three's a crowd?! :)

Okay, so i got tagged by Alcarwen. I remember chancing upon Alcarwen. She came blog hopping once and i hopped back and thus started a nice blog-friendship. Much like a few others that happened to me over the last couple of years... It surprises me still as to how two strangers from different cultures/continents/backgrounds can connect at some level. Or perhaps they connect because they read and are read shorn of any physical facade? Or perhaps anonymity is a facade, so its easier to put your thoughts out there through the sieve? Don't know...

It has been two years of rants, anguish, fun and nonsense. I had forgotten it was another October 2 years back when i started blogging. My blog has seen me grow (?) ;-) and grown with me perhaps. The language has changed, the tone and intent has seen the seasons change as I traversed through life. The ride has been bumpy, smooth, lonesome and cold, surrounded and warm. Could it be any more interesting?! :)


Back to Alcarwen, wish her a very Happy B'day. :-)

And now the tag:

3 smells that i like:
White Musk (I usually buy this perfume... almost always)
Smell of rain (You know what i mean? When it soaks the earth...)
Dried leaves/petals tucked into books for years

3 smells that i dont like:
The smell of rot
Sewage (Yeah, me too, like everyone else)
Durian! :P

3 jobs i have had in my life:
Errmm... i have always been a designer by profession! Yeah, very boring, i know...

3 movies i could watch over and over:
Amelie
Dirty Dancing! :P (I wanted to dance like them! sigh...)
Chungking Express (Leaves me with a happy feeling :))

3 fond memories:
Hmmm... this is difficult. So many of them!

3 places i have lived:
Delhi
Hong Kong
Singapore

3 things i like to do:
Listen to music
Daydream (duh!)
Watch movies

3 of my favourite foods:
Daal-bhaat
Shorshey ilish
Anything with smoked salmon in it

3 places i would like to be right now:
Greece (yeah, me too)
Some exotic secluded island (Pristine beaches. White sand. White, blue and green :))
Home, sleeping while it pours outside.

3 websites i visit daily:
www.google.com
www.rediff.com
http://aparnabanerjee.blogspot.com :p


3 things that make me cry:
Movies (Am a total cry-baby where sappy movies are concerned)
When i am angry
When i miss people i care for


The tag gets passed onto whoever hops in here and wishes to tag along...

---


Chal Chale. Woh Lamhe.
Love the simplicity of the words. Endearing :)

naa jahaan bheed ho naa jahaan bhar ke log
naa shehar mein base laakhon logon ka shor
chand lamhen tu inse mujhe durr kar
chal chale apane ghar hamsafar

;-)

a
Okay, so it's been ages since i did one of these.
And guess what the result had to be.




You're... Whiskey! Whiskey is a special drink. You have to be a special person to pull off whiskey. You're smooth and warm, but you bring a big bite! You're very well balanced and people love having you around. Unfortunately, whiskey can leave you with a bad after taste and not everyone can take the heat. But those who can handle the bite, are the ones that never put the bottle down! I personally am a fan of this stuff!

Take this quiz!

:p

Few nice ones from the quiz...

I've had quite a bit to drink, and you're beginning to look pretty good. (huh!)

None of us are virgins, life has screwed us all. (correct!)

And

Men, chocolate, and coffee are all better rich. ;-)

Santana feat. Everlast.
Put your lights on.

...

a

I should have been there in the 70s; when flower-power, colors, ideas and drifters ruled. Bell-bottoms and sunflowers, checkered pants and colorful wrap arounds. Beads and big sunglasses. Pink and orange.

I have these old photographs back home; of aunts and mom when they were not... aunts and mom. In these colourful - black and white - wrap arounds, that hugged their curves, not yet pulled and stretched by child-birth and the regular rigmarole that life becomes. And i would gawk at these pictures and think, wow, that is indeed so-and-so aunt who looks a pale shadow of this slim and svelte girl in bell-bots, beads, shirt and big sunglasses. She even had a ciggerette between her fingers, obviously just posing for one of the friends... you know one of those sessions that you have with girl-friends, when you talk silly about the latest fads, latest crushes and everything else under your sun. Girl friends rock!
Coming back to the aunts and mom, i would often wonder, why they let themselves go after a while. Like some coloured photograph drained out of its colors and what remains over the years are faint traces of pinks and oranges. And this holds true for men as well, though lesser in degree. Given that age does leave its footprints behind, do we need to hasten the process? Like my dad says, you are as young/old as you feel. I would often promise myself never to follow their footsteps. In some ways, my generation of women and men were far more pampered and empowered than the generation before us. Yet, at times, i cant help think that i am at an age that used to be synonymous with 'auntys' while i was growing up! As a teenager, i would address a 30 something woman as aunty. Gulp! :D

And then, most of the times, i do feel like a misfit. Is it possible to remain free yet attached? At times, i love the freedom that comes with detachment; not being answerable to anyone. Not be responsible for any pain to others. Free from expectations. Don't pegion-hole me, dont expect me to be a certain way. I at times surprise myself with the way i feel and think. So i find myself not fitting in any particular mould. I do not subscribe to the usual standards of status - material or social. I want to learn to live such a way that if anything i have now is taken away from me, i wouldn't experience as much pain as i have in the past. Really, nothings lost untill one is dead. But don't rob me of my freedom and i will belong, just be there when i am down and drained of inspiration/energy and so shall i, forever. Friendship and kindness are most important methinks. Because i want to experience this circus as much as i can while still keeping 'my world' intact. And i will let my close ones and my friends in, into my world. I do not need the whole circus inside my world. Yet at times the love for this freedom doesn't diminish the desire to belong. Is that ever possible? Does it make any sense? Ah, one of those questions that never get answered for some...

In other news, the painting has been started. Not super happy with it, but it's okay. I haven't painted in a long while. I wish i had a million dollar inheritance. I would live each day as a new one. Oh wait, i think, i have already begun doing that. :)

Have a lovely week ahead you all! :)

Travis. Sing.

etc... yet again...

a


Bought charcoal, pastel and sketchpads. Shall start sketching soon. Paint as well. My ankles hurt when i run, not running right i guess. But i must say, it feels incredibly good after a run. And now i know why runners don't like running indoors on treadmills, i would prefer running outdoors anyday. October starts and i need to sort-out a LOT of stuff... a lot. Take life by it horns? Damn that sounds cliched! :)

On the brighter side, watched Pyaar Ke Side Effects. Please go watch... was in splits. Mallika in this avatar was refreshing and so was the humour.


Jaane kya chaahe man baanwara
Akhiyan mere saawan chala

Like this track the best!

Have a great week ahead you all :)

---


Okay, so the couch potato is back. Well almost. Monday, i realised, we play doctor-doctor! Grey's Anatomy followed by Scrubs. Doctor series that are so damn different from each other. I love Grey's Anatomy. You know those quirky witticisms, or those thoughtful observations. Like in SATC days, everytime Carrie would type out her famous one-lines with pauses in between, i would go, wow! how did they cook this up? All said and done though, ER remains a fav!

Ah, theres definitely something about good looking docs on TV... :)

etc... yet again...

a


Bought charcoal, pastel and sketchpads. Shall start sketching soon. Paint as well. My ankles hurt when i run, not running right i guess. But i must say, it feels incredibly good after a run. And now i know why runners don't like running indoors on treadmills, i would prefer running outdoors anyday. October starts and i need to sort-out a LOT of stuff... a lot. Take life by it horns? Damn that sounds cliched! :)

On the brighter side, watched Pyaar Ke Side Effects. Please go watch... was in splits. Mallika in this avatar was refreshing and so was the humour.


Jaane kya chaahe man baanwara
Akhiyan mere saawan chala

Like this track the best!

Have a great week ahead you all :)

---


Okay, so the couch potato is back. Well almost. Monday, i realised, we play doctor-doctor! Grey's Anatomy followed by Scrubs. Doctor series that are so damn different from each other. I love Grey's Anatomy. You know those quirky witticisms, or those thoughtful observations. Like in SATC days, everytime Carrie would type out her famous one-lines with pauses in between, i would go, wow! how did they cook this up? All said and done though, ER remains a fav!

Ah, theres definitely something about good looking docs on TV... :)

Let me be inspired.

