Are you two a number?

This post was supposed to come sometime during my MBA. Posting it now.

I thought I had met all types of professors. Some who were funny, some who were witty, some who could never be forgotten, some who were best forgotten.

And then came along TLo. Walking with the Staying Alive rhythm, dressed in his floral shirts, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the Laughing Buddha. To say that he had the naughtiest face ever would be an understatement.

Running into me and one of my male friends standing on the staircase talking, he looked at me and then at my friend and then back at me again. Looked with eyes as innocent as a baby's. We both looked at each other and then at him, questioningly. And he asked:

"Are you two a number?"

"Err ... No sir ... Aheem, excuse me sir .... What sir ??!!", stumbling and falling over words.

Since then, he has passed winks whenever he crosses us and words like girlfriend, boyfriend feature during intellectual discussions with him.

Oh, that's a devil smile on that monk face.

Well, he definitely gave me something to write about after all these months!

it will always be the town of your home

So many rounds to the airport to drop off departing friends. So many times having to look up at the dig board to check flight status.

There it is always.

A flight departing to New Delhi.

The name is enough to skip one of my heartbeats.

Everytime.

Its never enough when its Harry Potter

After a delay of almost seven weeks and getting a final kick from the fast approaching deadline, I finally chose the day to attend the Harry Potter Exhibition at Marina Bay Sands ArtScience Museum.

I cannot emphasize enough on the excitement which watching actual props from the movie sets on display, can generate. Maybe other obsessive fans can help me here.

Not having any HP fans around, I was going for the exhibition alone.

Even better!

Harry Potter books have always brought out this childlike wonder in me. I have spent a lot of my idle time imagining the world which Rowling has created.

This time was no different. Waiting just outside the entry to the exhibition with dozens of kids around me, I could feel my excitement mingling with theirs. I could see wide smiles on parents and kids alike. And why  not! To be greeted with the flying car was a signal of what to expect next.

After been shown through the veiled mist door, the main exhibition started. Various props, clothes, sets used from the movie were on display. Be it Harry Potter's glasses (THE GLASSES!!), the snitch which Harry caught in his mouth, Lord Voldemort's wand, Half Blood Prince's potions book, recreation of Gryffindor dormitory, Hermione's Yule ball dress, I couldn't stare at these wonders enough.

Goosebumps, Yes!

Sadly, I could not take any pics as one of the witch attendants warned us of being thrown to Azkaban if found doing so! That's a warning enough, no? :D

And as is the case mostly, there was a souvenir shop at the end. How could I not shop from the goodie store sale (not a sale though, going by the prices). Wands, pens, Hoodies, tees, book, diaries, glasses and what not! After much adjustment to my budget and sacrificing some magical stuff for others, forty five stressful minutes later, I was armed with a Gryffindor Tee, a pic of mine superimposed in front of  Hogwarts, a Chocolate frog, Bertie Botts every flavor (Not the ones from the movie!) beans and a Marauder's map. 

Yes! My very own Marauder's map. I am going to be upto no good for sure.  

Whattay day! 

HP relived all over again. 

goodbye, muscles

After an initial burst of positivity , i have started to find the gym so boring. I go alone and that adds to the boredom. Also, i have realized that i need to be distracted from my workout to be able to finish it successfully. Either the dance class across my gym or my workout playlist does that for me, mostly.

Until I discovered that the cycle I workout on has a games section! it has been fun cycling since then except yesterday.

Hitting the gym after a month's lull, I was raring to go.

Too raring.

Too tired after two hours, I gave myself ten minutes for cycling.

But wait, this Sudoku puzzle is too interesting. Lets cycle till I finish it. After all how tough can a medium level be. ( I have this obsessive fetish for puzzles and brain teasers)

Wrong! after struggling with it for an eternity, I had to admit defeat. But not before I checked the time.

25 minutes on the damn cycle.

Nice try, gym waalon. Your tricks work.

Good morning, sore muscles !!

image source: clipartof.com

Its getting rainy, Singapore!

Its has happened twice now !

For lunch I have to step out and go across to the building across my office. It is a good 5-7 minute walk, like all places in Singapore.

Twice now, just when I have finished my lunch and am about to step into the open, it has started to rain; no showers, no drizzles mind you - its torrential rains. The best part is both times I have been caught without an umbrella and a few cents in my pocket, definitely not enough to call for a cab!

The funny thing is that the other times when I have had company, it has been bright and sunny enough for flowers to bloom.

My facebook and twitter accounts saw tons of activity during that time. Thank humans for the smartphones they have created. What can I say it is to be stuck in a building for two hours straight and watch grey clouds pour down mercilessly.

I carry an umbrella everyday by the way. Just that I promptly forget to carry it with me out in the open !

