking and so is our personal space

Restless

Life had so many different colors when i was a kid and i somehow was obsessed with the thought of growing up.The grown up land promised a world of freedom, freedom make my decisions from the most trivial to the most promising goals, the mere thought of which was a big triumph. I never felt my heart cry in pain after i left high school and moved on to college unlike my fellow batchmates. It was always the bigger picture of growing up which stuck to my side. As i grew up i discovered that with age came the shades & hues no new colors, new ways to complicate my life, freedom of making decisions but entrapment in the consequences of my decisions, the ability to make money and the disability to disconnect from it. The strength to shoulder responsibilities yet the fragility to succumb to their pressure, the power to gain it all and the foolishness to loose it in a go.

They say one realises the value of things once u ve lost them and guess thats wat exactly happened to me. I miss my childhood, i miss those days when all the decisions were taken by parents, i miss the energy and optimism i had for life, the trust i had in my friends and the thought just leaves me restless...

Go back a little..

Often my mind feels like a whirlpool...a hot bed of thoughts..a chain reaction which has been triggered..and most common the origin of all those is the stupid , commonplace thought which grips me ...

Right now i just feel this 'At times we have to go back a little to leap further'

Trapped

I like to read,started my reading adventure with Enid Blyton-The magical tree,classics by oscar wilde.Have read since i was 10 yrs old.Dunt know if am an avid reader or voracious or both.I laughed my heart out after reading Chetan Bhagats 5 point someone.Saw his new book in my newsletter from a book store,its callled 52 states.While talking to a dear friend of mine i mentioned that i am looking forward to reading that book to which he snapped saying he never approved of chetan bhagats writing style,...hmmmmmmmm i went and i decided not to pursue my chetan bhagat book list any further.I dunt know why i did that. Shouldnt I value my opinion!!

Every week after the winning bingo numbers flash on our TV screen i dutifully spend atleast half an hour planning on how i would love to splurge the monies, and I get a massive kick out of it. Every nod, every approval, every action is either related to some preset approved mindset either created by me or presented to me but i have made that choice. I feel like a moth caught in the web of its own shell but am not sure if am the moth or the butterfly. If am trapped in my own life decisions or am free after making those decisions. Trapped in my own desires, my needs, my wants, my pursuit of the right life, the right habitat with the right surrounding and the right people. Is it really freedom for me or am trapped in me?????????

weakness

when i was young and it was time for me to choose my career Genetics was something that i found the most interesting... "Dolly" the first clone..mutations...genomes..DNA...that was my mystical magical world.dunt really know if that would ve been right choice for me or this is..

But somehow the concept of Clones has not left my pea brains yet..Identical clone who would look exactly like you..would have the exact composition as every cell in your body is fascinating..as they say..with power comes responsibility...For that clone to ve the exact same composition as ur mind is an impossible feat. The very mind we makes each of us different in some way is the result of the varied experience we go through..the enormous turbulence in our lives due to the smallest inevitable change to the devastating calm that gets us after the biggest loss in our lives..all of it makes us what we re,..every layer of mystery..engima and crazy that we think we are..

One question always comes to mind..why are we so scared of being ourselves?? we just treasure it..we preserve it..not sharing our thoughts...being as clandestine as we can..what are we thinking?????? Keeping our thoughts to ourselves...not sharing us with others..i guess thats a thought i will try and decipher before its too late for me to mend

How Bizzare

Its early in the mornning & when i say "early" please note its subjective term.Here i am suddenly realising the various weird things around me which make no sense or i cannot find any sense in them..heres a short compilation of those.. the one that tops my list is 

1. Banana chips in my Cornflakes...hmmmph

2.  Also that they re not corn bt wheat with coconut flakes in them..nuthin like starting your day by a sweet crunchy mixture in milk & wondering what made you get it

3. The ridiculously long day which stretches till 9:30pm and starts way before 5pm..dunt knw when it starts but 5am was bright when i checked

4. Me having to clad myself in a warm pull over in SUMMERs

5. Shopkeepers accepting cards only in Cash and Carry stores

6. School going kids with more knowledge on Drugs than their text books

7. The mere fact that a white shirt still remains white after a long gruelling day outside

8. You can sound black,white or brown over the phone..mad of me to think u could sound happy or sad only

9. There re rules of throwing stuff in the Garbage..i thought we did a favor by not dumping it on the streets :D

10. We the citizens of a free world agree to be Tracked..Monitered..Evaluated..Checked & are proud to be a part of the New Age.

