We ate at this okayish joint called (Not Just) Banana Leaves (Seriously that is the name of the restaurant.
Its very average for the meals – say about 6 out of 10. What got us all tickled up was the menu.
Winers?
Fruiciting Island?? and hazaar other funny items.
These gems are from the Ranchi Airport Suggestion book. We found this to be rib rolling roller coaster.
The above one says “Awesome Airport !! Looks like an antique piece of 1930s.The co-ordination between aiport staff and security. Everyone remains confused.
There is an announcement of security in IC 3347, but security staff keep debating whether to start of not. Excellent !!”
We were at this college @ Ranchi for two days. One of the rules they have for safety is that the female of the species, cannot be out of their hostel dorms after 7pm. Post that they need to be escorted by an known chaperone equivalent :-)
The rule in itself is what it is - a dogma. What got me ticked up a bit was some urban yuppie's comment - "we have to do this, since the villagers are out there roaming freely in the evening".
Now that for is a clear case of urban bias - "villagers"=="molesters".
Aha, I rest my case.
From the annals of Bangalore Mirror comes another Gem on “Ask The Sexpert”…This is in the 20th July edition.
I am a 28 year old woman. Recently, a friend told me about Sex. Ever since, whenever I am alone, I get aroused and start fantasizing. We call each other and I follow his instructions. I get naked and masturbate till I reach orgasm. Is it okay to do such things before marriage, that too under a friend’s guidance? Will it affect my life after marriage?
Its unusual that a male friend has told about these things. Now that he has, do it as it is quite safe and normal. Search Google and get better informed. Use words such as “masturbation” , “sexual intercourse” and “foreplay” in your search.
Picture this.
On the first floor of a nearby wing in my complex. A lady comes out with her sleeping kid onto her open balcony. She sits on a plastic chair, stretches her leg and lets the sleeping kid snore on.
The lady looks around, peacefully breathing in the new fresh morning…a brand new day.
This happens every day including weekends, usually between 615 to 645ish.
I don't really know what value this ritual adds to her….but to me it lends some tranquil. Its almost like I my morning obeisance at a temple. (I get to see this every single day, that I manage to get up and go for a jog).
Hopefully some things never really go out of fashion…..I pray, (an atheist at that ?) that let this music continue to play.
Reminded me of 698 - Peace is in your hands… how I terribly miss my little buddy :-)
I have always maintained, running is my urban meditation. It keeps me sane in a increasing chaos filled universe. It helps me clean up my mind, restart critical processes and almost a “la daily spring cleaning of the head”.
I also find a lot of parallels between everyday life and the act of jogging itself. Usually (my) the mind conjures up a hazaar excuses every morning, why its not a good day for a run….the most simplest being, lets snore a bit more, I shall come back from evening and then have a quick jog.
What I have learnt (for myself), if you let allow yourself to compromise, just once….that is precedent enough for you to use that an “a priori” repeatedly.
Just like what I see in my own life….
I compromise on some point…and the leakage seeps all through.
My earlier manager used to say “Life is but a set of carefully chosen compromises”….I for one, still believe in that naive Ayn Rand’s John Galt world….. “Its not ideal around me, but that does not mean I give up my ideal”…..
I wonder how long will this naivety will last…Looks like some day soon the glass could crack ))
View from 14th floor of Embassy Suites
That story continues…..
The Irish Memorial, and the backdrop of 200W
WFC in all its glory…..
30 Hudson….how close, yet how far :-)
And the famed Manhattan Skyline
Colorful swirl over the ferry bay….
View from 30 hudson….ignore the man in the mirror :-)
View from the JFK Airport. I have not used any filters or touch ups. This is WYSIWYG…..
If you liked Departed (which is one of my favorite movies), you will fairly like Shutter Island. Not as taut, but way above the rest…its vintage Martin Scorsese.
A classic thriller, which keeps revealing more and confusing further – till at the very end, the proverbial twist in the tale is laid out.
I WOULD SUGGEST DON’T READ ABOUT IT, JUST GO AND WATCH IT. Imminently watchable and easily a 9/10.
Very highly recommended.
I miss quite a few things from my past life…..and I mean “missing”. Almost similar to having all the jigsaw pieces of a map, except for having the “north direction” piece :-) (how terrible can that be in reality).
I miss a city where I intimately knew its torturous veins, a workplace which I grew into and adopted as part of my life…but most of all, I terribly terribly yearn for the lazy Friday (and heavenly)wine and endless banter all night with my sister(s)….the profound experience of bonding with your nephew who babbles endless duo syllables (now he speaks sentences !!)….the smell and taste of the vada pav I grew up on…..the ability to walk to my buddy’s place and eat steaming hot food anytime I wanted to….where I could meet Mom for a quick slap and dash coffee at the airport…..phew, its endless ))
(and the impact has just started dawning on me :-))
So what kind of sane man, gives up all of what he cherishes as “life” and moves on….and why? First of all, I think, I am no longer sane. (Seriously!!) Secondly, the more I think, I don’t really have a good enough reason for all this “transition”. Its like a fooking game to me…..I started it, and now (goddammed) I have to play it, till it ends…..big boys don’t quit !!
