Conversations

Me: Mum, I miss baking very much! Please buy me an oven.
Mum: What is it with you and buying things? Who will take care of it, clean it etc? And anyway, I know you won't use it often enough at all once the novelty wears off.
Me: Mum!!! Baking urge!! Please be reasonable!
Mum: *Sigh* Okay. I've got some sand from Rajasthan.
Me: *waiting for explanation*
Mum: *None forthcoming*
Me: *cautiously* Sand?
Mum: Yea. You can bake with it. It comes out just fine. That's how they do it there. *March off*

Bottom line: Baking urge still not satisfied and growing stronger. *frustration*

*****************************************

Mungi (my awesomeosome friend from college): So, how did your teacher training course go? Did you make new friends and all?
Me: Yea, it was good! And I did make a few really good friends! :D I also flirted a lot with this one girl! :D
Mungi: WHAT?
Me: *giggle, giggle*
Mungi: *guffaw* I mean, I flirted, gooooood. A lot, very gooood. One, very very good. GIRL?!! It seems leaving England has affected you in a much deeper way than I thought. :P

blah, blah, blah...

Talking about smoking et al...
Mungi: What is post-k...komint...
Me: Post-coital cigarette? *explanation*
Mungi: Ah, ok. Why do people go so gaga over it?
Me: Because it feels awesome?
Mungi: *shocked look*
Me: *realising the implication* ... is what I've heard...
Mungi: *shocked AND unconvinced look*
Me: *suddenly enjoying this* No, really. That's what I've heard. I've not had sex ever since I started smoking.
Mungi: *shocked look back*
Me: *making weird faces trying not to laugh*
Mungi: *uncertain laugh* Let's go to college.

Bottom Line: I love scandalizing people. :D But also, I love Mungi to bits. :D

I'll be there for you!

 I am bored. Bored to the point that I'm going to put up a F.R.I.E.N.D.S quiz (AND I am bored enough to write F.R.I.E.N.D.S like that.) Ok, two questions per season so that I don't go overboard. :P

1.  Joey: I play _____________'s butt. 
2. To whom did Phoebe say, "You're going to Minsk."?
3. Who told Rachel, "I'm pretty much totally intimidated by you."? 
4. Chandler to Joey: "Yo Paisan, can I talk to you for a sec? Your ________ is a very bad man!"
5. Monica to Chandler: Ten bucks says I'll never see that woman again in my life." Who was this woman?
6. Which of the girls dated two guys at once?
7. What was the name of Joey's girlfriend with whom Chandler fell in love?
8. Emily: Ross play __________? I don't think so."
9. What did Monica call losing one's virginity?
10. Where did Phoebe meet her father?
11. Who looked himself in the mirror and said, "You're just a love machine!"?
12. What is Monica's favourite cocktail?
13. Who said: "I made a whole speech about how you do not cancel plans with friends."?
14. What was Chandler talking about when he said, "Anything that can fit into this can't be scary."
15. Why did Phoebe say, "Okay, okay. It's James Brolin."
16. What is Chandler's middle name?
17. Monica to Chandler: "Guys can _________?!! Unbelievable! The one thing that's ours!"
18. Where do Mike's parents live?
19. Why did Monica destroy the foosball table?
20. Joey doesn't share _________!!!

Okay, have fun! :D Btw, have a look at this gem I found online:

Gosh, they all look so different!!! It's like looking at a picture of you from school and thinking how young we all were! :)

A Strange Thing called Life

One of my distant relatives passed away yesterday. Yet another person from my grandparents' generation. Everytime this happens, somewhere, I am aware that I will have to face this day sometime soon too. Whenever my grandparents talk of death, I deny it. I have always denied death. Always believed it wouldn't happen to someone who's so close. Death is for others. Not for my immediate family. Yet the truth remains that it has touched my family before. And it will touch us again. Am I ready for it? Is anyone? Are you?

