Frustrations! aka Ode to Frustration
You get people who walk around angry and frustrated with everyone and everything in the world…then you get the psychos who are angry and frustrated with themselves….pause….usually the two types are meshed into one very messy mess. So why this title for this post? Well, it’s not anything specific, there’s just a whole bunch of things am frustrated about of which many comes down to little ol’ me.
I’m frustrated that I have no money – my scholarship is stuck somewhere in the digital world of bank servers and routers. I’m frustrated that I can’t seem to get this damn thesis done on time, that I keep missing deadlines too many times. I’m frustrated when I see animals because I know there’s not a thing I can do for them – sick ones, dying ones, hungry ones, sad ones, broken ones. I’m frustrated thinking about what’s going to happen to my two pets when I take them home – will they be treated well by those that are taking them in? will they adjust? will their lives be filled with happiness and contentment or not? I’m frustrated thinking about what will happen to this neighbourhood dog who sleeps on our front verandah – will she think we’ve ‘abandoned’ her when we go home for Christmas holidays? will people stop feeding her because they think she’s ‘our’ dog now? I’m frustrated with gossipy aunties especially the one who lives across!!! I’m frustrated wondering about when will my money come so I can take ‘pinky’ the severe mange-infected-dog-who-is-lively-and-going-strong-but-whose-ears-might-fall-off to the vet! I’m frustrated whenever I see a poor person, a beggar, a destitute, a broken man/woman/child – can’t I do anything for them? will I end up like them? I’m frustrated at myself for getting frustrated about all these things! Phew…..inhale.
Basically this post is an ode to frustration…hmmm (note to self: change the title of the post). It’s all part of life, I get it. But the nervousness is sending what-not chemicals to my brain, heart and stomach (acid kills) and that can’t be good.
I’m frustrated I can’t talk to my dad anymore, at least not till it’s my time to reach the ‘pearly gates’. I miss him and having him to talk to. You know how sometimes after a death, memories of the one who has gone become a little romanticized and polished over? I wonder if I’m doing that when I think or talk about my father. I find myself talking about him a lot more than usual and always as if he’s still around. My attempts at normalization. Then I get a little mad…it’s selfish really, but I get mad at people who still have their dad’s. I want to run at them, grab them by the shoulders and shake the living daylights out of them, shouting ‘You’re so lucky to still have your dad! Cherish him! Cherish him! Don’t be an ass!’ But if that person gives me the stink eye and tells me they have a messed up ‘relationship’ with their father because well, he was a jerk; then I will gingerly step away and say, ‘Sorry, wrong person.” Gulp.
I’m frustrated with people who behave as if they can control when and how they die which is why they act like jerks and idiots – like they have all the time in the world to stay hung up over things that are better left dead, buried and finished. I’m frustrated to no ends with people who have only the victim mentality emblazoned on their foreheads – apparently that gives them the right to walk around criticizing others and feeling sorry for themselves. Another phew. My father could have sat around feeling sorry for himself for all his life and believe me, he had every good reason to do so and more. But he CHOSE not to and decided that that’s not how he wants to live his life. So he got up, got going and never looked back. So what the hell am I doing complaining here? Lol.
Anyway folks, guess a blog is a pretty good thing to have around. Sometimes you get the answers you’re looking for unexpectedly. Thanks Pa.
The simple things…
Life seems to be getting more complicated and worrisome with time. A little longer and sometimes I feel I’ll have to stop doing all those ‘silly’ things that you do when you’re supposedly ‘young, care-free and fearless’. I’m not really getting any younger and I’m definitely getting older but I object to the myth that being ‘young, care-free and fearless’ is applicable to the…well, young.
In fact, I think when you’re in you’re prime you get caught up trying to do EVERYTHING before you get ‘old’. I wonder how many belonging to the category ‘young’ do ‘silly’ things like rickshaw rides at night around campus, auto rides at night around campus with their pets (ahem…so not me), ‘chai’ get-together’s (and yes it does count even when you only have two people) and so on and so forth. And please do not misconstrue what I am saying. I am not promoting carelessness and irresponsibility. I’m just saying sometimes you really don’t need to spend any money, or visit any place fancy to have a good time. When you really think about it, I feel that in the future as we look back at years past it’ll be those ordinary moments spent doing pretty simple things that will make us happy.
My flatmate and I decided to head to the park to try lighting up a lantern she got at the Indiblogger meet. I will be very honest, when she unwrapped it, we were like ‘whuaaaat…’ followed by blank looks 0_o Took us a while but upon reading the instructions we started getting excited. So, well past midnight, with our two dogs in tow, we headed to the neighbourhood park. Mind you, it was not an easy journey as our younger dog, Hector, has recently found himself a ‘girlfriend’ (an exotic kohl-eyed beauty) who is rather ‘bold’ i.e. sits on our front verandah and cavorts with Hector’s older brother, Alchia Bura aka Maximus the Handsome-us. But we managed. You would think that two girls who have passed their B.A. would be able to understand the instructions. In our defense, it wasn’t worded clearly. Ahem. That didn’t deter us. We lit the ‘fuel’ and! Nothing…..
We sat in the park for around what seemed like a lot longer than we had anticipated, staring at this white ‘balloon’ that just sat there. I kept worrying it would catch on fire, my flatmate kept worrying about that and the dogs making noise. But despite that we both found the ‘lantern’ very pweetty to look at. So we sat on the bench and did just that, looked at it. We figured it must work on the same principles as a hot air balloon so waited for the hot air to collect and rise.
