IPL- It's Pure Lure.

Long time.

I have started a new regime these days (read: the last 3 days). I do some wall practice for tennis (yes, the long lost friend, about whom I used to write so fondly). It's like playing with myself :). No no, don't get me wrong. It's like returning your own shots. But the hope of a cloudy afternoon always outSHINES the will to get up early and hit the court. However, today, as I saw the day turn silver(from clouds) from yellow, my heart leapt with joy. The line between shade and sunshine on the court blurs too subsequently. And then another leaping in joy.

When people say 'it's all in the head', it all falls in place. The trick in tennis, I've found out :d, is to slow-motion the ball when it's landing back, after the bounce, see the last of it's revolutions before you hit it with all your might, straight from the centre of the racket. Every ball, every time, with might.

Then a little run on the treadmill, some crunches and squats follow. And then some thigh pain, and fatigue follow. I vacillate between sport and fitness and fitness and sport. I have moved on from non-belief in gym. As one looks at himself slogging it out on the treadmill, the feeling of being fit is half the battle of fitness won.

Later in the day, I watch some action in IPL. The other day, I saw one of the most nail-biting, cliff-hanging match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders. These matches are bigger than loyalties. While I saw Shahrukh Khan pray and Shilpa Shetty rejoice, I felt galvanized. That's the stickiness about T-20, it's pace, it's assortment and glamour.

And today, when my favourite Chennai gets to draw with Kolkata (a fairly easy game, in favour of Chennai), I feel a little 'sinking'.

Things change all the time. In the wedding season, I no longer like to put mehendi (henna) in my hands. There was a time in my childhood when I used to crave such things. I would wear many bangles, put mum's lipstick like a shabby girl without taste, wear 'chunnis' for saris all the time (just the way I do now), make a wig and hang it around my neck and keep jerking my head in that sexy way heroines do in films. No more. I think, madnesses of childhood just peter out like this in adulthood.

But some things never change. Mums never become indifferent to us, however much they say- 'I've stopped to care about you children'. She will still come and see if we are sleeping even if we have had a battle with words just moments back. And the taste of Amul butter never changes. The assurance of the sweet voice never changes. The sting of the pernicious and scheming mosquito's bite never changes. And the promise of the eastern sun and the warmth of the western sun never change too.

So Long.

ordinary but super

holidays slip out of my hand like a chocolate chip from a cookie falls into one of those sofa cleaves and edges along while I try to pluck it with my index and thumb. feeling like a mother missing the 9 months old foetus, to the book i just finished reading. have lots of fun in telling half the details to Debo and witholding the other half, that unhinges him completely. have many a bee in my bonnet. Sometimes its working out. Staying at home and squandering the holidays away evokes crazy, gory images in my mind. I see funny things happen to myself and it's not pretty. sometimes it's someting else. But they are all too many and too small. Sometimes it's taking a back-packing trip somewhere. I open many a link to see some nice vegetarian recipes to fix something in the kitchen. But the moment passes, I bookmark those links and I never go back to that. Later I open many a link for architecture types and forms. Bookmark those and then never go back to them. Sometimes, I have many pages(Tabs * Windows)open on my computer that are never visited again. In the meantime, Zoo goes to Amreeka and Debo takes exams. I think about Minkie at times and the time-zones and the one-way-ness upset me then. I want to pole vault time and space then. Anyhow, these are momentary things and pass me by in another instant.

Later

cocktail

now that i have shifted my base from ahmedabad for good, there were some things that needed winding up. For eg. I spoke to Vodafone executives to solve my post-paid problem. D'abbord, cest moi, que presente les problemes grandes. Deuxiemement, les executives sont tres prepare, comme, ils soint tres exaspere pas mes problemes, finalement, they breathed a sigh or relief, continue a me demander si ils peuvent faire quelque chose pour moi, in a long and boring drone of 'i hope mam, the information we provided you helped us, if there is anything we can do for you, please let us know.'. And while they neared the end of this refrain, je pensais d'une nouvelle probleme, et ils repetaient la meme message.

Je crois, mes probleme restent comme ca. Mais, au'jourdhi jai recontre plus qu'une fois, un exposure of service. Et ce sont les educateurs qui nous servent le meilleure. Ils sont dans la profession, plus noble.

Anyhow, service est tres important dans la travaux de ordinateur aussi. La diskette et chargeur ne travaille plus. Pourtant, je suis sure, les gens qui me servent le meilleure, n'ont pas etudie 'service marketing' dans le college.

Anyhow, from the top, everything else looks like a small speck. Tall buildings that were once visible, the view is completely obliterated by many more buildings in the middle. While I saw the scorching sun turn into a less bold colour of orange but a more defined round ball, one huge leaf from the coconut tree fell, from the first tumlt of arriving monsoon. And listening to reminiscent songs, I was taken two years back to another chapter of college. Anyhow, that's another story.

So while shoes are being thrown on important political people, earthquakes ravage pretty landscapes, Taliban rears it's head, mass protests take place in Maldova, India draws an almost-won match, the heat of elections becomes thicker and new sensational stories unfold everyday, on my turf, closer home while mummy and I fight, learning is becoming a little difficult in the kitchen. A few failed attempts at cooking cut me to size. Hope things are better in a few days. We'll get to feel better and eat better.

Later

home updates

mummy looks at manufacturing dates for medicines and not expiry dates. What's the point of expiry dates then. She has many such fetishes. But she works bally hard at home. papa comes home muttering some numbers for lunch at home, some filter cloth configurations. He comes home really tired in the evening. He wants to take a trip somewhere in may. Debo has been really sick for the past few days. He is being fed some nutritious food.Bhe doesn't have all of it. Today he sat all day watching football or cricket on espn. Sometimes he fights with me. But more often than that, he just cold-shoulders me. I think he just acts really insouciant but has a warm heart. Zoo works and comes back home to cook food. She works and comes back to skip dinner. And sometimes, she just has food outside. She takes lots of time to cook but takes less than 5 to eat. (One of the big paradoxes). But she will be joined by me in June.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking whom to vote for, these elections. I'm not very certain but i'm learning. I dont know how well left, nda, upa or mayawati will fare. But i wait for some reforms. I'm not liking the inaction too much.

Meanwhile also, mummy scolds me for not working. Therefore, I'm getting into the mood for working. Once i'm started, there will be no stopping my dear. There are myriad things that need to be done. I shall not squander the precious vacation doing nothing. I shall travel to many a place. And cook many a meal. And dance many a dance. And speak many a tongue.

Later