It's so freaky that one day, suddenly, you just disappear from the surface of the earth, just like that! And for the first couple months, people mourn your loss and even after that, people will miss you sometimes. But, their lives go on. Your absence makes no difference in anyone's life. It scares and depresses me that once I'm no more, I'll gradually become just a picture on the wall or a sporadic memory. But then again, coming to think of it, even when we are alive, doesn't that happen often? I doubt if so many people I was "friends" with in school or college ever remember me except for some random thing they might suddenly remember about me once in a blue moon. I doubt if I'm anything more than a passing thought (or even that) for CPV even though at one time, I was an important element in his life.

On the other hand, I have a new niece and she is oh-my-god so adorable! (On a completely different note, remember the time I told you about how I never want to have children and all but I'm scared of the family pressure I'd have to face? Oh, I guess I miscalculated and before anything else, I'll have to save myself from the pressures of consumerism and commercialisation. When I heard of my niece's birth, I went into a children's store to buy something nice for her and gosh, I wanted to buy EVERYTHING there! I want a baby girl and I want one now, just so that I can dress her up in all these cute little outfits, give her brilliant toys to play with and just generally, coo over her! One of my other friends has also had a baby girl and honestly, now, all I want to do is have babies and bathe them, dress them and play with tiny little hands and feet! And if ONE more person told me that I want dolls, not babies, I will personally kill them. hmph. Gawd, somebody save me from myself! Ok, aside over.)

Anyway, like I was saying, it's scary that people are replacable. But that's how I see it. Someone goes and a new person comes in. Old "friends" lose touch with each other. But, new friends are always coming in your life. Grandmother goes away but a baby girl comes into your life. Ok, I don't know what I'm saying anymore. So, I'll stop. Now.

Memories

Have you ever got one of those text forwards which says "Memories are strange. They make you laugh at times when you cried and they make you cry at times when you laughed."

This is so true! Now, when I think back of the day I was so upset because our crazy old landlady, Ms. Memo (Thank you, Atom for the name! :P) had screamed at me for no reason at all, I don't feel any of the hurt I had felt that day. Or when I think of the times I and S were upset with each other over some issues or when Moon had burst out crying coz her then boyfriend had threatened her with some ridiculous thing or when I was so upset over my B.A. results or when I was upset that CPV hadn't called yet or that my mum keeps screaming at me all the time, it all seems so silly and frivolous. I want to laugh out really loudly when I think about how I (or others) cried at some of those moments. However, the moment I start thinking of the good times together, my heart aches for those times again and my eyes fill up!

I remember how Sun, Moon and I used to chat about inconsequential things and laugh and laugh until our sides ached. I remember how Moon and I used to go to chowpatty and Marine Drive and just sit and stare at the sea. I remember how Sun and I used to bitch about a certain professor of ours in our final year at Xavier's. I remember how S and I used to bake together while exchanging our relationship notes and plan our trips together, always spending much more than we intended to but also having lots of fun together. I remember how I wouldn't even crib to wake up at 4:45 am to go to Xavier's for English lectures. I remember how Atom used to call me the sunshine of the house and other soppy but extremely fuzzy, warm things. I remember how he would notice small things about me and tell me he would miss them, like the way my accent takes on an American twang when I say certain words. I remember how JD, Kyra, Sara and I would talk about Bollywood (amongst other scandalous things :P) and dance on songs like Emotional Atyachar and Munni Badnam. I remember how both my cousins used to be such adorable babies at one time and how they have grown up to be brats who love to both, annoy as well as love me! I remember how Ruhi and Curly, my ex-flatmates, used to laugh at my silliness when I would take pictures of everything that I cooked!

And I wish I had all these people right around me, all the time. Because these people made my life bearable and liveable a lot of times. And these people made my life a happy and contented place many more times. I would have been quite lost without all these people. I feel blessed to have people like these in my life. :)

Feeling the loue!!!

