Bored…

I am feeling extremely bored right now and don’t know what to do. I thought of writing to you because over the next nine days I won't have the time to write to you. Since Golu is working tomorrow, I will be doing all the running about and I will have to keep a lot of food ready for the next few days. Like I have told you before, I won't be able to write much but you never know I might keep all my work aside and first write to you. I really don’t trust myself.


I also have to start shopping for my elder daughter's birthday which is on 18th August (she will be turning 10). So, we are planning an 'All-girls party' for her. Tomorrow I will try to buy as much as I can and rest of the shopping I will do after 8th August when I will be comparatively free. Last year, I was working on her birthday but thankfully this time, my exhibitions are getting over before her birthday.


Do you know something? Last year, my increments were given in the form of quarterly variables. So every quarter I get a cheque of certain amount which brings a smile on all our faces. Though it’s a miniscule amount, it really helps. This time I have decided to contribute a little portion of that amount to the Church on Jemimah's birthday and the rest of the amount I will be spending equally on both my daughter's birthdays. Goldie will be turning 7 on 30th September. This year during my appraisals I told to consider my increment in the net take home and not put in as variable. So from June onwards, my salary has been raised plus this variable.


And do you know something more? Jason (my Golu's name) has a special meaning.....J = July = my birthday, A = August = Jemimah's birthday, S = September = Jewel's birthday, O = October = His birthday and N = November = His mom's birthday. Earlier, we didn't know this. But when we realized, we felt too good. Very very good...

Oliver Twist

From today, I am reading the e version of OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens. I must say that my heart goes out for this poor little fellow who is badly treated by everyone around him. How can anyone behave so badly with orphans? Does anyone really hit a hungry child who asks for more? Amazing characters in this amazing story!


I have this book titled – A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E M Forster – to read in the train. There’s nothing great in the story but somehow I am enduring it. I just don’t understand why I am so skeptical nowadays to read the new books I have bought of late. I just don’t understand why I should be reading my old books again and again. I am just sick and tired of this present state of my mind as far as books are concerned.

IIJW & IIJS

I am going to be really busy from 31st July till 8th August. There are two back to back events – India International Jewellery Week (IIJW) and India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) – both needs to be reported live and I will have to be continuously on my toes all the time. I will be keeping odd hours, especially the first four days, and my entire systematic personal life will go berserk. To top it all, my daughters’ exams will be starting from 4th August, the day IIJS starts. So I will really have a tight schedule.


IIJW is quite a glamorous event with a lot of potential for reporting and networking. A lot of celebrity crowd gathers during this show and I had enjoyed immensely last year. It was real fun though I used to be dead tired. This time there will be a lot of expectations from the second edition of the show. Though IIJW was conceptualized only last year, it was a big hit and this year it will be maddening.


Motu I am sure I will not be able to keep you posted about me. Last year, I used to upload a lot of IIJW pics on FB. I might do the same this year also though personally it will be a disordered life.

Mesmerized…

I just want to say that yesterday I was mesmerized by Madhuri Dixit’s electrifying beauty and dazzling smile and I just kept staring at her all the while. It was around 16:55 IST on my mobile when I realized that I was sitting four rows away from Madhuri. When it was her chance to speak, I embarrassed myself by going right ahead to click her photographs and kept clicking till the time she spoke. I wormed myself through the barrage of electronic media guys and the camera men to get a good view of her. But my ‘khatara’ mobile couldn’t do justice to her beauty as it was unable to capture her really well. Any which ways, I was lucky enough to be able to get a ‘close’ look at someone whom I have been admiring since my childhood. Now the next “Mission (Im)Possible” is to meet Aamir Khan. He being the brand ambassador of Titan watches, the day shouldn’t be that far away. Let me just keep my fingers crossed.

I am going ‘Mad’

The air is thick with excitement and I am eagerly awaiting my ‘meeting’ with Madhuri Dixit. I am on cloud nine and have created much hype at home, in the office and of course on FB. I just can’t hold on to my excitement. I can’t concentrate in my work, unable to read my e-book and just can’t sit still. I am hanging around in the office (more so because the cat is away) and calling up friends to tell them about this press conference. I am going ‘Mad’ for Madhuri.

But let me write down few more things. I guess I am immensely enjoying having green tea after lunch every afternoon though I add few granules of sugar in it. I couldn’t drink it without sugar the first day and with sugar it just tastes heavenly.

Monday night I finished reading THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER and have taken up HARD TIMES by Charles Dickens. I guess it is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens which was first published in 1854. “Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life”…..is how the story starts. So far I have completed four chapters and I think I will manage to sail through the rest of the chapters without any darkening clouds on the horizon. It happens to be one of the shortest of Dickens’s novels and yes, I have read it once before also.

I have some wonderful collection of Charles Dickens like GREAT EXPECTATIONS, HARD TIMES, CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE TALE OF TWO CITIES, DAVID COPPERFIELD, DOMBEY AND SON, OLIVER TWIST (abridged) and a collection of short GHOST STORIES. I want to buy/read the unabridged edition of OLIVER TWIST.

