""Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy."
Yes this is a line I read somewhere...and know I have done well in my life.
I've used this to my hearts content over and over again, the last few days...( 15 days so far..not yet done though!! )
I agree with it wholeheartedly....the divine feeling you get, as the name carries across and tingles in the air leaving you feeling content and smug, is a feeling only mothers get. And more so, moms of two teaching their kids for exams. But any mother will do.......I'm sure they'll agree with me.
The kids are 'nuts', I tell you..and have driven me to the stage of 'AHAM BRAHMASMI'. How else would you explain to a boy of 7 that whatever stunts he tries...in the end , he's the one who'll be writing and not his mom?
For a question " Why is oxygen important to us?"
His answer " How do I know? You tell"
**I was actualy smiling and choking on my laugh, when I heard it**
And he comes back from the exam...and apparently must have 'made blow torches while he spun a few rubber bands into magic catapults, while writing the paper'... He was pretty upset...and so when I said
" Thats the reason I ask you to stay put in one place and study and not treat the house like a gym..."
He very matter of factly says " Its ok ma!! its after all an exam!! "
Hmppfff, huh!! eh!!
What was that?
I really need to learn that... :D
And I have to learn a lot from them.
But I have learnt that when you really scream...a hollow, wall cracking scream.....letting the last letter just stay there hung suspended in mid air...it does bring a smile on MY face....
It feels satisfying...I dont even bother to look and see if it has had any effect on them....'cos i'm sure it hasn't.
And so the reason the younger one has his name ending with an " N" ...to deviate from the the statement and make my house sound and echo like a ringing bell.....
and to add to the cacophony his mother makes, he has learnt the latest rage in ringtones....
so my house is reverberating with this...... seconds being provided by the older brother...
and whoever dares laugh at me....
a virtual kick in the butt for all of you!!!
Yes!!! I am waiting so so ...for the break.....no screaming, no nothing...
Just Nirvana.....
and listening to this song in the meantime....
Friday, September 26, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Scribblings with pen and ink!!!
"No man was more foolish when he had not a pen in his hand, or more wise when he had" - Samuel Johnson.
LIfe is not fun anymore....trust me. In these ages of 'make things perfect' products , the fun is lost.
Just last evening while checking my sons stationary to be taken for his exams, I was a lil disappointed to see the inside of the case.
No stains and no blue gory looking tissues or cloth. Hmppffff....
In my school days, writing with an ink pen was in the first place, a very prestigious benchmark in our lives. Ok so all the rest were to be counted in too...but , I'm sure the school year, where you are allowed the use of a pen was a moment to be rejoiced and cherished. It signalled the advent of 'grown up kid' ...of course it has no physical justification. Imagine, a 8-9 year old being 'big'?? Huh!!!
But pen it was...and the preparations for the journey was a memorable one. Then the pens that had to be used were only fountain pens. The ball-point pens ( dot pens, as it used to be referred to ) were a sniggered cousin. The teachers would smirk and of course 'stand up on your bench types' if we did use one.
The fountain pen had its days.
The varieties were few . The regular ones with nibs having their noses out. The nibs were special...one had to be careful...if it fell to the ground while you were flipping it to get the ink to flow along, you had to repair the bent nib. And off it went to the edge of the desk, a pencil box in hand, hammering at the edge to straighten it out. The nib of course by now would have a gap, that would set its status to " reject or deject' But not for us...the pen would be brought very gingerly to the teeth, and pinched between the 4 frontal dental geniuses. Nib repaired...( it had to be checked by scribling in the back pages of a book, of course!!) one would know exactly why the bench partner would be staring at you. No !!! You were not the proclaimed genius of your pen..but you would be sporting a blue grin...thanks to dental make ups...
The offended teeth would be wiped away on the edge of the bag...( then it was the canvas one...washable and much more lighter( on the pocket, wallet, back and the teeth too!!)
The art of cleaning, had to be mastered too....a thin white ( nearly) cloth or sometimes paper too had to be twisted into a thin long piece and inserted into the cap, only to come out all soaked and drooping. It was an art...yes!
Sadly the fountain pen, did have its esteemed company in the name of "HERO" pen.
