December Tales

If there was an award for the most multifaceted month, it would surely go to December. Never does such a huge sequence of events come together as it does now. The month begins with the wintry sensation.."Oh it's begun to be cold!" As warm clothes replace our summer outfits and quilts fill up the bedside, December silently smiles.

The middle of the month brings Exams, that too my final terms. Now this isn't the most laid back event of the world but when the exams begin, they bring the assurance that they'll soon be over. The peace that we feel on the last day of exams is unparalleled and completely tranquil. (Given that the exams have gone well or else its time for big time guilt-trip. God forbid.)

The month progresses bringing changes in the landscape. My cats find snug shelters in corners and baskets and can be seen sun basking as long as the sun's warm. The sun, now, is another story. He is sometimes bright, at other times merely existent. He enjoys this game of hide and seek to the hilt. There's nothing like a day in the armchair, with the sun on you, a book to read and music to listen to. The sea can be an added bonus but not being fortunate enough to live near the coast, I find solace in the day dreams and the occasional beach holiday. Ah, if there is bliss, it is this, it is this!

Then comes the day which features really high in my most awaited days list. Yeah you got that right - Christmas! I love the aura, the trees, the gifts, the wishes and the blessings. I adore Santa and will continue to love the legend, no matter how old I become. He is just supremely cute and lends everything an it-will-be-all-right-hoo-hoo-ha-ha air.

The month ends with a promise of a fresh year of fresh resolutions and all new good times. As we close the year with a final cheer in a new year eve bash or even quietly at home, we all have hope in our hearts. It says -"No matter what the times gone by were like, the times to come will be happier."

December gears us up for all sorts of challenges - trust me, even having fun is a challenge for lots of people I know. It is a month for being thankful to our blessings and being sorry for things gone wrong. As the saying goes, in the end things are all right or else, it isn't yet the end.

On dreamy wings - hey presto!

Lights, camera, action! Welcome to a whole new world. A world where the woes of reality dissolve to give way to a spectacular canvas where all is novel, where all is magnificent. In times as troubled as today, don't we all wish for a gadget that could take us to the past or the future as we desired? Say something on the lines of Ramayan's Pushpak Viman or a lift from "Back to the future"? Since the development of such a magic machine is still distant, movies, like books, seem to be a convenient source to travel to a new world.

But more than the numerous charms movies bring for the viewer, I am drawn towards the charms they hold for the maker. I remember directing a few movies in school. Its a different story that they were quite cheesy - one was a remake of the SRK hit Kuch Kuch Hota Hai but we did work hard on it and had proper rehearsals and takes. There was another one - whose name now slips me - for which we really went into meticulous reasearch. We wrote the song lyrics together, composed the music, wrote the script and the screenplay and actually enacted it. It was more on the lines of a play than a film as we couldn't afford cameras. No matter how childish, it gave me a lot of creative freedom and the mere spectacle of seeing people speak out dialogues you have written and virtually transform into their screen characters, is extremely special for me.

I am stuck into a career option totally different from things I'd like to do in reality. But these are dreams I would like to pursue someday. Life is not about restraining yourself, it is about letting yourself free. The day will surely come when I will be done pleasing the rest of the world and will please only one person - Me. Till then the dream is in the mists but I try to give it an outlet whenever I can. When I find time, I try my hand at creative writing. Currently I pen down some fictional scenes for TV shows. Nothing too highbrow, its solely for my enjoyment.
Care to have a look? See here :)

Dreams shouldn't convert into the mythical frog-of-the-well, after all. And who can tell, maybe one day will dawn when I will be free to choose and not merely adjust.

Wintry Charms

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh!"

Um hum. I might have to leave that carol aside for the meantime as there's still a good 38 days left for Christmas. But the magical season of winter is surely on its way.

