It's so hot. A week ago it was so wonderfully pleasant I just couldn't believe it. And then I went off to two hot places, and in the meantime Delhi had become a very hot place indeed, in more ways than the weather would lead you to believe. Right now all is pleasant once again, simply cause I've realised that sometimes it's better to just shut the window and put on the AC.
A nice thought is that it's less than three weeks to my birthday. Ever since a much delayed part of the still held-up salary was transferred to my account, I have been spending as much of it as the perhaps-permanently-scarred-with-the-possibility-of-penury financial part of my being allows. In other words, I have been haunting the malls and other random shops, singling out the ones with the largest 'Sale' posters, and making it a point to buy something from the places that say '70% Off!' Just to soothe myself, you know. The first thing I bought was a phone, and very pleased I am with it. Yes, that was bought at a discount too. The other shady details of that transaction I can not, alas! share here.
While on the Birthday, I wonder if I should write about the last few birthdays and all the mixed up feelings that come up if I bother to even randomly sit back in a comfortable chair and say, for example, "21" or "24" or some such. Not this time, I think. Maybe I shall write a B'day post on it, and now that I think about it, it would actually be quite entertaining to write about all that stuff. It's a thought anyhow.
Actually, it may just be that I am sleepy, but I find that I cannot stop myself from mentioning just one small little thing that ought to find a place in the possible-B'day-post. No details at the moment, but I bought myself something from Lush, and that just helped blow a little bubble that had wanted to float about for so long, but couldn't. Its a very pretty sight when loose ends are tied, even if it is mostly in your own head, and the way bubbles make the light refract is rather pretty too.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
And Spring turns into Summer...
Winter swept past with a flourish...
And nothing much besides.
Now spring has risen
From her bed of flowers
Fresh and dewy, and sweet
It already feels like summer
Though what has just begun
hasn't yet sunk in
Dreams of a frosted spring bloom
Might just wither in the heat
It's the strangest thing... I've been working here for three months now, haven't even been paid yet(not even once... wonder what I'm still doing here), and am learning all about all kinds of things that I wouldn't have otherwise had the time(even in case I did have the inclination) to even look at. I'm seeing the way the government works, and am fascinated by the kind of bureaucrats we have here - they are smart people, for the most part, and now more than ever, I am convinced that I should never try for the IAS... although just yesterday it struck me during a long-ish internal debate in the bus on the way back home that a government job of the kind that would entail dealing with the kind of stuff I get, really rates pretty high if you take into account things like the variety of matters that have to be dealt with and the mental gymnastics that can entail, the easy pace that prevails for the most part, the way lunchtime and holidays are inviolate, and the fact that it's perfectly understandable if you still have huge piles of work pending on your desk but will go home at the regular time...
Also refreshing in a most surprising way is the lack of a strange kind of peer pressure, that I never noticed, but which I think I am almost missing here... or maybe it's just a different kind of the same stuff... strange little things like the meaning of a 'party' or 'treat'... here and now, it means chai, samosa and one burfi, possibly on a paper plate, more likely served on a piece of newspaper because the peon who was sent to get the plates said the funds ran a little low, perhaps on account of his having pocketed them... point is, perhaps on account of not having been paid for so long, I quite appreciate all this economy... The whole idea of always eating in a 'Bhawan' instead of going for coffee at CCD, for instance, is a rather novel experience.
The other amusing and entertaining aspects of life here, including friends and soppy soaps, I shall talk about in another post. I have some fifteen files to deal with right now, of which about five are marked 'Urgent' and 'Immediate'. Sigh. As if.
And nothing much besides.
