Happy as I am to go back home , as the moment of departure is closing in, I feel something ...sad, nervous, confused ? maybe all ...and more.
This is my last week here and will spend these days thinking and writing about what I liked about this place - my first love has to be the library !
I loved the libraries in Singapore - right from the buildings, the racks, the RFID-enabled books, the borrowing stations , the dropboxes, the online search catalog - everything so neat and so 'Singaporean'ly perfect !
Some books pending on my reading wish-list were taken care of :
To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee
Skipping Christmas - John Grisham
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Also got a chance to read some renowned Indian writers like Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Satyajit Ray ... of whom the most impressive, for me , was surprisingly Rabindranath Tagore. Its a pity that pages and pages of writing and expressing donot succeed to touch your heart quite like Tagore's simple story-telling.
Then there was some classic sampling - the likes of Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, E.M.Forster, Graham Greene ...can't say I liked all of them.
And some non-fiction too :
'Notes from an even smaller island' by Neil Humphreys was a comical rendition of an expatriat's experience in S'pore, I could relate to it for the most part.
'What a coincidence ...' by Susan Watkins was a rare find, was mesmerised by her (apparantly) real stories of coincidence.
'Freakonomics' by Steven D Levitt is in a different genre altogether, nevertheless made for interesting reading.
But the most moving was 'Tuesdays with Morrie' by Mitch Albom , read this book to understand how to reach out to people, to live life everyday and not just survive.
All in all, read around 20 books in 9 months ...thats an average of 2.2 books per month - don't get me wrong, am currently reading about statistics and so talking of averages, its quite good I suppose for someone who had almost quit reading the past two years.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Thailand trip - Day 2 , Conclusion
Starting from where I stopped in Part 1 ...Level 1 and 2 were easy. Something interesting is done in level 2 for conservation purposes - there is a counter where each visitor to the waterfall has to deposit 10 bahts for every water bottle ( plastic, disposable ) he/she carries; and on the way back show the bottles to get the deposit back. Though this method doesnot take care of polythene bags, chips covers and such, still its a good effort and works to some extent.
There is a distance of 100-500m between each tier of waterfall and its not plain concrete road walk , its a trek in a jungle path , but no one told us that. Didn't I mention before that Thais don't believe in giving extra info ! I in my hawaiian flower-printed flip-flops was already feeling like a flop, trying to tackle the hilly terrain in them. But nothing could be done about it , so we continued.Every type of steeple hurdle - ladders, steps , rickety wooden bridges, moss covered slippery rocks were encountered and crossed.The weather was hot and we were dripping wet in sweat ..some did take a dip in the cool water whenever they had half a chance. We on our part , barely had the energy to walk , let alone swim.
The part from 6th to 7th was really tricky and I had a good mind to give up. Asked a person on the return path if it was really worth going up there and she was like " yes yes, its wonderful ..you have to go ! its just 5 min away , go on". That did something and we completed the next stretch in a breath. And there it was - the final tier of the fall ...and it was awesome ! It was indeed worthwhile ... for a moment there, it felt like seventh heaven ..is this where they coined that phrase, by the way ?
Coming down wasn't as big an effort and we did it uneventfully and by the time we sat in the comfort of our AC car, all we wanted was to nurse our aching legs - foot, ankles, calf, thighs and all the other bits and pieces that I hadn't know existed until that moment. But wait ..we had just finished half of the day's trip !
The rest of it might have seemed interesting if it were not preceded by Erawan, but on that day they didn't hold any charm for us. Visited the Krasae cave, travelled a few stops in Death Railway ( whose name is apt for its condition ) and finally reached the renowned Bridge on the River Kwai. My suggestion for all who have watched the movie , don't bother to see the real bridge ; for all who have heard about it , watch the movie and for all who haven't a clue of what I am talking about, read about it AND watch the movie.
For all the legend and hype around the bridge, its a sad sight. It has been reconstructed in patches and the architecture, is well...non-existent. There again, one of the main attractions of our Kanchanaburi trip failed our expectations - but some exceeded expectations ..so it balanced out.
After buying a few souvenirs for friends, we were driven back to the guesthouse. Needless to say, we crashed.