Oh yes the smoothie, the no - nonsense ink filling pen. The joy one got of just dipping the pen into the ink pot and coming away un-blued...was a joy. But those pens were only meant for the exams...it used to be the more expensive ones of our time...a whopping 16 rupees.
But they were treasured.
The shirts had their stains, and the women's magazines had their articles
" How to remove ink stains from clothes"
The graffitti on school walls, sprinkled blue and black...sometimes for the adventurous, green too....small splats, looking like flowers with one petal drooping out of the cluster and drooling gravity. They were there, for the walls to soak and memories to be made.
Now when I see the ultra clean gel pens...the cheap, disposable, refilled, kind of pens....I look back and wonder, if the stained memories were more fun...blue'd walls be damned!!!
And collecting some vague ones too..I had one which had the outer barrel stuffed with currency notes, one that had a figure, transparent one..that when tilted to write would fill up to disclose the beautiful woman...so many , such a lot of fun.
There's nothing like writing with a fountain(ink ) pen! :) Oh ya
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Dog-eared and book-marked!!!
Tags been doing its rounds...and exam time onmy head, so brain works in just one direction....hindi , Biology...etc....so thoughts i'd handle these tags and bore all of you...
get ready for one long post...whoooosh!!!
Tagged by Lone wolf- Anoop....and Suma...
Since both dealt with books, mixed both up
Here go the ones...
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you really love (and strikethrough the ones you hate
4) Reprint this list in your own blog.
How is it that the books I have read don't feel like being featured here?? :(
so here's the list someone else has so patiently compiled
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible -parts of it
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (most of them)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov ( I remember reading this book while in high school...and was totally flummoxed, 'cos I of course, but naturally didn't understand what the whole fuss was about. But later on, I did re-read it, and liked it and still have it...wonder what i'll feel if I read it now?? )
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo ( read it half way through :( )
If I were to be asked which books i'd like to read....i'm sure its gonna be all those who haven't been read..I gotto read them...and since I have the list now...yay!!!
I have a lot of favourites...thats because you can't just have one.....
I don't have any hatred for any kind of books...at the most the book fails to maintain my interest and I stop reading...though I keep going back and thinking whether i'd like it better if I read it now...????
Sono strikethroughs...but since I just learnt how to use this tag...i'm going to strike that out...
but my all time favourite would be
Pride and Prejudice
Gone with the wind
Kite Runner
Now since the latest tag by Anoop, was again to do with books, I thought i'd add that here...who knows it might make my job easier, cos some might have already been answered :P
Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
As kids we used to have a lot of time on our hands ( less stressed school work, and no TV) so I just started reading..of course, how could I ignore the rows of shelves loaded with books at my house...Dad has a love for reading and so but naturally daughters will inherit it..
But who could forget my school, who used to give away books as prizes for any winner...
And then tryst with books started...he would buy me books each time he travelled ( I still treasure all of them..cos they have his handwriting so neatly penned in) and then it was the quaint old neighbourhood library.
What are some books you read as a child?
Many I have forgotten, but crystal clear in my mind is one big book, that said " Wash 'em clean"...it was by a Russian author, Korney Chukovsky so agree with Anoop here...and it had such cute pictures and simple words that made up amazing stories. Years later they were also the books I read out to my kids first thing.
Pinocchio a book that I had got as a prize in school, was a great one to begin with. No hard covers...pictures few, that could be colored too...( I hadn't I remember, cos I was worried i'd spoil my first book :)
What is your favourite genre?
I have a Issac Asimovs 'Spells', unread...so that makes me a bit partial for anything non-science fiction.
I love mush, romance, medical thrillers, murder mysteries, autobiographies, semi-autos...anything and everything.
Do you have a favourite novel?
Just told you in the above tag, many...so can't actually name everyone of them...it depends on the mood, and my need to read at that time. It could range from the heavy duty Vishnu Sahasranam or a light read like Calvin and Hobbes....
Where do you usually read?
Stumped...!!! How can you designate a place specifically for reading??? I can read anyplace, as long as I can hold that book straight to see the words. I read between making dosas( on the kitchen counter), when I give my son a break when he's studying, right under his pile of books, near the pool, in the car, in the principal's office.....I think you'll got my point.
