When you're happy and you know it..

I am happy and I know it

and I really want to show it.

When I am happy and I know it

I rant and rant !! ha!..ha!..ha!..

So this is one of my happy-phases. yay! Happy phases for me are defined as being happy and chirpy and funny without any rhyme or reason.

No, I didnt get any big promotion or hike, infact the chances of them are slimmer than ever.

No, I didnt win a lottery/surprise prize, too lazy to take part in such contests.

No, I didnt shop,I already have cheap things and Im not game for too expensive ones :)

No, Im sure not into a blossoming-new-relationship phase, I am in the same good old one. (Dont fret MR)

No, I didnt lose any inches, people who know me - know I never will. :)

So what exactly do I owe the 32-out grin to? I guess to everything and everyone who is a part of me and my life in any capacity. You guys make me richer and make me a happy person.

Whenever I feel all low and unlucky and cheated, I take a while and try to look around myself with an unbiased eye. And what do I see - I see people with more grave problems and still smiling and struggling, I find people knocked down from all ends but still very much alive and kicking. I see that the givers and helping-hands are not necessarily the ones who have everything but the ones who are strong enough to hold back their own tears and lend a shoulder to others. All this and more makes each fiber of my body feel grateful and lucky!  I decide to smile, gear up and be me !!!

I thank my family, specially my mother who taught me to not get lost just seeing the ones ahead of me, but feel proud and happy seeing the ones I have left behind.

Sometimes its very dificult for me to relate to people -strangers and close ones - who stay dull and down by default. My emotions towards them vary from being sympathetic to curious to annoyance.

Sympathetic for those who have deep rooted miseries in their head from the past or the present.

Curious for those who are complete mysteries and build walls around them.

Annoying for those lucky idiots who have everything in the world but they chose to not-be-happy and keep cribbing.

Not that I don't have my set of issue, just that I try not to focus on them all the time.

Not that the green monster of jealousy does'nt hover over me because I could be too satisfied , certainly not.

But because I think life is too short and precious to be spent frowning.And smiling is good for health -your heath and your loved ones'.Its a bug, strong and contagious.

Count your blessings and look around!

There will be atleast a  face which will lit up if you lit yours..

There will be someone or something  you'll thank your stars for.

Call him,pray for him, hold him in your heart.

If your past haunts,  be happy -  its the past.

If the present is gloomy, be happy -  it will soon be past.

If the future looks sad, be happy - coz when else will you be :):)

Tip Tip Barsa Paani !

Its raining in this part of the town and its beautiful weather out here. Just heard some collegues calling up their respective biwis to get ready with bread pakoras and tea as their  petu loving husbands leave for home. Sigh! I wish I was a guy !!!! (More on that later)

Rain is beautiful and messy and a major phenomenon. The emotions it can evoke and provoke are numerous.

The cool breeze and the lightening and the sound of leaves makes the love birds too mushy and romantic. The ones like me who like a mortal feel too cold and shivery and scared in torrential downpour are branded as wierdos for life! 

   I am sure the rain-Gods have Television/cinema to thank for too...none can deny the lesson we hv been taught by uncountable rain songs/scenes (controversial or not ;) )) that.. RAINS.ARE.ROMANTIC!!!

   Another ingredient to be added in the recipe of rain-romance is "the expected absence of not-in-love normal people from the streets". Who cares about the old strict prof now who is busy covering his car and controlling his kids. Who cares about the irritating guards who keep popping from every damn place otherwise and now are quietly settled with a cup of team in some far corner.  Yay! Not to mention the unending sync-up phone calls frm family which are quietened now "Mummyyyyyy, Im stuck in rain na. I ll be late.Ok, Byeee!!". Double yay.. :)

       There is something in rain for people in every phase of relationships. The new love buds (as described above) want nothing but rain, the stable ones can reminise about the past rains and the fresh broken up ones (alas!) can think/hum/relate to our philmy stars yet again. Thanks for the teary-eyed rain songs .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gkb_5BqUhY

The droplets of water from heaven seem to work wonders for the artists who pen down huge volumes/sketch/compose in this awesome weather. 

For the dry areas, it literally bring back life to the villages!

And dont even get me started on the school days.. "Rainy day" == holiday due to heavy heavy rains was blissful. Back at home in company of TV and Mommy-made dishes, life was beautiful! (I miss home :( ) Floating paper-boats with all sorts of insects as passengers in it .. lolz.

