Come and Gone...Just like that...

Dear Diary,

I'd promised to fill your pages up religiously as a part of last year's resolution, but since even the most serious of resolutions blew up royally on my face, I don't think I even owe you an explanation for this one. Nevertheless, I'm coming back to do the honours for the grand finale this year and today being the last day of the last month n all I'm certainly not giving you any promises on any regular entries for 08.
've been there. Done that.

I thought that my journey down friendship-lane would be over once I was out of college and that I'd have to confront things far more serious and significant than friends and frolic. But '07 proved to be just the opposite. It introduced to the craziest set of ppl at work and outside of it who made work worthwhile. For some reason I never thought I'd even smile after college, but I eventually ended up laughing my guts out everyday at work because of these people. I'm grateful, for Satsang.

I joined my first company and I quit it too. A lot to handle in one year huh?
'07 taught me that it was ok to accept defeat and ask for help shamelessly. Work does do things to your self-esteem especially when you're in the learning stage, but I learnt that it was ok to give in and ask for help. Especially when we accidentally screw up the Client's Mainframes.
For the far more interesting (and equally humiliating:P) details, contact Ravi.
I have grown a lot and I'm grateful. For maturity.

I realised that I was passionate about something so much, so badly that I was willing to quit the job I started to like. '07 taught me that life's not about taking the right decisions; its about being confident whatever your decision may be. I just hope '08 will help reinforce that point into my system. Its an inspiring thought but its a tough one to percolate. I'm grateful nevertheless. For hope and ambition.

My preconceived notions on Madras being the be-all and end all place was shattered when I went to Bombay and realised that there were after all, other places I had to see...had to visit and had to experience. I was wrong about Madras being the best place in the world. But I still want to live and die here for this is my home. Period. I'm grateful, for home.

I discovered a part of me that could write. I wont claim that I write sense... but yes, I do write. It really isnt much, but for the numerous blogs and fabulous bloggers it has introduced me to, I'm grateful.

I've always had more reasons than I should to NOT keep in touch with some friends I'd met over the year. I suck at keeping in touch with my loved ones, unfortunately. The lazy bum I am, I'm surprised people still talk to me these days without any resentment. But '07 introduced me to people who don't necessarily expect a call to call you back and talk to you. Its been a year and we're surprisingly still going strong - despite being scattered ALL over the country and despite my crappy disposition. I just hope they don't give up on me one fine day.
For them, I'm grateful.

Its a long post. For those of you who are still reading, I'm all the more grateful. :D

I'm just thinking now.. '07 was nothing, absolutely nothing I'd expected it to be and I just hope '08 is a far more splendrous one. I know it will be.

I wish all my readers a fabulous year ahead. This blog is nothing without them all (the very limited readers this blog entices but still :D). I wish them nothing less than the best....along with World-Peace and Social-Harmony of course.......*controlling tears of joy*
(Can I have that diamond-studded crown now please?)

:D

Listening to this for the zillionth time and feeling optimistic all over. Songs, I tell you. :P

Happy New Year folks!

Confounded-Lady

Shameless use of Blogging space..

..I know...

Nevertheless, I had to post this to share the mirth.

I died laughing till the sides of my mouth hurt...

An Arranged Wa(ge)r..?

Coming from the family I come from, I grew up all this time without any disillusions of my marriage. I knew that mine would be the quintessential arranged marriage where my choice would predominantly be limited to the colour of my muhoortham-Saree's and designs on the front cover of my invitation card, and I've had absolutely no reservations whatsoever. My parents trust(ed) me for that, and I did too, more than them.

Of late however, I'm beginning to find the very institution of arranged marriages rather questionable. Despite growing up with the sense of security that parents do only whats 'best', I've suddenly started to wonder if thats just a chancy promise they 'hope' to live up to. After all, there are myriad things that are just not under their control.

Tell me, of all the dubious assumptions one makes during the entire process of an arranged marriage, can one afford to 'assume' the temprement or the sanity of the boy/girl? How can one afford to take that for granted?


There was this friend's friend of mine whom I knew...knew as in just plain acquaintances- as she was this major diva in our common circles, very popular, daring and talented while I was..well, lets just say that I was not your typical Hanna Montanah;)
She passed out of a ranking university and got into a top notch company. Last I heard is that she gets beaten up like crazy by her husband for no reason at all. Her's was an arranged marriage.

Case of assumed-stable temperments eh?


Its one thing to fall in love, get married, and then regret it. But its a totally different thing to marry the person your folks tell you to, and then regret it and feel trapped for the rest of your life. The thing is, you cant really blame yourself here, unlike the former case, or blame your parents as that would be truly unfair... So what do you blame? Who do you blame? What is the solution to incompatibility? Compromise?

Let me tell you, I'm not playing sides here with the trite love-marriage-aa-arranged-marriage-aa discussion. I'm beyond all that. Its just that for a person who'd had unadulterated faith in the system of arranged marriages, I'm rather disappointed that I have to start reconsidering its credibility.

Also, I've been thinking, did Adi Shankara really know what he was talking about when he quoted :

निजगृहात्तूर्णं विनिर्गम्यताम्

(Walk out of your home soon )

You know what? I'm thinking too much... God, where's that can of Ice-cream?

Beautiful

Something I'll remember when I get into those major 'cribbing' syndromes.

ZtheZ - Zapping the Zit

Zit-zit go away,

Come again another day...
...Confounded Lady wants to play,
So scoot from the top of my forehead you mean thingamabop.


Ok, that didn't quite rhyme, so lets try this one more time shall we.

Zit-zit go away
Dont come again another day
This isnt the place for you to stay,
SO just quit my forehead, okay..?


There is something about female hormones that makes them do unkind things to us dainty creatures especially when least anticipate them. I'm sure I'd have the entire female fraternity agreeing with me when I say that the cruelest curse bestowed upon women (after the monthly bleeding we endure of course) is the 'Curse of the Zit'

To the particularly naive or inexperienced (read horribly-lucky souls), the 'zit' is a bright-pink ugly blob that sprouts up out of nowhere one fine day, on the most strategic spot of your face.
Be it on top of your nose which makes you look like Rudolph with measles or on your left cheek which over shadows that cute dimple, the zit can more than just ruin your face, it can very well ruin your day. Red, after all, looks great on women, but certainly not on their faces.

Its more than just that for me.
This coldblooded contrivance is so craftily schemed by my body in such a way that my hormones run their wildest especially when I'm all pepped up for an incredibly important occasion where I'd be expected to look my very best. I've noticed the pattern all these years now.... be it my class photo in class XII, my college farewel, my cousin's engagement, my best friend's wedding, or the most-recent-testimony-to-theory my cousin's Grihapravesham, there is one common factor in all these special occasions in my life - The Zit on my face.

Having my skin crystal clear throughout the month and having a spherical blob the size of Bulgaria pop up exactly 20 hours before a public event, is nothing I'm unaccustomed to. But this time for my cousin's Grihapravesham, I refused to give in. I was determined NOT be seen with that bright red blob in all the pics that were to be taken.
So what did Yours Truly end up doing?
Zap it. Thats right.
Zap the Zit.

Let me just tell you that its a world acknowledged fact to leave your zits untouched tell they disappear on their own..and 'Zapping the zit' (ZtheZ) is not exactly wisest thing to do to yourself.
I'm not gonna go into all the messy details of what I went through after that painful ordeal of ZtheZ.
I'll let the scar it left on my face do the talking.

(sob!)

So dark the con of woman I say.
So dark the con of woman.

December. Madras. Mylapore.

Music is in the air.
Everywhere...