Before I got married, I remember reading in loos, at my study table with the book hidden under a school book, while classes were going on in school, Wonder what thrill there is but it is to be done once in a lifetime.
When do you usually read?
Anytime, anyplace. I just need to read the book and finish it. I have read books, while boiling milk as early as 5 in the morning. and woken up from sleep an dread a book , cos I couldn't sleep. So time doesn't ever matter.
Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Oh yes!!! Even now there are 3 that are being read simultaneously...
Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
Eh!! How does one do that??? Let me see, if its a romance, that i'm reading , then there will be scented candles, soft music, ...huh!!! where was I? ...no way...
All books have pride of place in terms of place and style of reading....all the same.
*On second thoughts, maybe I should try reading science fiction hanging upside down from the bookshelf... ***
Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
ALL OF THEM.....isn't that what love of reading does to you.."beg , borrow or steal" Though I havent had to use the third tactic so far.
Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
And why is my new house still having 3 unopened boxes, all filled to the brim with books..( I've tried negotiating with my son for space in his book shelves to no avail :( ).
Yes, in a very generous state of mind, I did go and give away nearly 100's of my mills and boon collection to the neighbourhood library...but the insanity stopped right there....Now its back to drooling over all the books on the pavements, bookstores, houses, schools, sales...everywhere...can't kick the habit.
If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
Too late to be asking me the big "IF" i have 2 sons already....and yes, I have shared most of my books ( I have to..) and most of the ones I read as a child hold important place on the shelves.
What are you reading now?
War and Rememberance by Herman Wouk
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Veronica decides to die by Paulo Coelho ( getting bored...so its been hung up for now)
Hindi sulekh..for 7th standard students, ( oops....sorry....exams up now...so had to squeeze that in too )
Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
Oh yes!!!! Like I do each time read tags like this...or read a review in the media...but when I finally go out to buy a book, I call up my friends and eat their head for a list....
Right now the one that tops the list of to be read is
Preethi from Just a mother of two's
Bubblegums and candies...
I'd love it if all of you would do the same....its gonna be fun
What books would you like to reread?
Not too fond of reading bestsellers again...'cos I like that first euphoria or whatever the feeling to stay as it is...and not to be blended with others opinions and reviews.
But books like
The power of now by Eckhart Tolle
Book on Women by Osho
Calvin and Hobbes
I love to read and re-read..
Who are your favourite authors?
Am not at all fussy...its the story that'll pull me towards it. A must read review by a friend can also do the trick. I'm not biased. There was a time, when JOhn Grisham, Frederick Forsyth, Ayn Rand, Robin Cook used to be favourites, I still have to read all their books that come out...maybe its force of habit.
Now is the time to tag another....
I'd love see what
Sahana, Preethi from Incessant musings, Shruthi from High Spot, Ceedy, Rambler and Joy to do the honours.
get ready for one long post...whoooosh!!!
Tagged by Lone wolf- Anoop....and Suma...
Since both dealt with books, mixed both up
Here go the ones...
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you really love (and strikethrough the ones you hate
4) Reprint this list in your own blog.
How is it that the books I have read don't feel like being featured here?? :(
so here's the list someone else has so patiently compiled
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible -parts of it
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (most of them)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov ( I remember reading this book while in high school...and was totally flummoxed, 'cos I of course, but naturally didn't understand what the whole fuss was about. But later on, I did re-read it, and liked it and still have it...wonder what i'll feel if I read it now?? )
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo ( read it half way through :( )
If I were to be asked which books i'd like to read....i'm sure its gonna be all those who haven't been read..I gotto read them...and since I have the list now...yay!!!
I have a lot of favourites...thats because you can't just have one.....
I don't have any hatred for any kind of books...at the most the book fails to maintain my interest and I stop reading...though I keep going back and thinking whether i'd like it better if I read it now...????
So
but my all time favourite would be
Pride and Prejudice
Gone with the wind
Kite Runner
Now since the latest tag by Anoop, was again to do with books, I thought i'd add that here...who knows it might make my job easier, cos some might have already been answered :P
Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
As kids we used to have a lot of time on our hands ( less stressed school work, and no TV) so I just started reading..of course, how could I ignore the rows of shelves loaded with books at my house...Dad has a love for reading and so but naturally daughters will inherit it..