Imagine our yelps of joy when the lantern, ahem, levitated. My mind was a blank and that was the only word that popped into my head. But we didn’t have to wait much longer as suddenly the lantern developed a ‘life’ of it’s on and began moving along the park wall followed by ‘lift-off’! Straight up and away….into a tree 0_o
Even stuck in the tree, both of us had stupidly happy looks on our faces for a few seconds longer till I panicked thinking the tree might catch on fire. My friend was still happily looking at it. She very wisely asked how in the world I would reach that high and then very foolishly suggested I climbed the tree. I say this was foolish because she seemed to have a) not noticed that this particular tree, though very tall, was not very thick and b) forgotten that though strong, I am not exactly ‘light’. Finally, I very wisely responded that all I needed was a stick and then foolishly said perhaps a stool. But seriously, what are the chances that a stool would magically appear out of nowhere. Seriously enough, there was actually a stool hung up on the iron railings of the park wall and foolishly enough, I took it and saw that you would need one more stool and one more person my height to reach the lantern 0_o
We realized around the same time that we actually had a long stick at home, used for cleaning cobwebs and I rushed back to our flat to get it. But by the time I got back, the fuel had been spent and the lantern had dropped back to the ground. I was so disappointed. We even toyed with the idea of relighting whatever was left but there really was no fuel left. So, with a great sense of accomplishment, we took our two dogs and our floating lantern back to the flat. Secretly happy that we had been dumb enough to let it float up into the tree. We have plans of finding more fuel so we can see it possibly float up into another tree ^__^
In conclusion, many years from now when I’ll sit back and reflect on the days when I was young – those days way back when we went from cable to digital, petrol to CNG, regular to touchscreen phones etc. – I’ll remember how one very late night, two happy fools and their dogs went to a park to light a lantern and watch it get stuck in a tree. Recalling it all, most likely, I’ll smile to myself, have a chuckle, hopefully be able to call that same friend over and with pets in tow, go light an easier lantern >__<
My ‘string of pearls’! No, nothing to do with foreign policy please….
I’ve been trying to think of what the next blog post should be about and frankly speaking, it’s been really difficult to find something to write about. It’s not that there isn’t stuff to write about but like the title suggested, it’s a collection of very random and unrelated events. Like a string of pearls 
All very separate and yet all linked up together to form a necklace around my neck! Lol. Sigh. Something so beautiful yet when you think about it, kind of unnerving…it can strangle you. Right now, it’s choking me out of ideas! So rather than fight it, I’ve decided to just jot down the randomness and let that be the subject for this post! Hmph…take that! creative blocker!
Descriptions
This is a collection of some of the strangest and most amusing things people have said about me…they’re not bad! Technically…Lol.
- You emit an aura of non-threatening-ness…
- I don’t think of you as a woman but more like a deity… (ahem…why, thank you for noticing..Lol)
- Sunshine/sun ray/sun beam…you get the idea
- How old are you again?
- Man, you are scary!
They all seem to have the same theme running through them and some I’ve heard many times before and some were so ‘spontaneous’ that they’ve stuck with me.
Extended family aka pets
We tried keeping out two dogs in a boarding facility run by our vet for a night (in preparation for when we have to go for Christmas holidays). I had separation anxiety o_0 So not cool. Kept trying to find things that were wrong with the place or the attendants looking after the dogs. Though I tried to make it easier by joking or laughing it off, it only proved just how hard I was pretending not to be concerned. Lol. Picked them up from the vet’s last night and they’ve been nothing but ‘angels’ since then! o_0 Who are you and what have you done to my dogs?! Lol. I am not kidding. Alchia Bura is famous for being such a grouch when it comes to sleeping space. He growls and ‘complains’ if you intrude upon his space while he’s sleeping but since his return from the vet’s, he hasn’t even growled or ‘complained’ ONCE! Even though my roomie has been trying her utmost best to get him to Strange….and as for Hector? Quiet and sleeping. Peacefully and calmly, no complaints or restlessness, no scratching or whining at the door to get out, no chewing or trying to chew on things to get attention. Like I said, who are you guys and what have you done with my dogs?! At first, like the panicked mothers we are, my roomie and I worried that maybe something had happened to them during their stay i.e. they got hit, teased or beaten. But no signs of injury, no real signs of depression (they were pretty active and ‘happy’ in the first few hours of their return). We’re at a loss as to what exactly happened but we’ve concluded that they’re just SUPER-excited to be home and the excitement has worn them out :-/ Hmmmmm…..Now, we’re just anxiously waiting for one of them to growl or whine and then we’ll be so happy 
DIY
My roomie wanted to an old pair of heels a new lease of life. She got this brilliant idea from another person’s blog, which I’m sure she’ll blog about (as soon as her exams are over). A before and after shot!
Before
After
Banking and Condescending Counsellors
Banks continue to dumbfound me. I have no idea what the procedures and regulations are for processing cheques, withdrawals, deposits, demand drafts etc. etc. One thing that I can no longer deny – private banks work faster. It took my roomie and I around 10 minutes to make two drafts in a private bank which she needed to pay for her exam and re-registration fees. We were both mightily impressed. It, however, took us nearly 3 hours to get those very same drafts cancelled! Funny story this incident. Turns out we forgot to put the name of the city in which the Demand Draft is payable at. Instructions on my roomie’s forms were worded in such a way that for even for a person who has knows how to make a draft, there will be untold amounts of confusion. We get to the counter, with draft in hand and are dismissed in an instant because of this mistake. Fine. We’ll get this done and then come tomorrow, stand in line again and get it right!
Tomorrow comes and we’re back in line again, smiling and happy, feeling that it’ll be all over and done soon. I had barely slept, my eyes were swollen and I was definitely nowhere in the ‘here and now’. I was still very much in la-la land of dreams and sleep! We split up to speed up the process – my roomie in one line with one form and I, in the other line with her other form. She gets to the counter and is rejected again! This time for putting, literally, the words that the form had told her to put on the Demand Draft. We get sent back to the Counsellor’s office, upset and worried about how in the world we’re going to get the draft redone and more importantly, whether we’d be in time for the submission as that day was the LAST day. It is from our interaction with the Counsellor that day that my roomie looked at me, wide-eyed and a little ‘afraid’ and exclaimed, ‘Man, you’re scary!’