Utter rubbish

The series "Twilight" is the most gripping and engaging romantic love story i ve ever encountered in  my life..while reading the series there were nights when i just woke up in cold sweat to just wonder whats coming in the further chapters..Stephenie Meyer seems to capture the imagination of all readers no matter what age group they are.With the same rush and enthusiasm i went to watch the movie Twilight.. the lead actor is Robert Pattinson who plays Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter 5 (Order of Phoenix)  where hes absolutey naive and gorgeous. 

In my view the movie Twilight is absolutely no where close to what the novel wishes to even hint at.. the entire movie could not even communicate what Bella Swan the lead of the book feels for Edward Cullen who is the epitome of passion and romance.Throughout the movie she looks confused and rather searching for word which would be apt for her to utter..the movie has been ridiculously modified to suit the needs of a SMALL BUDGET movie..most of the major scenes have been edited and changed as per needs..which definately offends an AFICIONADO's feelings..the first time they meet,..the flutter of butterlies in her heart..the disappointment of not being able to see Edward..the desparation to just let his eyes meet hers..the love that Edward has for Bella..the respect for carlisle..Emmetts raw power..jasper's inability to decide yet warmth towards Alice..Esme..Bella's apprehensions and strong attraction towards Edward which comes across as ASTHMA attack in the movie could have been portrayed better.

The delicate scenes are the vertebrae of the book which could not be depicted even to a satisfactory level.After this all i can do is read the book one more time just to omit any bad taste this movie might have left and pray with all my heart that NEW MOON ought to be a better attempt at depicting the love Edward  had for Bella and Bella yearned for Edward...

Addiction

Addiction is characterised by a dependence on a behavior or sub-stance that a person is powerless to stop..i ve been a victim of my addiction for long but recently it seems to get the better of me. It all started with the huge window of Internet where i got an easy access to all my favourite authors and all the books i would want to read over and over and over again. Harry Potter is one such series which never fails to grip my imagination, i vehemently oppose any idea which points out that Harry Potter series is for children. If it could be of any consolation books 1 and 2 might be crossing the thin line of being a thriller to being the highly entertaining book but from the 3rd book things start to get dark, the plots, characters, depth & complexity amongst the characters without loosing the intricate web of the magical world is definately for a treat for all readers.

Over the last 5 days i had almost locked myself down after i caught hold of the Twilight series, the series is based on the love story between a teenage girl and a vampire. As the story unfolds it involves you in it and leaves you wanting for more like the vampire who craves for human blood. The series left me with sleepless nights, growling stomach, empty kitchen shelf, many unanswered calls and total detachment with the world in any attempt but it was worth every minute. This emotional story made my heart go inside out and unlocked so many emotions which would generally go unnoticed. I feel the only antidote to my addiction towards books would be some more of this madness which could satiate my thirst and hunger for some more....

And they lived happily ever after..

