These days...: A Reverie!

I have a screaming nose! Really big! He pulls on it every morning and wakes me up. Yeah HE wakes me up! I would open my eyes into the most beautiful and exquisite smile on the planet .

He laughs and dashes out into the living room. I jump out from my bed, and run after him. I can see him hiding behind the curtains and peeking out...So I sneak up slowly and lift him from behind .....and his laughter fills my morning! And my home!

I carry him into the bathroom and pull out his foot-stand for him so that he can see himself in the mirror, while he brushes with me.

These days, I dont have to help him with brushing. But he still wants me to take a look at his squeaky clean teeth and wants my approving nod, before he can climb onto my back for his morning salsa.

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things”

I go about in the kitchen making breakfast, with this l'il giggling piggy on my back, singing with him.

“Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things”

And if I get the lines wrong , he would just sink his teeth onto my shoulder. Im extra cautious now.

These days I rehearse his class rhymes and songs before I can say 'Amen' at night . And I would get the 'stares' from his daddy.

No one believes me at work when I say ,the reddish-purple bruise at the back of my neck is a punishment for goofing up some rhymes.

These days I spent more time on sites like, howstuffworks, answer.com and wikipedia rather than youtube and my favourite blogs. How else will I find answers for questions like “ Why will I not get red , if I mix blue and green”?, “ Why is it that 'girl-cows' dont have horns?” “How is that daddys got a different smell”? “ What does daddy mean when he says 'that was orgasmic' at dinner?

These days, I look more stumped and astonished than ever. Gone are the days when he would point his finger and say 'Ga Ga' or ' Thaa Thaa' and I had to only reply with monosyllables  like, 'fan' ' ball' and 'doll'.

And this morning I rush both son and father to the door as usual to wish “Good day”. His dad picked him up so that he can reach my cheek to kiss me goodbye. He slips his hand around my neck , presses his tiny lips on my cheek and then looks at me , eyebrows creased and says “You look tired darling, may be you should take an off and just sleep the whole day”

My eyes popped , out of sheer shock.

And I told myself as I watched them walk down to the porch “ They grow up really fast these days, dont they”?

P.S : I wanted to write my version of 'Dream Children' from the day I read Charles Lamb.( except that I dont like waking up from the dream)

But HE doesnt have a name yet. Any suggestions??

The moth and the flame

When your feet drags, where it used to sprint

When your eyes smile, where it used to squint

When your hand trembles, where it wanted to grab

And you forget to breathe, but rather gasp

You look away, and your eyes wander

Not 'cos you want your mind to ponder

For, you just dont want your eyes to tell

What your heart is afraid to say

Then comes the day you learn from a moth

That “the flame has always been you”

 Then you know, those awkward silences that passed both

When you run out of things to talk; been 'cause neither could say 'I love You'

A secret desire to hear it from him and wish

He might have whispered  under his breath

“Funny, how lil we remembered of each other back then”

And what would it take now to forget.

And so is this how it really feels?
To fall that hard, with nowhere to land

That quiet shudder, when you watch him stand

'Unable to stay …....and unwilling to leave.....'

The one on Serendipity, a bulky Uterus and the constant Pregger!

“Serendipity is a fortuitous discovery, especially while looking for something entirely different”, says the dictionary. Happy accidents , basically!

But I wonder if there is a word for eerily awkward and embarrassing accidents! All you Logophiles,...... HELP me out please .'Cause, I would really like to know what this thing is , that has been happening to me over and over again.

And Dear Holy-Whoever out there, I pray and beg you, to not make the world any smaller. This is too weird for me to handle!

But may be not as weird as holding your own Mother's bulky uterus I guess.

Now how often do you actually get to see the womb you were born in?. So I couldnt get more excited when I had to play the dutiful child, helping with Amma's Hysterectomy.

No..... I chickened out when the doctor called for us to hand over the neatly chopped out uterus . Though people who saw it told me it looked as big as me when I was born :P

But the whole experience was sweet! Taking care of Amma was like taking care of an over-grown baby. Helping her walk, bathe , pee...... dress her up, feed her, put her to sleep every night with lullabies.....

To wake up alarmed in the middle of the night every time she coughed in her sleep, or when she tried turning over to the other side.....

