Mystery

I recently watched this movie...."League of the extraordinary gentlemen"...brother warned me..said I wud regret watching it. But, somehow I kinda enjoyed it. Yes, agreed it was crappy, but then the theme was different. Getting together all the fictious characters and making a story...novel.

Dorian Gray, Alan Quartermaine, Mrs.whatever(Dracula's wife), Tom Sawyer, The invisible man, Dr.Jeykyll (/Hyde)...(cant remember the rest) all joined together for a mission. Well, I dont want to talk about the movie or narrate the story here.

From the day I saw the movie, I thought I had heard "Dorian gray" somewhere, I couldnt place it. Yes, of course he is a fictious character with the whole life in the painting thing, but that I got to know from the movie. I had heard this name somewhere before.

It was there at the back of my mind for a long time, I kept pondering over it, trying hard to recollect. The name was unusually familiar. And then, just now I discovered where I had heard/seen the name ! My bookshelf!

"The picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde" lying in the middle of the stack of my classics collection! Thats where I had seen it...I have stared at it almost everyday and the name just remained in my head.

Strange how some mysteries get solved over time...on their own.


1. Note change: Book I am currently reading - "The picture of Dorian Gray"

2. A randomn thought: How about "Food tagging" people?

Book Tagged!

Ok, I have been book tagged and here goes...


Books - one of my passions.

My Book collection - something I take pride in.

Fiction - Jeffrey Archer, Agatha Christie, John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon, Perry Mason seires, Robert Ludlum, Fredrick Forsyth, Irving Wallace, Robin Cook...( close to 100)

Classics - David Copperfield, Mark Twain, O Henry, Stevenson, Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, R.K.Narayan...(have about 50 of them)

Kiddie Collection - Famous Five, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew......I cant give them away even though I dont read them now (have crazily collected around 70 of these)

Misc - dont have the patience to list them now.

[All above books owned by me :-) (Have not included mom, dad or granpa's collection)]

E-books - something I wont even give a glance towards.

Hard- bounds - dont really prefer coz I cant read them while lying on my bed!

Books I would recommend

1. Paul Reiser's "Couplehood" - hilarious!(Thanks sups... for giving me the book)

2. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (the not so romantic ones...dont bother, is not fast-moving like the thrillers, a classic...u will need some patience)

3. O-Henry's 100 short stories - This one is another classic, the stories are very moving. (for those who cant place him..remember "The Gift of Magi"?)

4. Sherlock Holmes - the complete collection (2 volumes)

Other memorable reads

Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Eleventh Commandment - Jeffrey Archer
Code to Zero - Ken Follet
A Murder is Announced - Agatha Christie

(There are plenty of othes, but this post is too lengthy already)

Comics I enjoy

Calvin & Hobbes
Archies

Books I could have skipped

Linda Goodman's Sunsigns
Mills and Boon series

Books I want to read

Pappillon
Jonathan Livingston Seagull -by Richard Bach
Books by Sommerset Maugham

Books I cant seem to finish

As the crow flies - Jeffrey Archer
LOTR
Men are from mars and Women from Venus

Books I cant seem to start

John Grisham novels (no matter which one I pick...I cannot even start reading)

Books I treasure

Disneys classics - Collection of 12 Fairy Tales!

Ya call me a kid, call me a romantic...call me a dreamer! I am all of them. I cant let go of these (I hide them away when my lil cousins come home, else mom will spot them and pass it onto them)! These are with illustrations and the pictures are awesome, I love to paint them.

(Of course, I am possesive about all my books...)

Book I am curently reading

Readers Digests (of 2004...during my bus journeys)
(yes yes, its not a book, its a magazine, I cant find any book that I havent read and I need to buy more).

People I am going to tag

NONE (There doesnt seem to be anyone left)!

Things I dont like

Wind - means messy hair, flying clothes, wild windchimes that cease to sound pleasant, broken windowpanes, banging doors and bike out of control.

Mondays - this one is all of what I hate! Getting up early, boring life for the next 5 days, no movies, no shopping, no afternoon naps, no spending loooong time under the shower, preparing status report and effort logging of the past week (this one takes up my life), exercising after a break (aahhh...that hurts) and running to the bus stop (I am almost always late on Mondays).

Whistling - Its probably my ear (I know some people wont agree), it cant bear the shrill noise, gives me a headache. Or its probably that I am surrounded by people who cant whistle pleasantly!

Cheezy verbose greeting cards - I dont have the patience to read them or appreciate anything that goes beyond 4 lines in a card. You do not need more than that to express all that you feel. If u cant, then please write a letter, dont use a card.

Girls staring at me - these usually mean that something is wrong with the way I have dressed up and girls always observe and criticize much more.

Living in an apartment - means I cant keep pets, I cant stand by leaning on the gate, I cant see the sky and the stars at night (unless I go to the terrace and I am lazy), I cant have the shade of a tree whose flowers fall on my roof, I cant have creepers on my compound,I cant have a compound, I have to stop dreaming of walking barefoot on morning lawns with dew on the grass and I cant sneak up anyone onto my terrace at nights!