Left for Bangkok early the next day , hoping to stretch the pleasantness of the last two days ..but then one can't stretch one's good luck too far. The bus that was supposed to reach Bangkok in 2 hrs, took an extra hour , stopping every km or so, we let out our frustrations on each other, half-heartedly saw the temple of the Emerald Buddha - the temple is exquisite and deserves more respect, am still regretting for not being in the right frame of mind to enjoy it then .. finally flew back.
Little discomforts apart, it was a wonderful trip and in the absence of mails , calls , t.v , radio ... a whole lot was seen, done and learnt.
There is a distance of 100-500m between each tier of waterfall and its not plain concrete road walk , its a trek in a jungle path , but no one told us that. Didn't I mention before that Thais don't believe in giving extra info ! I in my hawaiian flower-printed flip-flops was already feeling like a flop, trying to tackle the hilly terrain in them. But nothing could be done about it , so we continued.Every type of steeple hurdle - ladders, steps , rickety wooden bridges, moss covered slippery rocks were encountered and crossed.The weather was hot and we were dripping wet in sweat ..some did take a dip in the cool water whenever they had half a chance. We on our part , barely had the energy to walk , let alone swim.
The part from 6th to 7th was really tricky and I had a good mind to give up. Asked a person on the return path if it was really worth going up there and she was like " yes yes, its wonderful ..you have to go ! its just 5 min away , go on". That did something and we completed the next stretch in a breath. And there it was - the final tier of the fall ...and it was awesome ! It was indeed worthwhile ... for a moment there, it felt like seventh heaven ..is this where they coined that phrase, by the way ?
Coming down wasn't as big an effort and we did it uneventfully and by the time we sat in the comfort of our AC car, all we wanted was to nurse our aching legs - foot, ankles, calf, thighs and all the other bits and pieces that I hadn't know existed until that moment. But wait ..we had just finished half of the day's trip !
The rest of it might have seemed interesting if it were not preceded by Erawan, but on that day they didn't hold any charm for us. Visited the Krasae cave, travelled a few stops in Death Railway ( whose name is apt for its condition ) and finally reached the renowned Bridge on the River Kwai. My suggestion for all who have watched the movie , don't bother to see the real bridge ; for all who have heard about it , watch the movie and for all who haven't a clue of what I am talking about, read about it AND watch the movie.
For all the legend and hype around the bridge, its a sad sight. It has been reconstructed in patches and the architecture, is well...non-existent. There again, one of the main attractions of our Kanchanaburi trip failed our expectations - but some exceeded expectations ..so it balanced out.
After buying a few souvenirs for friends, we were driven back to the guesthouse. Needless to say, we crashed.
Left for Bangkok early the next day , hoping to stretch the pleasantness of the last two days ..but then one can't stretch one's good luck too far. The bus that was supposed to reach Bangkok in 2 hrs, took an extra hour , stopping every km or so, we let out our frustrations on each other, half-heartedly saw the temple of the Emerald Buddha - the temple is exquisite and deserves more respect, am still regretting for not being in the right frame of mind to enjoy it then .. finally flew back.
Little discomforts apart, it was a wonderful trip and in the absence of mails , calls , t.v , radio ... a whole lot was seen, done and learnt.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Thailand trip - Day 2 , part 1
As days pass, I have to push and prod myself to finish the travelogue, thats the commitment ( er, compulsion ) to my blog.
We had booked for a full-day arranged trip on day 1. One package included 'Hellfire Pass Museum' which didnot sound too appealing,so we took a package without it, that cost a little less too.
Early morning the next day when the Travels van came to pick us up,out jumped a young Thai girl and greeted us with the typical thai Namaskara. And then she asked , very politely if we wouldn't mind going to Hellfire Pass, as she had other tourists who wanted to go there, adding quickly that we needn't pay anything extra. Hubby dear and I exchanged glances for a split second, read each other's expressions that said "what the hell, we are on vacation" and immediately said 'Okay' to her. The girl, our tour guide for the day Janet was overwhelmed with relief. She thanked us profusely and we started off.
As we travelled, I found something amusing about Janet's speech - whenever there was some number involved, she would lift that many fingers, almost as if shewas talking to a bunch of deaf people and wanted to be understood correctly. At Hellfire pass, she pointed at a map and started explaining about the railway Japanese wanted built between Thailand and Burma(Myanmar) during World War II ..." Railway was to be 317 km in Thailand, other 110 km in Burma ..." and I was distracted from the map - her hands were pointing 3-1-7 , rapidly followed by 1-1-0 (numbers approximate only) and my mind was going " how does shedo that so quickly?"