Im really glad I could be there to just do all that for her. I miss smelling her cheek whenever she grinned at me!

I miss the smell of my home ... the smell of ploughing in the nearby field...that balanced blend of cow-dung and earth …thats one damn sweet smell that brought tears of happy memories and got me all nostalgic! I had completely let myself out in that delicious aroma, when she 'purr'ed and brushed her ear against my ankle.

'Chingaari' --my neighbour's cat. She is a constant Pregger! I cant recall the days when I saw her not carrying. She's loaded , all the time. Now , Im not very cat-friendly, but this sweetheart here has managed well to win me over.

The only sad thing about her getting pregnant is that, she fails to protect her new-borns, mostly. The kittens are killed and eaten up by a wild cat every time. I never get to see her babies. They are murdered, even before they can open their eyes. Poor Chingaari runs around the house crying and mourning; worse, lactating. And my heart goes out to that helpless mother every time!

But this time I helped her keep a watch on her babies! And touch-wood, all her three kittens are still alive. And they all look just like her, beautiful black and white fur balls!

Have you heard of this age old belief that if a cat litters in your house, it will bring you good news!?!

Last time Chingaari littered and her kittens survived, my sister got engaged!

And guess whats the good news this time?

No prizes for guessing, Im gonna be an Aunt! :D

First Blog award!

This is way too early. I have a blog, but I also know that having a blog doesnt make me a writer... I ramble.... I cant write …. at least not yet!

But it was very sweet of Spaceman spiff to think I have the potential

So Im just going to quietly follow the drill and be done with... and perhaps pass on the award to some bloggers who I think really CAN write. :)

Now for the usual tradition

# Link back the person who gave you the award.---- check!! 

( P.S : Thankyou... Its a Really Nice Birthday Gift!)

# 7 Random things about you (This wasnt very easy, I swear)

1. I sit still in my bed and smile .... every morning, at least for an hour. I cant start my day without that bit. 
2. Strings---- I have a huge crush on plucked instruments-- Acoustic Guitars- Flamenco, Baroque, Harp, Banjo- Oud, Kora, Sitar, Shamisen, Biwa, Ukelele, Balalaika...... the list never ends. Play me something really romantic on any of these, and Im yours........they have such an effect on me.
3. Im anti-diamonds! I probably would say NO to any guy who might get down on his knee offering me a diamond ring .
4. I love talking to myself and to my imaginary friends when Im in the loo. ( yeah, thats where I play out most of the conversations ---- the ones which I wish I were part of, the ones which I screwed up, the ones I wish would happen in real life........... I know what you're thinking now, but please keep it yourself :P)
5. I shamelessly ogle at babies. One reason why I love Anne Geddes. She makes me wanna get all those babies in a box and keep 'em for myself.( Reminds me of how Spaceman Spiff and I would go to the 0- 3 year old section at every store, and end up smelling, kissing and “awww”ing at cute tiny lil striped baby socks, night pants and dresses, till the people around gave us “ the looks”)
6. I love stationery- newly sharpened pencils, gel pens, rulers, erasers, sharpeners, notepads, calendar books, diaries, pen-holders, paper weights, scrap books................ you know what Im talking about.
7. I collect Nat-Geo photographs. I used to have a white board in my hostel room.... with all these pictures pinned up. Now since I have no access to the magazines , I collect them online.

My favourite song: Very very very unfair question! But I dont wanna break rules here... so here's one song Im quite popular for.

My favourite dessert : Death by chocolate , Chocolate souffle, Molten chocolate cake, …. basically anything just chocolate would do! But the caramal pudding I had with AJ at Casa Piccola was orgasmic!

What pisses me off : I just cannot think of any!.....I'll let you all know when I have one!.

Biggest fear: A cage........... being a prisoner of my own mind................NO I take that back.......my biggest fear would be not being able to Love.

Best Feature: A friend who was once opening the car's door for me, looks down and holds sight of my ugly ass feet, makes a really sad expression..... and looks up to say it on my face. But ends up saying..

“ Wow... you have ( stammers.... and finally blurts out)…...you have really beautiful eyes”!!

So EYES it is! ( 'cause I still, clearly remember the look on his face)

Everyday attitude: To find awesomeness and happiness in every single thing around me

What is perfection: Perfect is never doing anything wrong - which means never doing anything at all. Perfect is boring!