I am fond of winter for more reasons than one. I love how the days get shorter and the nights longer...how it gets dark at 5 PM - around the same time when the sun shines on fiercely in summers. Mornings dawn foggy and chilly and the fog is so dense it lends the ambience a queer mystery. The bonfires and the dances, the quilts and the shawls, the reassuring winter sun and sitting out on the terrace in the afternoons, the much awaited for fried peanuts seller, the cozying up earlier at nights, the cool and scintillating winds, the sudden and freezing rain showers, the preparations for Christmas right until the D Day, the New Year and beyond...I love it all!

While Mom is off to the market to buy me a new set of stoles, I better go and tell her I want violet. Violet, I heard, is the most happening colour this season. Even otherwise, I like the certain serenity and stability that the colour represents for me. So long!

Things I Love About Diwali

The festival of lights is almost here. Though the spirit is a bit dampened owing to the economy slump, but Diwali still succeeds in bringing with it an infectious wave of happiness...the kind that lifts moods instantly. The top 5 things I love about Diwali, not in any order of preference, are:

Rangoli

These colourful flowery designs in vibrant shades are a must have for your house. They are usually done up in artificial or natural colours, flowers or acrylic paint. Treat to make, treat to look at. There's nothing like a dainty rangoli with a bright diya at its centre.



The Sweet Factor

Chocolates, muffins, cookies, cakes and conventional sweets - they invariably find the road to your home this season. Those with a sweet tooth have a full on blast. Sharing sweets is also said to be a good luck charm that keeps memories sweet. And Diwali sure gives you plenty of reason to do that!

Family Reunions

This is also a time when the entire busy lot finds a way to be with their families. Friends reunite and families can spot even those once in a blue moon members. There's a lot of fun and frolic, jokes and games. Diwali time is family time.

Couture

Whether you are a pink lehanga or a long silhouette dress kind of person, you have the excuse to splurge now. With lots of new ranges launched in the fashion business, there are wide varieties of clothes available - for once, at comparatively affordable prices.

Decorations/Illumination

Ganpati comes all decked up in crystal, sequins, china and jade. You get stunning diyas and candles which are truly artistic. There are plenty of options for illumination - ranging from the inexpensive strands that you can get for a few hundred bucks to the elaborate music and light pieces which cost a small fortune. There is every imaginable product to glitter up your place. Shopping is never as enjoyable as it is now.

I won’t include crackers in the list for honestly, I have never been much of a boom-blast person. I admit the ones that make those patterns in the sky look good though.

Here's wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous Diwali!

A 'Fake' Case Study

It is somewhat surprising but I always seem to have a number of peculiar people around me. One of the toppers in the list is a guy; let’s call him Mr. Fake just for convenience, who thinks he is the cat's tail and also its whiskers. We used to get along quite well till his totally weird personality traits started to come up. He now stars in my trying-to-avoid list though poor thing, he fails to get the hint.

He starts arguments without a reason - note, a complete absence of reason. The slightest complement triggers off a chain reaction of bragging and boasting. Most importantly, his idea of friendship is do what I ask you to or get the hell out of here. Trust me, he has got the basics wrong, be it love or friendship. Now the former is another, more painful story. More on that in another entry.

"We are best friends!" his voice follows me...It is so fake Mr. Fake. See, I told you the name suits him. Just for instance, one fine day we were told about this report we had to submit within a week. This was very close to our exams and hence a frustrating and irritating announcement.

Excerpts from the conversations that followed:

Day 1: Afternoon

"Don't worry ! I have a friend who has lots of report ideas. I will arrange it."

Day 1: Night

"Well, I couldn't get him on the phone. I will surely ask him tomorrow morning. He lives near my house."

Day 2: Noon

"He is out of town. He'll be back this evening. It'll be done sweetie...relax!"

Day 3: Morning

"The idiot will be back next week! There is some stupid wedding he has to attend. If he had told me before, I would have worked on it myself."

Day 5: Evening

"Have you made the report yet? Listen, get print outs for me too please. I won't be able to go out tonight."

Day 6: Morning

Best friend comes prepared with 2 copies of project reports, cursing herself for ever having trusted Mr. Fake.