Hellfire pass was quickly done with and we moved to the next destination, Erawan water falls. Lunch was provided first, which was neither as tasty nor as filling as day 1. Janet, in her typical style, took the lot of us ( we were around8 ppl in the van ) to a chart that looked like the graph of a crashing stock-market , now you get the picture; pointed at the lowest point " this is level 1 of the falls" - one finger went up , hand moved to top of chart "and this is level 7" - seven fingers went up. "you will go from 1 to 7". Simple right ? so the happy group started walking.
In my mind, visiting any waterfall was akin to visiting Jog falls. Anyone who has visited Jog in recent times would know how insipid the experience can be - vans/buses/cars or whatever you are travelling in take you till the last point of the falls. After you avoid peanut sellers, balloon sellers, fruit sellers and other sellers of miscellaneous stuff, what you see is the huge cut of rock where the river is supposed to 'fall' and then, some invisible hand throws a bucket of water from top and you go "Wow!" in mock admiration. Seasoned to such experiences, I wasn't prepared for what was to come ...
We had booked for a full-day arranged trip on day 1. One package included 'Hellfire Pass Museum' which didnot sound too appealing,so we took a package without it, that cost a little less too.
Early morning the next day when the Travels van came to pick us up,out jumped a young Thai girl and greeted us with the typical thai Namaskara. And then she asked , very politely if we wouldn't mind going to Hellfire Pass, as she had other tourists who wanted to go there, adding quickly that we needn't pay anything extra. Hubby dear and I exchanged glances for a split second, read each other's expressions that said "what the hell, we are on vacation" and immediately said 'Okay' to her. The girl, our tour guide for the day Janet was overwhelmed with relief. She thanked us profusely and we started off.
As we travelled, I found something amusing about Janet's speech - whenever there was some number involved, she would lift that many fingers, almost as if shewas talking to a bunch of deaf people and wanted to be understood correctly. At Hellfire pass, she pointed at a map and started explaining about the railway Japanese wanted built between Thailand and Burma(Myanmar) during World War II ..." Railway was to be 317 km in Thailand, other 110 km in Burma ..." and I was distracted from the map - her hands were pointing 3-1-7 , rapidly followed by 1-1-0 (numbers approximate only) and my mind was going " how does shedo that so quickly?"
Hellfire pass was quickly done with and we moved to the next destination, Erawan water falls. Lunch was provided first, which was neither as tasty nor as filling as day 1. Janet, in her typical style, took the lot of us ( we were around8 ppl in the van ) to a chart that looked like the graph of a crashing stock-market , now you get the picture; pointed at the lowest point " this is level 1 of the falls" - one finger went up , hand moved to top of chart "and this is level 7" - seven fingers went up. "you will go from 1 to 7". Simple right ? so the happy group started walking.
In my mind, visiting any waterfall was akin to visiting Jog falls. Anyone who has visited Jog in recent times would know how insipid the experience can be - vans/buses/cars or whatever you are travelling in take you till the last point of the falls. After you avoid peanut sellers, balloon sellers, fruit sellers and other sellers of miscellaneous stuff, what you see is the huge cut of rock where the river is supposed to 'fall' and then, some invisible hand throws a bucket of water from top and you go "Wow!" in mock admiration. Seasoned to such experiences, I wasn't prepared for what was to come ...
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Chance Encounter
I was sitting alone in Saravan Bhavan, engrossed in eating Idli, when a person walks up,
points to the empty chair in front of me and asks " Is this taken ?"
I say "No"
He smiles , gets his plate of food and sits in front of me.
And all this while, am thinking - this walk, this voice , this face is familiar. And then it hits me !
( pretty fast reaction this time around, usually I wonder for days together before I can place a person )
I ask him "Do you act in T.V..." - smile, nod, smile again, nod again from opposite before I finish
my sentence "... by any chance ?!"
me : "ABC DJ "? ( thats the name of the serial )
He : (laughs) "Yes yes but I do it just for fun ... "
And thus begins a conversation between part-time actor and amateur writer, here is a sneak peek into the informal chat for my readers ...
me : so you work full-time elsewhere?