And the trendy raincoats.. they were a rage. Another one, a chance to wear sports-shoes in school - "Maam, my school shoes got wet yday!" with little puppy eyes towards the teacher and a wide grin and wink towards the fellow classmates. Recess period inside the classes and corridor.. all hell broke lose with aluminium foil balls and guys running after girls with lizards! Boys will be boys.

Amongst all this fun and magic, there are big and small perils too.

If on a two-wheeler, I used to hate all the four wheller ppl who sat immune to the water pelting down.

For a lady who just hung a huge pile of clothes out to dry, the clouds deserve all the curses. 

For the kids who cant play in the parks for days together, its a bane. 

And when we lose out on a cricket match , thanks to the brilliant Duckworth Lewis system-RAIN.IS.EVIL!

Most of all, rain is the worst when it washes of the tattered and weak slum dwellings, leaves people shivering who neither have the luxury of warm clothing nor a brick house. 

Falls down on the fields and crops which dont want a drop of it, and brings life to a halt.

Forces ppl to suicide for the debts are too heavy. 

Plays around all our GDP and fiscal policy figures with just a little bad timing. 

So dear rain, come down with a plan.

Not just the romantics, you serve the entire clan.

Dont wash away houses, soil and grain

Then, you ll be just good to fill the drain!

Bring along life, joy and respite

Make the unfortunates' smile, not just the elite :)

I'm J!!!

So for the past few days, I was knowingly and unknowingly taking a taste of MR's life. And the results werent great :(

I would wake up in the morning and force myself to sleep again until he would wake up.And then a couple of days, I also tried sauntering in the house in the morning (which didnt work btw). I would eat and re-eat and over-eat like he does and then sit with his trademark over-eaten face .I also tried sitting in front of the TV and watching movies back-to-back. Tried hard to stay away from chores sometimes and let the clothes heap grow and fridge fill with God-knows-what. All this and more...but alas today my system gave up and I ended up feeling all dizzy and pukish :| And Im here feeling J of him and all souls like him who can **do nothing and just be**. As I gulped down some Eno and had a good 3-4 hrs sleep, I self-confessed my failure with complete-laziness. Sigh!!!!!!!!! Screw you..my own system, you are a nerd!


Probably, relaxing is not everyone's birthright, eating thoughlessly - certianly not! Im J of all you thin people who can eat and not bloat. Tell me, where do all the sugars and carbs go? DO you guys plant them in poor souls like me :( Do you like put them in air and now, I cant even breath without gaining calories !You are so so mean.

And how do people manage with eating-watching movies-eating-sleeping routine. Not to forget re-watching movies which are already by-heart. I go into a parellel universe filled with either John Travoltas or FBI or aliens if I do this. Takes me a night and a few wierdo dreams to overcome it. And come on, this is a bit over stretch but I cant even work and listen to music! The lyrics get to me..the music makes me too enthu or too senti to work. This make me J of practially half the universe actually! The maximum I can do while working is chat ;). Hehe..And the speed of chatting and coding should be in sync else the momentum is broken.

Adding to the list of people Im J of - are the ones who can resist FB, also the ones who are uninterested in any damn soul on earth. I seem to be interested in everyone;)  Such  a waste of time and enery. But Im self-correcting guys..the latest being accpeting friend-requests of only the ppl I vividly rememeber, not the ones who have 10+ mutual friends with me.

Enough about me! but yeah I guess all of us have a list of people we can envy. Its both good and bad. I am J of many people/things but I am sure lots of ppl are J of me too! And this makes me happy and proud :):)  Taking tiny taste of someone else's life is a nice break though :P

How I wish I was like her

Trim and proper, hair with curls :)

How I wish I slept like him!

Who said morning sun is to be necessarily seen.

How I wish I was a little less finicky

I would just switch on the TV and finish all chores in a jiffy :D

How I wish someone else wrote this

Wishing to be like me . Just me ... me ... me !!

P.S Thanks for making it through my bout of self-obsession!

THE people in my life!

Since last night I am missing my folks. More so my grandparents - Amma and Bauji as I call them. Talked to Amma on phone yest. and she sounded frail and tired. Yet all she could say was that I should take care of myself and MR (People, MR is my lucky husband yeah! she might think she can make me some pativrata naari or something by feeding this dialogue now and then.) and not to worry about her and Bauji. Now, very rarely people say that. Instead, on hearing someones trouble..they post-increment it and give it back to them. Ye lo!! tumne kya socha bus tum dukhi ho..huh!!!! I have all your problems +1.