But who could forget my school, who used to give away books as prizes for any winner...
And then tryst with books started...he would buy me books each time he travelled ( I still treasure all of them..cos they have his handwriting so neatly penned in) and then it was the quaint old neighbourhood library.
What are some books you read as a child?
Many I have forgotten, but crystal clear in my mind is one big book, that said " Wash 'em clean"...it was by a Russian author, Korney Chukovsky so agree with Anoop here...and it had such cute pictures and simple words that made up amazing stories. Years later they were also the books I read out to my kids first thing.
Pinocchio a book that I had got as a prize in school, was a great one to begin with. No hard covers...pictures few, that could be colored too...( I hadn't I remember, cos I was worried i'd spoil my first book :)
What is your favourite genre?
I have a Issac Asimovs 'Spells', unread...so that makes me a bit partial for anything non-science fiction.
I love mush, romance, medical thrillers, murder mysteries, autobiographies, semi-autos...anything and everything.
Do you have a favourite novel?
Just told you in the above tag, many...so can't actually name everyone of them...it depends on the mood, and my need to read at that time. It could range from the heavy duty Vishnu Sahasranam or a light read like Calvin and Hobbes....
Where do you usually read?
Stumped...!!! How can you designate a place specifically for reading??? I can read anyplace, as long as I can hold that book straight to see the words. I read between making dosas( on the kitchen counter), when I give my son a break when he's studying, right under his pile of books, near the pool, in the car, in the principal's office.....I think you'll got my point.
Before I got married, I remember reading in loos, at my study table with the book hidden under a school book, while classes were going on in school, Wonder what thrill there is but it is to be done once in a lifetime.
When do you usually read?
Anytime, anyplace. I just need to read the book and finish it. I have read books, while boiling milk as early as 5 in the morning. and woken up from sleep an dread a book , cos I couldn't sleep. So time doesn't ever matter.
Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Oh yes!!! Even now there are 3 that are being read simultaneously...
Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
Eh!! How does one do that??? Let me see, if its a romance, that i'm reading , then there will be scented candles, soft music, ...huh!!! where was I? ...no way...
All books have pride of place in terms of place and style of reading....all the same.
*On second thoughts, maybe I should try reading science fiction hanging upside down from the bookshelf... ***
Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
ALL OF THEM.....isn't that what love of reading does to you.."beg , borrow or steal" Though I havent had to use the third tactic so far.
Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
And why is my new house still having 3 unopened boxes, all filled to the brim with books..( I've tried negotiating with my son for space in his book shelves to no avail :( ).
Yes, in a very generous state of mind, I did go and give away nearly 100's of my mills and boon collection to the neighbourhood library...but the insanity stopped right there....Now its back to drooling over all the books on the pavements, bookstores, houses, schools, sales...everywhere...can't kick the habit.
If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
Too late to be asking me the big "IF" i have 2 sons already....and yes, I have shared most of my books ( I have to..) and most of the ones I read as a child hold important place on the shelves.
What are you reading now?
War and Rememberance by Herman Wouk
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Veronica decides to die by Paulo Coelho ( getting bored...so its been hung up for now)
Hindi sulekh..for 7th standard students, ( oops....sorry....exams up now...so had to squeeze that in too )
Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
Oh yes!!!! Like I do each time read tags like this...or read a review in the media...but when I finally go out to buy a book, I call up my friends and eat their head for a list....
Right now the one that tops the list of to be read is
Preethi from Just a mother of two's
Bubblegums and candies...
I'd love it if all of you would do the same....its gonna be fun
What books would you like to reread?
Not too fond of reading bestsellers again...'cos I like that first euphoria or whatever the feeling to stay as it is...and not to be blended with others opinions and reviews.
But books like
The power of now by Eckhart Tolle
Book on Women by Osho
Calvin and Hobbes
I love to read and re-read..
Who are your favourite authors?
Am not at all fussy...its the story that'll pull me towards it. A must read review by a friend can also do the trick. I'm not biased. There was a time, when JOhn Grisham, Frederick Forsyth, Ayn Rand, Robin Cook used to be favourites, I still have to read all their books that come out...maybe its force of habit.