Hello peoples!!! Guess where I'm writing from? MUMBAI!!!! Home, baby! ;)

It's great to be back home! It does feel a bit surreal, like nothing has changed here but at the same time, nothing's same either. But, it still does feel very nice to be back! :) Do you know how many people came to receive me at the airport? About 12 million! :P Well, ok, this time, my hyperbole is being hyperbolic. But, about 12 people came on the airport! It was like I'm coming back from the Moon or something! Speaking of which, Moon was there and she said some of the sweetest things possible! Like, "My life is 66% perfect now! And the rest 33% is in the New Zealand!" (I'm sure you all know this, but I'd still elaborate. Sun is in New Zealand and very jealous at the moment that Moon and I are together once again and she is still there with no clue as to what's next!) So, anyway, Moon and I hugged for a long long time and we were very happily the happies! :D Of course, my parents were there and 3 of my uncles, 2 aunts and 4 cousins! And then, my grandfather (my mum's father) and my uncle and aunt called me to say that I am to come and meet them on the way back home, even if it's only for 15 minutes. And then, my other grandfather talked to me on the phone and made me promise that I'll come to meet him the first thing in the morning! One of my aunts had made moong daal khichdi (a sort-of lentil and rice porridge) with dahi kadhi: my favourite dish! Yes, she brought that at the airport and fed it to me (ahan, ahan, by fed, I mean, FED) and my mum had made a special mint and peru juice that I really like and everyone was hugging me and giving me cards and everything! I, on the other hand, was so dazed, that I was first just bawling like a baby (omg, all I had to do was hug my mother for one second and off I go, like a shotgun! Uff, these emotional girls! hmph. :/ :P) and then, all I wanted to do was go home and sleep. In my room. My green and yellow room, with the beautifully painted wall done by Udu, my cousin. I know it sounds very ungrateful, but I just wanted everyone except my parents and Moon to go away. But, I did honestly appreciate how much everyone loves me! :)

Even before I left, I was staying with Misty in London for a couple days and on my last evening there, she threw me a surprise farewell party that she had planned along with another mutual friend! I was so touched!  Needless to say, everyone in Leeds came to meet me at my farewell party there and I was all teary-eyed several times during the course of the evening! It's difficult, having two lives, both of which you love equally! But, at the same time, it's good knowing that there are people who love you, no matter where you go! :)

Circle of life

Yesterday, I finished exactly a year of being in the UK and in Leeds. :) And I bid good-bye to one more friend: Grace. :(

I have probably said this before but Grace is delightfully honest and frank! She never means to say anything offensive or anything. She just says the first thing that comes to her mind on seeing or hearing anything. And more often than not, it comes out as something else altogether. And then, she gets all flustered and apologetic! It's so adorable! Heh. she also has THE COOLEST sense of fashion! She likes a lot of funky stuff and vintage things. And man, she can pull off some of the weirdest looking things ever with such grace and elan! She also has a lot of passion in her. So, if she likes something, she loves it with all her heart and it's just so adorable! And she has this immense passion for Bollywood, which is why we are such close friends. :P Also, she was my go-to friend whenever I felt the need to talk in French and brush up my conversation skills! :P Being Swiss, she is very fluent in French, Italian, English and German. That's great, isn't it?!! She's awesome! And now, she is back in beautiful Swiss countryside!

But life continues. Today, I met an old friend of mine. Actually, she was a junior at college with me, just one year behind me. So, she is going to start her Masters this year at Leeds. She just arrived yesterday and had loads of question about this new "huge" city! :P I couldn't believe someone who comes from Mumbai and who had only just seen Leeds City Centre called Leeds "huge"!! :P Hahaha! I took her around the town, tried to tell her as many things as I could to help her ease herself into the uni life and life alone, without parents. We also talked to other new students around campus and met some really nice people. She is really nervous about a few things and I know only living here for a while and getting used to things is all she needs. Once she makes good friends, she will be all fine! Friends are such an important part of your life! But also, friends come and go from your life. It's the ones that stay and come back that matter. 