Why have I, the sunbeam/sunshine/sun ray (ahem), been described as scary? The condescending counsellor thus makes her entry. Rather than giving us ANY helpful suggestion (the only one she did give was tell my roomie to just sit the exams next year!) she starts to mock and patronize us:-
Condescending Counsellor (C.C.): You don’t even know how to make drafts? How old are you now? How can you not know how to make drafts at your age? It’s written so clearly, how can you not know?
Us: We were just following the instruction written on your form.
C.C.: But it’s written clearly here in the instructions, this is the name of our institute, it’s so simple, how could you not know?….
(what seemed like a long pause in my head but was only a second in reality)
Me: Why are you talking to me in such an accusatory tone?
(how to describe my tone when I’m angry or insulted?…my roomie has often said that it’s like a sashimi knife finely slicing away at you; I don’t use foul language, I don’t even raise my voice but it seems my tone speaks VOLUMES)
My roomie begins panicking and under her breath tells me to be quiet! And yet, oblivious C.C. carries on…
C.C.: And the name of our institute is the name in which our bank account is listed…you do have bank accounts don’t you? do you have a bank account? (making an expression and gesture, asking me more like, do you know what a bank account is?)
Me: (sarcastic as hell and gesturing in the same manner and using the same patronizing tone) Yessss, I DO have a bank account and it IS in my full name. But that’s not what I’m asking you, I’m asking you what is there that we can do so that my friend can pay her fees on time.
C.C.: (tone finally softening, more like indifference) Nothing, just take the exam next year.
My roomie is by then furious and worried out of her mind as to what’s going to happen now so she stormed out without a word more. I, on the other hand was seeing red that I just had to add before I left….
Me: We’re going to go the bank which is located right next door and make a new draft and see if THAT will be accepted. Thank you. (exiting and muttering, ‘somebody slap her’)
My roomie was torn between being happy that I talked back to the C.C. and also petrified that because of me, she’d not be allowed to sit her exams! Lol. She says we need to work on when my ‘tone’ needs to come out kekekekeke. I was furious and also so apologetic because I knew her education was on the line (when I say ‘her’ education, I was acting in such a way that it probably would’ve looked very much like I was placing MY hand on MY chest and talking to the C.C….Lol…) So what happened? We went to the bank next door, got another draft made for the more pressing one (the examination fees), stood back in line for the third time and the draft was accepted. Have decided to go on the weekend to the private bank and cancel the original two drafts and get our money back. Dreading, of course, that they will hate us :/
Sims
I actually got annoyed when I made the silly mistake of selling off my precious’ karate’ mat which had cost me 1000 social points to buy! I got so disgusted with myself that I just gave up. Lol. I’m reading this sentence again and wondering what the hell it all means!
Told you it was all pretty random…
Scattered randomness….
I really do not have a theme at all! So when theme-less is the only thing you can think of naming your next post/status update/tweet etc. then why not try the title ‘randomness’. But my problem is not even how ‘random’ it all sounds but it’s not even concentrated into one area of randomness but ‘scattered’ all over the place. So here’s a little visual diary of the randomness hitting us these days!
Honestly, only in India do you get to see sights like this….for free!
And in case there are skeptics out there, just a few days later another pair of elephants on the street outside our flat!
Did not want to freak people out so chose the most ‘decent’ pic I could find and this is it….my boil crater filled with a piece of cotton! Flatmate said it looked like a snow cone…hmmmm
Like it says, ‘Thank you Dove! Thank you Indiblogger!’ This came as one of the biggest highlights and pick-me-up’s of last week and we just couldn’t help but gape and gawk!
What do you do with a chewed-up mattress that you don’t want to throw? Fold in half, take an old bedsheet, cover and voila! Make it into the dog’s ‘sofa’! Alchia thought it was a good idea :/
Hector had no issues adapting to the new doggy ‘sofa’…after all, that’s what a Prince of Troy would do?
Revisited Daniel Henney after a long time only to find him handsome as ever and in Africa! This picture just got to me, I guess when you look at the contrast in social conditions/backgrounds of the two individuals in the photo (For those who don’t know, Daniel Henney is an American model/actor who made it big in Korea, you might remember him from the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie as Agent Zero) Here’s his Facebook page link: https://www.facebook.com/danielhenney
This adorable shelf belongs to my flatmate and these three ‘characters’ have more names together than most people I know. The lovely cat is called ‘Yashamaru’, the pink apple is actually a sharpener and it is called ‘Ringo-chan’ and finally, the KING of all names, please meet Senor Jesus Alejandro Santiago (the penguin in the blue stuff, actually from the movie Surf’s Up). Phew!
These guys just had to make their appearance. These are our ‘Magic Dusters’. Mine is the orange one and I have named ‘her’ Ginger Robbins (feminists please don’t bash me) and my flatmate’s is the neon green one which she has lovingly called ‘Harajuku Prince’!
Finally bought proper curtains…and pretty at that! We’re living like ‘human beings’ now!!! Do you hear me ‘someone’? Lol…
While we were at it, my flatmate bought cushion covers and they give such a ‘plush’ feel to her room and bed!
Random shots of what we see from our balcony at night. Street lamp which attracts hundreds of small bugs (can’t see them here) & the second shot is the doggy peeps! yeah…
These are the earphones I ordered from Flipkart and expecting them later today!!! Finally, I should be able to ‘hear’ stuff on my laptop! Note: LOVE Flipkart! 
