Hey amigos...been a while since I have posted anything. Blame it on my blogger's block and my non-exciting life currently.

Been shuttling between work and home mostly. Some family visits too kept me busy. Good news is that we finally bought a car and should be getting delivery by Sunday (fingers crossed). I also need to now to revive my rusty driving skills. Other news is that court vacations are coming up in June so I plan on wearing the brightest of colours to work on a weekday (yes, it is a very big thing). June will also bring my birthday (yipppeeeee) so those of you who want to wish me 9th June is the B-day. Yes I am a little kid when it comes to birthdays. I like the traditional trappings - chocolate cake (Can anyone tell me where did his tradition of cutting cakes start to celebrate a birthday and I know we got this cake idea from the Brits?), gift wrapping paper to tear off the gifts, lots of love and wishes from my family and friends (It makes me feel really good to know that there are people who bothered to remember my birthday and take the effort to call and wish me). Other news also includes my little cousin bro (little for me at least) having cracked the IIT and a horde of us raising a cheer and banging the table in Delhi at a posh resteraunt, leaving the rest of its patrons wondering what we were cheering about now that IPL is also over. 

Ya ummmm well that's it for now folks...if my blogger's block continues, I am going to have to start writing essays on 'Rainy day' or 'How I spent my Summer Vacations' or 'Autobiography of a Coin' just so that I can post something here and not feel vaguely guilty about not posting more often.

 

I have been having a blogger's block for sometime so I'm doing this tag which I saw on someone's blog (Sorry I don't remember whose. If its yours, please tell me and I shall acknowledge you :P)

Hope my block gets unblocked.

LAST
1. Last beverage: Water

2. Last phone call: Client call
3. Last text message: To a colleague in Bombay
4. Last song you listened to: 'Lonely is the night'
5. Last time you cried: Been a while now

HAVE YOU EVER
6. Dated someone twice?  As in breaking up and then again getting back together? Yes.
7. Been cheated on? Nope

8. Kissed someone & regretted it? Nope
9. Lost someone special? Yup
10. Been depressed? Yup
11. Been drunk and thrown up? Yup &  managed to teach Arjun counting from 1 to 5 :P

12. Kissed a stranger? Nope
13. Lost glasses/contacts? Contacts - Oh yes :(
14. Had sex on first date? Nope
15. Broken someone’s heart? So I'v been told
16. Had your own heart broken? Yup - by John Abraham, Rahul Dravid, Hrithik Roshan & Tom Cruise
17. Been arrested? Nope but I have been inside a jail :P
18. Turned someone down? Yup. Quite a few someones in fact
19. Cried when someone died? Yup
20. Liked a friend that is a girl? Oh! I ‘like’ them all(in a non-lesbo way) :P

IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE YOU
21. Made new friends? Yes of course.

22. Fallen out of love? Nope, but I did fall even more in love with the man I have married :)
23. Laughed until you cried? Oh yes
24. Met someone who changed you? I'm thinking on that. Marriage has changed me so I can say Arjun has changed me.
25. Found out who your true friends were? I always knew who they were :)

26. Found out someone was talking about you?  Yup

WHAT’S YOUR
27. Name: SMM
28. Nicknames: Plenty :P

29. Relationship status: Married
30. Zodiac sign: Gemini (My birthday's coming up...yeahhhhh)
31. Male or female or transgendered: Definitely female!
32. Elementary: Tiny Tots, Vishakapatnam

33.School: Quite a few though I finally passed out of Ashok Hall, Calcutta
34. Colleges: Symbiosis Society's Law College
35. Hair color: Black
36. Long or short: Depends :P
37. Height: 5′6″

FIRSTS
38. First surgery: None till date thankfully
39. First piercing: Got my ears pierced when I was barely a year old is what my mommy tells me 

40. First best friend: I'v been told it was our neigbour's daughter (Pooja I think is what her name was)

41. First sport you loved:Swimming I think

42. First pet: None
43. First vacation: Calcutta I guess
44. First concert: Too far back to remember. I'm a Bong, you see. Concerts are a part of our Puja functions.