Guilty pleasure: Cheese balls : I think Im addicted to it. I find it really hard to stop munching on them. I love everything about it--- The bland taste of the cheese, the crunchiness of the corn grits and even the stale smell of it :P 

#Give the award away to 15 other bloggers--- Check

In random order

# Zeba- She's one blogger whose words have made way it into my small notebook .

# Just Kalpana- If I were a book publisher, I would sign a deal with her.. for a comic book series called “Stumped”

#Thomas theCat- I spent one whole night reading every single post in his blog. He's got a piquant sense of humour..........Im sure you'll like him.

#VnP- I think he's a really good writer, If only he blogged more often ( perhaps full-time writers need other pass-time activities)

#Toddler scribbles- That's no toddler-scribbling . Read her , and you'll know why

# Lilyferus- Im really really glad that I got to know her! She's a nut case and I just love her for all the brilliant madness that she is!

# Keep Smiling- He is just like the name of his blog.. .. all smiles!.. And an infectious one that too . He's got this amazing talent of spreading those smiles as well.

# Blue Lotus,Cloud Nine and Nirvana: Im new to their blogs....and now I regret I couldnt get to them earlier!.

# Hey you, Spaceman Spiff, Full-Adda Diddi.- uhhh...... errr...........hmm... There are no words that can describe you guys!.... Instead I'll give you all a bear hug!!

# Chocoholic, and Red handed :You've become like family now....:) I get worried if I dont get to read a new post of yours every week.

EAR MILK

Background Note: Introducing a dear friend, VnP ( Visions and Perceptions), who took sweet pains to turn an otherwise boring birthday of mine into rather a memorable one.

I hadnt moved an inch from my bed that day and I was almost positive that Im in a relationship with my mattress and pillows , when he calls up and says, “ Im not happy with what Im writing. So how about I just give you a list of songs I like, and may be catch up over dinner tonite?”

So I quickly take a cold shower, which I thought might slap me awake from my 'comfortably numb' state.

We ended up in TGIF and over the first half we spent there, he kept telling me that I was lost!

And I kept telling myself,.......Gosh, Im getting old!

We decided we wont order for the dessert. We are so stuffed already!

That thought had hardly passed when the service lads of TGIF comes to our table with a delicious looking chocolate cake and a CHAIR!.

And what happened next must have been a very good laugh for everyone else in the restaurant . 'Cause I was dancing on that chair to a Birthday song I've never ever heard in my life with all the waiters singing and clapping around me. ( Apparently thats the TGIF tradition!)

Thank you VnP! Perhaps another day, I 'll get back to you for that!

You can find much of his sensible, hilarious and very very creative writings , ramblings and character sketches here , here and here.

So heres his choice of songs for now. I like all of it already. Hope you all like 'em too.!!

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Foals - Blue Blood

Beautiful vocals. Peaceful guitar. And it all picks up gently to a nice crescendo. And lets you fall from there slowly. You will probably go back to this song for its opening.

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks

Another Indie band, but these guys have made it pretty big. The song is smooth with a very catchy chorus and the whistling bit in between just nails the song.

(Yes, they've been Vevo-ed. That means they are going up the commercial charts.)

Charlotte Gainsborough - Trick Pony

The Myntra ad had this amazing amazing track. Just when we were thinking it was an original, comes Charlotte Gainsborough with Trick Pony. Her album IRM is a brilliant mesh of electronic sounds, heavy percussion that also includes some unconventional Indian bits. But for now, Trick Pony.

Gotye - Somebody that I Used to Know (Feat. Kimbra)

Last year I discovered Heart's a Mess, and Gotye does it again with this song. Eclectic sounds, beautiful arrangement and that quintessential Gotye vocals. Give it a listen on good speakers or headphones. The chorus is again really really lilting. And wait for Kimbra to arrive with her bit.

Junip - To the Grain

In all this Junip has to be the find of the month. Amazing vocals from Jose Gonzales. Beautiful sounds layered with synths, acoustic guitar and that voice that will just set your heart going. The live version of Junip's To The Grain shows how beautiful their music is inherently, unlike bands like Weatherwanes who sounded really terrible live.

-- Gopi