Stuff that didn’t get a chance to be added:
- Our new ‘special’ rug to be pulled out and used on special occasions when there are guests!
- My ‘new’ mattress which is SUPER thin but I find ‘plush’ because you’re talking to someone who sleeps on the floor on a mat :p
Sweet contentment….
Contentment has often gotten ‘dirty’ looks from people for being synonymous with ‘settling’ or being ‘complacent’. But it’s something that is so hard to get and we often only experience it only a few times in life. To sum up my feeling at the close of this weekend, the only words that come to mind are ‘sweet contentment’.
I went somewhere, ate A LOT but had a ball while pigging out, enjoyed some good music, great company and some oh-so ‘gotta have it!’ few knick-knacks. But before that, had a great candid conversation the night before, laughed A LOT. Got some ‘knowledge’ and felt the weight of it upon my shoulders but felt good to have it. Despite worrying about the ‘fate’ of beloved Hector and Alchia Bura, it took nothing away from the fact that I derived and continue to derive a lot of joy from playing with them and just watching them doing silly stuff! With exams upon us very soon, somehow, after such a long time, I feel that I CAN do it. That ‘feeling’ has taken a long time to materialize and it started coming about a few days back before we went on our Puja vacations; I found myself getting back that sense of enthusiasm I had when I first started my M.A. – that desire to want to do well, to run around and get info, to participate and ACTUALLY felt some grey matter working after SUCH a long time!
Been eating REALLY well (ahem, pat pat on the tum tum). Perhaps more than the eating, the food and the work that goes into it and finally the ‘sharing’ of it seems to be the part that makes me smile – giving me a very satisfied feeling. Now am just amused – finding my flatmate hilariously dressed up like some ‘bandida’, scarf over her mouth, furiously dusting away to glory with the newly acquired, sky blue synthetic duster – her head shaking vigorously, following the motions of the duster……along with the vigorous shaking of our two dogs. LOL….plus there’s an OST going on in the background comprising of: Kate Nash, Regina Spektor, K.T. Tunstall etc.
Basically, I’m content. Content with my dust-laden home, my often-times sensitive and complex-personalitied dogs, my ‘surrogate mother’ flatmate, my shortage of funds, expanding waistline, the pressure of my do-or-die exams and yes, EVEN the massive boil on my head that has left a deep crater on my scalp. Despite, in spite and against-all-odds, I am content and have to remember these moments to realize that though life, being very unfair and just plain ‘mean’, also throws you these happy moments where you can use no other words except perhaps, ‘tranquility’ and ‘sweet contentment’.
Build me a castle & get me a dog whisperer!
Here’s a strange problem I have. Forget the term papers, read-up’s, assignments and civil exams that are on my plate. Somehow, I think I could actually deal with all of them as I have been dealing with them since the dawn of ‘my education’. The two things that could really turn my worries all around and they are oh so materialistic that I’m embarrassed to admit this: housing and doggy training/boarding. There! It’s out in the open and I’ve said it.
Forget not being in the ‘home of your dreams’, just not being in an acceptable HOUSE at all can really drag a person down. Our flat is working out fine but the one thing we struggle with day-in and day-out is the DUST!!! I wake up and I’m able to run my nails down my skin and see an actual ‘dirt line’. A ‘dirt line’ by definition is when, after scratching, you can see the original colour of your skin versus the colour your skin has taken on due to the accumulation of dirt. It’s happening all the time. One time, I was scratching my face and feeling disgusted with the amount of dirt I could feel under my nails till my flatmate exclaimed: ‘Oh my god, what’s wrong with your face? Have you been scratching it?’. I thought, wow, I must really be scratching too hard because I thought my flatmate was concerned because there must be red lines on my face. So, got up to check it out in the mirror and I believe I went something like, ‘Oh my god’! All the places where I had scratched there were ‘dirt lines’ everywhere! Ewwwwww! I went and washed my face IMMEDIATELY! It’s a constant battle against the DUST in this house.
If dust weren’t enough, now we also have a resident rat which loves to jump off the bathroom wall and scurry away. Sadly, he/she has always made his/her appearance only to my flatmate. She says it’s fat, like an apple! Lol. And needs to lose weight. Double lol. I told her he/she probably’s jumping off the wall as exercise to lose the weight. So our bathroom is now his/her gym. Hmmmm…at least someone’s enjoying this flat.
Apart from the house, a dog whisperer is needed, PRONTO!!! During the day, maybe because of the heat, Hector and Alchia Bura are ‘angels’! They’re quiet, they like to find a cool spot, curl up and sleep. When the sun sets, it’s like some unknown switch gets turned on and they morph into these hyperactively crazy dogs!!! My flatmate calls it the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome which is completely correct. We need Cesar Milan! That dog whisperer who shot to fame on the Oprah Winfrey show and now his own show on the National Geographic channel. I was watching one of his interviews on a British chat show and he said in Mexico they had dogs that needed more food but had no psychological problems like their Hollywood counterparts in the States! Lol. So true but I think psychological problems do happen especially with any animals that have become pets or domesticated and housebound. Hmmm, Cesar just come to India!!!! Teach Alchia Bura to stop chewing things and throwing tantrums!!! T_T
So those are our woes in a nutshell. Added to the need for a doggy whisperer is an urgent need for a dog boarding facility. Yes, yes, they’re just animals why go overboard and get them a boarding facility? Firstly, we just don’t trust a shelter. Many times shelters are some of the saddest places for a dog – understaffed, poorly maintained and a breeding ground of diseases and illnesses. So that’s an absolute no. So how about a friend? Bring me the ‘friend’ who would like to take on the responsibility of caring for two dogs for two weeks over the Christmas holidays….yeah…pretty difficult and don’t think that we’re going to find many takers there either. So, naturally a professional dog boarding facility is always the best option. Been looking around and found one which my flatmate and I are checking out. If all goes well by God’s grace, hopefully this will be the place for Hector and Alchia Bura during the Christmas holidays which is that nagging worry that my friend and I haven’t been able to shake for the past few months. It’s the reason we’ve had sleepless nights and fatigue and anxiousness. Fingers crossed everyone! If it’s good hopefully a post about our experience with the place will go up.
