Quandary time ...

Friends,

At present, I am faced with a crucial dilemma ... no wait ... a couple of crucial dilemmas ... and am just not able to arrive at the decision(s) ... think that i will need to resort to the penny technique that i posted sometime during the incpetion stages of my blog ... hope i will be able to make the right decision using it ...

sry, hvnt been able to write anything in the past coupla weeks ... for fillers u can chk out a post i wrote long time back which kind of goes with this situation of mine ...

take care guys,
ciao

Chai Time ...

The 3WW prompt for this Wednesday; viz Apartment, Began & Numb; took me down memory lane to almost a year back to sometime during late Jan 2007. Well, during peak winter in the States; the diminishing of sunlight as early as 4 pm itself makes a depressing surrounding... and moreover in Chicago; the killer chilly winds blowing across ur face don't even make it possible to wander (by foot) around even a few blocks; no matter how much you are geared up.

Twas one such typical cold, windy Chicago winter twilight; and moreover I didn't have much work (for a change) to see the day off... hence it was getting all the more boring. Consequently, I left office around 4 and hopped across to my abode (luckily, against all norms; I had rented an apartment (on 31st floor :)) in downtown itself just across the road from my office :p ); but even the meager 60 seconds that are required to cross the street are enough for the cold Chicago winds to make their presence felt. As usual, I opened the apartment door with my fingers all gone numb due to the chill; threw the laptop to a corner and turned on some desi muzik. Now such a setup (wintry day, depressing environment, desi music:)) is apt for nostalgia to creep in; and as it is people like me (away from hometown, family, friends) are sitting duck targets for the nostalgic melancholy.

Luckily, I had figured out a way to drive away such "feeling-low" times (which didn’t always work though :)) there were a few pals who were game anytime (like me) for a readymade cup of tea… :) so buzzed them up and told them to come by in another 5 minutes … and as expected no one said they couldn't make it :) So, I entered the rarely frequented cooking quarter in my kitchen and began to make the much famed "Hiren ke haath ki chai"… (I was certain; that this fame was only a ploy by my friends in order to get readymade tea; but then this was the only useful thing I could do in kitchen … moreover I ended up for my luncheons/dinners at their place more often than not) … And the smart me, to live up to the reputation; would put in adrakh, elaichi, chai masala (this one from home) and wat not :) and take somewhere close to an eternity to prepare the chai.

So, within another 15 mins or so; all of them arrive; one thanking me as she was also getting royally bored; other showing off as he was doing a favor by leaving his work and coming for the tea and the last one cursing her manager :) Now, we all get our hands on the tea-mugs and the khakras, chakris, theplas etc etc … and settle down in the living room …

The tête-à-tête starts gradually… "Arey yaar yeh kya music lagaya hai?? Change kar. ", "abey muzik bandh kar, TBS laga … ‘Friends’ aa raha hoga", "hiren tu har baar itni mast chai kaise banata hai? ", "aaj office mein Smith ki band baj gayee … John ne hum logon ke saamne usko mast daat diyaa …", "arey yaar aise mausam mein chai peene ka mazza hi alag hai", "chai peene ka majaa toh baarish ke time pe aata hai yaar… mast baarish aur garam chai ka glass .. ", "Bhatt na kandaa bhajjiyaa and chaa …nothing can beat that … howsoever unhygienic that was :) wat say hiren? ", "Don’t forget Shiva ki chai", "ppl, chai toh mere college canteen mein mast milti thi; the best I have ever had still (giving an apologizing glance to me)", "jab bhi mera sar dard karta tha .. my mom used to prepare mast masala chai and i did be alright within mins ... ", "hiren yaad hai? apna woh lohegaon waala trek ... wahan woh raastein par stove rakhke chai bana raha tha ..." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . .... . . ... . . .. ..

And here we go… we ended up doing exactly what I wanted to stay away from, by calling these nuts …but believe me … "feeling nostalgic" with few friends around is far less distressing, and much better than standing by the apartment window all alone, sipping tea and getting drowned in reminiscences …

Give it a try !!!

Ciao friends, Take Care …

P.S.: - Now that I am back home, I no longer prepare tea; so all the requests for readymade tea will be forwarded to the nukkad waala chai tapri and he does make excellent chai … (you got to believe this as its coming from a pro himself) :)

Rest ...

I came across this blog where they publish three words as cues every Wednesday ... and one needs to come up with a write-up, story, sonnet, couplet or anything (expectantly meaningful :-) ) which includes the provided three words. Such an initiative is surely helpful to ppl like me who, in spite of wanting to write more often …, are challenged by the lack of topics/ideas (except cricket of course) to write about … so first kudos to the creator of the 3WW blog ... good idea dude :)

The 3WW words for this Wednesday are rest, twice and sidewalk. And here is my naïve attempt at this. Actually, I did try very hard at first to come up with some fictional, attention-grabbing, thrilling story; but the end product was a jumbled garb of sentences :-) so finally the saner half within me took control and just came up with my thoughts ... (having said that, if i would have published that jumbled garb ... it surely would have provided a good laugh to all of yaa :-) ) ... anyways let me begin now ...

The word rest straightaway brought the following quote by Sir John Lubbock to my mind “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time…” … appealing thought eh ????

But then today’s fast paced corporate/metro life has made such rest as a much craved for, once or twice a year sporadic luxury that too can be achieved only when coupled with the cost of a vacation. Physical rest is managed somehow; but it’s the peaceful rest of mind that’s what eluding most of the metropolitan dwellers.

Going for a long stroll along the sidewalk under serene night skies has become just a topic of conversation & prose in today’s existence. The demands of life, society, career etc have increased manifold and after a hectic and stressed week; all people yearn for is some physical relaxation during weekends along with completing the other social commitments.

I was having a discussion with a couple of friends on this topic (gotcha right … there’s no other interesting matter to discuss nowadays … life has become so boring & routine :-( …) to identify the root cause for this transformation (although ditched the process of doing the Pareto Analysis or preparing the Ishikawa diagram :) …) and the final verdict was that majority of the civilization has accepted the fact (or myth that’s debatable) that life has to this fast paced … else you would miss out … but there is this diminishing minority too who still find out time for their mental tranquility …

Anyways, lemme conclude this serious (yea i can be serious and preachy sometimes :)) post of mine with another quote … “The time to relax is when you don't have time for it…” … another appealing & thought provoking quote eh ???

ciao and take care !!!

Benefits of blogging ...

All yaa fellow bloggers ... check this out - "Regular blogging could improve your social life ..."

Blogging is doubling up as social networking possibility ... in addition to a place where one can let go of his/her views, ideas, writing skills etc ... ah haan ...

Move away orkut, hi5, friendster … :)