I know all of this can at least partly make me a slightly stronger human being – it is teaching me impermanence (by ripping at my soul…what a price….shucks!!), its a lesson in how to break your own inertia, to adjust with a new set of people and culture.
Its also about limits – as an example…..you never learn to (un)value money, till you lose a good sum on the market, till you have broken your comfort zone and bought your first indulgence (say a Tag Heuer Carerra)….essentially , till you have had it all, and lost it all.
Similarly, once you have broken out of your comfort zone and gotten immersed into a new city 800kms away (without the f**king “north sign”), 8000 miles away never seems too difficult now (New York….prepare to welcome my coming home anytime soon!!).
Seriously, once you have been hurt by poison, then another tablet of ecstasy, does not seem like a threat, it just pushing another envelope a little bit further….and then a little more. Thats the same “stretch” what makes human beings into a “serial entrepreneur”, a nomad, a “hero” who wagers all, and loses it all, or achieves his “personal greatness”.
I am dangerously into that precarious territory….of having had it all, and having given it all….voluntarily….almost a la Siddharta (except that he achieved his “personal greatness”) ….and I might wily nily never come close to that ….and of course that involuntary cognition….that the next loss is never more than 60 seconds away…..of wanting to up the intake of poison.
The ante is steadily being tuned up. What once was, is no longer.
Whats at the bloody stake now?
It comes quite easy to me to look at a glass and call it neither empty nor full, but just “half and half”. I believe I see the underbelly of the beast – sometimes its pleasantly “full”, sometimes its so expectedly “empty”.
So many of my posts lament urban decay in some form or shape. Am I quite simply allegorical, or am I alluding to the metaphorical or am I just being an aching melancholic?
I don’t have an easy answer. A lot of folks ask me, “are you in pain?” – and invariably these are people who don’t know me at all. If you know me, even a shard, I just cannot be in pain for too long. My chin grins and my shin sins :-)
Probably to yearn to be in a better place, is an essential part of being “alive”. “Better” in itself is quite “personal” for each of us. For me, I really want to constantly savor the tinyness of my beating heart, within the macrocosm of the ever expanding universe – and that for me is “better” – and that is what lends me my acidic tongue, my sharp pen, and an eye for the naked prosaic urbanity.
(I will stop here, this is such a terribly written post….its almost a meaningless meander. A glass of wine would have made this so much more readable :-))
We all are supposed to remember the “proverbial” first ones – the first date, the first kiss, the first wine tinker, the first baby, her first words, her first kick – the list is endless. I have my own series of firsts. Day before yesterday (12th morning) was a “little first” for me. I want to try and remember it for some time to come, and savor it for the rest of my life :-))
How I wish, we had the erudite Mumbai Mirror while growing up. I would have been so much more sexually educated (and liberated). Seriously, I love (actually drool) over the questions (and answers) which appear in “Ask the Sexpert” column.
This is from Bangalore Mirror on Monday 12th Jul. Read on and be enlightened. (My son, you are going to be so goddamned lucky – you will get to read the Mirror in your teenage years!! )
I am a 21-year-old man. I have been sexually attracted to panties ever since I was 11 years old. My sister, who is 24 and I share the same panties, but only after a thorough wash. Is it harmful to wear my sister's panties despite them being thoroughly washed? Our father supports us on this, while our mother is least bothered.
I see no harm except while it is easy for the female to slip them on, it can be very cumbersome for a man to do the same. But, this also saves you money to buy your own underwear. Since your mother wears the pants in the family she has sensibly told you to tackle your fetish by yourself.
An idea that has captivated me for quite some years is the impact of “space” (or the perspective of it) and how it inadvertently impacts the development of the human mind.
What lends credence to this line is – when I meet people from Tokyo and Bombay (myself included) – their desire to add “economy” into every aspect of their life is striking. As if, their perpetual battle with space, has now become a war with time and even their state of being.
Converse the outlook. An Australian or a Texan is so much expansive in their ability to factor in “life and living”.
Purists keep debating about the pros and cons that “economy” and “expanse” teach us and how they shape our minds.
To each his own….Till then…..
I could not help but marvel how a city like New York is the perfect blend of both. You have the Grand Central Park waltzing right into Times Square.
(If by now, you have not realized my infatuation with New York….I will accept that I am a terrible writer.
Someday….I will choose. Till then, it is me living and sharing my city with “knicker gangs” :-)
While in New York, was talking to someone who was very keen to get his US citizenship done. He is originally an Indian from Mumbai.
I could see his reasons, and did not judge him for his aspiration.
A weird connection though crossed my mind – if we spar and look down upon cosmetic alteration of faces (and b**bs), why do we so willingly accept the desire to change our geographical affiliations.
One is a change in plastic minor and the other is in paper major :-)
Driving in Bangalore is one continuous stream of honks, bells and whistles. Its irritating and can get very nervy at times.
Maybe, its just a bunch of ho**y drivers (what….I said honky already….!!)
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