Life’s new kick

Before I forget, let me fast tell you about the latest kick in my life.....I am getting to meet MADHURI DIXIT tomorrow at a press conference.....................I am so excited..........

It was never a dream to meet Madhuri Dixit as such, but as a journalist, I am getting this easy way to access her through this press conference. I have been a fan of hers since TEZAAB and RAM LAKHAN but wasn’t ‘dying’ to meet her though I have always found her beauty electrifying and smile dazzling.

But it has always been a dream of mine to meet Aamir Khan and I am ready to embarrass myself to any extent to get just a glimpse of him anywhere in the world. Both Madhuri Dixit and Aamir Khan have always been my favourite Bollywood stars and for that reason DIL is my most favourite movie because this is the only movie in which they both have appeared together.

Green tea

Since I am on homeopathic medicine, I have decided to give up coffee, my (former) daily elixir, for good.

I guess I was also getting addicted to it and since the time I have read that coffee isn’t considered physically and spiritually healthy in Christianity, I have been feeling very apprehensive while having it. Nowadays I just don’t get the urge to have coffee either at home or in the office. Moreover, as it was discovered by some Muslim Sufi long ago, I have decided to completely obliterate coffee from my life.

I am switching over to green tea from today and I really hope that I like it. I had bought some green tea bags (impulsively) around six months back but they were, till this morning, untouched. This morning I decided to bring one sachet from the unopened box to try out in the office because green tea is anytime natural and as such has no side effects.

Who knows it might improve my present health condition as it has several health benefits though I am definitely not interested in weight loss.

Homoeopathy

I am feeling enormously restless right now and so thought of writing something. Though I don’t have anything particular to talk about, I want to write something – anything – just to calm down my uneasiness. Writing down my thoughts always has a soothing effect on me. I can already feel my jumpy nerves quietening a bit.

Let me think. Okay, here we go….nowadays I am on homoeopathy medicine as I am sick and tired of allopathic medical aid. They are so bitter. Strictly for this reason I have given up coffee as well…no regrets so far!

What else? Hmm…well, I am reading the e-version of THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde. I have not formed any opinion of this book so far. I am just reading it and honestly shocked to know the author’s opinion about women in some of the chapters. I am given to understand, through some of the characters in the story, that Wilde didn’t have a very good opinion about women. I find some of the things very derogatory and harsh on women. I don’t think all women fall in the category of what Wilde has written.

None the less, yesterday I was so disgusted with the snail-paced story telling by William Makepeace Thackeray in VANITY FAIR that I left it mid-way. The book has some 800+ pages and the print size is so fine that it becomes exceedingly annoying to read further than what I have done so far. VANITY FAIR, in my opinion, is the mother-of-all slow-paced Classics compared to which SILAS MARNER has been fairing in a decent pace. I don’t think I must have finished reading VANITY FAIR in my first innings and I cannot endure it any longer presently. Now I am reading ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER by Mark Twain and thoroughly enjoying it. Yesterday itself I devoured around seventeen chapters of this light-hearted Classic piece of literature.

I am feeling good and so I will write no more………

Rejuvenated…

Though these last four days absolutely rejuvenated me, a mishap this morning has brought me down to the real world from cloud nine. I injured my right knee in the morning and have been limping since then. Otherwise, life has been perfectly blissful since my birthday. This birthday happened to be one of the most memorable birthdays so far……for various reasons!

On the morning of my birthday, I received two surprises – firstly, my Golu gifted me a shiny thousand rupee note and, secondly, a fresh and colorful bouquet on the doorstep. He never pulls out any surprises so when I saw these two things I turned sentimental. Later on we went to the church and sat in the chapel for a little while. I felt so peaceful from within.

And how can I forget the lovely messages that kept pouring in on Facebook? I didn’t have to be online; I was intimated of all the messages and texts on the wall through sms. I have lost count of the number of people who wished me on my birthday this time – mostly all school friends – whom I had searched on FB. Birthday wishes from these long-lost friends were indeed special…I felt so nice!

Then we had a vegetarian lunch (for a change) because it was going to be a heavy non-vegetarian dinner for sure. While having lunch, I requested a song to be played on 104.8 FM. Within no time, my favorite RJ, Komal, who has also become a very good friend of mine, called up to wish me and also to take my song request – to be played on air. I said “sama hai suhana suhana” and she too felt that it was the apt song to be played as I was enjoying myself immensely with my family. After lunch, we went for a long drive (listening to 104.8 FM) and on the way, a heavy rain started falling. We were hooting and the hooting became louder when my song was being played. While coming back home, we went to ‘meet’ Chestnut. Nobody allowed me to get down and pat him. I was feeling sad for him and I could make out that he too was sad as I wasn’t getting down from the car to pat him. He walked away sadly. I came away with a heavy heart.