On other affairs, I’m not sure if I’m getting dumber or older or both. I tried comparing my level of activeness during my M.A. years and now and I realized I’ve become such a slacker! It’s shocking how unmotivated one becomes with age! o_0 But I got a bit of an fresh injection in my arm today and I don’t know why. I just felt like suddenly picking myself up and doing something finally. Mental slump over!!!! I guess it happens to everyone – you get tired of being tired about your situation… hmmmm…..So here we go!!!
Goodbye faithful home!!! A tablespoon of nostalgia with a pinch of sadness…
Sounds like a weighty topic, nah? But really it’s just nerves and uneasiness that sets in when a change is about to take place. The ‘Big Day’ has arrived and we are finally moving out. It’s been quite a week with several people coming by the flat to check it out even before we had moved! There have been some harried moments and some plain odd ones too. The harried moments have usually been when you’re fast asleep and suddenly spring to life with the realization that someone is at the door, peering in through the windows! You jump up and forget that you: a) Haven’t washed your face, b) Your hair is a REAL mess, c) Most likely your breath stinks! d) Your ‘delicates’ are lying all over the place and e) You shall have to play ‘pet sitter’ and ‘guard’ these prospective flat owners from your ‘vicious’ dogs…ahem…yes, my ‘vicious’ 4-month old pup and my other equally ‘vicious’ year old pup, aptly named ‘Lazy Old Man’. Brrrhhhh, very vicious indeed! Lol.
There have been some ‘spectacular’ moments related to people visiting this house:
- Two girls came to check out the flat without warning and I was busy making myself some instant noodles mixed with my current fave home chutney, Axuni! (For those who are unaware of what axuni is, it is a pretty pungent chutney from North East India made from fermented soyabeans! Delicious but not very pleasant to smell and pronounced a-kh-ooni). They obviously smelt it and asked their broker, “Does this place have some smell problem?” Whoops!
- One guy returned to see the flat with his friend (note: he is petrified of dogs) and we had to hold on to our dogs while they went inside. The little one, Hector, got loose and ran in because he LOVES people and went straight behind him. Unfortunately, the guy didn’t see and he jumped, skipped and hopped his way out of the door!
- Another broker showed up to show the place to a girl. I was dazed and very much half-asleep but still managed to open the door and warned him that there was crap right behind and to mind his step. Just when I said it, he stepped on it and cursed, ‘Shit’….am not sure why I said it but I responded and said, ‘Yes it is’….Man, I must have been REALLY sleepy and annoyed!
- Just yesterday afternoon, a Korean couple came to see the house. I had no idea that his wife was petrified of dogs as well…that too, of the little one. She kept making these really ‘weird’ whining noises (kind of like when a rich, spoilt wife nags her husband in that annoying fake-cute way….don’t know why that description fits, but it does!). She acted as if the dogs were all over her…Note: They were standing in front of her, sniffing her and giving her a weird puzzled look…they couldn’t figure out, what exactly the noises she was making were either! My flatmate got annoyed and just mumbled under her breath ‘Just get inside’ and at that moment her husband was also getting annoyed and in an impatient tone, kept telling her (in Korean words and hand gestures) to get inside. No matter the linguistic barriers or cultural divide, annoyance is still annoyance. Lol.
Weber, Pets & Tea…
That’s a lot of topics to pack into one post but well I guess that means my day has been full then.
Why does Weber feature in this post? Had a methodology class today and I’m so glad I finally attended. Learnt about Max Weber, the great ‘modernity’ thinker. What was he noted for? His study of not just class (which he found to be too vague…ahem, Marx) but the study of social status which in turn led to social stratification. He was also noted for the study of Power and how it came in three types: Traditional, Charismatic and Legitimate(?). The last part I’m not too sure about. The bottom line with Weber that stuck with me today was the fact that he incorporated many different factors into his research and studies. Marx was hung up about only class struggle, class conflict, means of production etc. etc. But Weber looked at a whole range of issues which he found to be interconnected. Another huge ‘thumb’s up’ from me would be the fact that he did not subscribe to the notion of any culture or nation being racially superior than the other. He understood that every action and tradition had a different value and meaning for different respective societies. For more a more in-depth reading, we’ve been advised to read his ‘Economy and Society’. And ka-ching, that has been our lesson in basic Sociology today!
Animals have featured forever in my life. I cannot imagine a time when I won’t be surrounded by them and it hurts when you realize how many might disappear off the face of the earth. Whole tribes, peoples are disappearing and not many are aware. How much more unaware do you think people will be when it comes to animals? That’s hard to swallow. It’s the little things that matter which is what I’ve heard people say. With animals, sometimes it’s the little things that matter like how they run up to you and greet you when you’ve returned home, or the way they curl up beside you, or how happy they are when you take them out for walks, pay them a little attention, rub their bellies, talk to them etc. etc. Though you’re doing all of that for them, in so many ways, it feels like they’re giving back so much more to you. A sympathetic ‘ear’, cuteness galore to soothe you when you’re down, a ‘cuddle’ toy to help you sleep. Their strange unwillingness to let you go. It all touches some part of you, that is of course, if you’re open to it. Time and time again, so many people have told me, at the end of the day, they’re just animals. I agree 100% but by definition, even human beings are animals, though we’re called social animals…I believe even chimpanzees are considered social animals too, right? The point is, I don’t expect anyone to like animals, nor even want to be around them but regardless, I do expect that people should have the most basic amount of respect for all living things. Period.