Home is where the heart is...but its where parents are our life is..Today is my parents 30th wedding anniversary..Looking back at 30 years of love and fulfilling years, i cant stop but just look at them in complete Awe.We never know how or maybe fully realise how sweet and kind our parents are, their gentle and wise ways also re taken for granted but they ve been making all those sacrifices in their loving way and building the relationship with every bit..30 years of forgiving, forgetting, loving and caring is what i can think of. The first lessons of "Team orientation" have been imparted to me at my home where i was demonstrated on how to it takes all kinds to make a family. I ve always derived my strength from my parents, they have been the source of my enthusiasm, smiles and energy. My dad the methodical, meticulous, mathematician, perfectionist,funny, jovial and my Mum who's enduring,loving,warm,understanding,willing to accept defeat just to make us feel better,spine of our family have always been able to compliment each other so naturally that if felt like a virtue and not an effort. At this turn in life i realise the value of a happy childhood which was given to me, all the support that came to me which not everyone is lucky to have. I might not have said Thank you to my parents as often as i would have wanted to but I am indebted to them with my life and if i could be half as happy as they have been with each other while making others around them equally or at times Happier i would consider myself the luckiest and who knows our children might also add "they lived happily every after" for us on our 30th wedding anniversary.  

Frozen

After years i witnessed rains with Hailstones the size of marbles which battered the hurrying pedestrains on a not so COLD day today. We Londoners are known to carry our sun glasses and umbrella whenever we leave the perimeter of our homes. Coming from a warmer place this is surely a sudden change of weather conditions. 

In my battle against the cold i ve always been meeting defeat..a gentle cold breeze in Indian terrain would make way for my wollens to come out of the closet, yet the weather would give an oppurtunity to enjoy the treasures from the refrigerator, artificially moderated weather and having to avoid wear several layers of clothes.The signficance of which came to me after a gruelling noon on the streets of London.

With the ever changing weather and climatic status, i was stuck for bus no 253 which would transport either me or my soul-less body to the tube station..the invisible yet strong currents of cold and painful winds never let me forget the joy's of my cosy duvet. The rain left turned me in a religious fanatic praying to get into the centrally heated tube station in a blink..i imagined to be the time teleporter "Hiro Nakamura" to heighten the pleasure but without any help ofcourse..the wait seemed to have gone for decades, every part of my body was gradually falling numb,my cheeks acquired a sudden shade of pink which is unusual for my skin tone,legs had already transformed into candy sticks &  I was FROZEN.As they say 'nothing stays forever" and nor did the freeze. 

Been there done dat

Music has always been one of the major influence on minds..in late eighties we all woke up to the tunes of "Papa dunt preach"...which magnifies the ever increasing chasm of generation gap...Majority in the society carry along with this moroseness and never pause to think the why and how of the problem but prefer to resort to the time tested rather time failed technique of preaching and we all donn the robes of self proclaimed preachers. 

When my 7 year old cousin grabbed the 2nd helping of her favourite chocolate i with all irresitable and unevitable habit started explaining her the harmful effects of chocolate on her teeth which might result in her loosing her teeth , as i thought i ve been there and i ve done that, onto which she innocently asked me - mumma has told me that i am going to loose my milk teeth and get stronger ones so how would choclate be bad for me now?? and stared in my face..the silence was awkward but brought me back to my senses..and suddenly reminded me of the song pappa dunt preach.

Hunter

There is an old adage that "Looking for a job is harder than working." How true!!! The rigors of job search are magnified by the turmoil we experience: lack of self-confidence, humiliation, financial pressure, and the undercurrent of emotions that color all we do: fear, anger, depression, anxiety, loss.But theres a greater demon than all of those

"Trying to look for a job"

- a desparate act to look for one where one enjoys the comfort of not working and gets in the vicious circle of enjoying the relaxed life.. and that is where i would want to place myself..after a marathon working routine for over 5 years i am at a crossroad thinking if i need the work bit or maybe i never convinced on working.

My friends ask me if there re days when i dont know how to spend the day but the challenges cannot be spelled out, there is a vast spectrum of tough decisions one has to make ranging from which sites to surf, movies to catch up, cooking if any,shopping just for the few active moments during the day. Prima facie it would look like a dull list of activities but it gets interesting. My confusion lies in the mere fact that should i be happy with all the time i ve on my hand or should i regret the priorities i ve set for myself.

This is where i feel the Job Hunter is the one whos Hunted!!