It's been a L..O..N..G time ...

A travel post by a fellow blogger reminded me of my forgotten blog.....the blog I'd started on a whim and discontinued with a strange feeling vacillating between wanting to write and an inertia of a prolonged non-writing phase. I peeped into my post on my visit to the same place....relived the memories ...and it triggered a need to jot down something on this 'old' blog of mine.....

Many of my friends ...virtual friends....had knocked on my virtual door, stopped by and enquired of my well being...but I was unsocial enough to either not respond to their queries or just made perfunctory virtual small talk....

As I was browsing through my blog, I saw three unfinished blogposts with which I had thought I would resume my virtual life. But they were destined to remain drafts and not see the light of the day. 

But why am I rambling on? No reason...just a whim....just to reassure me and my forgotten blog that we remember each other.

So much has happened in the last 4 years....many of my "blogger-friends" no longer blog....I was saddened. I used to so look forward to their regular updates...slices of their life, their thoughts and their experiences. Some continue, albeit sporadically, once in a few months.....and some are their old regular blog-selves....thank God for that!

In my life too...their have been lots of changes....it feels funny to read about my then-little-girl AD who was a tiny little three and a half year old and is now all of seven and a half years old. She has a little sister...who's almost three .... a naughtier, more mischievous version of AD and incidentally she's AD too!!

Well...now that I've entered, dusted a few cobwebs, let's see if I want to clean up, redecorate and start afresh ...time and my whims will only tell.....

TAGETTY TAGETTY TAG!!!

Tagetty Tagetty Tag!!
Two more I have in my bag.
Groaning and moaning,
though thought of postponing....
Knuckled my head, told myself to go ahead.
As has been said, long ago in the past....
"The wise does at once what the fool does at last"
Wise I am not; but as a fool to be slot!!!
Oh what a shame.....I dont wish to be defamed
So here i am, trying hard to rhyme....
Off on a jig, grunting like a pig....
"Tagetty Tagetty Tag"

[Do pardon this rhyming monstrosity!!! Only the unlimited, unbridled freedom blogland gives, gave me the courage to indulge in this whimsical nonsense]

AWARD-cum-TAG 1 :

Thanks Sucharita for this Award and the (necessary evil ;)) TAG.

The Rules for this tag are:

1. Link the person who tagged you

2. Copy the image above, the rules and the questionnaire in this post.

3. Post this in one or all of your blogs.

4. Answer the four questions following these Rules.

5. Recruit at least seven (7) friends on your Blog Roll by sharing this with them.

6. Come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR (PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS LINK) at http://bloggistame.blogspot.com and leave the URL of your Post in order for you/your Blog to be added to the Master List.

7. Have Fun!

The 4 Questions to be answered along with MY ANSWERS:
1. The person who tagged you: Sucharita Sarkar
2. His/her site's title and url: Past Continuous (http://pastcontinues.blogspot.com/)
3. Date when you were tagged: 28th June 2009
4. Persons you awarded and tagged: Rajesh, K Parthasarathi, Deep, Imp's Mom, NS Iyer, Ishita, Koel

TAG 2 : Things / Persons which/who annoy me!!
I was tagged by my new Blogging Buddy - Ishita!

Too many to tabulate ...still, without prioritising as to which or who annoy me the most, i'll just jot down the first few which are coming to mind!

1.Nosey people....people who take it upon themselves to assume they are my GREATEST well-wishers and pry and peep and generally try to know every and any personal detail about me and my family even before we have proceeded beyond the 'acquaintance' stage!

2.Procrastination (yes, yes...call me a hypocrite!)...Yes procrastination annoys me no end and that applies to myself too...I hate myself whenever I procrastinate or delay unnecessarily.

3.Clutter : A damp towel on the bed, shoes anywhere but the shoe rack, toys strewn all over but not being played with, newspapers lying scattered all over the living room, the kitchen slab with a pile of this and that and an unclean gas stove with oil splattered long after the cooking is over and done with.....oooooh the list is endless!