Tea. Apologies to the coffee drinkers out there! But yes, I am a tea person, through and through. Black tea, red tea, sweet tea, milk tea, masala tea, butter tea (this needs another attempt to see), honey tea, lemon tea, ginger tea, salt tea (yet to try), chamomile tea, fruit tea, Earl Grey, Darjeeling Tea, Green tea, Japanese roasted tea etc. etc. I love them all!!! But more than the tea themselves, I enjoy the gatherings we have around tea. Our famed ‘Chai parties’. Lol. Nothing special – just tea with elaichi (cardomom) or bay leaves and some good biscuits to share plus good conversation and company. Many a wonderful nights have been spent this way, entertaining at its simplest and finest! So, I lift up my tea cup/mug (what can I say, I love tea) and give a big toast and cheers to all our friends who are moving along their own paths and till we all meet again! CHEERS!
Memories of our home….
We will be shifting out of our current flat at the end of the month. Still haven’t gotten a new place lined up yet. As the time draws nearer, I can’t help but get a little nostalgic about this house which has been home for the past year. So being the ‘list’ person that I am, thought I’d list a few things down of what this place has meant to me and the memories that have become attached to this place:
- I have been flashed more times than I’d care to remember in this house!
- I have done more clean-up jobs in this house than I do back home….
- I threw a lot of things around…very good therapy!
- Worked from home…
- Got through my entrance exams…
- Celebrated my birthday in the best way last year….sleeping (really really needed to sleep).
- Enjoyed a few glasses of Goa wine sent with love from Goa!
- Alcha Bura and Hector came into my life…
- Went to class, returned from class and slept on those precious My Notes!
- Enjoyed the wonders of Slice of Italy, Republic of Chicken, The Rai, Flipkart and Infibeam all from the comfort of my own home….hmmmmmmmm.
- Cried.
- Laughed.
- Cried some more.
- Laughed even louder.
- Had plenty of tea parties! (will miss you, our high-flying, soon-to-be New Yorker!)
- Had a slumber party with friends before any of us had moved in! The house was plain, bare, mosquito-ridden, only one mat for four of us but it was the best slumber party ever!
- Fought and argued.
- Kissed and made-up…
- Seen high drama and pathetic low’s…
- Started a blog.
- Started my MPhil…
- Lost over Rs. 400 playing cards…good sobering lesson….
- Lost a grand total of 4 earphones, one cellphone charger, one USB cable, internet cables, two pairs of flats, one pair of floaters, one Puma shoe, one laptop charger (thankfully repaired with black tape!), one Bible, one leather wallet, one pillow, one lovely black sling bag, one clothes rack which has gone rusty thanks to incessant chewing, one plant, a Rs. 10 note, three bamboo mats (nearly threadbare due to chewing, again) and still counting! Phew….
As you can see, this house holds a year’s worth of memories. Some of them have been crazy, some have been happy and some have been totally ‘ughhh’ but all memorable. I will miss this place and the shelter it provided, the meeting point it served as and the final departure point it will be at the of the month. I know it’s just a house move but for me, it means so much more. It’s a new beginning, a new chapter and a time to wrap up these memories in a neat little box and put them aside for a while. Then when some time has passed, you can take them out again for later perusals and look back on them with an incredulous smile and laugh about it….
Thank you to this home and God bless to the next tenants!
Adopt Hector Campaign!!!!
This is something incredibly difficult for me to do and equally hard on my friend.
About a month back we came across a sickly little pup, ribs showing, bloated belly rummaging in the garbage for food. Not too long ago we had seen a healthy litter of around 5 to 6 pups but when we saw this lone pup, the people living around the area told us that he was the only surviving one left. Knowing full well our circumstances, both my friend and I, who are so use to seeing this sight in Delhi, for some reason couldn’t turn our backs on him. We took him in, got him de-wormed, cleaned him up, fed him and he will soon be getting his vaccinations as well. It was an agreement from the beginning that he was meant for adoption since neither of us had the means (we’re renting our current flat) or the time (both of us are full-time students) to take him on completely. But for those of you who have animals or a soft spot for them know, over time, you form attachments and bonds that run very deep. You even underestimate how deep they go. I had even gone so far as to say I wanted to keep him. But it’s hard to ignore the circumstances and for the interest of Hector, it’s much better if we could find him a proper home. It breaks my heart to think of the day I’ll have to let him go but it would break my heart far worse if we have to move and can’t take him with us.
Living in India and coming to the big city was hard for me in so many ways. The language, Hindi, was one factor, the weather (HOT) and sometimes the unappreciated staring and leching was another factor. But the first thing that use to hit me hard whenever we would stop in Delhi, as a child, was the poverty and the people begging and living on the streets. As you get older, somehow in order to cope, you force yourself to take it in but not dwell on it too long and that, sadly, is often the only way to deal with it. But I will remember my brother’s friends’ example and try to live that way as well.
As an adult when I came back for coaching and then later for further studies, the hardest thing for me to see were the countless number of street dogs. I am not saying that where I come from that animals aren’t also mistreated, I feel they are often soft and easy targets for people to abuse the world over; sadly, it’s common and widespread. But back home, as a child, the one thing I hardly ever saw was a dog with no owner or no home. My family are such big animal lovers and my maternal side have always had animals in the house who were always well-cared for and loved. I remember countless happy memories of visits to my maternal grandparents’ home and the highlight or the feature attraction had always been because of the animals. ’Oh, so-and-so has just given birth’ or ‘See the newborn kittens, one will be for you’ or ‘Look at the chicks that just hatched’ etc. etc. I remember one time when a chick was stepped on accidentally (ahem…could have been me and in my defense, I was very young and hadn’t seen it…ahem). I thought it had died since it wasn’t moving. My grandma immediately took it inside, sat down on the morah (pics will go up) and there was a charcoal burner that was still going; she put the chick close enough for it to get the warmth and began to slowly massage it. I was young so I believed in a miracle but others thought it was dead. I sat, riveted, watching my grandma and hoping (but not admitting) that somehow she would revive this little chick. About half an hour passed and suddenly, cheep cheep, the chick began making noise and when my grandma put it down it ran right out of the kitchen back to it’s mother. Lol. I was so happy and yet felt so incredibly embarrassed and guilty for what I had put it through. So, animals have always been a big part of my life and I have a feeling they will always be.