In the night, we went for dinner but it turned out to be a ‘dry day’ (some ekadashi). Golu told the restaurant manager that since it was his wife’s birthday, he wanted to celebrate with alcohol. So the manager let us a room for a little while, provided we vacated it before 12o’clock! He didn’t want to turn us away! So we enjoyed my birthday dinner in a small cozy room (free of cost). We ended my birthday celebrations with ‘misthi paan’ and next day, i.e., yesterday, both of us watched DELHI BELLY.

Had it not been for my injured knee, it would have been a perfect rejuvenation. But then all things come with a price tag………!

PS: Just wondering. Do people really like me so much? There are still some belated wishes that are continuing to come in…………! I am flattered…………!!!

11th July – my birthday

Finally, at long last, it’s time to celebrate my birthday on 11th July.

Finally, it’s time to do justice to all my shopping escapades.

Finally, it’s time to wear my turquoise earring and pendant set! Finally, it’s time to flaunt my Hidesign handbag and wear my orange corduroy trousers and not-too-short wrap-around skirt. Finally, it’s time to smell good in my Elizabeth Arden perfume and look good in my mauve shade of Chambor lipstick. Finally, it’s time to give away the gifts to my daughters which I have been buying and hiding from them from so many days. Finally, it’s time to give my Golu the shirt I purchased for him secretly. What else? Well, there are so many other things in the cupboard but I really cannot recall all that now. Never the less, it’s time to take them all out……

Good that Golu doesn’t read any of my blog posts……………………………I will be shot dead on my birthday! He has already been asking me to make a ‘grand total’ of all the purchases I have made so far, but I have just been dallying with this ULTIMATE thing.

PS: After my birthday, I will start shopping for Christmas and our 12th wedding anniversary in December. Is it too early? Well, I don’t think so…

PS (2): I will be ‘holidaying’ till 12th, so my dear Motu, you will not hear from me before that…! Take good care of yourself my dear…!

Chambor & Hidesign

Yesterday i.e. 4th July, 2011, I became the proud owner of a Chambor lipstick and a Hidesign handbag. With these two brands in my kitty, I have now moved into the bracket of luxury brands. On 3rd July I (at last) got my turquoise pendant and earrings. They were finally given to me after much delay. Furthermore, my leave for 11th (birthday) and 12th July (rest day) has been approved and now I can bring in my birthday celebrations from Friday afternoon itself. The excitement is in the air and, surely, this birthday will be the most memorable one for me for various reasons.

To begin with, this time I have done unending birthday shopping and on top of that, Golu really surprised me yesterday. While I was on my way to Oberoi Mall, he called up saying that I shouldn’t get disheartened looking at the prices of Hidesign handbags and should definitely not come back home empty handed. Instead, I should go ahead and buy whichever bag I like the most. He gave me the go ahead to really splurge myself. I was touched. But I selected one of the most decent looking and also one of the most decently priced handbags for me. I know where to stop. Then also this stylish day bag has cost me a bomb. There was a time in my life when I had just aspired for that kind of money as my salary. Now by the grace of Jesus Christ, I buy handbags costing that kind of money. And if I am not mistaken, European luxury company LVMH holds a 20% stake in Hidesign. Wow!

Golu also told me to go to his Pepe outlet and select four top wears for myself. But fortunately or unfortunately, I didn’t like any stuff over there. Somehow I don’t like Pepe tops; I just like their jeans. They fit me to the T (whatever it means).

Then since I had ‘some’ money left with me, instead of taking it back home (I don’t believe in that), I bought a Chambor lipstick. Actually, while I was standing outside Lifestyle, the Chambor counter looked very tempting. I just went inside and bought a lipstick. He he he……!!!

Well, yesterday I finished reading LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER (most disgusting book) and today I start reading SILAS MARNER by George Eliot (her third novel) in the train. I hadn’t liked LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER earlier also and this time as well I didn’t like it. The story somehow didn’t appeal to me and the language was pathetic. When I was reading SILAS MARNER for the first time, I had left it midway. I had found it painstakingly slow paced and the language a bit difficult. I hope I will like it this time because now I am used to reading slow paced books and well versed with difficult language.

July’s here…

July, the seventh month of the year and the month of my birth, is finally here. Though around the world it is the hottest month of the year, the monsoon fun just starts in India in July. I guess Kerala would be an excellent place to be in at this time but we will have to make do with a fun night out, long weekend or extended getaway in Mumbai itself. Nothing more than this!

Some time back I had got a message claiming that July 2011 has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays and that this combination of days only occurs once in 823 years. Hmm, so what’s the big deal? Whatever it is, July always brings on the cheerful times for us all and will be my most favorite month.

I read somewhere that the month of July is a tribute to the colossal ego of Julius Caesar but I am a simple person without an iota of inflated feeling of pride in my superiority to others.

But what I like the most is that the month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. The entire month falls within the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, which is represented by the liturgical color green. Well, I will have to get something green then.