He : yes, in a bank, you know they say Bankers are boring (emphatic nod from me) but they are not!
me : Its a very interesting thing - banking and acting ...
He : To break from the routine and whenever I have some free time on hand ... it also helps that my wife produces these serials.
me : Ohhh !
He : its a good experience - in that field , it doesn't matter what a bigshot you are.
( so he is a bigshot in banking ) There is a twenty-something girl giving directions ...
me : hmm ...she is the pro there while you are not ( I interrupt )
He : ( continues ) gives humility ... also while doing ABC DJ, got to know how poor people live in Singapore - I had to ride with labourers in a truck, visit a fishing village ...
all this I wouldn't have done otherwise ...
me : is it normal for you to be recognised in public, like this ?
He : well, not in the banking sector as bankers are not home by 8 pm to watch serials ( laughs, I join in )
More than ABC DJ, am recognised more by Singapore's first sitcom 'Under one roof', before cable arrived people were forced to watch it as there was no choice, like Doordarshan ;
airhostesses have recognised me ...and yes, children recognise me.
He cuts my trail of questions and asks about me. I say where I am from, what I do ...
He : Bangalore? Oh I come there often, maybe once a year, have relatives there
A mundane discussion on B'lore follows , this area, that locality and so on ...
And then he says -
"Actually am a Coorgi"
me : ( still not recovered from the shock of meeting a TV artist at lunchtime, who also happens to be a banking bigshot , now with my eyes almost popping out ) "So you can speak Kannada ?!"
He : " I understand Kannada ..."
me : "Do you speak Coorgi at home ?"
He : "Actually I have married a Parsi" ( Will this man not stop surprising me ? )
"and living in Singapore for a decade, languages get diluted"
By this time, he has finished lunch and its time to leave. We exchange visiting cards, utter the
usual niceties " Nice talking to you " ... and go our own ways.
I see the card to realise he is Senior Vice President of a famous bank and think
" hmm ... bankers aren't that boring afterall !"
while he must have thought " What an inquisitive girl !"
points to the empty chair in front of me and asks " Is this taken ?"
I say "No"
He smiles , gets his plate of food and sits in front of me.
And all this while, am thinking - this walk, this voice , this face is familiar. And then it hits me !
( pretty fast reaction this time around, usually I wonder for days together before I can place a person )
I ask him "Do you act in T.V..." - smile, nod, smile again, nod again from opposite before I finish
my sentence "... by any chance ?!"
me : "ABC DJ "? ( thats the name of the serial )
He : (laughs) "Yes yes but I do it just for fun ... "
And thus begins a conversation between part-time actor and amateur writer, here is a sneak peek into the informal chat for my readers ...
me : so you work full-time elsewhere?
He : yes, in a bank, you know they say Bankers are boring (emphatic nod from me) but they are not!
me : Its a very interesting thing - banking and acting ...
He : To break from the routine and whenever I have some free time on hand ... it also helps that my wife produces these serials.
me : Ohhh !
He : its a good experience - in that field , it doesn't matter what a bigshot you are.
( so he is a bigshot in banking ) There is a twenty-something girl giving directions ...
me : hmm ...she is the pro there while you are not ( I interrupt )
He : ( continues ) gives humility ... also while doing ABC DJ, got to know how poor people live in Singapore - I had to ride with labourers in a truck, visit a fishing village ...
all this I wouldn't have done otherwise ...
me : is it normal for you to be recognised in public, like this ?
He : well, not in the banking sector as bankers are not home by 8 pm to watch serials ( laughs, I join in )
More than ABC DJ, am recognised more by Singapore's first sitcom 'Under one roof', before cable arrived people were forced to watch it as there was no choice, like Doordarshan ;
airhostesses have recognised me ...and yes, children recognise me.
He cuts my trail of questions and asks about me. I say where I am from, what I do ...
He : Bangalore? Oh I come there often, maybe once a year, have relatives there
A mundane discussion on B'lore follows , this area, that locality and so on ...
And then he says -
"Actually am a Coorgi"
me : ( still not recovered from the shock of meeting a TV artist at lunchtime, who also happens to be a banking bigshot , now with my eyes almost popping out ) "So you can speak Kannada ?!"