Repeat above case scenario three times. The conclusion – Either the ‘friend’ doesn’t exist or belongs to the same peculiar group as Fake. The fourth time onwards, I totally stopped delegating tasks. No more trust implied no more 'work' for Mr. Fake. How very convenient!

Well, if not anything else, people like him make an interesting subject for behaviour analysis. My two weapons of defence from his subtle attacks - Indifference and Diplomacy.

"Oh of course sweetie, we still are friends!"

Charms Unlimited - The Seaside

I was reading Sparks' "Message in a Bottle" and it got me thinking yet again of the seaside and its plentiful charms. I have always adored the sea and one of the most difficult questions you can ask me is which one do I prefer -"The Sea or the Hills?" It’s like asking me to choose between black and blue. I love both the colours. Big time dilemma.

The sea pops in into my conversations in varied ways.

"Hey Debby, your ideal date would be?"
A walk by the seaside, on a moonlit night...

"Ma'am, what colour beads would you like on the neckline of the dress?"
Ocean blue.

Anyway, you get the picture.

I like the sea not only because of its texture or expanse. I like it also because it has a certain something that draws me towards itself. The sea is tireless, passionate and beautiful. With each wave that comes and hits the shore comes a fresh promise. The sea says that despite the millions of grits and stones that life may scatter on your path, a new day will wash them all. There is a sense of infinity and eternity to the sea and I think that is what makes it alluring.

Next year may bring me a holiday to the the seaside. I can't wait.

Mirror Musings

Has it ever happened to you that one fine morning you look into the mirror and see an unfamiliar face staring back, a face that you don't seem to recognize? It happens a lot to me lately. There was a time when the looking glass would be a make up aid telling me if I had gained or lost some calories, if that super resistant pimple on my chin had popped or if my hair was frizzy. But now, quite often, the mirror brings to my mind questions I don't have answers to.

If there indeed are out-of-your-skin moments, they visit me frequently now. A sudden second when you feel like an outsider to your own self and look back critically or pitifully at the times gone by. It all flashes by speedily as if you are watching a fast paced movie at the nearest theatre. That brings me to the age old philosophical questions that I am sure interviewers for jobs back in the Stone Age must have asked. You know, the "Who are you?" and "What are you here for?" kinds. To make sure we can answer them, we need to act. We need to chase the dream we never dared to chase, live the passion we submerged in the deepest crevice of the Pacific. To hell with the world that assumes a wisdom it possesses not. Learning from a mistake is much better than not giving it a try at all.

I am told that in the moment right before death, your entire life will flash by in front of your eyes. As a sort of dress rehearsal, I think we should live life in such a way that even these mirror moments can't unnerve us. Come on, say that long pending I Love You. Go for that long desired holiday. Do what your heart tells you to. I am trying to do the same even though certain things apparently have no solution. But the next time my mirror pops questions at me, I want to have the answers to at least some of them.

Misty Music

I was walking home last night when suddenly my ears pricked and my heart skipped a beat. No, I did not see any handsome young man on a black horse coming towards me. But I had heard something. And there it was again...A melody which evoked in me distinct déjà vu. I still can't completely recall the composition but I intend to go there again tonight to listen for a repeat performance. The melody, the moon and the night had made up the perfect trio too tempting to be ignored.

What is it about music that is capable of transporting us to a fantasy world where all our pains dissolve? A sudden chord, a silent plucking of the guitar strings, the serenity of the violin all bring with them an avalanche of thoughts. The mists that music sends us into are vivid, probing and deep.

Indeed, music seems to be composed of all things wonderful and their charm unlocks itself as the tune goes on. True to the Mac Donald’s' spirit, I'm loving it!

Fear of the Dark

"What happens after dark, in the park?"

I am quoting from a poem we studied in school in standard seventh. We were supposed to analyze it and answer questions such as the poet's psyche and the central theme. I distinctly remember the teacher instructing us to ridicule the questions asked in the poem as what happened in the park at night was not a mystery at all. It stood exactly as it did in the daytime.

