Chiffonesque

I had expected her to be home this evening. But she wasn’t. She’d gone out willfully with her friend who was a solid paragon of obstinacy. The help told me she’d refused to take a nap in the afternoon and had insisted on indulging in gulab jamuns and cream. She wasn’t supposed to have that but with her favorite accomplice in crime to egg her on, it was difficult to stop her. A few minutes later, she walked in with bright green wrapping paper stuck to her finger. It didn’t matter. Her shiny, plump face broke into a wide happy smile when she saw me. I was the unexpected surprise. She asked me if I wanted to eat something, all the while eyeing the plate of apple cobbler. I tried to pull that away but she slapped my hand and frowned. Next, I tried to talk to her about this and that but she didn’t appreciate the distraction too much. So I patted her head while she chomped on the pie. Next on the agenda was a conversation on her terms. She wanted to tell me about her day out – each little ...

In October, I was gifted a laptop. A Lenovo. It is a handsome piece of work. What I like best is the smorgasboard of little icons that light up in capsicum green or cherry tomato lights when I insert a CD or use Caps Lock or charge the laptop. I had started typing something in October but the document now lies spitted with half-chewed words and phlegmed ideas running from line to line. I feel quite happy using my medium of stylish incoherence. I haven’t been able to do too much with it, though. Like use PowerPoint. I had this brilliant idea that I’d do my famous manuscript on PowerPoint with my laptop propped on…well, my lap. But how do you drag objects on a laptop? I tried and I tried. I tilted myself this way and that until I started getting nauseous. Then I stopped when I finally rolled off the bed. Perhaps the only alternative is to attach a mouse to the microchipped Zeus. But I don’t want to do that because all those appendages will just make a laptop look less stylish. It’ll be l...

In a little over a month (32 days to be precise), I will be married. This means that I will no longer be single. I say this because there is strange comfort in stating the obvious. Reminds me of work. Not that the prospect of being a Mrs. Someone completely freaks me out, but I would like to cruise through the wedding preparation phase instead of closing my eyes and fervently hoping that all of this gets behind me soon. I wonder what the anxiety is all about. The marriage itself is not a matter of contention. After all, neither of the sides are opposed to A and I getting hitched. But what I think most about is the life after – the immediate life after. I don’t seem to have a handle on what I should be doing the first morning I wake up in Delhi as a newly wed. (Yes, I do mean after brushing my teeth.) Days and weeks, I have sort of figured out how to deal with the larger stuff – of feeling like a fish out of water, balancing home and work (when I find employment), family and in-laws, bu...

Since I am now wiser due to carefully researched SMSes, I know that 2007 begins with a Monday and ends with one as well. It also promises to be the year with the maximum weekends, so I hope it bodes well for my marriage. This year, I will revert to the one prospect that enthuses me to edges of excitement and generosity - the wonders of an unfolding universe. Like...on the 31st of December, I bought 'The Devil Wears Prada'. And on the 1st of January, A gifted me 'A Suitable Boy'. Some connection there...and an entire year to find out. Life does look promising. To what has been and to what is now and to what will be, we raise the Celtic toast - 'May we live as long as we want to...may we want to as long as we live.' Happy New Year .