Of ABCs

A long time back i wrote this. The same friend is now mother to a year and some months old infant. Now considering that she got pregnant about 6 months after her newfound interest in books, she found herself reading up on pregnancy, what to expect and all that. Of course, since she bought her first pregnancy book in month 4, she skipped the first 3 chapters. Why read up what has already happened right?

Anyway, now that she is a responsible parent she is taking the buying of books very very seriously. And so picture books, nursery rhymes, story books and of course, alphabet books are being bought whenever possible. Now one would imagine the imparting of knowledge from picture books or alphabet books wouldn't be much of a challenge right? Wrong.

For starters, picture books are not what they used to be. So when she picked up a book on dogs, she expected cute stuff like cartoon dogs and lots of *bow wows*. Instead she gets a mini encyclopedia on the various breeds of dogs, most of which she can't even pronoune. So she decides to do the easy thing and tackle the english language. But apparently my friend is more than a little stumped when showing her boy letters of the alphabet. Why? Because ABCs arent what they used to be my friend. No siree.

No more does A say Apple, or C say Cat or F say Fish.

A says Ambulance.

C says Camera.

F says Fire Engine

The poor woman is having to relearn everything because when she says A and Apple in the same sentence, the poor kid is left looking at the photo on an ambulance.

Oh, and Z says something called Zeebu.

Yes. You read that right. Any wonder that the poor girl is baffled?

2.30 am Postings

It was a turbulent time. Tears, arguments and ultimatums. Uncertainty and conflict. The constant physical pain, the guilt, the choices. He was her support system through it all. The shoulder on which she cried. The number she called for the 3 am panic attacks. He made it all go away, seem like it was all in control. He made it all worth it. She was in it for life. He was in it for her.

Just One of Those Posts

I've been wanting to write for a few days now. I even have half a dozen incomplete rants sitting on the desktop. But there is *so* much going on in the head that it's getting a little difficult to untangle the threads and get past the knots. Every time i start writing i find myself going off on a tangent, a stray thought, a random idea. And then i'm just putting disjointed, unconnected sentences together in one space and hoping at least someone of them make sense. Unfortunately they don't. At least not to anyone who hasn't been inside my head and knows how to connect the dots - including even me most times. An out of body experience it is, with me hovering somewhere near the ceiling with a cold iced tea in my hands thinking that my drink needs more mint and less sugar. And then i'm left wondering what's wrong. Or right.

Go on. Join the dots.

That Bubble

I'm in one those moods today where i can feel the energy bubbling inside of me. And no. I don't want to go for a run. That's not how i deal with my excess energy you know (maybe i should though. At least it would help me solve my weight issues). Anyhoo. What i really want to do right now is draw. Sketch. Doodle. Create. I want to draw the images forming in my head, even though I'm certain something will be lost in translation and it won't look anything i'd envisioned. I want to spend hours with some heavy drawing paper and a black ink pen, watching in satisfaction at the thick and thin lines come together to form a whole. I want to do so much, the ideas in my head are threatening to explode and it's leaving me restless and feeling incomplete.

And what feels worse than that is knowing that if i don't do something about this, and soon, the bubble will burst. Into nothingness. And i'll be left with nothing but this blogpost to show for it.

That Connection

Sometimes you could know a person for years and yet not know them. And then sometimes you meet someone with whom you just connect, and it's really really odd.

Today a virtual connection of a couple of years (finally) became a real one. And contrary to the popular belief that people who are entertaining online aren't in person, the intelligence, wit, insight and laughter was all present in reality too.

Over deep fried chicken with cheese, calamari, chicken wrapped bacon, a funny pizza with awesome toppings, doughnuts, rings, and a haircut, a friendship was forged. I think.

And if the doughnuts did not help, maybe all the grinning several hours later did.

Oh The Nostalgia

The sister and I are both visiting home this week, a fact that's making dad very thrilled. Both his girls are home and under his watchful eye once more. All day when we were to arrive, he kept calling both of us and confirming flight timings and pick up details. And today morning, when he peeked into our room and switched the fan off - his favourite waking-us-up technique - i could sense his grin even in my sleepy, eyes closed state.

So we're papa's girls. It's the natural order of things. And as it goes, we too can wrap our father around our little fingers (oh stop looking shocked). Except when he decides to play it tough and then it's just funny. Really. Like the times he tells us that we better clean our room up because he's going to come *inspect* it soon. Or when he tells us he wont let us have icecream after dinner just like that. And better yet, when he hands out *conveyance money* every morning. And when we tell him we don't need it, we're told to just keep it and return it to him at the end of the day. Yes yes. We don't do that. Like you would?

But it's not about the money or the inspections or the ice-cream (ok, a little bit about the ice cream). It's about nostalgia. That familiar tone of voice, exchanging amused looks with the sister, laughing at the mother's head shaking at dad's unabashed daughter pampering. Everything that tells you all's right with the world and you're home.

Hidden Agenda

Since i last wrote here so much has happened. And so much has not happened. To begin with, we still dont have broadband internet. On the other hand, we have a house, a maid, a well stocked fridge, an operational television and a flush that works (what? you know that is the most important of the whole list). But we still dont have an internet connection. We even have a newly waxed and polished car, a mall stuffed full of shiny new shops a mere 10 mins away (listen, after camel land with no malls, this needs to be mentioned. I mean, there is Body Shop even) and very nice neighbours. But the internet connection still eludes us.

Yes i'm obsessed. You know you are too. I've been without the internet for a month and more now. Ok so i get the basics done on my phone, you know, email, chat, twitter (and not necessarily in that order). But we all know it's not the same thing, regardless of what those advertisements tell us. I miss *real* internet. Sitting with my laptop for hours on end, I miss being able to search for spellings while i continue chatting and reading up something random on Wikipedia all at the same time. I miss seeing full sized photos. Stalking people on Facebook is just not the same thing. You know.

And so coming home to Bombay right now has a different meaning altogether. Officially i'm here to spend time with the sister and meet new friends. But really, all i want to do is spend quality time with my computer and the internet. Go ahead judge me.