There is a thin line between inspiration and blatant copying. A thin, but a definite line. Unfortunately the ailment of copying afflicts many of our ilk (artists in general). We have innumerable such instances in our very own bollywood where music directors, film makers shamelessly rip-off compositions, stories from the rest of the world, in particular hollywood and pass off as their own.

Fortunately there are some self-respecting individuals who go an extra mile to create something 'original'. I do not understand this psyche though, the need to copy something and call it your own. How can one feel proud of something that is not their creation, it just takes a little more feeling and thinking to create something that is entirely yours. Something that you can take pride in.

Having said that, one needs to point out the fact that no artistic creation is hundred percent original. The human mind is such that it soaks-in everything that it is surrounded with, like a sponge, especially a creative mind. Everyday life, your surroundings, the strangers you meet or pass by, the tiny glimpses into someone else's life and everything else that happens around you, to you or someone else is enough to draw creative inspiration from. Life and nature is so dynamic that one can never run out of ideas. So when an actor emotes, or a painter gives life to the canvas, it most likely is a trickle from the sponge that has soaked-in so much. It's an amalgamation of the experiences, observations, feelings that lie there in their minds. Some obvious and some that they are oblivious to.

I can spend hours in book shops looking at design books. The human mind and it's capacity to create amazes me! To think that at any given point innumerable minds are coming up with innumerable ideas substantiates the magnificence of the human mind.

My ChungKing Express DVD has an introduction and wrap-up by Quentin Tarantino (it was released by his Rolling Thunder pictures in the US). Amongst other things, Tarantino talks about the common influences that he shares with WongKarWai in movie making. One of the things that he says and that i remember is that, one doesn't necessarily need to learn the art of filmmaking formally to make good films. One just needs to love the art. And this holds true for any creative field. One just needs to have that love and passion to run that extra mile. Our very own RGV is a fine example. He never learnt filmmaking anywhere. He just loved the movies and is one of the very few filmmakers who push the envelope and give bollywood it's share of good, popular cinema.

In my spare time (and i have had lots of it for sometime), i love browsing through websites. It is truly joyous to see such good work around you. Work that stimulates your mind and you don't feel dead anymore. I find myself both humbled and inspired at the same time.

I shall be posting links to some nice and some weird websites that i come across. Let me start with these two:

http://www.emilianorodriguez.com.ar/
http://www.designchapel.com

random comforts.

in no particular order.

a nice cozy home. not too big. not too small.

a regular job. money in the bank. maybe even a five-year plan.

comfortable bed. couches. soft pillows. cushions. bolsters.

old clothes. because they are soft. because you get attached to some of them.

old photographs. because that's all that you are left with.

books. book shelves. book shops. design books.

music. collections. movies. that you can watch again and again.

clean bathroom. long showers. soft towels. scented candles. wind chimes.

laptop. internet connection. emails. i check them everyday. yahoo and msn IM. that's what i shout on when i am about to crumble.

paint brushes. colours. imagination. ability to create and design. i wouldn't know what else to do.

day dreaming. that's all that i do.

rooftops where you can lie awake and stare at the starlit night sky. straight in the eye.

coffee and cafes that you can sit and read in and while away time. windows that you look out of when it rains.

palm trees. i like it when the leaves rustle.

wine. good food. canned food for when you are tired. soyabean milk. it's light and good for health.

a few good friends. who you can speak to without being judged. a few good friends. who you don't judge.

personal space. and someone special to invade it.

the words 'our' and 'us'. not me and you. not mine and yours.

appreciation. affection. tender words. 'I am sorry' after harsh words.

relationships that you can take for granted. people who don't leave you. no matter what. people who you won't leave. no matter what.

a partner to snuggle up to each morning. who understands you. or at least tries to. that in itself is enough.

peace. security. stability. erratic rollercoaster is painful. not joyous.

i was once asked by someone what was more important. happiness or love? i did not have an answer. in my mind i thought it was love. but i don't know anymore. perhaps it's more important to be happy. if love comes your way then you have hit the jackpot. if not at least you are happy with yourself. with whatever you have. even if that's all that you have. yourself.