Now spring has risen
From her bed of flowers
Fresh and dewy, and sweet
It already feels like summer
Though what has just begun
hasn't yet sunk in
Dreams of a frosted spring bloom
Might just wither in the heat
It's the strangest thing... I've been working here for three months now, haven't even been paid yet(not even once... wonder what I'm still doing here), and am learning all about all kinds of things that I wouldn't have otherwise had the time(even in case I did have the inclination) to even look at. I'm seeing the way the government works, and am fascinated by the kind of bureaucrats we have here - they are smart people, for the most part, and now more than ever, I am convinced that I should never try for the IAS... although just yesterday it struck me during a long-ish internal debate in the bus on the way back home that a government job of the kind that would entail dealing with the kind of stuff I get, really rates pretty high if you take into account things like the variety of matters that have to be dealt with and the mental gymnastics that can entail, the easy pace that prevails for the most part, the way lunchtime and holidays are inviolate, and the fact that it's perfectly understandable if you still have huge piles of work pending on your desk but will go home at the regular time...
Also refreshing in a most surprising way is the lack of a strange kind of peer pressure, that I never noticed, but which I think I am almost missing here... or maybe it's just a different kind of the same stuff... strange little things like the meaning of a 'party' or 'treat'... here and now, it means chai, samosa and one burfi, possibly on a paper plate, more likely served on a piece of newspaper because the peon who was sent to get the plates said the funds ran a little low, perhaps on account of his having pocketed them... point is, perhaps on account of not having been paid for so long, I quite appreciate all this economy... The whole idea of always eating in a 'Bhawan' instead of going for coffee at CCD, for instance, is a rather novel experience.
The other amusing and entertaining aspects of life here, including friends and soppy soaps, I shall talk about in another post. I have some fifteen files to deal with right now, of which about five are marked 'Urgent' and 'Immediate'. Sigh. As if.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A Walk
It was such a beautiful afternoon, yesterday. The sun was shining, warming us after a chilly morning, while a cool breeze wafted by, making the branches of the trees sway gently, so that the shadows danced over us carelessly, even as a child on a high water thingy by the side of the road swung his legs idly while his mother dried her hair and gossiped with her friends, sitting there on the sidewalk. Some days reveal their beauty so unexpectedly, that it takes your breath away.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Hairy Tales
In the days when dad sported an enforced punk hairdo, we came across this interesting signboard.'God is Great. God Makes Men.
We make them Gentlemen'
Small Joys
What an entertaining thought it is, that wherever I go, I find myself in familiar surroundings. Whether it is the bus or the workplace, the market or a conference, everything manages to settle itself very comfortably around the way my world functions. With a smile and some colour, almost everything can work the way best suited to my system.
There is perhaps only one thing that just doesn't work the way I want it to, that unsettles every comfortable situation and confounds my best efforts to lessen the turbulence.
The other day, I was wondering how it was possible to be as random as people in my present workplace are. I'm in the process of studying them and will soon write at length about what the old sarkari daftar can do to you!
On a related note, the latest thrill in my life is writing 'official' letters. It is a fascinating art, and one that can create much amusement even in an otherwise dull and sleepy day.
Ah, the small joys! I wonder if I can take much more of this fabulous existence!
There is perhaps only one thing that just doesn't work the way I want it to, that unsettles every comfortable situation and confounds my best efforts to lessen the turbulence.
The other day, I was wondering how it was possible to be as random as people in my present workplace are. I'm in the process of studying them and will soon write at length about what the old sarkari daftar can do to you!
On a related note, the latest thrill in my life is writing 'official' letters. It is a fascinating art, and one that can create much amusement even in an otherwise dull and sleepy day.
Ah, the small joys! I wonder if I can take much more of this fabulous existence!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
A Mix-up
We find such deep meaning
in tea leaves and TV
Such profound truth about ourselves
in what others do.
It feels like it's too much to take,
Or too little to drown in...
It's half wet, half done,
half a pillow, half a touch.
It's a twinkling light
halfway across the world
that echoes within, and yet...
It's done, it's gone.
in tea leaves and TV
Such profound truth about ourselves
in what others do.
It feels like it's too much to take,
Or too little to drown in...
It's half wet, half done,
half a pillow, half a touch.
It's a twinkling light
halfway across the world
that echoes within, and yet...
It's done, it's gone.
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