He : " I understand Kannada ..."
me : "Do you speak Coorgi at home ?"
He : "Actually I have married a Parsi" ( Will this man not stop surprising me ? )
"and living in Singapore for a decade, languages get diluted"
By this time, he has finished lunch and its time to leave. We exchange visiting cards, utter the
usual niceties " Nice talking to you " ... and go our own ways.
I see the card to realise he is Senior Vice President of a famous bank and think
" hmm ... bankers aren't that boring afterall !"
while he must have thought " What an inquisitive girl !"
Thailand trip - Day 1 - Kanchanaburi
Boarded Tiger Airways at Changi airport and alighted at Suvarnabhoomi airport around 9.30 pm local time, without much ado. Hired a taxi for the next leg of travel from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, which we had gathered was about 130 km away.When the spacious, AC taxi started winding its way through the maze of fly-overs we were amazed by the night view of Bangkok, it did look posh.
As we drove on, we looked for signboards pointing to Kanchanaburi and the distance, but none was to be seen.Strange ... anyway, after one hour or so of travel , we did spot some boards with our destination therebut no distance, no km. Hmm... looks like Thais don't believe in giving extra info ; atleast we know we areon the right track. So just follow the signs...
We reached V.N.Guesthouse on the banks of River Kwai by 11.30 pm , dumped our bags and crashed. The breaking day gave us a good view of the river around - i stood on the balcony and took a whiff of fresh air and was thinking " how serene , peaceful " ... when "wrooooooooooooooooom !"what was that ?? Oh, just a speeding boat. And it wasn't an earthquake, just our wooden cabin trembling at the speedboat's fury. Trust man to break the peace of any god-forsaken place.
After a sumptous breakfast, we planned the day's itinary. First was a half-day trip to an Elephant campwhere we were supposed to ride, bath and feed elephants. The ride was sad because it was a small elephant,it was scorching hot, the mahout was prodding the elephant with a stick to go up-hill while it moved reluctantly. Sitting there on top of the elephant we felt pity for the poor animal. Lesson learnt: Never ride an animal for your pleasure.
The second part - bathing the elephant was more fun, I was made to sit on its neck, with just a rope to hold on to.It dipped itself gleefully in the flowing water and showered playfully from its trunk, drenching me completely !
This was followed by a simple Thai lunch - rice, spicy thai curry, omelette and cut fruits. Within the span of two meals, I had begun to love the Thais ! For one thing , they know how to smile ,unlike most grumpy Singaporeans and for the other, they understand vegetarian food.
From elephants to Tigers - that was the next item on the list. And weren't we excited.
When we did reach the Tiger Temple though, it seemed like another Tirupathi Darshanam, by just looking at the number of vehicles parked outside. Headed straight for the famous Tiger Canyon, where visitors are allowed to meet the Tigers ; but the scene there was more like
" Meet the Volunteers ". For the nine tigers in the canyon, there were atleast three times that number of volunteers, taking people by their hands , posing with one or two tigers and clicking pictures. This was not what we expected ! All said and done, this might well be the only opportunity of getting close and touching that mighty graceful animal so better not complain. We came back a little grumpy ourselves ( living in Singapore for a while does that to you ) but looking at the pictures later cheered us up a little. What cheap thrill to show it off to family and friends back home and hear their "oohs and aahs"( and cheaper thrill to post it on the blog forthe world to see, like am doing ) .
So it was a day well-spent with animals.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Gandhigiri - in action
To give you a little background - In Singapore , you can rent an apartment by making a contract of 6 months or an year, landlords usuallydon't do short term contracts. So we got a house for 6 months and happily settled in. We loved the place - 16th floor , children's park opposite , library a stone throw away , MRT ( railway station ) and bus stop close by , shopping complex and theatre a 5 min walk ... and best and most important of all , a mini-mart right below the apartment with Indian groceries ! What else could one ask for ?
And our landlady was quite nice too ... once when I fell ill badly and called her up to ask for thenearest clinic , she even offered to take me there.
We had plans of staying there and then extending the contract for 2 more months , by which time it would be time to head back home. Everything was going as per plan ( beware of this thought, thats when things start tumbling over you, left, right and centre ) So we chilled out - inviting friends for parties , watching movies every other weekend , altogether having a good time. We were also expecting my parents to visit in due course.
