“Hello?”
“Hey, hiiiiiii!” (excitedly)
“Appuuuu?”
(the excitement dying down) “Anuja Rathi”
“Oh shit! I’m so sorry. I’ve got a new cell-phone and there are no numbers saved on it.”
“That’s OK. Happy birthday.”
“Thanks so much, dear. So how are you?”
“Good, and you?”
“I’m fine.”
“So you in Pune?”
“Ya, came down for my birthday. I was suicidal, so my boss sent me down to celebrate.”
“I thought you were having fun at work.”
“Ya, fun gets monotonous at times.”
“Good for you! So how’s everything?”
“Fine, fine. I’m getting engaged in December. "
"Congrats! So, what does he do? How does he look?"
"He's a s/w engineer. He looks like a rapist in those cheap B-grade flicks...”
Thus went the conversation with my soulmate of college-days, who’s been absconding for the last 2 years... I wonder if she had called ME in the first place, or was she just calling to check whose number a birthday message had come from...
So, the news is she’s getting engaged in a month's time and then married sometime next year. I’m happy for her, and we seemed to connect as the chat went on to the 17th minute. Bonding over the telephone, sharing the separate lives we had lived over the last 24 months. Making plans to meet, asking about each others’ families and jobs. I was happy to have spoken to her. When next? I dunno. Will there be a next? I can’t say. I’ve long stopped trying to cling to people I adore and need. Humans are like sand in your hand; the harder you shut your fist, the lesser sand you collect. I’ve let them fly away like birds. Those that want to come back, I’m still there where they’d left off. Always available for those who need me... I don't believe in closing doors. Ain't life too short for that? Aren't pains, worries and guilts too numerous already?
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter has taken a melancholic turn. The doc’s so bugged with life and guilt that he has immersed himself in photography as a hobby. The wife’s sleeping around with a balding about-to-be-divorced fella. And the son (now 16) has taken cognizance of both the above facts and turned to music and drugs as a respite from his wretched domestic life. The abnormal twin is doing fine, or rather as well as any exceptional creature. As member of the “Upside Down” society (what a queer, cute name!), she and her surrogate mum are coping with life. A twist came when the doc and the runaway nurse meet after almost 15 years. But it didn’t materialize into anything too dramatic or remarkable. As the family is falling to pieces, some lines by Edwards hit home hard :
- No moment is single/disconnected/independent by itself, each moment is one among a series, and each instant has a million different interpretations, depending on how one is feeling about something at a particular moment.
- Sometimes it is best to listen quietly as someone is speaking. Savor the moment. One wrong word (or any interruption, for that matter) may ruin the moment forever.
- (Kids with Down syndrome) ... Quicksilver children... slow to learn, but change moods with lightning speed...
I wasn’t too miserable when I was reading the lines, though. “Temptation” was keeping my spirits above the threshold of depression. Managed to get some chocolate stains on page 222. (Which is my cue to let you know that I’m 130-odd pages away from my next read!)
My aunt has got a new pet, or rather two. One goldfish and another something else that I don’t know. Got the news from my mum who visited them on the weekend. I haven’t seen them yet, but I hear the playful pair are placed in an elegant fish bowl near uncle’s creaky, old gramophone. My first reaction was “Time to gift her a cat” (Hee Hee Hee. WICKED!!! See them horns?!). But, no. I’m gone do nothing of that sort. What I’m gona do is pop in sometime and say hi to Deviprasad and Hariprasad (That’s what my mum has christened them.) Any idea how you identify the gender of a fish? Coz I’m wondering about DeviP and HariP. Poor dears (if they’re the same gender and both straight)!
And two more Qs! Can I ask you, kind buddies, for some help, please?!
- What’s a metatag?
- What’s an RSS / RSS feed?
I know I could google it; but ...
(The invincible BUT again...)
Take Care!
Anuja
“Hey, hiiiiiii!” (excitedly)
“Appuuuu?”
(the excitement dying down) “Anuja Rathi”
“Oh shit! I’m so sorry. I’ve got a new cell-phone and there are no numbers saved on it.”
“That’s OK. Happy birthday.”
“Thanks so much, dear. So how are you?”
“Good, and you?”
“I’m fine.”
“So you in Pune?”
“Ya, came down for my birthday. I was suicidal, so my boss sent me down to celebrate.”
“I thought you were having fun at work.”
“Ya, fun gets monotonous at times.”
“Good for you! So how’s everything?”
“Fine, fine. I’m getting engaged in December. "
"Congrats! So, what does he do? How does he look?"
"He's a s/w engineer. He looks like a rapist in those cheap B-grade flicks...”
Thus went the conversation with my soulmate of college-days, who’s been absconding for the last 2 years... I wonder if she had called ME in the first place, or was she just calling to check whose number a birthday message had come from...
So, the news is she’s getting engaged in a month's time and then married sometime next year. I’m happy for her, and we seemed to connect as the chat went on to the 17th minute. Bonding over the telephone, sharing the separate lives we had lived over the last 24 months. Making plans to meet, asking about each others’ families and jobs. I was happy to have spoken to her. When next? I dunno. Will there be a next? I can’t say. I’ve long stopped trying to cling to people I adore and need. Humans are like sand in your hand; the harder you shut your fist, the lesser sand you collect. I’ve let them fly away like birds. Those that want to come back, I’m still there where they’d left off. Always available for those who need me... I don't believe in closing doors. Ain't life too short for that? Aren't pains, worries and guilts too numerous already?
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter has taken a melancholic turn. The doc’s so bugged with life and guilt that he has immersed himself in photography as a hobby. The wife’s sleeping around with a balding about-to-be-divorced fella. And the son (now 16) has taken cognizance of both the above facts and turned to music and drugs as a respite from his wretched domestic life. The abnormal twin is doing fine, or rather as well as any exceptional creature. As member of the “Upside Down” society (what a queer, cute name!), she and her surrogate mum are coping with life. A twist came when the doc and the runaway nurse meet after almost 15 years. But it didn’t materialize into anything too dramatic or remarkable. As the family is falling to pieces, some lines by Edwards hit home hard :
- No moment is single/disconnected/independent by itself, each moment is one among a series, and each instant has a million different interpretations, depending on how one is feeling about something at a particular moment.
- Sometimes it is best to listen quietly as someone is speaking. Savor the moment. One wrong word (or any interruption, for that matter) may ruin the moment forever.
- (Kids with Down syndrome) ... Quicksilver children... slow to learn, but change moods with lightning speed...
I wasn’t too miserable when I was reading the lines, though. “Temptation” was keeping my spirits above the threshold of depression. Managed to get some chocolate stains on page 222. (Which is my cue to let you know that I’m 130-odd pages away from my next read!)
My aunt has got a new pet, or rather two. One goldfish and another something else that I don’t know. Got the news from my mum who visited them on the weekend. I haven’t seen them yet, but I hear the playful pair are placed in an elegant fish bowl near uncle’s creaky, old gramophone. My first reaction was “Time to gift her a cat” (Hee Hee Hee. WICKED!!! See them horns?!). But, no. I’m gone do nothing of that sort. What I’m gona do is pop in sometime and say hi to Deviprasad and Hariprasad (That’s what my mum has christened them.) Any idea how you identify the gender of a fish? Coz I’m wondering about DeviP and HariP. Poor dears (if they’re the same gender and both straight)!
And two more Qs! Can I ask you, kind buddies, for some help, please?!
- What’s a metatag?
- What’s an RSS / RSS feed?
I know I could google it; but ...
(The invincible BUT again...)
Take Care!
Anuja
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