 

RIGHT NOW
45. Eating: Nothing right now
46. Drinking: Water
47. I’m about to: Start drafting the replication
48. Listening to: Colleagues talking (Ipod out of charge) 

49. Waiting for: the 9th of June (my birthday for those of you who don't know. Gifts welome - caste no bar, age no bar, sex no bar)

YOUR FUTURE
50. Want kids? Yes definitely
51. Want to get married? I'm already married and last I heard bigamy is not allowed for Hindus :P
52. Careers in mind? A best-selling author

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX? 
53. Lips or eyes: Ummmmmmmm....both :P
54. Hugs or kisses: Both :P
55. Shorter or taller: Taller
56. Older or younger: He's older than me and I'm not planning on acquiring any other 'he':P

57. Romantic or spontaneous: Spontaneously romantic :)
58. Nice stomach or nice arms: Both :P
59. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive
60. Hook-up or relationship: Already hooked, booked and cooked :P
61. Trouble maker or hesitant: Trouble-maker. that's me :P

DO YOU BELIEVE IN
62. Yourself: Mostly
63. Miracles: Yes please...I really need a few here
64. Love at first sight: So I was told :P
65. Heaven: I wonder if there really is heaven & hell
66. Santa Claus: Sadly no more
67. Kiss on the first date: Yeah but a chaste one :P
68. Angels: And fairy godmothers too :P

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS
69. Fuschia pink
70. Purple
71. Black

72. Red 

73. Have you kissed anyone on your friends list? Orkut/FB friends list? Yeah. My husband's on both :P
74. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life? Almost all

75. How many kids do you want to have? 2
76. Do you have any pets? No
77. Do you want to change your name? Nooooooooo
78. What did you do for your last birthday? Work, shop, candlelight dinner, home :P
79. What time did you wake up today? 6:15 am
80. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping
81. Name something you CANNOT wait for? A 2 day weekend absolutely uninterrupted by work :P

 82. Last time you saw your father? March 2009
83. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life? Not much right now. Maybe a good maid who can cook :P

 84. Most visited webpage: Igoogle
85. Do you have a crush on someone? John Abraham :P
86. Ever been in love? Truly, madly, deeply 
87. Piercings? Ears
88. Tattoos? No!
89. Righty or lefty: Righty
90. On Internet since: Actively since 2001
91. Video game: Not particularly
92. When left alone: I read or finish my chores or cook or sleep or do thousands of things. I love my own company :)

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY
93. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Already met my mom earlier this month and I'm already with the one person I otherwise wanted to be with :P
94. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? Yup :P
95. Wanted to kill some one ever? Yes - quite a few
96. Among your blog mates, who would you like to kiss? Arjun :P
97. Committed a blunder and regretted later? Yes
98. Wanted to steal your friend’s boyfriend / girlfriend? Nope
99. Wanted to run away from your loved ones in anger, because they didn’t listen? I have wanted to leave in anger many a time but haven't yet and hope I never will
100. Posting this as 100 Truths? Not a bad idea

Caveat: This is a meandering post where I know not what I have written cuz the words just flew from my heart.  

From an early age I learn to keep my emotions hidden and not give others any hook by which they could scoop me up. Children are sometimes very mean and cruel, without probably meaning to, and I experienced this young. This was probably because of my dad's ill health which had already started showing up. First, he started limping, then he started using a walking stick (which for a serving defence officer is a big blow to his ego), then he had o take premature medical retirement, he moved to a wheelchair, and now depending on his health, either he is bed-ridden or on a wheelchair.

Unfortunately, I also have a thin skin. To survive the cruel barbs of many, I pretended that I had a thick skin and laughed away many barbs, and believing offense to be the best defence, I made quite a few barbs myself. Not something that I am proud of. This also led to my developing a pretty sharp tongue which I have now learnt to tone down. I have learnt to swallow angry words sometimes, since a word from me when angry and reckless would  probably lead to WW III.

As a child, I was never one of the most popular ones or the cutest ones. I learnt to take it in my stride. I tried hard to be what they were and fit in, but I stuck out like a square peg in a round hole (to use a cliche). I made some wonderful friends in school and college who gave me the confidence to be what I am and we were a bundle of squares, rounds, triangles, rectangles, pentagons and other wonderful shapes and we gave a damn about what was the shape of the hole (no pun intended - just keeping in line with the cliche) cuz we learned to make our own , and not what anybody else wanted to perceive me as. Today, other than my friends, my husband gives me that confidence.

Unfortunately, it is tough to come across such people in today's world - the drummers who march to their own tune (I seem to be into cliches today). Alot of people claim to be such a person, but very few actually are. Its tough to say I prefer Harry Bellafonte when the whole world swears by Linkin Park.

The elections in Gurgaon are scheduled on 7th of May 2009. Today is the 4th of May 2009. Visit my part of Gurgaon - you'd never know that the national elections are underway. No party has come to our area for campaigning, no officer has visited the area for the purpose of including names in the electoral role, a visit to the Mini Secratariat to submit the application was futile.

It seems that new Gurgaon (as opposed to old Gurgaon) does not figure anywhere on any party's list - maybe because this area mainly comprises of urbane professionals who have come to Gurgaon from other parts of India. We pay taxes but we shall have no say in our candidate or our Government. Being a conscientious citizen I would like to exercise my right and my duty to vote, but  I very much doubt that my name is included in the electoral role. Since I am not a dalit or an OBC, and neither do I belong to any minority sect or economically backward class and also pay my taxes religiously since I have started working, the parties and their candidates obviously feel that our votes don't count. I don't even know where my voting centre is though the elections are hardly 3 days away.