Now is the time to tag another....
I'd love see what
Sahana, Preethi from Incessant musings, Shruthi from High Spot, Ceedy, Rambler and Joy to do the honours.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Divine intervention!
I have never believed so strongly that things happen and there is a divine intervention. I'm a very matter of fact person. I celebrate festivals, because I love the culture and the environment it creates and more because I can see so many people smile. It is a chance for me to learn more cooking and the art of time management ( trying to cook umpteen dishes while the pooja has to be done before a certain time, does need some brain drains..) ...I have never brought the God into the picture at all.. :(
I know that the power above is one who guides me and helps me in my situations.
All these years...each time a tragedy struck anyplace I would feel bad, upset, sometimes ( i'm being honest) it wouldn't affect me, and there were many times that anger in me dissipitated all the effect of the entire event. I somehow felt that the person i'm connected to will never be in that particular place...god knows what that theory is all about!!
But last evening, I am assured, there is a divine power somewhere looking after us, and He knows when exactly we need it.
I got the first call around 7.00 PM and it was my brother sounding frantic. He had just seen the news on TV about the bomb blasts in New Delhi, while he was waiting for a train. He's tried to call her immediately and she was not reachable. When he called me , I was not perturbed...I am like that, always ( my injury prone kids have trained my brains and mind well enough, I should say! )...my media box was shut down for the day....cos kids were studying for their exams. But when I did switch it on, I realised the extent to the damage and then slowly it sunk in...My sister was to take her friend to Connaught place for shopping. And the news said it had occured there.
I finally managed to get in touch with her...and she was in the middle of a very slow moving traffic, that was getting out of the area..and she just said, " Thank God! I was sitting in the park, and nothing happened!! I'm ok now. "
Later it was learnt that the very same park she was sitting in waiting for her friend to show up, was the place of the blast. My heart did a somersault. It could have been HER. But then I am now sure of that Hand above.
In all this I realised one more thing....why are we sometimes so selfish, that we get all so concerned only when it regards our own people....was I being selfish here too...? All I could think of was my sister and no one else.. :(
I pray for all those affected by these blasts. And I really wish there was something I could do to erase such dastardly acts .
I know that the power above is one who guides me and helps me in my situations.
All these years...each time a tragedy struck anyplace I would feel bad, upset, sometimes ( i'm being honest) it wouldn't affect me, and there were many times that anger in me dissipitated all the effect of the entire event. I somehow felt that the person i'm connected to will never be in that particular place...god knows what that theory is all about!!
But last evening, I am assured, there is a divine power somewhere looking after us, and He knows when exactly we need it.
I got the first call around 7.00 PM and it was my brother sounding frantic. He had just seen the news on TV about the bomb blasts in New Delhi, while he was waiting for a train. He's tried to call her immediately and she was not reachable. When he called me , I was not perturbed...I am like that, always ( my injury prone kids have trained my brains and mind well enough, I should say! )...my media box was shut down for the day....cos kids were studying for their exams. But when I did switch it on, I realised the extent to the damage and then slowly it sunk in...My sister was to take her friend to Connaught place for shopping. And the news said it had occured there.
I finally managed to get in touch with her...and she was in the middle of a very slow moving traffic, that was getting out of the area..and she just said, " Thank God! I was sitting in the park, and nothing happened!! I'm ok now. "
Later it was learnt that the very same park she was sitting in waiting for her friend to show up, was the place of the blast. My heart did a somersault. It could have been HER. But then I am now sure of that Hand above.
In all this I realised one more thing....why are we sometimes so selfish, that we get all so concerned only when it regards our own people....was I being selfish here too...? All I could think of was my sister and no one else.. :(
I pray for all those affected by these blasts. And I really wish there was something I could do to erase such dastardly acts .
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
How Green is my color!!!!
Often while reading a book one feels that the author would have preferred to paint rather than write; one can sense the pleasure he derives from describing a landscape or a person, as if he were painting what he is saying, because deep in his heart he would have preferred to use brushes and colors -.Pablo Picasso
Reading this quote I was left wondering if I could ever do something like that. Paint I can't do justice to effectively. But when Ceedy tagged me into writing a story based on a color I like, I was cornered.