For that reason, I'm very grateful to Sun, Moon, S, Effy, Grace, Kyra, JD, Sara and a bunch of other people for being awesome and for being my friends. :D

In other news, I'm going to Belfast tomorrow with S. So, after Monday, there'll be more travel-logs! :P Until then, have a great weekend! :D

Of Alcoholics and Drinking Games

S and her Italian Lover-boy (lets call him, ummmm, oh, I know! M for Mafia! We could've kept calling him Italian Loverboy but M is just easier and also funnier. It's funny because he's SO not like Mafia. He's all gentle and caring and goofy types. But because S's father and brothers have not met him, they just assume the worst and bring out all stereotypes. Hee.) just came back from their holidays a few days ago and guess what they brought back from Italy for our house-mates? A bottle of Lemoncino! That sweet, warm, citrus-ey alcohol which will become your undoing because you will not know when to stop. As you see, I talk from experience here. :P

So, last night, after dinner, S and I  both had a bit of it and while she was being intelligent and sipping it, I decided to do a shot. For a moment there, I was totally disoriented and again found myself sitting in M's living room a few months ago and playing drinking games and having much of that dangerous liquid! It was one of the best house parties I've had in England. We were all being very adult about it and letting everyone have whatever they wanted and nobody was forced to shots or anything. Did you just say boring? Nonononono, not boring. It's called being adult abbavibba. Well, we had fun anyway. So, yea, it doesn't matter. And I think except for one of our friends, the rest of us got very drunk. Now see, when I get drunk, I get very chummy-chummy with M. Generally, in all sobriety I and M keep taking snipes at each other. He just keeps pulling my leg and annoying me. So, I retaliate. (Yes, ::nod solemnly:: it's always he who starts it. :P) If anybody so much as dares to even whisper the word 'jealous', I'll block them from reading my blog. Honest. Alright, now that we have cleared that out, where was I? Oh, yea, so, but when he gets drunk, he just sits quietly in a corner. Ok, not so quietly and not so much in a corner. But, he doesn't try to annoy me. And since I'm all happy and giggly and am also not being bothered, I get all chummy-chummy with M. That day, I defended him against some accusations. I forget what but I bet it was something silly seeing as we were all pissed. And so, everyone was rather amused by my chummy-ness. But, then, when we woke up the next day (News flash: Lemoncino doesn't give me as bad a hangover as wine and vodka do! YAY!)  I immediately cleared up all the misunderstandings about the previous evening and everyone was amused again. It was just the booze talking, said she in a matter-of-fact voice. Sigh, no one seems to take me seriously. I wonder why! :P Also, I was the cheater on the table that night! As in, I did all my shots (or sips of coke and vodka :P) but whenever I picked up a card that had something I didn't want to perform, I'd just mix it back in the pile of cards and pick another one! :P Hee. I love being myself and I also love all my friends and oh, I probably might love vodka more that I love my friends when I'm having it but I'm not sure.

Another time I had great fun playing drinking games was with Kyra, Sara and JD. (As, everyone who reads this blog knows! :P) I'm sorry for mentioning it so many times and not elaborating. Here's my apology, in the form of a whole paragraph! :P :D Ta da!!!! So, I made mojitos (Aside: I make the world's BEST mojitos. Ok, maybe not the world's best. But they are pretty damn good. Pssssst. My secret: FRESH mint and lime. The freshness of your mojitos will help them take on the world. Uhhh....as you can see, I'm in the hyperbole mood today! :P Ok, Aside over.) And then, we all played never have I ever and many secrets were revealed. :D I think everyone should play never have I ever at least once in their lives. Because you know, once you play it, you'll want to play it again and again and again, sometimes to get people very very drunk and sometimes, to know everyone's secrets. ;) Being evil is fun, ain't it? :P As far as drinking games go, this is the best one. Really. So, basically, we all drank mojitos, wine and rum and coke and smoked pot. And when we were all out of alcohol but too lazy to go out and buy more, but we were still not done with the game, we just ate the mint leaves from our mojitos instead of taking shots. Hmmm, I don't really remember being that drunk. Maybe I was wrong! :P And then, we also made Gulab Jamuns when we were all high and listened to Emotional Attyachar and Jumma Chumma De De. Fun, fun!! No? :D

Tonight's gonna be a good good night!!

