The only French I know ....!

Does everyone have that one subject you wish you never had to study while you were in school? Well mine was social studies, Geography in particular. IT has been a very painful subject since my school days. I think it's left me scarred for the rest of my life and that's the reason I cannot read maps even now ! Anyway, studying about neighboring countries (or even the remote ones) could have been better if they taught using some interesting examples. 

I didn't know China but I knew Jackie Chan, I didn't know where UK was but I knew Ben kingsley (he was the only Gandhi I knew for a long long time) and Sean Connery ( thanks to my bond-movies addicted father and he's to be blamed for my addiction to bonds ;-) Of all the James's, Pierce Brosnan will always be the love of my life next to Connery). I knew nothing about US but I knew Persis Khambatta made a name for herself there for being in Star Trek movies (Oh she looked so beautiful even when she had to shave her head due to her head injuries), if there was no Courtney Walsh I would never know about West Indies,if it's not for the man with green eyes,Mr. Imran Khan who stood tall on the pitch endorsing Pakistan I would never even know it existed !!!!! 

I wonder why did they choose not to use these interesting figures (!) while teaching geographic locations. I would probably top the class if they had and who knows , I'd have become a traveler living out of suitcases and bombarding you all with my travelogues. But some places are more interesting even when not endorsed by attractive people like Bali, Rome, Afghanistan ( how I wish I could visit Afghanistan and get out alive!?) but they never teach anything about these places in school ,do they? 

Even languages should be made attractive to learn. The other day I bumped into this lady who stays in my building and she said she's taking French classes. Believe me, the only french I know is of no use there. But again ,the only french I know is sufficient to bind people together. Mouth is made for communication and what's more articulate than a kiss ,isn't it? 

Don't run with your leg, run with your mind !

You know how people say that they carry the burden on their shoulders?! Well, I have been carrying it too but not only on my shoulders but all over my body which made it so impossible for me to even dream about running. But that day something changed  inside me when my weight switched places and I said yes to running. 

When I stood among all those women who looked not too different than my own self, I realized how I had been wrong. He said " I'm glad I saved all the good looking ones to the last" and the girls screamed with joy but I told myself " Don't take it so personally!" Again I was wrong. Their positive approach was so contagious, I could hardly keep away. 

I'm not motored on impulse, may be spontaneous but never impulse for sure. But this was an impulse decision that I'm not going to regret for the rest of my life. I surprised my husband too. He had thought I was going to complete marathon walking just like last year. His face lit up when he saw me running and I knew that I had done the right thing.

It was time for introspection and I had 3km to complete. I questioned myself how many wrongs made this one right? I realized that I had been trying to run with my legs but this time I made sure it was my mind. A very dear friend of mine always says I have head weight and I wish I had listened to his words carefully then itself. From then on too many people were playing on my mind. My hubby for encouraging (forcing?) me to get started , Bryan Adams and MLTR (couldn't listen to boom boom music) and this friend of mine constantly saying ' I told you so'. I'm sure all of them were more tired than I was as they were pacing through my mind till I hit 'finish'. Thanks to all of them who were on my mind without their knowledge !!!!

Totally, it was worth it. I felt liberated when I returned to the stadium and saw my husband's broad smile and my son screaming ' I'm proud of you amma'.
Lesson learnt : Don't run with your leg, run with your mind. And I know I'm going to here this ' I told you so' more and more to a point where I'm going to kick myself for acknowledging this. But again, it's worth it :-)

I guess one more write-up from one more person about running is not going to hurt anyone or is it ??!!

That’s the curious thing about love !

Blurred and cloudy air clears out and two people appear from behind it. He looks at her in lot of pain and his eyes are sparkling with the tears welling up and about to start trickling down.