No worries rain gods, I will be prepared the next time you wanna play this game :P Else, facebook will let you know about my misery, again.   

social bug

Yearning to become social again. 

In the virtual world. 

Want to reactivate my twitter account, post mindlessly on facebook, write random stuff on my blog, maybe start a travelogue.... 

Yawnn, i think ill go take a nap now 

Decisions, decisions

Sometimes there is so much happening in your life that it takes one fine day to realize that a significant amount of time has slipped away, without you having the faintest clue of how and where it went away. You are supposed to have aged but you don't feel it. 10 months back you were going to office, working your a** off, coming back home, fixing yourself a meal, catching up on stuff (if time permits), sleep off to start another similar day and then letting your hair down over weekends. The usual work life routine. Days go by like this. Ten months later you are still going to office, working your a** off, coming back home, fixing yourself a meal, catching up on stuff (if time permits), sleep off to start another similar day and then letting your hair down over weekends.

Does something change during this time? Something does. Something intangible. I have felt it, I feel it. Is it feeling aged? Am not so sure. Even though every birthday post my twenty fifth has been spent lamenting on me being pushed to the terrorizing figure of 30, I am back to routine within a few weeks. So, I can say that it is not exactly the fear of growing up. I think it is what growing up forces you do. 

Take decisions. 

Not to decide which new restaurant to try out tonight (which is one the hardest things I have to do), but to decide upon stuff which can be life altering. And with every such milestone I cross, I look back and suddenly the previous decision looks like a cakewalk. I know, the usual restrospective thought process.

Another thought which is not so comforting is that suddenly the stakeholders (or their number) involved in the decision making/affected by the decision, increases. You are no longer deciding for yourself. Soon, it will be time for you to take decisions for other "human beings". 

Human beings.

Life, you are not making decision making any easier. The thought of being responsible for other lives is mildly discomforting. Whoever said growing up is fun, lied. I wanna be that schoolchild again who was scolded by her parents, bullied by siblings and was told what to do and what not to do!

Phew, life was so much simpler when I was a kid. And the only thing I wanted to do back then was grow up. Boy, does the 16 year older me wants me to go back and tell the 10 yr old me: 

We screwed up, stay there !!          

gems

an emptiness engulfs

and coils tightly,

around the heart

...the eyes moist slightly

when all you want

is your epitaph to read:

lived a nice and happy person,

you are slapped by someone of your deeds

the head is spinning

ears are ringing

there is a numbness

but it is screaming

screaming with reality

of what I have lost

of what was mine,

what I should have cherished the most

why are the lessons lost over time?

how many chances will life offer?

god gifts few priceless gems

but showered countless in my coffer

they'll shine for you;

they love you, they'll shine some more.

So, no matter how dark the clouds,

never lose the ones, you they adore

some i lost.

some i have.

some i threw,

faulted in judging value of many, perhaps.

Time to take this as the last lesson

life anyway gives only a few.

else, soon the last of the gems will slither away defeated,

all left then will be just you, you and you

Everything is fine

the wall was built

with good reason

little does one know

the ways of treason

surrepitiously,

the barrier fell

very suprisingly, it felt good

one could tell

after long

the sun shone

the feeling was like,

a king back on renounced throne

flowers seemed to smile

rains felt like little pearls

was i dreaming?

is this really happening again

but do the winds of change ever stop?

down they came

everything was expected,

except the speed of change

there is no stopping

the stream of tears

with them comes

a sense of fear

will this cycle never stop?

of seeing dreams with open eyes,

never daring to make them come true

when slowly the dream takes shape, a sinking heart realizes,

as always, it was too good to be true

you give some,

you get some

what goes around, comes around

never forgets to drive the message home

where does one go from here

the same paths?

that were trodden in despair?

sadly, the answer is yes

so wear the evening dress,

put up the smile, which says everything is fine

indifference is your best shield

start working right now

remember? you have a wall to re-build

the change agents

The change agents work faster than we think they do. Just when you think that you have figured out the next step in your journey (that too after months of deliberation), there comes that gust of wind which fogs the path which looked crystal clear just a few days back and clears up the path which was never to be trodden upon again.

What does it take for these agents of change to come swooping down on us so surreptitiously?

It can be a deep, deep longing for the magic touch, which hits you with an unexpected force; It can be a craving to walk down those familiar paths again, the same ones you never wanted to put foot on again; It can be a dormant desire to touch those faces you left behind, the desire you never expected to become active so soon;

It can be a person's casual mention of your beloved hometown; It can be a heart to heart with your mother after a long time which makes you realize that that is one friend which is always there for you; It is sometimes usurping of the physical spaces you gradually started believing to be your rightful belonging because of the precious memories they possess, and the fear that those memories will now fade away ...

Or sometimes all it takes is a hazy, fading dream of all those people they call family ....