But to be honest, the dark brings a sense of fear or at least a sense of discomfort in the hearts of many. When the lights go off at night and the room is plunged into darkness, the familiar room suddenly seems to be frightening. If lo behold there is a noise from somewhere like that of things falling and you are as nervy as my Mom, God save you from a night of nervous tension.

Science states many reasons to explain the fear of the dark. The optician's reason - Eyes are accustomed to sunlight or artificial light for the most part of the day. A sudden change in the illumination affects the optic nerves and causes a tension which makes its way through the eyes to the heart. Remember the inertia in Physics? The psychiatrist's reason - It's all in the mind of the individual. The dark makes the surroundings obscure and we tend to imagine things lurking nearby when in reality nothing exists. So on and so forth.

But as movies and books would have us believe, the dark is when beings from the world beyond prefer to roam around in scary attire. Any specific purpose, I often wonder? Considering they are supposedly invisible, they would remain concealed even at daytime. So the security reason (from the ghost's point of view of course) does not hold. One reason that is quite logical is that the unearthly beings crave peace. Nights have people sleeping, the roads are deserted, the daytime noise is absent. And frightening people when their defences are not at their best and the setting is eerie, is definitely much more fun than barging in and making things fall from shelves in broad and friendly sunshine.

Apart from ghosts, the dark is also ideal for criminals of various categories. Thieves, robbers, murderers - you name it. Even if you are brave enough to confront an evil Casper, you may not be up to a knife or a revolver.

Lately, what scares me most about nights is the attack of the Creepy Crawlies. They can be seen all around any source of illuminations be it tube lights or floodlights or even a table lamp. They irritate the skin and the scalp, they fly all over the place and are truly menacing. But all that is evil is destined to end and it gives me great satisfaction to see them all dead in the mornings.

Nights are beautiful though, in their own way. They stand for serenity and peace, the moon and the stars, the hidden and the unspoken. If the dark and his courtiers doesn't scare you, good job. For the rest, no matter what your reason is, be assured that dawn is near. Until dawn, of course, what happens in the park after dark, is a question with many possible answers.

Shady Friends

"But I thought we were friends!"
"There is no such thing. Everyone bothers only about their own skin today...I am no saint."
"But..."
"Drop it. We are over."

What reads like the script of some emotional drama is what real life can become if we allow it to. Friendship - touted as the best and the foremost of all relationships - is also the leader in being a mislead(er). While movies like Rock On celebrate the beauty of friendship, I am often left to wonder at the fate of many around me who have had more friendships broken than made.

Does the following scenario seem familiar?

You put your best foot forward to help a precious friend but when you land in trouble, even a toe of the precious friend's foot refuses to come forward at the pretext of being twisted. (Who cares a damn about the pretext anyway. We are all experts in cooking up excuses.) You forgive the friend who largely extols the 'magic' of the times you spent together and your heart melts. In the meantime, you continue to share assignments, pay for the occasional treats and in general keep up the mask of everything being hunky dory.

Assignments over. Movie over. Magical times over. Uh, friend??

So my friend, pun unintended, what you need to do is to be a bit wary and not befriend everyone who is sweet to you initially. Friendship is beautiful and an integral part of life. But being with people like the ones I wrote about can make you prone to an extreme crisis of faith.

Some Warning Signs you are stuck with a Friend-In-Deed who Vanishes-In-Need :

* You catch them contradicting what they told you earlier.
* They lie too frequently.
*They flatter you too much, even to an extent that you are uncomfortable.
* They don't pick your call or reply to your message for a week straight and later say that their phone was on silent mode.
* In class, they sit with you during the lecture and are off to whisper with someone else as soon as the lecture is over.
*They confirm they'd be coming for class/movie/whatever and disappear at the last moment.
* They leave you stranded when they have to attend some important function, which you later find, never happened.
* Their excuses to avoid helping you border on the ridiculous.
* They make fun of issues that are serious to you.

While the true intentions of people today are usually hidden in the mists, a genuine friend should rise above them all and be there for you.

When it comes to friendship, the season within the heart is perennially spring - Forget the mists, let loose the sunshine.