Reason being, I could tell all my favourite color and then write what I felt ...so hopefully there is some justice in this story I tried at writing.
Green!!!! starved monsters...
"There was a time, he would come home and sit with me straight away...would love to watch me in the kitchen. He has no time for us now. He would tell bedtime stories to Chunnu, even that has stopped" said Shekhar's mother, wistfully.
Rashmi carried on with her task of cutting vegetables. She knew what would come next. Her mother in law had become very predictable. She had done everything to make it easier. Had never once argued. She had let her be.
But today she could see those monsters crawling all over. Green eyed and spurting fire..
"Which saree is this? I have never seen you wearing this?" said the mother in law.
" Ma, its the same one that Shekhar bought for me, my last birthday", Rashmi said softly and patiently.
" Oh! how is it that he was able to buy a gift...he had no time to buy one for my birthday", her voice raised, a pitch higher. She had completely forgotten or chose to forget, that Shekhar had indeed given her a gift, though not a saree. But that wasn't the conversation her mother in law wanted to have.
Rashmi, got up to go inside, only to be stopped by the sounds coming from within the room. Her mother in law, had started the age old habit of whining and digging into the past, brow beating her husband into nodding his head and silently approving all her acts. Rashmi just shook her head, and walked away.
She had seen this coming after all. And she also knew it was best left ignored.
But how long would she stay silent. Wasn't she the same young effusive, outspoken girl! Could she stay silent long enough to work things out or should she say something?
She waited for her husband Shekhar to return from his long hours at work. She hummed to herself, breaking out into a small jig, impromptu, but so like her. After all her favourite song was playing on the radio, and no one could stop her from being happy. She remembered those days in school...when she would be part of the group that sang for competitions. She never had the perfect voice , but she sang for herself and she was content. She didnt hear the door knob turn, so when Shekhar shouted over the Joanna number, she turned around, the song stuck half way on her lips and contorted face.
" Wonder how you hear yourself screech, in this manner. We'll get thrown out one day!"
Her heart skipped a beat, and sank into the depths. He hadnt liked her singing, not because she wasn't perfect, but he was afraid she might become one. She was talented after all. And what better way than nip it in the bud. He had done this once too often. She hadn't realised until it was too late and she had allowed it to happen.
He had never wanted her to succeed and make a name better than himself. It wasn't about her singing, it was about her being independent and self reliant. He liked her as a vulnerable and dependant woman. And he had succeeded in moulding her into one. She was ashamed of herself, but she could not compete with those green eyed monsters lurking in every corner of her life.
She looked askance, she looked back, she saw the hyper girl, with hair flying all over her face, while she wore her favourite parrot green t-shirt, that said..."I MAINTAIN MY BALANCE IN ALL SITUATIONS", dancing away into the night....and smiled.
No, she wouldn't feed those monsters today....they needed to starve.
She opened the doors to her terrace and stood, watching the verdant green of the avenue of trees that lined the road facing her house. She was at peace...the lush beauty did that to her.
An interesting link I found, for all to see.... click here check out what your personality is...and if you don't like what it says...I didn't give you any link... :D
And now to pass on this tag...
I'd like to see what Suma, Tys, Rambler got on this....
Anyone else who'd like to take this up...do so, and please let me know. I love reading
Reading this quote I was left wondering if I could ever do something like that. Paint I can't do justice to effectively. But when Ceedy tagged me into writing a story based on a color I like, I was cornered.
Reason being, I could tell all my favourite color and then write what I felt ...so hopefully there is some justice in this story I tried at writing.
Green!!!! starved monsters...
"There was a time, he would come home and sit with me straight away...would love to watch me in the kitchen. He has no time for us now. He would tell bedtime stories to Chunnu, even that has stopped" said Shekhar's mother, wistfully.
Rashmi carried on with her task of cutting vegetables. She knew what would come next. Her mother in law had become very predictable. She had done everything to make it easier. Had never once argued. She had let her be.
But today she could see those monsters crawling all over. Green eyed and spurting fire..
"Which saree is this? I have never seen you wearing this?" said the mother in law.
