Galadriel ke Mann Ki Baat

... jusssst like Rakhi ke Mann Ki Baat.

since amey suggested that UGC could be YOU users actually writing posts here... I took it quite seriously... and of course, made puppy faces and asked Galadriel - of the phamous galadriel porn blog to do me a guest post. NO, this is not a porn guest post. That, is restricted to HER space.
here, she writes this:
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So she successfully bullied me again and made me write a guest post for her. Now I am not as hardworking as her other victim. I am not going to dig up her old posts (I haven’t read all of them, but don’t tell her, she’s already out to slit my throat) or send her much appreciated gifts. All I’m going to do is what I can do is write something heartfelt and hope she doesn’t knock the crap out of me for being all senti. (Or get the crap knocked out of her by all the other people she didn’t ask to do a guest post! *smirk smirk*)

The first time I became aware of her existence was when she commented on my post. And I think I have Alice to thank for that. Continuously commenting on each other’s blogs, pulling each others’ legs all the time and basically just having fun – this was how our friendship (fraandsheep?) began to grow. When I do a search in my gmail for her, it returns countless results. The first page reads “1-20 of thousands”! We have come to the point where we cannot go one day without mailing each other.

I have seen her transform. One minute she is an 8 year old, laughing at people’s funny accents and the next minute she is a strong wise old lady, giving me sound advice. It makes it so much easier to bounce ideas off of her because she won’t ridicule you. Most likely, she’s already been through a very similar situation and has reacted exactly like you. I have finally begun to understand the meaning of mental connection and how it transcends all physicality.

One of the things I love most about her is her complete lack of pretense. She hates it if anyone calls her beautiful. Like me, she has no illusions about her looks. She knows exactly how attractive she is or isn’t and is one of the few people who are completely satisfied and comfortable in their body. That itself adds oodles of charm to her persona.

I have really only known her for the last year and a few months. And yet I feel like we have known each other for years. So much, that she is the first person in the United States whom I visited and stayed over with. I haven’t even visited my family, which lives on the West Coast. And yet, I have not felt the need to go knocking on her door every so often, like I see so many “BFFs” do all the time. I am perfectly happy seeing her probably once a year, maybe less, hopefully more, now that she’s moving (yayy!).

Currently, of course, we’re totally digging Rakhi Ka Swayamvar. Our chat conversations read like dialogues from the show. We’re waiting with bated breathe to see if she really does marry Eeles *gujju* Parujanwala or the slimy weenie from Deeelie. Makes for very interesting topics for discussions.

But since I don’t know how to end this post, I will leave you with this amaazing clip of our heroine trying her hand at being.. er… human! And oh yeah.. I lauwe you Raysh!!!!

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i lauve you too, G! you're going to be the firsstt fraynd to visit me when i move! it's making me actually look forward to moving! :)

:(

after years of convincing yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to...
after years of believing that you're not afraid of anything...
after years of believing that you ARE the best...
after years of believing that you are absolutely independent...
after years of maaroing lines like "i am woman, hear me roar" etc...
after years of believing that you don't need anyone else to survive, or even to live...

after all those years...




... all it takes is ONE measly roach to make you whimper on the couch & dash those beliefs.
sigh.

UGC

since i don't know what to blog about. and since none of you tag me anymore.
i shall use alice's excellent SEV-inspired idea. and use user-generated topics to come up with posts.
so now, YOU tell ME what you'd like me to write about.

some things i cannot do, hence should not be suggested:
- book reviews.
- film reviews
- music reviews.
well, reviews of any kind.

and yes, till you suggest - this qualifies as a post. also, suggestions are welcome all the time, but would love prompt suggestions. as is the case, the man i married is traveling and i have loadsa time to kill on my hand. and NO, i don't need to be reminded that i have to pack. i know. i WILL get to it. eventually.

*for the uninitiated, UGC - user-generated content.

reasonable excuses

okay... since it's been a while since there's been a proper post... i think i owe it to the VERY few ppl who bothered to notice!
quite a bit has been going on.. highlights of which are as follows:
- SHE is back2blog. all engaged n all. so, go congratulate her! while, dewey is away. that kinda reflects on the low comment count, doesn't it?! but she's been kind enough to visit the blog and get those exotic country flags up there! thenks.
- vin walks the walk on the 14th. FINALLY. that will get it's own post. pucca.
- we're a month away from moving. but we still don't know the EXACT date we move, which mover we would use or when we would move out our stuff! we do know where we're going. thanks heavens for small mercies.
- i've started thinking of packing... which essentially means that my house now looks like a warehouse that was raided. yes, the second bedroom is kinda littered with most of the stuff that should be packed. and erm... yes... i will get to it. eventually. which also means that no guests are now allowed to visit! :D
- i realized that i have a helluva lot of stuff. never thought of myself to be a hoarder. but i guess i have some of my mom's genes too!
- EVERY little bit i own has it's set of memories attached and i can't get myself to give it away or even worse, trash it. makes it all the more difficult to pack and puts me in a vague mood.

this coupled with the fact that there haven't been ANY decent hindi movies of late ensures that i've been leading a rather hassled life. and no, i do NOT wish to watch rakhi ka swayamvar. neither will i watch the potter movie. thank you very much!

so there! now that i've got that off my mind... maybe i can get back to posting regularly...
i know i haven't been too regular on all the blogs i read. but i shall make up for that. soon.

