Chiffonesque

The other day, I had lunch with a friend, SC. There were two pretty small portions of inexpensive pasta. Tasty sauce but a little watery. During lunch we talked of how we had left Pune behind and how it was lovely to be back (a thought that crossed our mind after we’d forgotten the harrowing, smoky traffic one endures to meet a pal in Mumbai.) To celebrate, we went to the posh little café in Crossword at Nirmal Lifestyle. (It’s called ‘Brio’ because that’s so chi-chi.) I was looking for the biography of Ram Jethmalani for A. On being asked if they had it, the assistant kept asking me ‘ Rumi who…? ’ So, for quick reference, I told them ‘ Ram Jethmalani - the defense for Manu Sharma. ’ The next thing I see, the person is typing out ‘Manu Sharma’ in the ‘Author’s’ list. When I further told him that Manu Sharma was not the biographer, he looked a little annoyed. Why had I brought up Manu Sharma if he didn’t have anything to do with the book? I moved on. Why complicate matters of the Univer...

Last few days have been emotionally very trying. It saddens and scares me at how I get unhinged about the slightest things. What saddens and scares me even more is when I feel the hurt of the people who have to bear the brunt of such extreme mood swings. Many, many, many years ago, a clairvoyant uncle had seen my hand. And he’d told my parents that throughout life, I will always keep the people I love at a distance. This afternoon, I came across a letter he’d sent me. A one-line letter, whereas my brother had got a full-page one. Mine read: ‘Be careful of your mind because it doesn’t play tricks, it tells the truth.’ I was ten when I’d got it. I was ten when I’d kept it in my special red cardboard folder. I tore it today.

Dedicate a song to me Sabrina The way the waves do when they leave the shore Dedicate a song to me Sabrina For now and for when I’m no more The stars will wilt or harden No-one can be sure of the sky It can answer a million ‘How’s But never a single ‘Why’ Of the waters I can ask of nothing They flow with cruel scorn They are laced with longing and dirge And of crusty tears they’re adorned And the winds will forget me in a whiff The snuff will blow out and they’ll leave Of what use is the friend that wafts by Who doesn’t stay a moment to bereave While I must not trust mortals That’s what they always said You are the one I count on To dedicate a song for when I’m dead When the music soars to the heavens Let them not dismiss this with pity That the song that was sung for my passing Was the favor I asked of me

I’m sure this happens elsewhere as well but I have noticed it on Orkut. A lot of people use pictures of celebrities along with their names/ handles. Now, I recognize the celebrities because I know Bollywood. So, I know that a person called Ravi will not look like Hrithik Roshan. But there may be many who wouldn’t know this. So, if this Ravi person is chatting or messaging someone, he is giving the impression that the face of Hrithik is part of his identity, just as the name ‘Ravi’ is. There could be cases where a non-celebrity’s face could be used along with a name. Someone who isn’t famous; maybe a girl one clicked at a party or a guy one snapped at a coffee-house. Because they are not celebrities, there is an increased probability to believe that the face belongs to the person voicing the opinion. In both celebrity-non-celebrity cases, this can become rather sticky if certain racial/sexual/anti-nation remarks are made. Or if this person happens to belong to a dubious community. I am ...

Today, I went to a new dentist closer to home. He took an X-ray of my tooth and said that I’ll need to have a root canal done. However, the success chances are 50-50. If the root canal doesn’t work out, I’ll need to lose my tooth. My heart is currently smothered in much grief at that prospect but I must be strong and stay positive. Also, he went on to say that my gums need work because they don’t look healthy. Again, this saddens me considerably because I don’t even like sweets, but stoic is what I must be. Now, all these dentist trips have led me to buy the book, ‘The Tibetan book of living and dying.’ I somehow associate mortality very closely with dental surgery. Of course, I have never actually heard of anyone dying because of a root canal but still. I have often been known to set a precedent. (I wore pink pants to a legal seminar once. Maybe that was the only time I set a precedent. Oh wait! It’s not a precedent if no-one follows it…so okay, this was a wrong example. The point to ...