4.Continuous rainy days . The grey gloomy sky, the mouldy & damp smelling pile of half dried clothes, depress and annoy me.

5.A wet bathroom....I'm forever mopping and wiping, hollering and complaining each time SD uses the bathroom and leaves it as if a tornado passed through it....but to no avail....god has given him two ears and so....!!!!!

6.Govinda movies or for that matter the loud and slapstick comedies which go on to become smashing hits!!! Am I the only one who does not get the humour in them???

7.People spitting on the roads, walls etc and treating public property as their personal spittoons!

I am supposed to pass on this ANNOYANCE TAG...

Since I am not too fond of doing TAGs myself, I feel awkward to impose this TAG on anyone! Hence I am not passing it on to anyone in particular ...

But all of you are welcome to take it up and share with us, the cause/causes of your annoyance !!

Budget Buzz.......

Just a few hours and the suspense will be over!
The countdown had begun weeks ago....
The hows, the whos, the markets, the wallets, the masses, the classes....the talk is ON !!

Well, with the kind brouhaha created over the budget over the past few weeks, with any and every news channel airing something or anything and predicting, speculating, analysing with the different or same sets of experts, the BUDGET 2009 seems more to be a media circus and PR exercise than a statement of intent for the next fiscal in term of broad economic policies.

Never during our growing up years and thereafter have we been bombarded by such 'facts & figures' as has been the trend in the last few years! The crescendo has reached its peak during the current year when the tamasha has taken the minds of the junta by storm!

What we fail to realise is that the budget has never been full and final and can never be! And the government is at liberty to change, modify and introduce policies and taxes as per the need of the hour, throughout the year!

Well, as has been obvious in our present media-led society...the TRPs dictate...be it Ekta Kapoor's serials, T20 matches, Lakme fashion week or now.....Budget 2009!

So today as the day unfurls, We the People of India, will be glued to our TV sets, internet sites, watching, hearing, reading.... the BUDGET LIVE!!!!

PS:-Hats Off to the Marketing Guys....for successfully turning a serious matter into a Marketing gimmick, lapped up by us all

Procrastination, Amnesia & then procrastination again....

This is a Tag I had received ages and ages ago from Naperville Mom of Ponderings of a Porcupine. Kept pushing it to the back of the cybershelf and then conveniently forgot all about it!

A fews days ago, a blogpost by a co-blogger regarding the same tag restored my amnesiac memory. Well, the chronic procrastinator that I am, again considerable time was spent dilly-dallying ..and now finally, here I am with the Tag...

The TAG is : A story revolving around the 6th Picture of the 6 Folder in my (digital) Photo-Basket ....

A down-in-the-dumps AD with tears streaking down her cheeks as her friends look on ....

On the morning of her Playschool's Annual Day, the excited kid was all eager to go to school and 'perform'. But the moment she entered the school gates, and saw the deluge of parents and grandparents waiting at the Shamiana for the programme to begin, my 'lion-indoors-but-timid-mouse-outdoors' AD burst out into tears and clung on to me, panicstricken....As I took her to their classroom which had her friends, teachers and ayahs 'waiting in the wings', she cooled down considerably. The little friends, wiped a tear or two and tried their best to cheer her up! It was such an amazing sight to see these three yrs somethings displaying such affection and camaraderie....I had my camera with me and clicked!

Of the many lovable pics clicked that morning, the above is the 6th Pic of the 6th Folder in my (Digital) PhotoBasket!

I am supposed to tag 6 persons....but I'll keep it open to ALL!

Whoever takes it up, do drop a line at my comment box so that I can stop by at your Blog to see your 6th Pic in your 6th Photo Folder!!

There are three kinds of lies.....

Just back from my weekly vegetable and grocery shopping with heavy bulging bags and a much lighter wallet.

I have this habit of keeping a note of my daily expenditure in a diary.