socially networked

i'd never really taken to social networking.
long back, when i worked in b'bay, an acquaintance had asked me why i didn't have an orkut/FB account. and i'd said "who has the time! besides, i'm in touch with those i want to be in touch with."
partial truth, that.

i definitely didn't have the time. and i was in touch with most of the people i wanted to be in touch with.
some people... i'd lost touch with. for no particular reasons. definitely not because i didn't want to be in touch with them. but sometimes, life happens. and you tend to oversee people who were/are important to you. people you have some really awesome memories with. people who would make you fight. sometimes for them.... sometimes with them! but people you can't really be mad at for long.

when i got to the US, i registered on orkut just to see what the hype was all about. now i had the time... and my friends were across the seas. this seemed like a good way to stay in touch. i started an FB account... then deleted it coz i didn't see the point of it... then, last year, when i went to london, i got back onto FB... played games, took silly quizzes... again, wasting time.
but it wasn't until now that i truly realized how "nice" it could feel.

i got in touch with a couple of really really good friends that i'd lost touch with years and years ago! friends that i'd tried to find earlier... but somehow hadn't managed.
and now, thanks to FB, i've re-connected with them. it's a lot of catching up to do. we all have changed quite a bit over the years. but we're still the same people. it's amazing how and what the mind remembers. silly details... random trivia. but well, i'm happy. to have met them. to have taken the time out to be on a social networking site. and to have finally realized what the hype is all about. for me, now, it seems totally worth it!

in a day...

here's what the quote of the day, on my gmail, was today.
Timothy Leary - "Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition."

i neither agree. nor disagree.
but, me likey.
why can't i come up with such witty one-liners?!

and amongst other things... research explains why i can't ignore my niece who is rather cat-like. or why my whining cannot be ignored. or why dewey can sucessfully nag me. little manipulative, no? well... who woulda thunk!

30 years of deliciousness.

yup. it's official.
i have a box which says so!

a box, that reached me after an entire treasure hunt... and a wait - that seemed rather long! a box, that arrived after i was made to straighten my hair WHILE i was online and chatting. a box, which i presumed had CHEESE in it. a box, which i was told had a video of ALL the cheesy b-grade videos which had a heroine named reshma.

it didn't.

but let me start at the beginning. i woke up - on my 30th b'day to hear galadriel say "don't call me back. i'll talk to you tomorrow. bye" in the MOST khadoos voice. this was thanks to the man i married... who saw her missed call from the prev night, accessed VM and held the phone to my ear while waking me up.

a little later when i logged in and went to dewey's.. *yeah, i do that obsessively*, i saw this. then, i was bullied by G to go over to hers and do the entire treasure hunt. *all of it isn't here, but i can't share the rest!* the prize at the end was undisclosed.

so, after abt half a day... of waiting, of chatting, of hearing these two snickering... finally... i got this:

a delish snickers cheesecake.

and it kind of set the tone for the wonderful day that followed.
galadriel, dewey - you gurls are absolutely fantastic. it takes a LOT to go through so much hassle... more so, coz i know how caught up both of you are right now... really really appreciate it! you both mean a helluva lot to me. and i can't thank this space enough for enabling me to meet you. i wish you both could be here... but since that wasn't possible - this was as close to purrfect a bday i've ever had!

and all of you who mailed me - i haven't got down to reverting yet. i promise i will. today! dewey's been nagging me to do this post... so the mails were on the back-burner. but i really really appreciate the wishes. thanks a ton! i had a wonderful day. :)

decadent

what with the b'day coming up n all... i was asked if i've been thinking/contemplating/introspecting... no. i haven't. somehow, the mood isn't right to introspect too much. that'll happen as it does. irrespective of the date/year...

but dewey's been nagging me... and i also want galadriel back to commenting here *she was on leave, she's back now & needs a new post to comment on!*
so, i'll try and summarize this decade. i've changed tremendously as a person in the past 10 years. i don't even know where and how to start jotting it down. most of this blog is abt the past 10 years of my life.
it all started with me leaving home... it seems so long back if i think in terms of years. but i can r'ber everything so clearly, that it seems like yesterday.

mostly, i figured things as and when... other than at mica, i never had the time to actually chew on things and then analyse. i didn't even know they were learnings till a couple years later, when i looked back and realized how much i had changed. i didn't know then, that change was not always bad. that it was inevitable to change. but i learned.

have i grown wiser over the years? i'm not sure. but yeah, i have grown up. in ways i hadn't thought possible. if i were to look at me 15 years ago - i see a totally different person. okay, not totally different. but a LOT different. more impulsive, faster to react, someone who didn't know the difference between reacting and responding... someone who took ppl at face value. someone naive... definitely a lot less cynical and a lot more self-absorbed!
but still, in a lot of ways, i'm still the same. i still cannot think beyond me and mine first. only that now, i know when to curb it. i am definitely a lot more tolerant. more at peace with myself. i know where i am... and where i'm heading. and that even if i don't always know, it's alright. i do know how to manage relationships a lot better and to pick my battles wisely. i now realize that i don't always need to be in control of everything. that it's okay to let go. in a lot of ways, i'm content. but there is still this need to know more. to try and be better. and i hope that always stays.

so well... before this post turns into a mush-fest and i get into serious introspection; go ahead & wish me. while i go off and have fun! and as long as u wish me while it's the 9th in ur country - u don't have to add a 'belated' to it! :D