We are looking for a good home for Hector. He is now roughly around 3 to 3 and a half months old. He is toilet trained in the sense that he knows that where there is newspaper laid down, that’s where he needs to do his business. But a word of caution, you need to keep changing the paper otherwise if it’s too dirty, he will do his business wherever he wants to. He likes being close to people. There have been countless times when I thought I was sleeping alone and I wake to find this little ball curled up right next to me. He’s a little ‘greedy’ which is pretty understandable considering what he use to eat before we picked him up. He use to have a ‘wonky’ leg, looks like it was dislocated or broken when he was younger. But since he’s been getting healthier and bigger for some reason, the leg seems to be perfectly fine. The only thing is one hind leg is slightly shorter than the other but he runs and walks perfectly well and don’t let his size fool you; he can run pretty fast! When you pretend to whine, he comes rushing from wherever he is, with this look of worry on his face and jumps all over you, licking you to make sure you’re ok. After he feels that you’re ok, he goes and trots off back to whatever he was doing. That is one of his most endearing features. A stern ‘heyyyyy’ will often be enough to stop him from getting into mischief i.e. when he’s about to chew something he’s not suppose to, or go somewhere he’s not suppose to etc. He loves walks in the park and likes to run, as long as you’re also running along with him. Lol. So, double benefit for you – he’s getting exercise and so are you!
We are ideally, looking for a home in Delhi for him. That is our first priority; preferably with people who already have some experience with dogs or who honestly love animals. A home with a bit of space to run about would be even better but if it’s a flat, that will also be fine as long as there’s no danger of him going through the railings of the balcony. Another note, he is not a pure bred; he is your common, hale and hearty, Indian street dog who kind of looks like he could be a Doberman (ahem). If anyone is also looking to take him home, within India, my friend and I will think about it seriously and get back to you. Either comment in Facebook, Twitter or on this blog and we’ll let you know. To add to this ‘Adopt Hector’ Campaign, here are some pics of the lovable guy!
Hector
Hands up!
This is not lady-like, it's called being a Gentleman!
I am not a baby...ahem...
Hey, respect my privacy!
Where's the food?
So, even if you can’t adopt him, please spread the word and let others know. I’ll be more than happy if we can get a few people interested in him! Thank you.
More pics of our pets! Some fauna as well…
Well, I promised more pics of our pets and there are some more. The shots of our pets were done in the same day, the ‘fauna’ and gardens were done on different days. Still waiting for Milky to bring her kittens out! But her overgrown ‘son’ cracks me up, he just wants to be carried and cuddled ALL the time!
Flowers out of nowhere!
Flowers
It grew in the wilderness!
Mangoes from the garden...
Our front yard, with a view of the Secretariat building!
Pluto smiling!
Brothers back to back
Oreo all curled up...awhh
- Oreo snoozing
Mother & Son
Let me on the mat!
I am a lady...
Get my good side!
Some pics from home…
I have no idea what Facebook’s problem is with Tata Photon or perhaps it’s more the other way around….arghhhh!
Since, I can’t seem to upload any pic on Facebook might as well post them up here then!
There you have it. Pics of our dogs, cats (Milky just gave birth and we’re eagerly expecting the day when she’ll bring them down), snippets of our backyard as well.
Next up will be the front yard….
5 balls, 2 men!!!!
Once again I am left dumbfounded and speechless by human behaviour and reason. Tell me, what satisfaction lies in locking girls up in a park at night? Because they talked back at you? Because you can’t hit them back? Because you thought that you could teach them a lesson but forgot that these particular girls in question would rather jump a wall than be caught dead by a bunch of useless, spineless men on whom balls were wasted?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To keep it short and simple and for faster story development, this is how this ‘unfortunate event’ unfolded:
Friend A: Let’s take the dogs to the park.
Friend B: Great idea! That ways they get tired and we can sleep!
Rickshaw ride to next neighbourhood…..
Friend A; Wow, what have done with this park?
Friend B: Building a memorial?
Friend A: Let’s sit and finish the ice-cream.
Friend B: Hmm.
Ice cream over, nose has been blown and both friends decide to move to larger park.
Friend A: Ah, finally! The park.
Friend B: I’m sitting.
After some frolicking with the dogs, nasty men enter the park.
Nasty men: Get the dog away from the plants….they’ll eat it.
Friend A: Come doggy, doggy! (Trying to pull the dog away)
Nasty men still complaining and pointing at the dog.
Friend A: They don’t destroy the plants! Don’t complain so much!
Some more time spent frolicking and minding the dogs and making sure they don’t ‘destroy’ the plants while being happy running around….
Suddenly….Friend B hear a noise…
Friend A: Get the leash!!!!!!!
Friend B: Did they just LOCK us in?!!!
Friend A: Get the leash!!!!!!!!!
Friend B brings leash but still asking….
Friend B: Didn’t you hear that? They just locked us in!
Friend A runs to gate to inspect and….
Friend A: They locked it with a tala!
Friend B: ****#@@@@@ #### ****@@@@@**** (parental discretion is advised!)
