Title Tales

            A cousin of mine, let's call him The Grasshopper, is an avid blogger and a wanna-be writer too. And since I am an English teacher, he seems to think I have descended from the Hyperbolic Planet of Incandescent Brilliance itself. Can you see how much pressure would that kind of assumption put on the poor little me? Here I have this space, where all I do is rant about how bitchy my colleague is or how bad a film was or how I am so single and lonely or mother woes or... Umm, well, you get the drift... And then I have this cousin who associates me with elite literature, the likes of James Joyce and V. S. Naipaul. (Just for the record, I have never been able to read more than 3 pages of either's writing.)

           So naturally, I panicked a little bit when he wanted my suggestions to title his new, personal blog. Here are snippets from our whatsapp conversation about the blog title:

The Grasshopper (TG): What do you think my blog should be called?
Star (Already terrified):I dunno... You want it to be like a diary?
TG: Something like that. But I want to give a humorous spin to what I write. And I will be writing about things I experience. Like growing up.
Star: Okay... What about TGisms? Or Board Games ka Betaaj Baadshah? :P
TG: The name will have cultural associations. I want to make the title suggest that I am writing about what I think.
Star (Totally embarassed about how materialistic ALL my ideas had been, not one featured anything to do with "thinking"): Oh, I was only thinking of student life representations, like board games, internet-streamed TV, alcohol and girl problems. Not philosophical insights.
TG: How about if we put the two together?
Star: Like Board Games and Derrida?
TG: Yes, that's nice. But something else.
Star (Totally blank. The only response "philosophical insights" had invoked was "Derrida"): Abhi bas, abhi tu soch. I am going to go to bed.

Next Morning:

TG: I thought of The Blue Grasshopper.
Star (Shit! I thought I had gotten out of that!): I am not sure I know the significance...
TG: It's random. Totally random.
Star (breathing a sigh of relief. At least I don't come across as stupid for not knowing important literature-related references): Oh, it's good! :)
TG: But the address is not available.
Star (No! Trying to wriggle out of it): So... will you think of something else now?
TG: I really wanna keep the grasshopper. But the adjective can change. Any suggestions?
Star: Err.... The Fickle Grasshopper?
TG (Probably thinking how stupid I am): All grasshoppers are fickle! :/
Star: Grasshopperopolis
TG: I want something like The <adjective> Grasshopper.
Star (Can't think anymore!): The Slimy Grasshopper. Will suit your thoughts. :P
TG: What rubbish!
Star: Oh, The Confused Grasshopper! The Urban Grasshopper!
TG: Hmmm. Sounds nice. Something classier, perhaps? Something that makes it sound like a high end restaurant.
Star (Confused): Huh? Ugh. Why do you want your personal blog to sound like a high-end restaurant?
TG: Because my thoughts will be like tasty food. All plated finely too. You know?
Star (#facepalm): The Pretentious Grasshopper
TG: :O
Star (very rudely): I have had quite enough of you, I think.
TG: Come on! How about The Lost Grasshopper?
Star: Yes, that is good. (To be honest, he could have said Timbaktoo at this point and I would have said it's good!)
TG: The Grumpy Grasshopper?
Star: Lost is better.
TG: The Gifted Grasshopper?
Star: Lost. Unless you mean "gifted" as in "special". Like dyslexic.
TG: Okay, okay!

After some time:

TG: Made it.
Star (I thank the heavens and pray hard that he never creates another blog ever again.): Yay! :)

All said and done, I really think that TG is a wonderful person and writer. Some of his poems that I have read are really good. So, once he puts something up on the blog, I will put up a link here and I hope that all of you will visit it, read it and encourage him. Hopefully, someday, he will join the ranks of his favourite elitist writers and I will bask in the glory of his first interview ever, that appeared on this blog. :P

You go, TG! :)

Tareekh Pe Tareekh, Tareekh Pe Tareekh!

I am not going to state the obvious. You all know it's been long. A bit too long. 9 months to be precise.

No, I wasn't too busy to write. And no, I wasn't having a "writer's block" either. And I had lots of things to write about too. Just no willingness to pen it down. Plus a massive inferiority complex about how silly this blog is.

Anyway. I think I am over it. Today, when I opened my account for something else altogether, I read Nefertiti's recent posts, June's happy news and HG's rants and suggestions and I realised that I really, really want to write again. :) Even if it's terrible. Even if nobody reads it. Even if no one cares. What is important is that I want to write. Thanks, guys! :)

So, what have I been upto in the last few months?

Well, I worked. I studied. I fought with my parents. I went through a bad break-up. I met up with friends. I watched a few movies. I read some books. I loved and hated my kids. I loved and hated my colleagues. I breathed in. I breathed out.

I did the most normal of the things. Went through phases - some really rough patches in school - and survived them. Still hate one of my colleagues with a passion. But it's all a part of the game.

Went through some other really rough patches in my personal life too. But even that is a part of the game, I guess.

Right now, I think I am in a better place than I have been in the last few months. (Of course, that has to do a lot with the summer holidays in school, but what the hell, eh? :P) I have finished with the Sanskrit course and so, if I pass these exams, I will have a second MA by the end of the next month. Pretty cool, right? :D What is cooler, though, is that the end of the course frees up a lot of my time. :D

With this new found free time, I have been socializing quite a bit. :) I have met lots of new, interesting people. I organised my second Free Hugs Campaign in Bombay last week. I attended a Couchsurfing meet where we cooked and organised a whole dinner at the host's place. I learnt how to ride a bicycle. (Hey, better late than never, right?) I joined dance classes.

I am preparing for a PhD application and hopefully, I will see this proposal through. I am really hoping that by August 2014, I will be in the US doing some kick ass research. :) What with the summer holidays, I am living quite the degenerated, student lifestyle of staying up until 2 in the night, waking up by 10, lazing around, reading, spending irrational amounts of time on various social networking sites, flopping down on the couch and watching TV and doing minimal work. I think I am totally ready for going back to that again. :P

I also took a fair few trips in the last year - Bangalore in June 2012, Kutchh in November 2012, Calcutta in February 2013, Nashik in May 2013 and now, going to Panhala next week. The one place I couldn't get enough of was Calcutta. It was wonderful. And 4 days were just not enough. Can't wait until I get a chance to go back again. (Maybe I should write a post about it!)

The Big Question: Will I write soon again or was this a one-off post like the last one?
I don't really know. I guess we will find out.

Until then,
Very happy to be back,
Star!