Subtitled: The night I realised how much I'll be leaving behind when I leave this city

Last night, I went for Effy (short for Efficient)'s birthday party with a bunch of other friends, all from the uni - Kyra, Sara and JD and Grace. It was good meeting Effy and Grace after long, long time, what with no more actual classes but just working on individual dissertations. Though I've met Kyra, Sara and JD more often lately (remember that night of drinking games I mentioned in the earlier post?!! :P), it is obviously always fun to hang out with them. So, last night was a fun girl's night out without even having planned it! :)

But, Effy is moving to The Big City next week and so, it was not only her birthday party but also a sort-of farewell party for her! She was one of the first people to whom I'll have to say goodbye after this year of wonderful friendships and beautiful experiences. She just returned from her visit to her parents' home in Nigeria and was telling us all Funny Stories from Africa! Hehe!! :P I've always known her as a very no-nonsense sort of person when it comes to work and a totally opposite, crazy fun-loving person when she lets go of herself. I wish I could have that balance in my life. Both, she and her partner, Jerry are at that point in their lives where they know exactly where they stand and exactly what they are going to do next. Except for any surprises of course. :P Like the one they got when they went to Nigeria. Funny story (number 1. But, unfortunately, that's the only one I remember!! :P) When they were with Effy's parents in Nigeria, the parents arranged a little "introduction ceremony" for the relatives and neighbours to meet Jerry. And got them married. Yes, you heard right. MARRIED. It was really funny when she was telling us the story about how she "sort-of got married!" Her parents asked her if they were planning to get married or anything and like always, Effy dilly-dallied telling them that she didn't believe in marriage blah blah. So, her parents said that because they had to answer the relatives and the neighbours about her marital status (and the lack thereof) she'll have to participate in this introduction ceremony so that everyone can meet Jerry. And, that was how Effy got married, with only half a knowledge of what was really happening!! Hehe. Oh oh, and when she (by chance) dressed up in the only African dress she had, her mum exclaimed, "Thank God you have something African!!" Hehe, mums are the same everywhere!! However, the ceremony was very beautiful and even Effy was touched by it all. So, we all had an "awwwwww" moment and toasted to her and Jerry's lovely (and organised - I'm not letting go of that one! :P) life! ::again has the "awww" face::

Apart from that, we were all harassing Kyra about leaving THE SAME DAY as we hand in our dissertations, not even giving us a chance to say a proper goodbye! :( But JD, our friend, under the influence of JD, the whiskey, was a lot more vocal about it! :P Sara and I mostly just watched amusedly, when JD announced her affections for Kyra a few times too often!! And then, on our way back home, ranted about how capitalism destroys the world! JD, she's a special one!! Hehe! Finally, when it was just Grace and I, walking back home, we again talked about how we wished we had tried to bond with all of the other people in our course and how there were so many things we could learn from everyone, ending the evening on a very philosophical note.

Sigh, how I am going to miss being with all these people!! All the drinking and gossiping and dancing!! I know I can do all these things back home with my friends as well (well, maybe not the drinking bit as much! :P) But still, this year has been such an important year for my personal growth and I do feel nostalgic about leaving this country. I'm very excited about going home, since home is home and nothing, definitely not this cold country can replace Mumbai. But, in a way, England is like a close, close friend to Mumbai's being family. Like I was telling Grace while walking back home, I want to take all my friends, fold them and pack them up in my suitcase, take them home with me and keep them with me forever. ::makes a poor puppy dog pout face::

Whoever said life was about moving on was right but dude, honestly, easier said than done!

Friends for life!