The part of Gurgaon where I stay has minimal infrastructure - little or none public transport which I can use, no taxis or autos also in place, unreliable electricity supply, safety of women after dark is questionable. If one does not have a car in Gurgaon, one has little option but to travel by the public transport which is notorious and unadvisable for women or hire expensive private taxis. The roads are bad. The famous Kachra Chowk and Anaath Road say it all.

So elections really? Definitely not happening in my part of India.

Picture courtesy: http://www.dancewithshadows.com

I have whole-heartedly supported the Kolkata Knight Riders the previous season as well as this season. Guess I didn't learn my lesson well last year. However, this team does not deserve my support. This team has let me and millions of its other fans down by giving up which shows in its very attitude.  I have defended KKR  all throughout, but they don't deserve one bit of this support. They were never a team to begin with. I was supporting Sourav Ganguly and will continue to state that he is one of India's best players. I will also state that it is my humble opinion that Shahrukh Khan chose chose his coach and his skipper unwisely. That is I reiterate, only my humble opinion. 

Nonetheless I don't  have any more enthusiasm  to cheer for this team anymore or scream "Korbo, lorbo, jeetbo re". If KKR had gone down fighting, I would have supported them, but KKR has gone out with a whimper - not what I would expect from my team.

Today I publicly renounce my support to the KKR team. I shall now divide my support between Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians.

Disclaimer: If KKR does come back with a bang the next season and makes it to the semi-finals, I shall support them again. Today I am only one, but KKR has lost alot of its supporters. They need to play and win matches, and bring us back into the fold again. We want to be there.

 

That's the pink bag I bought last Saturday from Benetton  :)

Arjun has raised a question here on the power of pink.

There are various theories on the net suggesting why women like pink - 

• Because it is the ultimate romantic colour (Barbara Cartland was renowned for her pink boudoir, carefully colour-coordinated to include a couple of suitably primrose-rinsed Pekingese)
• Because pink represents feminity and  girlishness
• Because it suits everyone (fair, dark, wheatish complexions) 
• Because women are genetically wired toward pink
• Because females were the fruit gatherers and it was easier to pick our pink/ red hues in a green background of vegetation  

Research has shown that this colour preference/ bias toward pink is universal among females - nationality no bar, age no bar, female baar baar :P


Besides love and romance, pink is also associated with softcore communism. While a hardcore Communist is Red, a left liberal socialist is often referred to as a pinko, which endorses the individual's communist leanings and is a back-handed compliment.


Pink has also been used in the articulation of social and sexual freedom by homosexuals across the world in what are known as 'Pink Parades'.


Pink is also associated with the Pink Ribbon Foundation, which provides support to those undergoing treatment for breast cancer.


More recently, pink was also used as a weapon in the Pink Chaddi campaign, where pink was used to symbolise 'frivolousness' which is all what the Ram Sene is.

On my part, pink and more specifically, rani pink/ fuschia is my chosen shade which I wore for my engagement and my reception.

Now the question arises, why do I go for pink?


Well, I go for pink simply because I like it. If I had to make a choice between a pink tee and any other colour, 8 out of 10 times, I will end up choosing pink.  When shopping I automatically end up gravitating toward the pinks. I admit to owning quite a few pinks in my wardrobe - tees, tops, kurtas, suits, saris and of course, my lehenga. This colour gives me a high and makes me feel good. It makes me feel feminine and powerful enough to take on even Darth Vader (okay that's an exaggeration, but I can take on the Hubby for sure :P).  

And its also bright enough to compensate for the lack of colour in my otherwise black-and-white life. I end here with the lyrics of Aerosmith's Pink:

Pink - it’s my new obsession
Pink - it’s not even a question,
Pink - on the lips of your lover
(oh)
‘Cause Pink is the love you discover
Pink - as the bing on your cherry
Pink - ’cause you are so very
Pink - it’s the color of passion
Ah, ’cause today it just goes with the fashion
Pink - it was love at first sight
Yeah, Pink - when I turn out the light
And Pink gets me high as a kite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight
You could be my flamingo
‘Cause pink - it’s the new kinda of lingo
Pink - like a deco umbrella
It’s kink that you don’t ever tell her
Pink - it was love at first sight
And Pink when I turn out the light
Pink gets me high as a kite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight
Yeah!
I want to be your lover
I, I wanna wrap you in rubber
And it’s pink as the sheets that we lay on
‘Cause Pink - it’s my favorite crayon
Yeah!
Pink - it was love at first sight
Pink - when I turn out the light
Pink - it’s like red but not quite
And I think, everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight