Reading.. An Eye Opener!

When someone says that their hobby is reading, what do we ask? "fiction or non-fiction?..." "Who's your favorite author?" etc. etc. Do we ever think of what use the reading is put to? Most of us read just for pleasure... we read to get into a world of imagination and to forget our real world. In some cases, we read to see how good the author has written the plot or to observe the writing style or the language of the book. Some people read books related to management or communication skills to help them in their profession and others read biographies and autobiographies to gain inspiration and motivation from lives of great personalities.

 

A good book can captivate us to such an extent that we stick to turning the pages all through the night completely forgetful of the world around us! Many at times, our mood swings depend on what kind of a chapter or passage that we are reading in our current book. A book full of jokes can keep us in good humour; at the same time, if the protagonist is going through a very difficult phase in life, we also seem to be very sad or temperamental. Such is the influence of books on us!

 

If you are an avid reader, you will completely agree with me! (won't you?)

 

Recently, I was enlightened a very different kind of a perspective for the hobby: reading. Why do we restrict ourselves to reading novels or books related to our profession? Why not take up books that can improve our knowledge in topics like Travel, Astronomy, Geography, Archaeology, Philosophy etc.? There may be a subject/topic that interests us a lot, say psychology. Then we can get books on child psychology or criminal psychology and read them. They not only help in passing our time but also enrich our learning.

 

Ever since, I started looking at reading in this angle, I have started browsing for books related to Travel, tourist places in the world, Bhagavad Gita etc. I get hooked onto the book because these topics interest me and at the end of the book, I am left more knowledge. Instead of discussing the plots of the novels that I would read, I now discuss about religion, China's forbidden palace, Iceland's volcano or Mahabharata.

 

Even though we may read one book a day, there will be still thousands of books still waiting for us to be read and absorbed. I can't wait to read more! :)

Knotty Tidbits: 4

This is on Gayu's demand. It feels so good to be appreciated for our writing and that motivates us to write even more. So, if you see me bore you with more posts, you know whom to blame. That's right, blame Gayu for it! ;-)

Title: Fasting
 

For a person who has always believed in feasting rather than on fasting, the term fasting itself makes her go hungry!!! Well, things do change after marriage. This very-important fasting festival of ours came up right after our marriage. It's called Sankasht Chaturthi (Vikram, I hope I have spelt it right... I ask Vikram because this festival is from his side of our family!) Every married girl is supposed to fast the whole day without even having water and pray for the well-being of everyone in the family. Fasting is especially observed by ladies who have sons. However, at our home, every married girl, irrespective of whether she has sons or daughters or no children, has to observe fast throughout the day till moonrise; then perform puja for the moon and then eat after takings blessings from all the elders in the family.
 
That's enough of background knowledge for this post!!! :)
 
No one at home could think that I could fast for the whole day. Also, once a person starts observing fast, she has to do it year after year without breaking the ritual. So, didi, mummy and papa were giving second thoughts as to whether I should take it up at all or not. There was also another angle to this situation. I, who have always been a rebel, might question the very basis of this fast, "Why should only the wives fast and not the husbands???" So, my husband was also uncertain about it and he did not even know whether to talk about this to me or not.

 

However, the day came and I fasted. We are allowed to drink milk. So, I had 2 full glasses of milk through the day, but no water! The day was not a routine one. We had to prepare for the evening puja right from the morning itself. Washing and cleaning the entire house, preparing special eatables and decorating the puja room and idols for the puja. Meanwhile, V left the house to meet his friends. I felt utterly lonely through the day.

 

Then came evening and the long wait for the glimpse of the moon. V was the one to go to the terrace on look out for the moon. The moon came and we stood at the terrace, dipping a lock of hair in milk and offering it to the moon and finally adorning my maang(middle parting of hair) with sindoor seven times... After all this a delicious meal for my starving tummy...

 

I have not still told you the best part...Here is goes...

Unknown to my in-laws or anyone else in the world, V also fasted for me on that day. I will ever forget the feeling of joy that I got when I found out that my loved one did not eat anything because I did not eat anything. The very thought of it fills me with a warm feeling!!! (It also urges me go on another fast, just to test if he would fast for me again! Hey.. just kidding! :D)

Nimbu Soda

A glass of road-side Nimbu Soda is the right thing to quench our thirst on a hot summer day. It's cheap, it's quick and it's refreshing!! I simply love it.

 

Srividya was the one to introduce me to it. It was probably on one of our long walks around Mehdipatnam or Abids or some other area in Hyderabad that she made us stop by at one of those bandis carrying a heap of nimbu(lemons). As I was an amateur, she ordered for me. And I could not stop with one glass. We had three glasses of Nimbu Soda before our tummies bulged and threatened to invoke the nature's call. We had to stop it there!!!

 

That was when I started having Nimbu Soda at every opportunity I got. I remember a day when we were went around the Mehdipatnam bus stop twice and also outside raithu bazaar and all the way to  Humayun Nagar police station road looking out for a Nimbu Soda bandi because could not stop the urge for having it. Those were the days when we did not have that many options in cool drinks that had lemony taste apart from Limca.

 

I have spread my addiction for this Nimbu Soda to Vikram too! He generally does not prefer the roadside juice stalls (at least not when he is with me!) However, Nimbu soda is an exception!!!

 

After a long tiring sweaty sultry day, this is the one and only one drink that we can gulp down and feel content!!! :)

Muscle Joke: Pongal?Puri?

Personally, this is one of my favorite jokes.

 

Q: What is the difference between Pongal and Puri?

A: We get holiday for Pongal but not for Puri!!! :)

 

But when I was asked this riddle, I gave a new answer: 'We can go to Puri but not to Pongal!' :)

 

For readers who are new to India and Indian culture: Pongal is the name of festival in India. Puri is name of a food preparation and also it is the place where the Jagannath Temple is, in India.

Allah Ke Bandhe...

When I think of him, the very first thing that comes to my mind is this song: Allah Ke Bandhe.. Oh my! What an amazing singer he is! While he sings, I just seem to be floating in a trance. His passion for music introduced me to some really good songs... I remember the day when we watched 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na...' together... He was pointing out the sounds of various instruments and I even remember him saying: "This is A.R. Rahman's first jazz!" I was and am awestruck with his knowledge in music...

 

How can I forget the time he made my birthday special by singing a song for me... Such a nice manner to make one's day!!! :-)

 

A very nice person to talk to, very open minded and down-to-earth... I have taken advice from him many-at-times and he has been very supportive towards me...

 

How can I forget the time we spent in Pondi having fun at the beach and also our adventurous journey to the railway station to catch our train back home!!!

 

As time flew, we met less and after some time even our correspondence through mails reduced... But still, every time I listen to Allah Ke Bandhe playing on radio, I am reminded of him...

 

Today, I bumped into him, rather he bumped into me... I came to know that today is his last day in office... I am filled with mixed feelings none of which I can express in words... A rush of emotions.. It's like someone close is going very far away... It's like we have lost the end of the string that's tied to a gas balloon... Let the balloon soar higher and higher and reach the summit of success... I wish you all the best Aditya... Miss you...!

Knotty Tidbits: 3

Title: Toe Rings!

 

An Indian Bride or a married Indian woman has to put on a lot of new things and it is considered inauspicious for her husband if she removes her mangalasutra or toe-rings or bindi. I will not bore you any more with the Indian traditions, instead let us get along with today's tidbit!! :-)

 

On my wedding day, V put the toe-rings on my toes... Three on my right toes and three on my left... A new bride is supposed to put on all the three pairs of toe-rings for 2 1/2 months after marriage and then she can remove 2 pairs but she has to wear one pair of toe-rings for the rest of her life!!!

 

The toe-rings were huge, made of silver and quite heavy. They were more like finger-rings with pointed cone in the middle... From the moment I had them on, I found it very difficult to walk... I had to drag my feet while holding my toe-rings tightly... They were a little loose and were bound to slip off easily... Or they would turn around with the pointed cone going under my toe and pricking my toe when I put forth my footsteps...

 

With all this and me in my bridal attire, we had to walk down the mandapam, walk out into the sunshine for Surya-namaskaram. V was walking ahead oblivious to all my trouble... I was trying hard to match to his speed of walking but could not... Normally, I could have called out to him or rather shouted out his name asking him to walk along with me... But it was my wedding day and a bride is supposed to be demure, shy and vulnerable... All I could do was hiss his name and hope that he has heard me...

 

V's Jijaaji (brother-in-law) must have observed all this. He came to my rescue. He went near V, asked him to wait and told him to walk like a bridegroom, hand-in-hand with the bride (that's me!) This is what I imagined Jijaaji tell V: "What are you running away from? You are not going to catch a bus or train? Walk slowly!"

 

Much later, in Bekal, I lost one of the toe-rings at the beach and I was very upset and was wondering what my mother-in-law would think about me... So, I dragged V to a jewellery shop and made him buy me a smaller/thinner toe-ring for the third toe from the big toe... I was dreading the time that I would face my mother-in-law to tell her of the lost toe-ring... And guess what? She scolded me... not for losing the toe-ring... but for buying that extra pair of toe-rings!!! She said as long as I have one pair of toe-rings intact, it is enough!!!

I have now changed into a thinner and lighter pair of toe-rings that don't hurt me anymore...! And V is relieved as he need not listen to any more complaints about the toe-rings hampering my walking pace!!! We can continue to on long walks in peace!

:-)

Silence is indeed bliss!

Sometimes you are not really in a mood to talk with anyone. You want to be just by yourself. On such days, the main enemies are 'questions'. When people start asking something, you try to answer them in monosyllables and that results in them asking even more questions to know more about want they have already asked. (The monosyllable answers did not help them, right?)

Even phone calls pose a threat to you. Who is in a mood to chat away to glory with some long lost friend who has called you up to say a 'hello'? There are long periods of silence between the conversation while we wait impatiently for the person to end the call.

You try to avoid people by plugging your ears which earphones and switching on some music. Even then, some persistent people are bound to physically shake and catch your attention (you have already noticed them over the corner your eye and pretend not to notice!). And you reluctantly remove your earphones and try to concentrate on their drawling voice.

To appreciate sound, we need to relish silence too... It brings a calm upon us and packs us with so much energy... It gets us mind to an equilibrium state that helps us easily face any kind of situtations... In this noisy world, silence is rare to be found.. Even now, with the entire world sleeping and me writing this post, I can hear the tap-tap of the keys of the keyboard... Even these seem to be deafeningly loud to me! So, I end my post here to bring more silence into me!

Trust and Love

"If you deceive someone, you lose one of life's greatest treasures, you lose the capacity to trust. Because without trust, love is not possible" -Osho

Legally Married :)

I was supposed to post this on February 11th, but it's better late than never... And so this post is here on the 11th!!!

I am all smiles today cause got the opportunity to marry my hubby once again! ah, yes! We went to the sub-registrar's office to get our wedding registered under the Hindu Marriage Act. And so, now we have two dates to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary! Great, no?

Muscle Joke: English

A Suppandi bumped into an American. The American started conversing with him in English and Suppandi did not understand anything. He said: "I no English.. I no English..." To which the American replied, "Oh! Good then..." and continued to converse in English.



'no' and 'know' are homophones... English is really weird! :)

This joke is from Babji mama... and it exercised around 9.5 muscles of my face! How about you? :D

Versatility

For love... or for longing...

For support... or for solace...

For comfort... or for coziness...

For farewell.. or for welcome...

A hug can be for anything and everything!

 

And this time I got it for farewell...

When will I get the welcome hug?

Muscle Joke: Intro

What is a Muscle Joke?

It is a joke which causes minimum muscles on our face to move. When we smile a lot of muscles on our face get exercised. But with a muscle joke, only 1 or 2 muscles get moved!!! We can say, it is worse than a PJ(Poor Joke)

Our Mastimakerz were the ones to coin this term:'Muscle Joke' and most of our jokes belong to this category. From now on we will have muscles jokes on our blog to entertain/exercise the individual muscles of our readers!!! :)

To start with here's a muscle joke:

Husband: Aise beech main chod ke gaye to kaise???
Wife: Hyd mein beach kahan hai ji??? :)


The above joke is in Hindi and for readers who are not familiar with Hindi, let me explain. 'beech' in Hindi means 'middle'.

Husband: Aise beech main chod ke gaye to kaise??? (How can you leave me in the middle(beech) like this?)
Wife: Hyd mein beach kahan hai ji??? :) (Where do we have beach in Hyderabad?)

I know... The jokes are pathetic and are perfect to be buried... But I can't help publishing them! :D

Love at its zenith!

I read in a book: "In the love between a man and a woman, there always comes a moment when this love has reached its zenith- a moment when it is unconscious, unreasoning and with nothing sensual about it!" This holds good for any kind of relationship. When someone asks: "Why are you waiting for him when you are hungry?" We cannot answer because our love is beyond reason.

When we were children, we all used to love puris. But as we could afford this luxury only once in a month. On that special day, my mom and grandma would prepare puris and aalo curry. Each person had a fixed quota of 5 puris each, not more not less. By the time our grandma and mom would start their dinner , ours would almost come to an end. Then Grandma would ask if any one would want another puri(from her share). I always would wonder how could she give away a portion of her share, when she loved it so much. Now I do the same to my sisters and most of my close friends. Whenever I get chocolates, I try sharing it with all of my loved ones. At times, I am not left with any for myself. Yet the satisfaction that I get out of sharing is immense.

Our Paati is used to waking up by 3 or 4 in the morning. As she has severe arthiritis, she walks with a walking stick and she had recently recovered from Dengue Malaria. Every time I would hear any sound in the night, I would wake up with a start and call out for Paati just to ensure that she is fine... And Paati used to tell me later in the morning that I had call out for her several times and sometimes I would not even remember! Even in my sleep I would be alert for her!!! That's what love is all about!

When we have known our special someone for a long long time, the love for him/her matures. The love flows in our flesh and blood. It evolves from just being a physical attraction to a more meaningful relationship. A sharing hand at the kitchen... A partner while buying groceries and a help while doing our laundry... A bunch of carrots or a cup of curd bought just because they are my favorites... And the end of the day, a supporting shoulder to carry all our worries while we sleep in peace! I am glad that I found that kind of a love in him! :)

Knotty Tidbits: 2

Title: Favorite?

I saw this the other day in iGoogle Love quote of the day

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday".

- Noelle, Age 7 (participant in a survey of 4-8 year olds asked to define love)

This reminds me of my maroon kurta that I always put on for the sake of V. It is not that V loves me in the kurta nor it is that he bought me the kurta.. the fact is that he hates me wearing it and always remarks that he would tear it away or throw it in trash at the very first opportunity he gets!!!

Then why do I wear it at all? It's because it is sure to catch his attention. Whether praisings or scoldings, as long as I become the centre of his focus, that's more than enough for me! :)