And then the blow came - my landlady said someone had complained to HDB ( Housing Development Board ) and they had in turn warned the owners of 'consequences' if we were not evicted ! I'll have to dig more into background here - HDB is a govt department that sells subsidized houses to S'poreans and expects them to live there , allowing only to sub-let the apartment if the place is too big for them. If it has to be rented completely, written permission from HDB is necessary.
Now, though they are S'poreans - normally law-abiding citizens, they are just people afterall and the thought process goes something like " Some extra bucks doesn't hurt right ? Who is going to check anyway ? "So , they bend the rules to their convenience - lock one room in the apartment and rent it out. If HDB enquires , tenants are supposed to say the owner actually lives there and has just stepped out for a while ! so as tenants you take the house, pay rent and also implicitly agree to save the owner's skin.
Thats how the system works and it has worked well all these years , and we haven't heard of an instance( or even a rumor ) of some tenant being evicted because a neighbour complained to HDB.
But then , our landlady claimed it to be the case. There didn't seem to be any way to verify it. She was scared that her house could be confiscated and so we had to scoot. And we were in an impossible position because no one would be ready to rent us their house for 3 months ! We explained this to the landlady but she wouldnot budge , instead she gave us two months to vacate ! wow , if you were so scared of losing your house why are you giving us so much time ? doesn't make sense. Thats when we smelt something fishy...and since I was quite friendly with her ( till she became the harbinger of bad news ) I started asking intelligent questions ;) and some secrets spilled out.
The landlady had already applied for a bank loan for house renovation, she had to start renovation to get the money , to start renovation we had to move out ...and that was the story! So why didn't she just say so ? I honestly don't know her motives for lying to us , but she did , annoying us even more.
Anyway , we had to look for another house , which we eventually did and got a better one , though a little expensive. When the time came to say Goodbye, she was sweetness personified - offered to give away stuff - dishes , pillows , cups , spoons - whatever we wanted for the new place - was it the guilt ? We were not to be left behind either - replaced the two glasses we broke with new ones , cleaned up the wholeplace to a shine , got new batteries for T.V and A.C remotes ... yes , generally did everything to intensifyher guilt he he. Still remember her uttering repeatedly " Oh you needn't have to do this !"
And to think 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' was not even released then !
When I watched the movie later , it made me wonder - isn't this what we did ? So cool ! :)
And our landlady was quite nice too ... once when I fell ill badly and called her up to ask for thenearest clinic , she even offered to take me there.
We had plans of staying there and then extending the contract for 2 more months , by which time it would be time to head back home. Everything was going as per plan ( beware of this thought, thats when things start tumbling over you, left, right and centre ) So we chilled out - inviting friends for parties , watching movies every other weekend , altogether having a good time. We were also expecting my parents to visit in due course.
And then the blow came - my landlady said someone had complained to HDB ( Housing Development Board ) and they had in turn warned the owners of 'consequences' if we were not evicted ! I'll have to dig more into background here - HDB is a govt department that sells subsidized houses to S'poreans and expects them to live there , allowing only to sub-let the apartment if the place is too big for them. If it has to be rented completely, written permission from HDB is necessary.
Now, though they are S'poreans - normally law-abiding citizens, they are just people afterall and the thought process goes something like " Some extra bucks doesn't hurt right ? Who is going to check anyway ? "So , they bend the rules to their convenience - lock one room in the apartment and rent it out. If HDB enquires , tenants are supposed to say the owner actually lives there and has just stepped out for a while ! so as tenants you take the house, pay rent and also implicitly agree to save the owner's skin.
Thats how the system works and it has worked well all these years , and we haven't heard of an instance( or even a rumor ) of some tenant being evicted because a neighbour complained to HDB.
But then , our landlady claimed it to be the case. There didn't seem to be any way to verify it. She was scared that her house could be confiscated and so we had to scoot. And we were in an impossible position because no one would be ready to rent us their house for 3 months ! We explained this to the landlady but she wouldnot budge , instead she gave us two months to vacate ! wow , if you were so scared of losing your house why are you giving us so much time ? doesn't make sense. Thats when we smelt something fishy...and since I was quite friendly with her ( till she became the harbinger of bad news ) I started asking intelligent questions ;) and some secrets spilled out.
The landlady had already applied for a bank loan for house renovation, she had to start renovation to get the money , to start renovation we had to move out ...and that was the story! So why didn't she just say so ? I honestly don't know her motives for lying to us , but she did , annoying us even more.
Anyway , we had to look for another house , which we eventually did and got a better one , though a little expensive. When the time came to say Goodbye, she was sweetness personified - offered to give away stuff - dishes , pillows , cups , spoons - whatever we wanted for the new place - was it the guilt ? We were not to be left behind either - replaced the two glasses we broke with new ones , cleaned up the wholeplace to a shine , got new batteries for T.V and A.C remotes ... yes , generally did everything to intensifyher guilt he he. Still remember her uttering repeatedly " Oh you needn't have to do this !"
And to think 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' was not even released then !
When I watched the movie later , it made me wonder - isn't this what we did ? So cool ! :)
Friday, November 03, 2006
Kariya - A Poignant story
He is dark , not tall , not at all handsome ; neither am I beautiful or attractive.
We have known each other for a very short time , just two months to be precise , but this bond seems to be from a before-life ; we seem to understand each other so well.
He is my neighbor ... and visits me often.
He lurks outside my house , barges in when I open the door and demands my complete attention ; and gets it too !
He is fast , dashing , stealthy , cunning and sweet , all at the same time. When he looks at me with those mysterious and naughty eyes, my heart simply melts.
I am married and he is not.
My hubby knows about his visits.
He says am being too lenient with him but I can't stop him from coming , I simply can't ! Sometimes my hubby gets jealous of him , he doesn't say so ...but I can feel it.
His folks don't approve of him coming here , but they are helpless too becausehe is an expert at hoodwinking them.
Our strange relationship is progressing against all odds.
Barriers of society , family and a strong iron gate have not been able to stop him fromcoming to see me ... but ... sadly , it will end very soon. It has to , like all good things do!
And my beloved chubby black rabbit Blacky ( mine , though i dont own him ) will be left behind with his sinister owners - my neighbours ! ( Well , not exactly sinister , but jealousy makes me think so. )
If only Kariya ( my name for him ) were my pet and not theirs ! Ohhh the cruelty of fate !
;-)
We have known each other for a very short time , just two months to be precise , but this bond seems to be from a before-life ; we seem to understand each other so well.
He is my neighbor ... and visits me often.
He lurks outside my house , barges in when I open the door and demands my complete attention ; and gets it too !
He is fast , dashing , stealthy , cunning and sweet , all at the same time. When he looks at me with those mysterious and naughty eyes, my heart simply melts.
I am married and he is not.
My hubby knows about his visits.
He says am being too lenient with him but I can't stop him from coming , I simply can't ! Sometimes my hubby gets jealous of him , he doesn't say so ...but I can feel it.
His folks don't approve of him coming here , but they are helpless too becausehe is an expert at hoodwinking them.
Our strange relationship is progressing against all odds.
Barriers of society , family and a strong iron gate have not been able to stop him fromcoming to see me ... but ... sadly , it will end very soon. It has to , like all good things do!
And my beloved chubby black rabbit Blacky ( mine , though i dont own him ) will be left behind with his sinister owners - my neighbours ! ( Well , not exactly sinister , but jealousy makes me think so. )
If only Kariya ( my name for him ) were my pet and not theirs ! Ohhh the cruelty of fate !
;-)
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
First time shy ?
Looks like my first-time attempts are bound to be failures !
But then how many first-time efforts can there be ... to create a blog of my own ?
well ... believe it or not , many !
I have tried Googlepages before and wasn't really inspired to write ...
so switched to blogger now , and even here I almost came to the point of quitting
when I foolishly deleted my first and only posting :(
But as is so typical of human nature, I persist and here's my first posting - again !
Hoping things turn out a bit brighter going forward.
But then how many first-time efforts can there be ... to create a blog of my own ?
well ... believe it or not , many !
I have tried Googlepages before and wasn't really inspired to write ...
so switched to blogger now , and even here I almost came to the point of quitting
when I foolishly deleted my first and only posting :(
But as is so typical of human nature, I persist and here's my first posting - again !
Hoping things turn out a bit brighter going forward.
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