Oxford

Another weekend that went by too quickly. We managed a short trip to Oxford and what a charming town that is! Too short indeed was the trip but a sure teaser that has convinced us that more time needs to be spent in the historical town.

Book vs Ipod

I accepted early on in life that tech-savvy is not an adjective that can be used to describe me. However, I have been taken in by the excitement of the ipod and have spent much time getting my favorite songs into this marvelously mini, magical gadget.

It has not been a happy rendezvous - for the following reasons:

How is one expected to listen to beautiful music and not sing along? I find it extremely difficult to keep myself from singing and swaying to music amidst the grim, stone-faced London commuters.

Music, according to me, is to be enjoyed with people. Or it is to accompany another task. I can hardly remember a moment when I listened to music just for music itself, except for school when life was very different. I find it very difficult now to not be multitasking... Left to music and nothing else, I tend to panic.

You can't lose yourself in the ipod. Its a brilliant piece of equipment but does nothing to transport me to another world - on the contrary, I am constantly worried I will miss some earth shatteringly significant announcement made by the South West trains...

No, its not going to work for me, I know. So, without wasting another day, I dashed out to find the nearest Waterstones outlet near my workplace. And you can imagine my joy when I realised that the largest outlet that the chain has in London is a 10 minutes walk from my office. An unending world of books! Now thats a find I can congratulate myself on!

time

... is an idea. But unlike regular ideas, it is constantly changing. I admire those who are able to shape time to do what they want it to do for them. Because more often than not, I feel like I am a puppet singing and dancing in this drama of time.

Today was supposed to be tough. It was to be a typical monday, full of sulking and irritation. I am relieved that it wasn't like that. But more than relieved, I am astonished. Where did today go? As I happily and somewhat cheerful explored the duties of school governors and how best public policy can contribute to every child's development, I saw my colleagues get up to go for lunch. Was it lunch time already? And where did the afternoon vanish? What is it with time that it just melts into nothingness on one occassion and stretches painfully endlessly on another? Three fairly satisfactory articles were written today but the sense of time almost lost still remains alarmingly intact.

On the way from work to the underground, I dodge tourists and other hurrying commuters alike. During that three minute strategic journey, time is of utmost importance. Its as if every second is like a gong going off in some giant stock taking clock. Its an unending race and A and I often wonder, how do we know if we've won or lost?

Snow

I like Orhan Pamuk because of the sense of realism and fallibility he creates in his books. I read Istanbul last year and felt the huzn he wrote so movingly about. His description of the reflection of the setting sun on the bosphorus is not easy to forget. His first brush with love... you want to love him for what he is - a real life, imperfect, thinking, boy-struggling-to-be-a-man man.

So it is almost expected what he does with the character of Ka. Hopeless, romantic, ex-politicised, introvertish, over-analytical, middle aged, toyed-with-it-all-and-want-the-simplest-thing-now man. Do you have an option but to silently pray for him, inspite of the pending gloom, the all encompassing huzn that is unspoken but clearly everywhere? You hope against hope that Ipek will love him, you will his lies to get him the one chance at happiness you almost want him to deserve. I waited patiently to read at least one of his poems and when the green notebook was lost, I almost felt the loss that Orhan felt.

The dialogues between Ka and Necip about religion are brilliant. Loved the book, all the way through. I am a big fan of Orhan's and can't wait to get my hands on My Name is Red.

lazy sunday

Its yet another lazy sunday at home. The morning began with a pot of lady grey, tickling D to get him out of the bed and a conference around the dining table on the importance (or otherwise) of the institution of marriage. This was entirely unplanned and a rather vigorous mental exercise for a sunday morning.
We have since moved on to other controversial issues. Just saw this week's We the People on NDTV where political correctness within history was being debated. What a touchy bunch of people we are! We take everything to heart and are over sensitive to the mildest of affronts. Clearly, there is too much time on hands that people actually think and worry over the appropriateness of the name of a movie or the publishing of some obscure historian's book. Where is our focus, and is it not time we directed it to more constructive issues?

Looks to me like every political party in India has appointed someone or the other with the title of 'Controversy Originator and Coordinator'. This Mr/Ms COC ensures anything and everything that can be politicised must be afforded the honour. Hence, there is no dearth of masala, and if at any point the COCs fail to deliver, the media is always there to fill in the gaps.
We soon decided that this is too much serious thinking for a lazy sunday. At the micro level, its a warm, dull day, we are planning to watch an old hindi comedy on dvd and the trees outside are still leafless but somehow look happier. An old hindi song is playing in my head...

thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hai

zindagi phir bhi khoobsoorat hai

blue and green

After what seems like forever, I am in bed without a care! Its saturday morning and the whole weekend expands before me like a vast beach. I can play in the water or walk on the sand or collect pebbles and shells or read by the sea or make a sand castle or sit and enjoy the sea breeze or chat with friends... the options are endless. The best part about weekends is not just that they are there for us to savour but also the millions things we could do with them if we fancied. I like to think that its all about the possibilities and our abilities to pick and choose.
I have a new plant on my desk, by my window, at work. Have I mentioned I absolutely adore my window? Not everyone in my office has a desk by the window and I consider myself lucky. I may not do it at all but I like the fact that its possible for me to look out and see everyday life. The small stretch of blue sky is like a window to the mind and at times when things are going all wrong, the stretch of blue is like a magic potion helping you put things is perspective. There is life out there, there are endless possibilities and I am able to pick and choose.
Now that I have a new plant by the window, it feels like I have two friends by my side. Its amazing what a little bit of green can do to liven up your life. Why didn't a think of it before?

jodha akbar

A criminal waste of 4 precious hours of my life that will never return. Ash is gorgeous but thats pretty much all thats there to it. Can't believe we actually braved sub zero temperatures to go through that crap. For once, the commercials during the interval were actually better than the movie!