Post no. 29

Today I read in the newspaper that Yuvraj Singh was battling a lung tumour and that was the reason for his recent dip in form. I had given up following cricket a long time back and wasn't even aware of Yuvi's bad run of late.. Glad to know that he's all right and will be joining the team soon.. What intrigued me more than the story though was the heading of the article. It read- "After 3 month battle with cancer,Yuvi  learns it's tumour".  Now any medico and many laymen would know that lung cancer is a kind of tumour.. Another leading website claimed that a 'lymphoma' was diagnosed which could have been 'malignant'! Again, lymphomas are malignant tumours! Sheesh... You would have thought they would have done better research before publishing those articles!!

Random thoughts on a random Sunday

Aaaahhh... So I finally got a Sunday off from work.. And some time to spend on the internet..


 Usually thoughts run through my mind at a gentle pace, like the non existent Mumbai breeze. But today they are running at such a frightening speed that I had to jot them down. To maintain my sanity. To kill my boredom. To update my blog. So you must have guessed that the third reason was the most important one? Well you're right. There's a lot of pressure that goes into maintaining an Indiblogger rank.. So here goes...


Thought No. 1: I should own a private flat in Mumbai. With air-conditioning, to save myself from mosquitoes and sunstrokes (which curiously enough are fully possible in Mumbai even during the winter).


No.2: I want to make a living out of reading books, not medical ones, though. Or better still, I want to marry the owner of a bookstore.


No. 3: I want to have Vada Pav or street chaat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.


No. 4: They should consider banning people from working after 5pm. Seriously. I don't know who 'they' are, though.


No. 5: 'They' should also open a Mafia Wars de-addiction centre. Fully cured from this addiction, I have suffered an acute relapse again.


No. 6: I am not feeling hypoglycemic (hungry, in medical terms) today. Yes, I do think in medical terminology.


No.7: People who own flats in Mumbai, kindly use curtains. I'm not interested in seeing you scratch your butt, or have a bath, or... the possibilities are endless... I DON'T WANT to witness your private moments, but I still CAN. Get what I mean?


No. 8: I am missing Bangalore, Mummy, Mummy's food, my soft, soft, bed....


No. 9: Thoughts are still racing through my head and my typing speed cannot keep up...


Racing thoughts... Am I suffering from an acute episode of Mania? There I go, with the medical terminology again.. And you must be bored, reading utter nonsense. Well, I did warn you, this post was just to update my blog! Kindly look elsewhere to satisfy your reading urges. :)

Born free

Why do you choose to be teary eyed?
The shadows of your pain,
The bolts of your anger,
Only exist in the recesses of your mind.
Are we really born free
When we attach to these shackles,
Imprisoned to a society 
That cares not for our battles...
Battles that defy reason,
Battles that cause suffering,
Sometimes physical and sometimes mental,
Arduous, torturous, never relenting.


Look around you,
At the butterfly that flies where it wants,
And the bird that sings a thousand songs,
Or the gushing stream at the crack of dawn..
They are not bound by an unseen boundary
And hence we should ask ourselves,
As humans, are we really born free?


~PurpleMist

Of Magnolia Crescents and Watercress

I have never considered myself to be a 'girly' kind of a girl. And have been trying my best to become more beauty conscious. So what better place to start than a walk in chemist store? I first headed over to the shampoo section. And what a mind boggling selection of items there was! Was I supposed to choose a shampoo for daily care which had 'Thyme and Juniper' or was I to go for one that contained 'Amla Pearl Complex'? And there was another product which claimed to solve all my hair problems because it contained 'Micro Moisture Serum and Fibre Actives'. And so... I finally settled on buying one that had 'Magnolia Crescents and Watercress' (Partly because it was blue in colour, but mainly because the free earrings offered with it were prettier than the ones offered with 'Rosemary and Sage'). 