" Ma, its the same one that Shekhar bought for me, my last birthday", Rashmi said softly and patiently.
" Oh! how is it that he was able to buy a gift...he had no time to buy one for my birthday", her voice raised, a pitch higher. She had completely forgotten or chose to forget, that Shekhar had indeed given her a gift, though not a saree. But that wasn't the conversation her mother in law wanted to have.
Rashmi, got up to go inside, only to be stopped by the sounds coming from within the room. Her mother in law, had started the age old habit of whining and digging into the past, brow beating her husband into nodding his head and silently approving all her acts. Rashmi just shook her head, and walked away.
She had seen this coming after all. And she also knew it was best left ignored.
But how long would she stay silent. Wasn't she the same young effusive, outspoken girl! Could she stay silent long enough to work things out or should she say something?
She waited for her husband Shekhar to return from his long hours at work. She hummed to herself, breaking out into a small jig, impromptu, but so like her. After all her favourite song was playing on the radio, and no one could stop her from being happy. She remembered those days in school...when she would be part of the group that sang for competitions. She never had the perfect voice , but she sang for herself and she was content. She didnt hear the door knob turn, so when Shekhar shouted over the Joanna number, she turned around, the song stuck half way on her lips and contorted face.
" Wonder how you hear yourself screech, in this manner. We'll get thrown out one day!"
Her heart skipped a beat, and sank into the depths. He hadnt liked her singing, not because she wasn't perfect, but he was afraid she might become one. She was talented after all. And what better way than nip it in the bud. He had done this once too often. She hadn't realised until it was too late and she had allowed it to happen.
He had never wanted her to succeed and make a name better than himself. It wasn't about her singing, it was about her being independent and self reliant. He liked her as a vulnerable and dependant woman. And he had succeeded in moulding her into one. She was ashamed of herself, but she could not compete with those green eyed monsters lurking in every corner of her life.
She looked askance, she looked back, she saw the hyper girl, with hair flying all over her face, while she wore her favourite parrot green t-shirt, that said..."I MAINTAIN MY BALANCE IN ALL SITUATIONS", dancing away into the night....and smiled.
No, she wouldn't feed those monsters today....they needed to starve.
She opened the doors to her terrace and stood, watching the verdant green of the avenue of trees that lined the road facing her house. She was at peace...the lush beauty did that to her.
An interesting link I found, for all to see.... click here check out what your personality is...and if you don't like what it says...I didn't give you any link... :D
And now to pass on this tag...
I'd like to see what Suma, Tys, Rambler got on this....
Anyone else who'd like to take this up...do so, and please let me know. I love reading
Monday, September 8, 2008
Aww it's great to have friends!!!!
“Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish in the crowd.”
I remember the first time I started blogging….I had read a few, but always was under the impression that it was meant only for working people ( How brilliant was that?!!)
And when I used to read the comments I would wonder, “wow!! Such a big group of friends…and how do they do it? “
It took me a while to unwind the dumbness in this brain, and start ranting myself. Never did I think I’d be part of one lovely set of wonderful people along the way. Some tried to criticize, some raved, some laughed and some mutely stood by. But these are the very own set of my friends who helped me along, many a times healing me in crisis, and many times more, letting me know that I’m part of a normal world. And in this world, I was acknowledged and then to realize….
Was awarded this lovely one by none other than Keshi..
a girl whose honesty really amazes me.
Thanks girl!! And yes, may we remain friends forever. …and now I’m supposed to hand this over…( something like a rolling trophy??!!!)
And so here goes…The award for being blogging friends forever goes to
Shruthi from High spot
Preethi from Just a mother of two
Ziah from A slice of lime
Preethi from incessant musings
Stygian from Kafka
Oormila from Arpeggios
Madhumita from One true thing
And then I was told I was given yet another award…when it rains it pours. And this time it was about my blog being a brilliant one….yipppeee, yay!!!! And I was given this one by Preethi from Incessant Musings. Thanks girl…this sure is gonna keep me smiling and grinning for a while now
And this I proudly pass onto
P S
Tys
Bengalooru Banter
Keiths ramblings
Ceedy
Ghazal
Thank you guys…you’ve joined me along on my journey and made it oh so interesting, I could never get bored for a second.