Drinks served at room temperature - yuck! I need it either really hot or chilled. Especially tea and coffee...they taste the worst. And coffees and milkshakes without froth isnt worth being called what they are called.

Nosy Neighbours - Everyone hates this one. I guess basically women fall into this category. Ohh how they love to bitch about all the young women in the locality! "U know Mrs.So & So's daughter..., a young man dropped her last night at 10 (they think 10 is late)...I think she is having an affair"........I dont dislike them, I HATE them!

"Hows life" - I am sick of hearing this as the next sentence after a 'Hi'. You want to know how life is ? Do you have the time or do you even care to listen to all my problems? I dont think you really care about my life....thats a big question, dont expect an answer in one word/sentence. Maybe if you ask me how I am doing, I will spare you.

Change - is the way of life...yes I know. Lived for 22 years...but I am still not used to it!

Goodbyes - sob...sob...

Past few days

Realization hits me...I get philosphical....decide on a few things...three days pass by...now everything is the same...Result: me and my mind back to square one!

Its just so easy to get back to this state of mind. So difficult to run away from it, even more difficult to deal with. I proudly announced to myself that I can do it and get out of the mental mess I am in, told myself that its all about attitude, all problems in life can vanish in a *puff*....but....

Well, things almost always never work out the way you want it to! I dont know which is true.... "the more you want it to work, the more probablility of it not working" or "the more you dont want something to work,the more the chances of it happening" ?? Wait...arent they the same? End result being, you dont get what you want.

Being the blind optimist, I still am hoping that what I believe in will not let me down. Inspite of the situation changing everyday towards the way I dont want it to, my heart still believes and hopes...

Blogging

These days exploring a couple of blogs and I am beginning to enjoy a few and they have all been
promptly added to my favourites.

Some are simple and straightforward yet I couldnt stop reading them. And some are different, well thought, well written ones. And some others are a little boring, but I keep checking because these people do write a good one once in a while. Some are filled with sadness and anger and some with utter nonsense (I was confused if this one was a blog afterall)!

And one blog is very very different, cryptic sometimes, but almost always just brilliant!

And except one or two blogs, the rest have come into existence quite recently. Just wondering if blogging is some new trend these days! Everyone seems to be doing it and surprisingly doing it well!

I had a lot more to say about this topic, just cant remember anything. I am experiencing a complete blackout right now.

The little joys of life

Theres a small balcony attached to the drawing room of my home and its a frequent visiting place for many sparrows. My mother keeps a plate filled with rice and grains and loves to watch them flock around. These days I have noticed two squirrels, a crow and a pigeon coming too!

The sparrows started out in small numbers, just two then increased to a huge flock. But I must say they are all well behaved unlike the crow! The crow likes to turn the plate upside down and chew the leaves off the plants kept there. I wonder why it does that.

Mother is crazy about gardening and she has made the most of the space available in and around the house to give them all a place to live! She treats them like her children and I think I also saw her speaking to them once or twice! She has many bonsais kept in the balcony and the sparrows perch on these miniature trees. They are almost everywhere, chirping along making it all a wonderful and peaceful sight.

And for the past two weeks they have been my subject for photos. But I still havent got the picture I want. I have to stand by the window waiting for them to come along and obviously cant go into the balcony, though now they have become quite fearless compared to the first few days. Hoping to get some good shots this weekend.

But apart from capturing them in my camera, its just so fascinating to sit and watch them interact with each other sitting on the grill and flying around. The scene is right there in front of my eyes....bright day, the three'o clock sunshine falling on the leaves, the birds (they are always in pairs) flapping their little wings hopping around from my window sill to anothers balcony to somebody elses terrace...they have no idea how much joy they give me.

And the squirrel hasnt yet let us into its life, it scurries away even when I am as far as eight feet away from it! Will have to watch it from somewhere inside the house where it wont notice me!

About Sundays!

I think theres something about Sundays in my life! Something usually has to happen that will make me remember the day for a long time. After the whole bike incident on one of the past Sundays, there was something new in store for me on this day.

Sunday afternoon...we have just shopped for a whole lot of things, very satisfied with all the good deals we have got, dreaming of how they would look on us, guessing what my mom will say about that high heeled footwear I just got...and hungry, very hungry.

My wallet is empty and Vidya says she has one 100 rupee note...yes that would be enough. We walk into a place on Commercial Street, look around in the menu and choose to have a milkshake and a rice item (we can share and survive). After lunch, we will have enough energy to walk upto the nearest ATM and draw cash. So, we order and wait endlessly for the guy across the counter to collect our coupon (I dont like self service much....especially when its lunch time and when I am hungry and when theres a constant inflow of people all hurridely occupying the seats available...). No, I am not eating my lunch standing in some corner of this place, give me my food faast! Ok, the Milkshake is ready, now by the time the food comes, this is going to attain room temperature and the froth will be all gone :(

We decide we need a place to sit and so comfortably settle down after finding a table (that shakes...now I dont like shaky tables either). A repeated call of "Token No 4" brings us out of our discussion (which was I think about how the milkshake could have been better or it was probably about how it would have been better if we had just ordered for two meals). Vidya goes to get it and I see her walking back towards the table with a very weird expression...and I am wondering why she hasnt got any plates with that bowl in her hand.