Now i was feeling really good about myself, having made one of the toughest decisions of my life. Next on my list was a face wash. Nowadays we see many advertisements on TV with some products claiming to make you fairer and cleaner and what not.. I had already decided that I would purchase one that claimed (on TV) that it would remove 99% of my skin impurities. But when I reached the face wash section the exotic plants started working their black magic on me again.. So.. 'Citron and Honey'? 'Aloe Vera and Cucumber'? My poor brain was working feverishly overtime now and for some reason that I still can't comprehend, I dropped a 'Purifying Neem' face wash into the shopping basket.


And the battle wasn't over yet. The deodorant base was yet to be covered. Now don't we all love the way they describe the various scents at the back of the can? There was one that urged me to 'add a little Samba into my life' and another that had 'cool, fresh and spicy notes' and yet another that claimed to 'turn heads,make you smile and carry an air of sophistication'. By this time my warbled brain commanded my hands to pick one of the canisters I don't even remember which!


Whew! Now that an ordeal was over, I stepped out of the air-conditioned store and into the Mumbai heat, and a thought came to mind... What if there really were products to keep my skin oil free, my hair tangle free and my body odour free in this horrible Mumbai weather? Now that would be really hard to ignore!

Revolution 2020- A review

I've gotten into this dangerous habit of buying books at the airport each time I travel by flight. Last month that was a total of 4 times and have spent a considerable amount of my hard earned money on fiction. So now I'm crossing my fingers hoping that it was a worthwhile investment. :)

There's something about a Chetan Bhagat novel that you can't just ignore. Is it the hype surrounding India's most talked about author? I bought Revolution 2020 more out of curiosity than anything else. The book is written in typical Bhagat style with the usual doses of struggles, failures, IITs and human relationships that make his books tick. The premise is simple- Two young men in Varanasi who fall hard for the same girl. One wants to change the world and the other wants to make a lot of money. So whom will she choose? A rather cute love story, but the editing could have been crisper with the middle third of the book especially, which drags on endlessly with the protagonist and his endless attempts at trying to win over his lady love.  Plus, I wish the author had done away with cliches about girls being difficult to understand, something he writes about in every book! 

Though the narrative gets tiresome at places, it's a good book overall. Not the best of Chetan's works (personally I rate his first book, Five Point Someone the highest) but it's not the worst either. I recommend it as a one time read. And if you're a Chetan Bhagat hater, then my advice is to avoid the book completely instead of complaining later about his writing style. So, all in all, it's a book for the Chetan fans or one for those who prefer to stay neutral on a touchy subject... Like me!!

My rating : 3/5

First Tag :)

Thanks to Arpitha, I'm doing my first tag. Here goes-

1) Which is your favorite "Lays" flavor? (Yes its the Frito Lays chips I am asking about)

Hmm.. Tough one to answer. I used to love American Cream and onion but right now, I'd go with Caribbean Hot 'n' Sweet Chilli.

2) Which is the one place you would love to go but have not been there as yet?

I love travelling.. Would love to go deep sea diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

3) Which is the one color you hate?

Shocking fluorescent pink and mustard yellow. Sorry can't pick one out of the two!

4) Given an option to rescue a wooden log or a wooden plank which one would you rescue?

The answer that came out at the top of mind was- wooden log. Don't ask me why!

5) Why did you rescue whichever you rescued?

Oh, so you did ask! Sorry, no idea.

6) Dogs or cats?

I'm not a pet person. But I guess dogs would be better, especially the cute little thing in the Vodafone ads.

7) Which is the one gadget which you would like to own which you don't already have?

Definitely the Amazon Kindle. And my birthday is on April 20th. (Hint, hint;))

A second chance

Welcoming thoughts flooded his mind

Thoughts of a yesterday lost in time.

A song once forgotten 

A soulful rendition

reminding him of a place divine.

A place that boasted of a thousand suns

The brilliant light that blinded him at once.

A magical memory

A sweet tranquility

They all came back, quickening his pulse.

Wasted had he, a love so pure

The reason being, he was quite not sure

A squandered chance

At a perfect romance

And so he stood in a heavy downpour.

Wondrous though are the works of fate,
Setting right a grave mistake

A folly of youth

A declaration of the truth

And so they hug in a tight embrace.