I remember the first time I started blogging….I had read a few, but always was under the impression that it was meant only for working people ( How brilliant was that?!!)
And when I used to read the comments I would wonder, “wow!! Such a big group of friends…and how do they do it? “
It took me a while to unwind the dumbness in this brain, and start ranting myself. Never did I think I’d be part of one lovely set of wonderful people along the way. Some tried to criticize, some raved, some laughed and some mutely stood by. But these are the very own set of my friends who helped me along, many a times healing me in crisis, and many times more, letting me know that I’m part of a normal world. And in this world, I was acknowledged and then to realize….
Was awarded this lovely one by none other than Keshi..
a girl whose honesty really amazes me.
Thanks girl!! And yes, may we remain friends forever. …and now I’m supposed to hand this over…( something like a rolling trophy??!!!)
And so here goes…The award for being blogging friends forever goes to
Shruthi from High spot
Preethi from Just a mother of two
Ziah from A slice of lime
Preethi from incessant musings
Stygian from Kafka
Oormila from Arpeggios
Madhumita from One true thing
And then I was told I was given yet another award…when it rains it pours. And this time it was about my blog being a brilliant one….yipppeee, yay!!!! And I was given this one by Preethi from Incessant Musings. Thanks girl…this sure is gonna keep me smiling and grinning for a while now
And this I proudly pass onto
P S
Tys
Bengalooru Banter
Keiths ramblings
Ceedy
Ghazal
Thank you guys…you’ve joined me along on my journey and made it oh so interesting, I could never get bored for a second.
And then I realise these are not enough for all those lovelies who I have come across...so
I'm adding on...please to forgive me- a!!!!! After all i'm a Libran and totally unpredictable....
So the BFF award also goes to
Compassion unlimited
Suma from Aalochane
Solitaire From psychobabble
Rambler
Brocasarea
Veens.....
Hershey
JOy ( oopssss...so much joy, it inflated my chest...heheheh)
Reyshma
Monica
Sahana
c'mon all you peoples...please come and collect your award...
(I ran short of patience and just cant do this linking bit.....forgive me...)
Friday, September 5, 2008
Maid-aa????
I loved going out to the bus stop to drop my kids off to their school bus! I really did! I would stand there and watch all the morning joggers, the old maami's in their pristine white sneakers...and 'bobcut', the huge great danes who would go about the tree lined roads...the parts of the road, which manages to efficiently stay around inspite of the magic boxes, fly overs, airports and diversions...the huge, docile dogs, who would love to lift their hind legs just in front of the ' Do not urinate here' boards...I would love to stand and watch. It was my favourite time of the day...it was a time that I would spend chatting up with my sons.. ( wonder how they would remember all the assignments so naturally right there in the bus stop..just making me feel all so bad momma yet again....but that was the best time yes!!!! I could enjoy just a few more moments of peace and calm.
On the way back...I would walk, ever so cautiously....my eyes would be trained, 2 behind, 2 to the right, 2 the left and 2 in front( all over the place, is what I mean ...)....trying to see....far beyond and far behind. I would enter my gate, eyes trained on my kitchen window...just trying to see if it had been opened just a few inches more than what I had earlier in the day...
I would enter the lobby, and while entering the lift that would take me to my wing, try and peep into the other...( bad habit... :( ) just hoping....and the then the escalation would start, the rise of the heartbeats.....as the floor was nearing...I would turn into my corridor, walk slowly and walk ever so carefully...all eyes on the floor....No...I knew how to walk straight...I could walk blindfolded in that corridor ..but I had a reason...I wanted to spot the one thing that would brighten my day!!
The lone pair of footwear...conspicious by its presence...but heartening to my soul...the sight that would make me smile and know that this is what I needed to know that my day is going to be good and bright....Never had a pair of worn out chappals made me smile and grin as much as these...I would open the door and hear the splish splash in the kitchen and walk in proud, head held high, shutting out the 'Hi, you're back?' from dear hubby....of course I was proud...
MY MAID HAD COME IN FOR WORK TODAY....YAY!!!!!
PS. Written in sheer frustration 'cos maid had been phoonked....or whatever...for the last 3 days...,
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