"I went to the country for hiking!! It was so beautiful man, I can't even describe!! I absolutely fell in love with that town!!"

"Have you put up the pictures on Facebook?"

"Yea, you can check them out!! It was such an amazing day!!"

"Ok, hold on, will just check....ooh!! It looks great, wow! Hmm..hmm..cool...Awwww!!!!!!!"

"Hey, you were looking at so-and-so picture, weren't you?"

"Yeaa!! How did you know?!!"

This was a skype-conversation between my two best friends (Let's call them Sun and Moon, shall we? You know, I'm the Star and together, we are the Celestial Goddesses Trio! :D :P) and I, a few months ago, when I had been in England only for a month. These are the two people for whom I can give up my deepest desires and an e-mail from whom can cheer up the worst and the bluest of my days. We all know each other so well, we just have to hear the intonation of a sentence or see the flicker of an expression and we know exactly what the other is thinking! Here, I had both! There was no way I wouldn't know which picture she was looking at...

I talked to the two of them again today and we exchanged news from each of our time zones. Life takes you on such a roller coaster, you have to sometimes let go of people you love so much. And even though (like my parents would LOVE reminding me) communication is so easy today, the joy of being physically present to share somebody's life and of being able to hug them whenever you feel like is so different! So, we have to make do with virtual contact, whether we like it and want it or not....

After I finished talking to them, I was just thinking of how many such close friends I've had in my life. I realised I ALWAYS had someone or the other who used to be very close to me. But, in due course of time, we move apart and then, the friendship dwindles and is never the same again! I had a friend in school, who moved away and not just physically but also emotionally; then a couple others, who went to different colleges and chose different fields of study and even though we pretend to be close today, if I die tomorrow, they'll probably not realise for another couple of months at least! And the one that hurts a bit is the friend who moved to another country for a few years and came back completely changed! Even though she is still great friends with me and loves me, she is not the same any more. It is probably my own fault that I am not being able to accept her as she is. After all, people change over time. It is completely and totally justified and valid that you change your opinions with your experiences! But, there is still a but in this relationship for me! The one that hurts the most is somebody who claims that you are the best friend he will ever have but there is never any news from his side - no email, no call, not even a short 2-line message informing that he is alive and well (or not)! Well, it's not just his claim but truth - in the past! We used to be great buddies and extremely close friends! But, suddenly, one summer, he didn't want to be as close any more and I have still not figured out what went wrong - even after more than 2 years! I don't want to be egoistical and claim that it is all their fault that they didn't keep in touch with me...I probably must have done this to people who move lower down the ladder of priorities sometimes. And I didn't even realise it. Because if I realised I'm hurting someone, I'd try my level best to avoid doing it!! It's not a blame game....I am just trying to figure out what I wanted out of my friends, what I gave them back for it, did I do any justice to our relationship and other things like that...

Most likely, its all about growing up! All these years, we are growing up, still trying to figure out our own selves. And so, you change, the friends change, you probably don't have any more common grounds or one matures earlier than the other. And therefore, the friends you make when you are in college are probably much closer to you than the others before them. Because, by then, you are either growing up together and finding yourselves together or you are more or less the person you will be for quite a few years to come. Well, hopefully, at least!!! :P It does make a difference when you are exploring yourselves together. When your discovery of any aspect of your identity is linked with that of another person, you can't think of that aspect without your friend! You become one entity - together in this and probably a lot other things as well...

It is probably because of these reflections and previous friendships which have dwindled down to nothing that I want to hold on to these people in my life so tightly that they never slip away like the others did!! There are two people on this earth in front of whom I can lay my heart bare and who can guess what I'm feeling like and who will not judge me for doing that. I can absolutely not afford to lose them!! Their presence and importance in my life transcends words and there is so much between us that one blog or even a 100 will not be enough to encompass it all!

I probably said ZERO substantial thing in this post. But, I wanted to dedicate this return to blogging by dedicating my first post to my best friends in the world! I love you two, my Sun and Moon!