Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Romanticising Life and So On

I spent the last two days sitting through a series of presentations telling me what my life will be like over the next year or so. Down to the details of my birthday gift. And the caller buttons on my office desk phone.
Process was the keyword.
I didn’t mind. It was nice to have some processes in place, after my last job. It was a nice change, and a nice lazy two days.

But you can’t however blame me for letting my eyes wander towards the window every once in a while. Specially if the window is situated in a nice lil place at Nariman Point, with a clear view of the sea.
Initially the vision was all blurry with mist, and didn’t really distract me. But as the sun started its slow, yet sickeningly steady ascent up the sky, the scenario completely transformed.
The scene that played out in front of my eyes was breathtaking, to say the least. The clear pale blue sky, punctuated every few seconds by a speck of fluttering wings, covered the expanse of the canvas, slowly descending, and skilfully tricking all gaping observers, as it seamlessly melted into tiny rippling disturbances at the foot of the perfect painting. The waves glittered in the sun, nature’s most marvellous diamonds, dancing and displaying themselves for all to envy. And in their vanity, they slid towards land, which hungrily and powerfully, stopped their march and put an end to that beautiful yet meaningless life.

And then I let my gaze fall a little more towards home ground.
Distraction.
Poolside view of the Five Star Hotel next door.
A rather well maintained human form basking in the sun. The angry rays of the sun beat down on his skin, damaging, yet bringing out nature’s beauty in all its glory. With every ripple of a muscle, a bead of sweat trickled its way down perfection, glittering like an oasis in the sun’s glare. And then he stretched.  And in the perfect, most fluid and beautiful motion, dived into the pool, disturbing peace and turmoil at once.

As he disappeared under the water, my eyes fell on the floor of the hotel below the pool.
Distraction.
It was beauty one always dreams of. Beauty you want to touch, feel, possess, and be. In its own unique way, such beauty makes life worth it, makes this world a better  place to live in, and takes away all troubles.  In its own unique way.
Versace, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton….
Man Made Perfection.
Sigh.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Bathroom Diaries

Bathrooms.
They do follow me around for some weird reason. 

Recap 1.
When I was a kid, like second grade age kid, my biggest complaint in life was always the fact that I had to share a room with my sister, and didn’t get to live in my room, all alone. I couldn’t understand how I was supposed to be all grown up if I was just never given any privacy to be by myself with my own grown up ventures and thoughts in life.
This might be a good time to mention that I lived in a duplex, with nice sized bathrooms. One, specially, had been converted into a laundry room, leaving ample space for storage in the actual bathing area.
Brainwave.
I picked up all my stuffed toys, Barbies, writing paper, and drawing pads, and dragging a chair across the hall, claimed my territory.
My new room.
The bathing area of the bathroom.
Where I was on my own, all grown up, with just my toys for company.
Of course, then the temperature soared, a few lizards moved in, and I ran shrieking out.

Recap 2.
Not in such a distant past, I went to see my sister’s new flat in Delhi. A nice pretty place, my sister oohed and aahed at the modular kitchen. And then we saw the bathroom.
That shower cabinet.
Built in Jacuzzi, massage point nozzles, a phone connection and…wait for it….radio and USB port…inside that damned cabinet!
And I sighed, “I could live in this thing!”

Fast Forward to current time.
I just moved in with some college friends, and have a petite (large by Mumbai standards) room, albeit with a slightly weird shape. I moved in, unpacked, uncluttered, and finally fell dead on the bed.
Then I noticed the tiles on the wall. White with a blue floral print.
Hmm…very bathroomy….dontcha think?
I wondered if I was over reacting at the clearly poor interior decorating taste of the landlord.
And then I closed the door. Behind which, was a series of hooks to hang clothes on. And that unmistakeable steel rod crowning it all, looking down at me with its evil glow.
The towel stand.
Hmm.

P.S. Now for the record, I would like to state that I love this house, and am damn thankful for it and the room. Also, I haven’t  experienced any weird water spouts and faucets in the dark corners of the room.
Yet.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Life goes on….and how!

2011…the year I had been waiting for with bated breath…no exaggeration! I couldn’t wait for 2010 to get over and the new year to begin. Now one can say that the year that was, was a certain way because of my choices, my decisions, my attitude, and to some extent my awesome luck, or the lack of it. But then again, I find it rather convenient to just blame it on the year, and get it over with.

For one thing, it saves me the trouble of analysing exactly what all went wrong and the reasons behind it, or at least pretend that I don’t analyse that much. On the other hand, it fills me with this unusual amount of hope and optimism (and those who know me would know what a rare moment this is), that things can actually be alright, and all that was required was just a fresh start.

Just a fresh start?
What a fresh start!
A new year with the people I cared about the most.
Three weeks at home with my family.
A wedding, leading me back to my roots.
Old friends, the ones that matter more to me than I ever realised.
A new home.
New flatmates.
A new job.
A new start.
2010… byeeeeeee!!!
2011…hello there!!! (Wink! Wink!)

P.S. three weeks without a laptop have ended up with a zillion things for me to talk and write about. I hope I manage to remember some of them over the coming days!!!