Friend A: Call the police!!!!
Friend B: I don’t think that’s a good idea, let’s call Friend C! (while shouting and calling Nasty men, cowards and ****8@@@@######)
Friend A: Call the police!!!!!!!!! oh wait…call Friend C!
Friend B calls Friend C….
Friend B: Hello? Hey we’re locked in the park.
Friend C: What? How did that happen?
Friend B narrates story….
Friend C: Oh, ok i don’t know if they have anything to open the lock with…
Friend B: Ask if they have a hammer?! They’re boys.
Friend C: But they can’t come all the way over to that neighbourhood right now…
Friend B: We’re in the same neighbourhood as you right now!!!
Friend C: Yah?! Ok, they’re coming….
A and B start ranting….until Friend B sees a low wall and light bulb moment…
Friend B: We can jump that wall and get the dogs over too.
Friend A: Let’s go *@@####
A goes over first, B hands Dogs 1 and 2 and then B goes over, still cursing Nasty Men and looking for them with psycho eyes…..
Friend A: Let’s go home.
Friend B: Where are they? (shouting at the top of her voice, spotting shadowy figures at the end of the road and directed her shouts there)
Friend A: What’s their problem? Cowards!
Friend B still shouting to the shadowy figures…
Rickshaw ride home….
Reaching home, still cursing, downing a full bottle of Maaza to wash away their sorrows and fatty, Haldiram’s Cheeseballs….
THE END!!!!
PS- This became a famous FB post and blog post!
Raising your dog! Teenage rebellion and jealousy…
We now have two dogs in our home, Alcha Bura, the neighbourhood pup who kind of adopted himself into our family and Hector, the sickly pup whom we adopted because his condition was just sad. It’s been days and days of interrupted sleep due to paranoia over where Hector is going to poop, pee or recently, puke. I am proud to announce, except for a few stray incidents, he knows he has to do his business on the area where newspaper has been laid down. He was pot-bellied due to malnourishment but happy again to report that he’s putting on healthy weight, his fur looks shiny and he has a ‘good’ appetite (borders gluttony). He puked quite a bit a day or two ago, because of his ‘appetite’ but now he’s doing fine. He’s had his de-worming trip to the vet and the road ahead looks a lot brighter for Hector at this stage.
Now we come to the problem. When you have pets, try and get both dogs when they’re young or better yet, if you can take in siblings. Otherwise, a fight for dominance and territory or just a fight for plain attention will break out. It also boils down to the personality of the dogs. People will laugh but even animals have personality, vibes and energy. Alcha Bura is a sensitive type of dog, who won’t do anything until he’s been pushed to his limit. He’s also very much a free spirit, comes and goes as and when he pleases but loves to be around people too. We’ve discovered that Hector, despite his size, is a very confident pup bordering on being a little over-smart. Lol. He has some spunk and sassiness but is also very affectionate and loves to be around people. Alcha Bura is also now, technically, an adolescent which means the ‘brooding’ stage has arrived. You remember being an adolescent, how moody, irritable and irrational we could get. Well, it’s no different with animals and let me tell you – man! it’s tiring!!!! sighhhh.
But what can we do except be patient and wait it out. I tell you, anyone planning on getting married and having kids, all jokes aside, should first try taking care of a dog. If you can stand the poop, pee, puke etc., if you can stand cleaning it up, bathing them, feeding them, taking them for shots, bearing the brunt of their disobedience, if you can bear the pain of when they chew your fave shoe, chew up 3 sets of earphones/headphones, your laptop charger, internet wire, your bed, your sandals – if you can stand and take ALL of that, then there are better chances that you’re ready for parenthood. But it’s not all horrific as that There are moments of sheer joy when they curl up beside you, follow you around, recognize their names and your voice, come to greet you, play with you etc. Those moments make everything seem worthwhile So don’t underestimate the great responsibility you take on when you get a pet but at the same time, enjoy the tender moments too.
Alcha Bura & Hector
Weirdo’s, Sweating and Mucous
It’s been a fun-filled few days. Early yesterday, precisely around 2am, was returning home from a friend’s place. The lovely thing about student ‘cities’ or neighbourhoods are that you will always, ALWAYS, manage to find shops open the whole night. Even if their doors are shut, one knock and someone will always respond on the other side. The ‘Blind Man’ is one. Quite an amazing fellow, blind but can tell the denomination of notes you give him. So, myself and my two friends stopped by there to pick up some stuff. Don’t know what it was about that early morning but it felt like EVERYONE was out. And it was only Thursday! Lovely collection of guys all around, a little drunk, a little loud and a little ‘showy’ since it was just myself and my flatmate who were the only girls around. Got called by another name by some guy. I wouldn’t have bothered to turn if only he hadn’t called my other flatmate’s name. What are the chances? What are the chances that I’ve actually seen him around in some other area? Creepy. Had to move from that area, not just because it was getting uncomfortable, but also because that shop didn’t have what we wanted. Moved to the Blind Man’s shop and some other weird, loud guy followed. But got home safe and sound. No more incidents.
Gyming today was lovely! I had sweat rolling down every part of my body and if that wasn’t attractive enough, the whole front of my shirt was wet, with sweat! Rhymes…Haha. Dumb I know. But I was too tired to care.
As for the Mucous part to this day, that comes compliments of our very own Alcha Bura (translated means Lazy Old Man). He’s got some infection or flu and nose is running lovely-coloured mucous everywhere! For those who haven’t figured it out yet, Alcha Bura is this street pup who forcefully adopted himself into our family. So yes, we’re all worried about antibiotics and taking him to the vet and we then laugh when we realize we don’t even worry half as much for ourselves when we get sick! We got the dog we deserved: lazy, loves to sleep, a little spoilt and has sinus problems. Perfect match.
