Memories for life

It's nice to recount incidents from the past...old stories, events, people, places...memories. What makes this recounting even better is that it's being recounted with the people that you are about to make new memories with! Like a circle of memories...or something like that.

I've always believed that memories that you make in the course of life are not just for yourself...that would be too selfish! Make memories that will live on in other's minds too.

I definitely think I have!

Buzz buzz buzzzzzzzzzzzz

What a nice word...or sound...or feeling....whatever!

:)

The Cheekiness Of Chat

Just the tongue-in-cheek emoticon says it all. You can say whatever you want...almost whatever you want, anyway, and get away with it by using an emoticon. Something like "I didn't mean that...just joking, really" when you may or may not have been. That's the beauty of chat.

On a deeper level, what is it that makes it easy to chat up someone on 'chat'? Is it the knowledge that you can say anything and the other person won't see through you? Is this what allows you to mask your true emotions and feelings? Or sometimes, the other way around?

Either way, the person on the receiving end may never truly get the intended meaning. Or maybe they will but don't let on...they're probably using a complementary emoticon as well. An emoticon face-off, if you will.

Which emoticon will blink first?

Swalpa Kannada learn maadi

I wrote this post soon as I moved to Bangalore. It's almost 2 years now and I'm nowhere close to learning even a little more Kannada than just that. Except for one term - the ubiquitous 'Adjust maadi or swalpa adjust maadi', which means 'Adjust a bit please'. The term is so famous around here that it should be legal to say 'I got adjust maadied'!

Legal or not, I got 'adjust maadied' a few days ago. While driving through the absurd traffic, I'm not sure why I had my windows down. But waiting for the signal to change, I suddenly heard a 'swalpa adjust maadi, madam'...auto driver trying to squeeze into a non-existent space in front of my car!

If that term didn't bring a smile to my face, I might've adjust maadied his face :)

Routine and Randomness

The words routine and random might sound contradictory but they are related in a funny way. Routine facilitates randomness. When you do certain things at certain times day in and day out, there are some things that you will eventually observe. Some patterns will emerge and some deviations as well. But to observe the deviation, you need to understand the pattern first.

Where am I going with this? Nowhere, really. It's more an argument within...to tell myself that as boring as a routine might be, it does have its uses...as random as they might be.

Randomness - what would I do without it!

Oh to escape from the madness!

The mind is a crazy thing...thoughts, memories, wishes, dreams, conversations, emotions...an endless barrage pounding constantly without any relief. You want to tell it to just let up for a bit...just chill out. But you know it won't happen. There's just too much in there.

Imagine being able to escape to that imaginary space where it's calm, still, blissful even. A space where only what you want, you do. Where only what you feel, you touch. Where only what you picture, you see. Where only what you sense, you believe. Where only what you believe, you live.

A space where it all comes together...fits in...and makes perfect sense.

Un-pennable

You don't have to be able to express in words or some other tangible form everything that you feel. Maybe the extremeness of that feeling might be lost, then. Yes, some things are best left un-penned.

Un-pennable or should it be unpennable?

Technology and me - Part 1

I've never thought of myself as being addicted to technology of any kind. I don't have too many gadgets and even the ones I have are nowhere near top of the line. The only thing I use everyday is my laptop. Since it's always around, I guess I never realized how addicted to it I was...until 3 days ago...when I turned it on.

Instead of seeing the familiar login screen, I saw the black screen of death! Pandemonium ensued, solely in my mind. Loads of questions but no answers. I was panic-struck and very upset. Denial, anger, sadness and finally, much needed acceptance. The hard disk was gone. The data might be there but I wouldn't have my dear little laptop for another couple of weeks. Thanks to a friend, I'm at least online but it's just not the same.

Being connected by technology is so much more than just being able to stay online. Connections...how important they are...

Road Rage

Traffic in Bangalore is a nightmare. Everyone knows that. What annoys me is that most of the time, the reason it gets so crazy is something absolutely foolish. Here are my top 10 road rage causers...all during peak hour traffic time too.

• Heavy vehicles (minimum 16 wheels) carrying ridiculously heavy loads and crawling between two lanes
• BBMP workers sweeping near the median and loading all the sand and dirt onto a tractor that is parked in the middle of the road (tractor driver stares with a puzzled expression when passers-by honk and show make rude gestures towards him)
• BBMP workers drawing white divider lines, which people drive over even before it gets a chance to dry (we don't have a lane system...are the white lines really necessary?)
• Random dig-ups for either water or electricity cables
• Pot holes the size of cars
• L-board drivers who always lose the battle with the clutch, just in time for others to miss the traffic signal, too
• Garbage collection trucks parked in the center of a service lane with the garbage collectors nowhere in sight
• Autos and bikes who block the oncoming traffic in an effort to squeeze through before the traffic light changes
• The jaywalker (pedestrian) who, while on the phone, puts his hand out to stop vehicles coming his way and just saunters across
• And my all-time favorite, cows being ferried to their eateries and watering holes

And to think that everyone believes that traffic woes in Bangalore will be sorted once the innumerable flyovers are completed.

Hmppppppppphhhhhhhhhhh

Music and Lyrics

Music has a way of moving us. It could be the tune, the lyrics, the voice of the singer, the mesmerizing beat....anything. But what is amazing about music is how it adapts to our mood. The same song heard many times over, can mean something completely different each time. The same lyrics can bring a smile or a tear. The same tune can make us hum along gently or scream it out loud. The same voice can trigger memories both good and bad.

What better song to bring out these thoughts in a usually more fun me than Pink Floyd's High Hopes.

I hope you don't skip this post thinking that it's about the movie by the same name. Don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge a post by its title!