 He : " Why? why did you do that?"
She : " That was the most sensible thing I could do at that point of time." she says thoughtfully avoiding his gaze.
 He : " Sensible?... huh, she says sensible now."
She : " Look I know how hard it is and I couldn't let everyone I love, go through it. And you were thousands and thousands of miles away."
 He : " Now look miss, geography is not a problem at all and yes, how would you know? you have always been very poor at it since our school days."
        He tries to smile at his own humor and she follows him.
 He : " And you decided to go through it alone? I know you have a family to support you but didn't you know I would feel left out?"
She : " It's not that I wanted to hide , it's just that I was trying to protect people I know. It's madness how you feel. It doesn't mean I love you any less."
He : " It's not love if it's not madness." He holds her little finger and continues " You will always be my girl and I want to put you somewhere you can't get hurt."
She : " Really? you are dangerous!" she says winking.
 He : " How so?" He pretends to be curious.
She : " Yeah, because you make me believe in impossible things." This time she has tears in her eyes. " Believe me , I was kind of disappointed when I heard it was not fatal!"
 He : " Why? See now that madness is dangerous, even I wouldn't say things like that."  He puts his arms around her affectionately and says " Why do you think I'm put up where I am, far from you ? It will never be fatal until it's time for us to be together."

She looks up at him and the tears begin to trickle down. Her vision is blurred again, she starts feeling the cold breeze and opens her eyes to find herself on the bed. It strikes to her 'as long as there are shooting stars in store for me, my time would never come'. She sighs but fails to bring herself to smile before falling asleep.

" That's the curious thing about love, isn't it? It makes very ordinary things seem special. It makes them seem so much more valuable than they really are."
- Alexander McCall Smith, Trains and Lovers

Intoxicated..........so be it !!!!

Somethings are a bliss in life and we don't realize it that often, either that or we are too busy looking in a wrong direction we almost forget what's actually a bliss. 

Sitting down at 2 in the noon ,sipping hot green tea (call me crazy) and listening to the mesmerizing Kishore. It's a luxury I cannot afford everyday but today is one such blissful day and it reminds me why 'Aise na mujhe tum dekho' or 'tum bin jaoon kahan' kind of songs have been so popular. They still have the power to take you to a dream land riding on an invisible(for those who don't ride) yet colorful rainbow! 

I still believe (like most people) that 'Roop tera mastana' and ' Aaj rapat jaaye ' kind of songs are more sensuous and seductive than many of the latest provocative songs. These old maestros including the lyricists are like snake charmers. They get you to nod to whatever they 'say' or should I say 'sing'? You know what charm is, don't you? 'A way of getting you to say 'yes' without having asked any clear question' and these men are experts at it. Tell me who doesn't want to fall for ' Mere Dil me Aaj Kya Hai, Tu Kahe To Main Batadoo'.  

Huh.. is it normal to get high on songs (especially close to Valentine's day weekend?). If it's not then I don't want to be normal! When you are intoxicated to a point beyond 'I-care-peanuts', then so be it ;-) ! 

New leaf turned over !

Moving is painstaking and yes, it's inevitable. It's physically draining and emotionally exhausting ( did I mismatch the words?). Nevertheless, when your kid starts to enjoy the new place it's all worth it, isn't it? Now it's upto adults to cope with the new place and newest neighborhood. As well as the kids are concerned they are like magicians, you begin to wonder ' when and how did they become so adaptable?' (inspite of all your effotrs ;-)! ) 

At times, I enjoy the conversations with new people. For example what happened today in the park,I met a lady who struck a conversation.

Her: What's his name? ( pointing at my son)
Me : Neil
Her: Is it ' N-double e-l'?
Me : That too but this one is 'N-e-i-l'.
(Hmmmm, really? how does that matter when you don't have to spell his name every time?)
Her : And your good name?
Me  : Will the  bad one do?
Her : -blank-
Me  : ( huh, such a PJ), It's Geetha but I don't know if it's good !
 ( I almost bit my tongue when I realized I said it out loud. It sounded so much better inside my head, trust me it did :-( ).
Her :  No No, everybody's name is good.
Me  : Well yeah thanks ( I asked for it!).

Sometimes I wonder if I'm socially challenged. What do you all think? Wait.... don't answer that !!!! But the last one reminded me of one of the t-shirts I had when I was in my 20s. It was written ' I'm one of those bad things that happen to good people' ! Hehehehe, I felt it was very cool until now but I guess 30s is not for that kind of show-off !