One Hundred Years of Solitude

What a novel it is by Gabriel Garcia Marquez! I just cant get over from the nostalgia of it. For last couple of days, the Buendias almost became my own family. Living the days with their days and nights.

But the most enchanting thing about the novel is how the the magical and unreal world mixes with the real world. And it mixes such a way that you do not really feel that that's something dosnt happen in our lives. For example when Jose Arcadio Buendia dies, yellow flowers shower continues and the entire Macondo gets covered or when Mauricio Babilonia comes, the yellow buterflies fly over his head and how Amaranta announces her own death time, or how Melquíadesdies twice and his perchments are read only after one hundred years....there are countless instances which when you come to know separately you feel these are unreal, but once you read the entire novel and most importantly read the minutest details, you feel Macondo to be a world where all these things really happaned over a period of one hundred years.

Thanks Tareq for giving me the book :) It was a real pleasure reading and living every word of this magnificant book. Now I feel lonely that no more Buendia is with me....I wish this book were never finished!

Shashi Tharoor - a sad story

Shashi Tharoor being forced to resign by the Congress heads seems to me a case where the big national decision is being influenced by yellow journalism. It became quite clear 1-2 days before what the meeting between Tharoor and congress heads would result.

In a country like India where we have been seeing criminals and illiterate MPs and MLAs and hence have been hating this profession more than anything, Shashi Tharoor had been a refreshing change to our look towards politics. But clearly he couldn't survive in the system being too many reasons for his 'different' approaches.

Whatever his involvement in Rendezvous consortium was, I don't understand a single point that after winning the bid, and after being aware of Lalit Modi's intention, why did he bring the entire episode under full media view? He being a minister of state and thus a powerful man, why didnt fight with the Chairman of IPL Modi, another powerful man, in a more private and subtle way? Why did he bring the matter under public view when it is quite understood that Indian media runs after only gossips and here when his beautiful friend Sunanda Pushkar is involved in the share, the media would just go mad with so much juice in story. Can anyone give reason to those mushroom like channels and news portals and their novice journalists that the concept of giving a share in the deal as the corporate payment is quite common or that a minister's interest in a deal may not be only for money? Only thing that they would be interested in obviously in the amount of deal and a beautiful lady who is involved while the minister is already twice married. So, that is going to be the only story!

So, lesson is learnt. No more tweeting even if you think you are honest, and Congress is loyal to none just like it was not loyal to Krishna Menon.

Diwali - 2009

Diwali was fun too. Totai, my sister came from Jaipur and we all had a very good time :)

Some pics:

Our balcony

Nothing can replace the earthen diya

Me and Totai making the rangoli

It's complete

Lakshmi Puja - 2009

It was fun as it was my first Laxmi Puja after marriage and I followed all rituals by fasting and preparing sweets for the puja. And finally I started giving alpona. always love to make alpona. I remember how I used to decorate the entire house with alponas and how the next day I used to spend the entire morning cleaning the floors. This year too I gave alpona and lucky they are that they got shot; thanks to my hubby; and I thought to post them here though this year I had no time alpona like earlier years. Here they are :

After Marriage

Things change. Here are some things that keep happening to/by me:

The shopkeepers now calls me 'baudi' and not 'didi'.

I have become 'aunty' to so many kids who otherwise would call me 'didi'!!!!!!!!!!!

I have started to wrap a saree in less than 5 minutes! Time doesn't vary with the change of texture...the time taken is same for cotton, taant, silk or chiffon!!!!!!!!!

Unknown people start talking to me in Bengali in the shops, market, roads in a city like Delhi. Thanks to my Shankha and Pola. It took me some time to figure out the correct reason though!

People don't hesitate to ask me personal questions like "hey, yours was an arranged or love marriage?" I dont remember to ever confront questions like "hey, have you got steady boyfriend?" or "hey, you're single or committed?" before!

In the shops, the shopkeeper gives the bill to my husband and not me!

Durga Puja - 2009

First time that I was away from my mother :(

First time after my marriage :)

Second time in Delhi :

First time that I didn't wear a single new dress :(

First time that I didn't see any puja apart from the own locality one :

First time I was so unwell that I visited doctor's house more than the Puja pandal :)

Life moves on :) :) :) .............................

Some Quick Facts

Gurgaon is changed........... so much that I found it beyond recognition! I kept searching for my old office and just didnt realize when it passed. The huge flyovers, roads, skyscrapers have made it look like a different place altogether.

So is Noida. Though the change is visible less in Noida than Gurgaon. The metro route is now near where we used to stay - in sector 19. If we were still staying in that same house, we could have seen the inside view of Atta chowk metro station just from the balcony!

DTDC is now going the BEST way. I mean, DTDC is following some facilities of the BEST bus service of Mumbai. The government is now replacing the old bust stand banners by new ones with a new addition. They are now writing down the bus numbers that would stop there. Must say, its a good step by DTDC.

And I missed Before The Rains. Quite expected it was. I had missed Tahaan also. So that makes my tally to reach two - the number of Santosh Sivan movies missed by me. Bad...I feel bad!

Durga Puja is round the corner again. But somehow I am not not feeling the heat this time. May be since I am not going home this year so there's no mad rush for train, plane or bus tickets. Though I have already started celebrating it my way by reading Anandamela - the pujabarshiki edition.

PS: I hope this time I havnt made any typo :)