Little Bits Of Life

It is impossible to summarize what a year this has been. Here’s still an attempt to try and paint a realistic picture (much needed for myself at least :P) > As a northerner, I should have been a happy soul returning from the land of south But that was not really the case. Ask anyone, who knows me, and they can tell you there wasn’t/hasn’t been a single day I wasn’t cribbing about being at Gram. And as odd as it might sound, I had a greater cultural shock returning back from south where I had gotten myself used to the idea of idli, dosa for breakfast and a little spicy food with ubiquitous drumsticks that were served as a part of any meal, served any time of the day. That was still manageable, I’d say. But to adjust myself to the people here (who are characteristically cold, caustic and street smart), the weather (that is perennially smoky, hazy and dusty), the roads (that have pot holes which would be filled with layers of mud, brick powder and then fly ash, all equally usele...

The past few months have been enervating on so many levels. There have been good days and bad days, days I’ve loathed and whined and wanted them to get over with, days I’ve looked forward to meeting old friends which was reassuring on so many levels that you still share the same camaraderie with them and that time, place, job, distance hasn’t ruined the perfect relationship of insanity that you were/are bounded with, to begin with :D I’ve met new people, I meet newer people almost every other day and I know what it means feels like to just share a smile with somebody. I’ve met my old friends, friends from school and college, friends I’ve recently made and had a gala time. Sometime back in July/August I met my friends from Hyderabad here, who were in and around Delhi, kind of them to have traveled all the way to yellow line, just to meet me! We had indulged in banter having laughed our lungs out. Since the common topic for us was *the job* we didn’t shy ourselves from indulging i...

So the sole purpose of writing posting today is mainly because I hate changes (or, well, at least I believe that I do, to an extent) and partly because when I had logged in today, it was the 1 st Sunday of August. Fb was generous enough to remind me twice that I had posted a blogpost celebrating Friendship over the past two years now. This, if not much is a ritual for me and I couldn’t let this year be any different. Already having been irregular over the past few weeks and then being pointed out by a few friends of mine, as to how I keep on procrastinating things for next weekend and how my blog desperately needs oxygen or that they pray demons don’t take over internet or wifi and the chances of its survival are low; guilt mixed with a feeling of humiliation and embarrassment of being such a haughty/moody brat had finally taken over and this was much needed! < I beg you Thee to forgive me :”) > If there’s any relationship that I value the most, it has to be friendship. I ...

It is said, people get wiser as they age. The reason for this is that, unlike the young, the elderly's brains are not really ruled by the chemicals that fuel emotion and impulse, the Dopamine!  So their slower responses really are more thoughtful and 'wiser'. With due respect, there are few who just morph into a wrinkled adolescent as they age! The landlady, who happens to live downstairs, is one such human xD Since the day, I’ve arrived here, there hasn’t been a day where she has failed to make me laugh and surprise me by her miser ways. A little physical description might help you to visualize her better. She’s short, reaches till somewhere near my neck, petite; roams about the house bare feet most of the times, whispers in a voice that’s barely audible- yet she continuously murmurs something; has salt and pepper hair that are always tied in a bun and would be seen poking her nose in almost every chore that goes about in the house. Some early day - Whilst I was...

I recently got to know that France has 35 hour working week!! But it seems that they are now reforming its 35-hour working week in a move that could sound the death knell of two-hour lunches and early departures for weekend breaks. And what do We (I) have it here?? 45 hours a week. *slow claps* that’s insane!  And when I say it’s a 9 hour thing each day, do not jump to conclusions that people don’t leave their seats, that their lunch is served at the table, that they don’t use their mobiles, that they don’t have time to check mails let alone chat but it is quite the opposite rather, by my ballpark at least. The below mentioned routine holds true these days. You reach your workplace, half panting and sweating, and finding that corner of yours where you are supposed to spend your entire day, you pull out the chair, unzip your bag and gulp the water while trying to adjust the chair by dragging it directly under the vent to feel the AC working right over your head. After the ...

People have been asking me “what are your plans?” and it occurred to me that from the past few months, I’ve really not given a thought to it because things have been happening *themselves*.  It feels that I don’t have a say or an authority to dictate anything to anyone or anybody. And as I sit, I feel that it is not something new, it had happened before and it’s happening now. So what has really changed? There have been days when you’re stressed, or you’re tired, or you didn’t sleep well the night before, or you got into a fight with your best friend, or with your parents, or you ate too much, or you forgot to wish your relatives a happy birthday, or your roommate used your stuff without asking, or the PG food is horrible, or the food at your nearest place is not worth eating, or you spilled hot coffee down your shirt, or the traffic saps the life outta you, or the wi-fi tests your patience, or it suddenly rained when you were least prepared, or you lost your debit card, or you...