She places it in front of me almost accusing me since I ordered this item or so she claims, but she did agree on it....its a North Indian Veg Curry! Ok...great! Now we have a wonderful smelling hot Veg sabzi and an even better frothless milkshake to go with it! And I am staring at that big piece of Paneer on top...it looks yummy...ok....so what do we do? Both of us search around in our wallets and then find exact change of Rs.18/- Wow!! After a battle on who is going to the counter to produce this money all in change (there was one five rupee coin and the rest were coins of one and two), I take it and walk upto the cash counter. I look at the menu, ok, its either a roti or a naan (Kulcha is 19/- and a paratha is 20/- ). I order for a naan. The man sitting behind the desk just takes it (without smirking) and gives me the coupon.

Ok..the naan wasnt too bad, so we had half a naan each with the sabzi, rather the sabzi with the naan and came out of that place laughing (and stomachs still not satisfied)! Vidya is still thinking of how good the meals looked....and I am still regretting paying so much for the milkshake!

So that was a Sunday lunch for us and later at the theatre, filled ourselves with junk. Went home and had rice with daal and slept peacefully!

(In case any of you are wondering, No the restaurant does not accept credit cards and the ATM was just too far)!

Welcome Back!

The ordeal wasnt to end so soon! After visiting three police stations last night, found my bike parked in a corner...dusty...lonely...

Paid up the fine (arrghh...you got to pay the towing charges also apart from the fine) and got it back. Thankfully, it was not damaged in any way. And thankfully I wasnt asked for the papers of the vehicle, not that there is a huge problem with that, but I havent got a pollution check done in ages. Would probably have had to pay some fine for that too.

Well, thus the evening went fine and it got even better coz I had generous helpings of icecream for dessert. And it was this new flavour, "Kesar Crackle"! Whatever the name was, it tasted heavenly! It was kesar flavour with pistas in it that were crunchy and crackled when you put them in your mouth. I cant wait to get back home and have more of it tonight!

Mmm....(already dreaming of what to have for lunch today)!

A wonderful Sunday Evening

'Yesterday' started out very pleasant, with me seeing the daylight at 10.30 in the morning! Afterall Sundays are for waking up late. Breakfast - had something that looked like a dosa, but tasted nothing like it! With mom not being around these days, my meals are getting less healthier and even less appealing to my eyes and taste buds. Then switched on that machine on my table that keeps me alive these days! Damn! Stupid Cable net...first of all, it is supposed to be fast, but I have given up on that since these days I am having other problems that are more important to concentrate on....to get connected in the first place! Ok...so had to revert to the other thing that I do on Sundays...TV. Will and grace..going on...aarrghh..I have started hating Karen's voice! Ok...switch switch switch...nothing here. Ohh its already 1! Need to prepare lunch...shouldnt kill my granpa and brother just because I am not in the mood to cook. Lunch turned out to be decent (and laaaate) much to my surprise. Then, brother announces net is working! yaay!! But why would he give the comp to me? So...got back to TV hoping something worthwhile is there to watch. Okk...some movie. And then this friend of mine calls asking me to meet her in the evening. Thank god! Something to do at last!

So, take my bike out in the busy evening...find a parking space and thank god it isnt cramped up! My bike can breathe here at this spot. Then spend an hour in a shopping mall and come back making a mental list of all the things I got to do once I get back home (Dinner needs to be taken care of...). And then I get a shock! There are lines of neatly parked cars where my bike was an hour ago! I look around, no nowhere around! Oh my god!! Where is my bike? Is it stolen? Did I not lock it properly? Wait..where are the other bikes that were parked with mine? What is going on here???

One friendly soul comes up to me and asks if something is wrong. And then he tells me that around 50 bikes were towed away sometime back becasue this was supposed to be car parking area!! Now how am I supposed to know that....do these people not know of signboards? What is with the law these days? Ok...cursing isnt going to get me my bike back. Then I ask him what next? He tells me I have to go to the police station and pay up the fine and it'll be back with me. Ok..lets pay up whatever is asked and get it back. But then if only things were soo easy!

I go to the station and ask around and then this person directs me back to the parking lot telling me that the vehicles will be around for somemore time before they come in to the station, so I can pay the fine and pick it up from there. So I go back (the kind soul who agreed to take me to the police station in his auto is waiting for me..). And then the police at the traffic junction re-directs me to the police station, when I tell him I am coming from there...he replies with a curt "are you trying to argue with me"? No....how can I?...I just want my bike back thats all! Finally he tells me to go back there and wait till the gaadis all come in. Its 8.15 and Granpa is worrying at home..so thought it best to get back home without the bike. Can collect it tomorrow.

Then all the auto guys decided to conspire against me! Not a single one was ready to take me home. I cant believe what I did! I finally travelled back with some stranger who was passing my place to get to his. I think he was as scared as me of travelling with a stranger! Finally reached home and my dear granpa told me we can all adjust with the stuff around for dinner and there is no need to cook! Ahh bless him!

Now, today I need to go back to that station and get my bike. Sigh....I hope my bike is doing ok....