I have a really bad tooth ache and this is driving me nuts. My gums feel swollen and the pain shoots up to my ear and badgers my skull and then finally, when it is lodged in the centre of my brain, skates back right to the rotten tooth. I have no clue why I am having so many corporal afflictions now. At the last Crossword sale, I bought a book on healing your life or something by Louise Hay. She co-relates a physical discomfort to an emotional state. I found some of that to be remarkably true. For example, tendency to put on weight around the hips pertains to stubborness with parents, weight around the tummy means fear of insecurity and the need to find some sort of a shield/ cloak. Also, if you have a tooth problem, it means that you find your deepest beliefs eroding as a consequence of change. (In my case, change being shifting to a place where no-one seems to know how the autorickshaw meter works – at least in theory.) Et cetera, et cetera. The antidote prescribed in the book is to ...

7:30 p.m. in bus no. 422, on way to Mulund from Bandra Sun has set long ago. Streelights prick the sky, cars block each other, autorickshaws block cars, shops are brilliantly lit, hawkers yell, crowds shop and eat and eat and shop, etc. etc. On the road, I see a guy playfully put a Santa cap on the head of the girl who’s with him. Christmas! That’s when I realize it’s December – the month when it is supposed to be cold. But everyone around me is perspiring buckets, hoping for a little bit of cool air – at 7:30 p.m. in December in Mumbai. Then we reach Khar and two guys and a girl walk in. All of them are wearing polo necks…in Mumbai in December at 7:30 p.m. Like the moral of some story went – hope is one thing, faith…quite another.

Last night, we had an accident with a truck. Very, very, very fortunately nothing happened to any of us. The car is in pretty bad shape though. Soon after the accident, I had dialled '100' to make a complaint. (I had taken down the number of the truck.) I asked for a complaint number to follow up, but the person at the other end said that the complaint can only be followed up at a police station. He advised me to go to the nearest police station and lodge a complaint there as well. This way, when they flash the number of the vehicle across town and the truck is apprehended, the complaint is already lodged at the police station and the truck driver can get booked immediately. There were quite a few gaps in my mind as to how this would work. Like, what if I was generally calling in to make a false complaint regarding a vehicle? Then it gets to be our word against the truck driver's. And the person didn't ask me details of my car either. Wasn't that required? Possible...

I don’t see why one needs to have fit, toned, fast and fiesty people if you are going to show them in slow motion ALL the time. These people probably got that shape after doing many, many hours of cardio, right? So, a little speed would’ve been nice. After all, adrenaline doesn’t flow drip by drip by drip. And wonderful hair extensions. Lovely, glistening skin, and beautifully sculpted arms, and sexy, taut legs – and this is just the women. As for the men, well, Hrithik is the resident superhero in Bollywood now…so even his glares need to look like his mask in Krrish. Abhishek must stick to smiling cutely and NOT dance to groovy music next to sultry women…because he seems to be too shy. But I must say, I really missed Uday Chopra. I thought his character in Dhoom was funny. It’s a shame that he didn’t get much screen time here because the Fabulous 4 were walking so ‘ slooooooooooooooooowly’ ! Oh…and I wasn’t terribly impressed with Dhoom, in the first place. I had gone with SS, who was...

There’s a book by Sydney Sheldon, ‘Stranger in the Mirror.’ The central character of this book is a guy who wants to make it as an actor in the big, bad world of Hollywood. Initially, he has to compromise a lot (there are a few gory descriptions of anal sex). Then one day, he becomes famous. At the climax of his popularity, something snaps inside him. He goes beserk in the pursuit of a good life – everytime he is with a woman, he feels bad that he could be with someone better. Everytime he is giving a show somewhere, he feels that there is a better audience he could be entertaining. The reason I think about this now is because of a remark I came across a few minutes ago. While the remark itself is innocuous, it got me thinking. I hope I never become the sort of person who makes a friend feel that I would rather be someplace other than with her. I hope I never impart the feeling that I was put to such inconveniences to be with her on her special day. I hope I never make my friend feel ...

Wanted to rhyme Wasn't much time, What with so much happening and so much to say, But I'm sure I could write Something short and plain..like, hmm..How about - 'We got engaged today' *End with 'Yay'!'*