Momentary lapse

So another year has ended and a new one has begun. This transition, in my opinion, should last longer. I often wish there were some way to probably create a stopover, or an interval or some kind of a time lag before things start moving again. I would like to take a moment to think, to analyze how to make the next year better and not to make same mistakes again.

Each year, when people are kissing the air and wishing each other good luck for new year, I am left wishing what if the clock stops ticking right when it strikes midnight.
I wish to take a breath, I wish to sit down on a bench in a quiet park, I wish to soak in the moment before moving on. This is never going to happen.
 I always feel I am being rushed into something, and that feeling just spoils the fun for me. Almost always.

Oh Dilli!

It is exactly 7 pm in India and 8.30 am in the U.S.

Just a regular day at work for me, the same buzz, the same chatter that builds up to the time when markets open.

But my head is buzzing with a very different kind of a sound. It is  faint, far away and a little distant. It’s the sound of Delhi’s gaffar market, where I spent many afternoons looking for an old broken walkman to write an obituary on.

The sights and smell of Chandni Chowk and the steps that lead up to the Jama Masjid, whose tombs have seen me climb up and down, brushing against a hundred people and exchanging that awkward look and a sheepish smile.

Bangalore is getting colder by the night. And all I can think of is cold winters in Delhi. Walking around lodhi, stopping for a quick peg at Lodhi Garden Restaurant and then  to Khan Chacha for a roll.

(All images from Google, please don't sue me)

Newer things and nostalgia

Life certainly has changed since the last post. I now write for people living on a distant continent, very different from mine. People I have known about through sitcoms and endless rom-coms. I live not only different time zones but also different identities, not to forget my poor body clock which is completely messed up right now.

It’s like a little bit of me belongs there as well. So if a neighbourhood bagel shop shuts I know how it feels. Not because I visited it as a little girl, but because people who read my stories have done that once in their life and it matters to them (btw the much featured and loved Bagel shop in upper west side is shutting down. This quintessential Bagel place appeared on TV series such as Friends and Seinfeld.)

I have also moved a few hundred kilometres away from loved ones and friends. I live in a different city now. Of course I am settling down to its groove but Bombay is and will always remain my first love, followed closely by Paris of course ;)

Bangalore is the fourth city I am living in the last two years. I hope to write more about the new place, new experiences and all the lovely people I meet.

Also I am dying to watch Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen, only if I find a decent copy somewhere..

My very own art project

How to:  Take an used and abused bottle of scotch, the bigger the better. Remove the label and wash it inside out. Now wipe out the water and put it to dry. Insert the lights and switch on :)

P.S. remember to use LED lights and not the cheap ones you get during Diwali or Christmas.

Midnight

Lying by your side,



Under the midnight’s spell


Tiny lights flickering in the dark


Enough to glow your moistened skin


The smell of young lust


The creases on your forhead


The sound of the leaving bell


And the crickets outside


They ought to stay  mute


They ought to forget the night

under the midnight's spell

This or That?

I have been thinking of buying a really nice pair of Ray Bans. But I am confused as to what style should I go for, though I have my eyes on the Wayfarers for a while, especially their rare prints collection.

Also I checked out this cool application called Virtual Mirror that lets you try out different styles.

Check it out if you got a webcam and lots of free time! Its a nice app to keep you company during those tedious late night study plans. At least for me ! :)

                                              

Hail dementia!!!!!

Popistic Paris

Inspired by: Andy Warhol and his popism

Sums up!

This place is not fit for the fearless brave hearts, but ideal for the timid. The ones who find strength in other people's weakness. The ones who hold higher moral grounds in spite of their stained consciences. So what exactly are they achieving? Are they hiding in the burrows of their disparity by making life miserable for those brave hearts? The timid gets away with this behaviour because timid lives in a constant anonymity but the brave hearts are the most visible. Their actions are noticeable sometimes even generate curiosity, jealousy or plain defencelessness amongst the timid. The timid hide their incompetency not by overdoing the brave heart but by bringing the brave heart down by hook or crook. 

0-0

Recently when a Turkish hacker kind of equalized twitter with 0 followers and 0 following, many felt lonely and many egos were shattered. So this sounds a little silly, a bug sends you in a tizzy and you start consulting a psychiatrist? Are we so dependent on twitter to satisfy our already inflated ego?



So when Ashton Kutcher went up to the mirror to check him, those with a few numbers of followers were secretly happy. They were all equal for a few hours. Such a waste of time no? Ever thought how many people in real life think you are cool? How many in real life respect you for what you are and not just one of the herd?



This is what prompted this post:- shekharkapur: U guys all there? For sum reason my twitter a/c shows zero followers suddenly. U think I’ve been hacked? (on his twitter page)

Who's in?

Block July 15 to July 18, 2010 this year. It is Ladakh Confluence in its second year, bigger, better and of course lovelier with a whole lotta love promised. The line up looks something like this at the moment: -

Manu Delago

Christopher Pepe Auer

Karsh Kale (Website under construction btw :P )

Viku Vinayakram

Rajasthan Roots

Young Musicians of the world

Something Relevant  (Wonder why, well ok!! )

Jamie Catto

Supersonics  ( :-) )

(Courtesy: The Ladakh Confluence 2010)

Something I did - II

Too much has already been said and nothing can be written more. I love them a lot and no its not a shoe:P

Lets tweet

What are we turning into? A community that communicates in 140 characters or less? I miss writing long letters, elaborately giving details of my recent vacation to my friends. Today it would be. “Meenakshi Iyer returned with sun burns and an amazing tan, she loves Goa.”

Twitter is turning us into people with shorter attention spans, with abysmal retention power. It’s like a disease I say if am allowed to be a little crude here. We no longer prefer reading texts that flows into more than three paragraphs.

It is certainly revolutionizing communication but in which direction is the question? We roll our eyes if we find people who are not on Twitter, celebrities are fast signing up as well. Now, I completely support the new media and its wonders, but at the same time, I also take a step backward and contemplate. Where is this leading me?

Social networking puts you in a spot where telling the world what you up to is more like an urge. People are living two lives- online and offline.

Online they have the control, they can mould their persona the way they would like to see them online, it’s like living a virtual dream. So you join groups, become fans of things you don’t even have a clue about? Why? Because the rest of the world is doing so. It is herd behaviour. You want to impress a girl, just manipulate your interests/hobbies sections of your profiles. But what are you in real life may be totally diametrically opposite of what you pretend to be. You go out with your gang of boys, have a great night at the friendly bar, you come home and the first thing on your mind is to put pictures on facebook. You want the world to know that you have an awesome life (considering the popular definition of awesome= social)

Social media definitely revs up your cool Q but at the same time it is turning you into someone you are not.

From my window