A and B (Amma+ Bauji) are the dearest people on this planet for me and I can say without an iota of doubt that they love me the most, yes yes  I mean the **superlative** literally.

B is the most honest and principled guy I hv seen. The most energetic and stylish oldie .. his caps and sparkling shirts well tucked in crisply ironed trousers can put all the "oh I'm so cool" dudes to shame. For years I woke up to the smell of his after-shave as he sat shaving besides me in the wee hours of morning. I still do for those few precious days I go home! He is the one who literally prays to God and thanks him and not just sing this song - "God gimme this, give my son that, give my daughter the remaining stuff.. blah blah". He is the one whose sense of humor delighted the entire clan and made him the B of entire gali (colony). He fed street dogs,  they actually seemed to communicate with him, brought little shivering puppies home (I remember once even a tiny cute pink piglet too :) ), bought fruits and vegetables sometimes just coz he had too much of a chemistry with the hawkers who wouldn't let him go and played with kids, blessed the youngsters and shared great friendship with his peers.

I just adore his smile and the huge mole he has on his forehead. For that matter, I love every thing about him.

I admire the way he never let this weird thing called "generation gap" come btw us( me+my bro) and him. How he got himself updated with all things "in", be it the latest pastries in confectioneries/ the latest summer flavours of Rasnas' and squashes of our times or the chowmein revolution :) in our small city. He never let us feel that Papa was too busy to entertain us and our stupid demands. I vividly remember how my little brother wanted to eat jalebi once late in a chilly night and the markets were closed, and my grandparents ensured he had something similar cooked by themselves. I remember the first ever dance competition I participated in. My performance bombed but I never realized it, coz my dearest B cooked up a story and gave me a prize(which supposedly,the contest guys forgot to give). I jumped with joy, had it not been for that packet of drawing-book and colours, our drawing room today would hv been bereft of all the trophies it boosts of today. So all the GenX parents who spend hours and days surfing net and reading books on **PARENTING**, you have a tip here !! :) 

They spoilt us, doted on us but never for once came in the way of ur studies or let us misbehave. They are this perfect!! They are people I can just aspire to become. My B calls me "sher" (lion) and my little brother "lallu" ( cute stupid creature). I cant even imagine, ppl complain of grandparents who exercise some gender-bias against girls. Mine did the opposite, I believe ;)

My A is the epitome of beauty, love and affection. In spite of her ill health, weak hands which she had trouble even moving, she made sure I was well wrapped in the blanket which I threw time and again at night. And when power went off and we had no inverters and we took turns to use the hand-fan, her turn never seemed to end! MR has Amma to thank for, she is the one I draw patience from, to take upon the responsibility of fan/light/AllOut/cell phones/blanket covering him all night. You better do,MR !!!

My A is the most beautiful women I have seen. The way she tries to maintain herself even today at the age of 82 is worth a salute! Her organized almirah and super-clean surroundings can something I can never match.  Her culinary skills, patience and love she puts into food and the perfection she employs .. God! I can write pages and pages on these two :):)

Their love for each other is so kiddish and mature at the same time. It makes me go weak in my knees. B never forgets A's medicines, eating timings, creams(ointments and beauty creams :) ) and TV soaps. A is hard of hearing, B has for years narrated the entire story of serials and movies to her. A is no less of a romantic! She doesn't eat till B comes back home. Makes sure his favorite things are cooked on his Birthday and their anniversary :) And folds his clothes and keeps his things just exactly the way he likes :)

      Can you imagine that? Probably that's wat 60+ yrs of marriage makes out of you, gives you the power to love someone divinely. The love, people of our generation know of is nowhere in the league. They are an ITEM ! A - "a tiny petite beauty" and B - "a dark tall dude" :):)

They have taught me to love, care and keep a family together. They have taught me values not by words but by examples. They have taught me how meaningless terms like generation-gap are..if love is abound!

.... and they have made me scared today by the fading strength in their voices and welled-up tears in their eyes. They have been old always but who gave them the right to be senile ? You cant be.. you are the rock stars who can never stop rocking!! You guys are the one phone-call which ensures my happiness ! You are... for whom I am!!

God, give them good health (take little of mine :P) and give them joy!! Give them yourself upfront (daaah! look at my technical lingo) , they never ask on their own...

p.s -  Promise the future posts wont be this long ;). But this was more than just a post.