While turning the pages of the diary to make today's entry, the diary opened to the date 12th May 2007, when I'd bought, amongst other things, 10kgs rice for Rs.150 (@Rs.15/kg) and the week's vegetables for Rs.163.

Today's entry for the same items are Rs. 325 and Rs.398 respectively.

Exactly two years and every eatable on the supermarket shelves has doubled or tripled and yet the Economic Times has been gleefully celebrating every Thursday morning that inflation is -0.1%.

Is this what is meant by "lies, damned lies and statistics!!"

'Far from the Madding Crowd'

(This is not a travelogue...it's just glimpses of a wonderful experience from which I havent yet recovered)

Coinciding leaves and holidays of two and a half individuals is always a headache….the half is a teeny weeny three and a half-going on thirteen opinionated young lady!

Well, we finally managed to squeeze in a weekend and a bit more of free together time! A quick planning, hurried booking and off we were on a much needed break.

Four days of peace, tranquility, sea, sand and rock. Throw in a handful of spirituality; sprinkle some lip smacking medley of French-Tam cuisine, 24x7 beachside cafes; Lace it with a splash of multi-linguistic experience of Tamil-French combo, with smatterings of often unintelligible English and Hindi; Garnish with treasure troves of handicrafts, aromatic candles and incences; frame it with the delightful old world charm of heritage Villas and Bungalows...and hey presto! You have the magic of Pondicherry staring soulfully at you....

An interesting anecdote which was on display in a beachside cafe we frequented during our midnight strolls on the beach....

The Puducheri of yesteryears has come a full cycle. This coastal town named Puducheri (meaning in Tamil "new settlement"), was twisted to suit the French tongue who pronounced it as Poudicherry. And then some grouchy British clerk made a silly clerical error (mentioned in the poster in a tongue-in-cheek style as "a forgivable felony of a slack eye and hand") whereby the 'u' of Pouducheri was changed into 'n'. Thus was born the more stylish and Anglicised Pondicherry. Pondicherry was easier on the tongue and thus stayed on! And finally after a few hundreds of years and a medley of rulers later, it's back to being called Puducheri !

The serenity of the town struck me almost instantly. Tranquility opened her arms the moment we entered and wrapped us up in a warm welcome embrace. The canopy of green over the villa lined streets made me want to get off the car and walk on.... Quaint little bungalows, a deluge of bougainvilleas, emerald green-blue sea and black rocky stones guarding the lashing waves, Pondicherry stole my heart. I fell in love with the little town.

Where we stayed added to the spell of love at first sight. A delightful 18th century mansion, restored and brought to life. With non-identical suites and rooms named Mahe, Chandernagore, Karikal, Calicut, Yanaon and so on, it oozed old world charm wherever we went and whatever we touched. A central courtyard with a giant neem tree, this is where we had our breakfast. Early morning rises to catch the sunrise, so alien in our lives in the concrete jungles, we breathed in gusts of fresh sea breeze thus rejuvenating our senses and detoxyfying our souls.... Late night strolls along the beach concluded with cups of coffee at the little coffee shop on the Beach, while the sea roared on, and wild waves lashed itself on the rocks on which sat the cafe. The midnight moon shone through the swaying palms while the far horizon shimmered in its silvery glow....

Back in our hotel room, the freshly made bed would have a fresh garland of jasmine adorning the pillow, with it's delicate fragrance caressing the air we breathed in as we retired for the day....

The Universal Township of "Auroville" is an experience to be savoured and assimilated deep within. The few hours that we spent there were too too less to do any justice. I wish we had planned our trip in advance. Due to our unplanned visit, we couldnt enter the inner sanctum of the Matri Mandir and had to be content seeing this remarkable architectural marvel from a distance.

If only to live the experience of entering and meditating in the awe inspiring Matri Mandir, seeing from close, the crystal which is known to be the largest spherical crystal, I made a promise to myself.....I'll come back again, to savour the magic of this city.