the 50 question tag

This one's from delhidreams. Long time since I even blogged. But I somehow like tags.

01. What time did you get up this morning?
at 9:45 a.m.!!!

02. How do u like your steak?
No stake on steak

03. What was the last film you saw at a cinema?
watched Kaminey yday :)

04. What is your favorite TV show?
Not a big fan of TV. But if I spot Friends running , I am surely going to watch it.

05. If you could live anywhere in the world, where it would be?
Right where I am at the moment. The place which has given me a life back.

06. What did you have for breakfast?
A granola bar, and a slice of bread with margarine.

07. What is your favorite cuisine?
Indian. Nothing beats it! Then Italian, Hakka Chinese.

08. What foods do you dislike?
Healthy foods :)

09. Favorite place to eat?
A lot of them... Pizza Hut for Pizzas, Aahar for Indian food, Lingarden for Hakka Chinese...

10. As Adee pointed, there was no question number 10!

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
A bike (LOL read bicycle). Also trying to drive a car.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
PJs and skirts for summer, Sweaters for winters, Saris for parties/weddings

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Everywhere!! Italy, Paris, Switzerland, The Caribbean, Dalhousie, Vancouver, Nova Scotia, Srinagar, Ooty, Kodaikanal, Kerala.... you name it and fund me!!!!

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Umm 1/2 full...

15. Where would you want to retire?
In Canada!

16. Favorite time of the day?
Night... Other than that, evenings and chai sessions :)

17. Where were you born?
India

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
I'd rather play than watching. Chess. But cricket in bits and pieces. May be live badminton...

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
I donno. What a person chooses is entirely their choice...

20. Person you expect to tag back you first?
Donno.

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
Anyone who continues. Humans are more interesting than one can ever imagine.

22. Bird watcher?
No.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Totally a night person.

24. Do you have any pets?
Pet animals, no. Pets yes :)

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
Stay tuned for one... There's none at the moment, but this life makes us anticipate... and I am anticipating some soon

26. What did you want to do when you were little?
I wanted to be a teacher, and then an environmentalist...

27. What is your best childhood memory?
Of ours being the only house surrounded by farms far and wide, of the gas station, of random people lifting me and taking me out, of a swing in the verandah of my house, of a lot of pictures of mine, of the most loving parents, of an extremely happy, lucky and carefree childhood.

28. Are you a cat person or a dog person?
Both. Actually more of a cat person, coz not all dogs are cute.

29. Are you married?
No.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Mostly. Wouldn't like to be fined you see :)

31. Been in a car accident?
Touchwood, no.

32. Any pet peeves?
:)

33. Favorite pizza toppings?
Cheese and tomatoes. Even pineapple. Green pepper and onions are OK. Olives, mushrooms, jalapenos are a big NO-NO.

34. Favorite flower?
Tulips for their beauty, sunflowers for their happiness, red roses for their passion.

35. Favorite ice cream?
Chocolate.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
I donno. There's not one "fast food" place here that sells all kinds of fast foods...

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
LOL. I canceled it coz I knew I would fail it :p, and I am waiting to give my first one sometime soon.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Honey P.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Since it's not happening, I would like to choose the Bay. Actually I don't think I can do that at just one store. I can do it in one day, at a number of stores.

40. Do anything spontaneously?
A lot of things. Eat out, watch movies. I am also an impulsive buyer, so shopping counts too.

41. Happy with your job?
Yes :) :p

42. Brocolli?
No. It's healthy!

43. What was your favorite vacation?
lol. The entire summer of 2009!

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
MP, RV and NM.

45. What are you listening to right now?
Some gora music been playing in this coffee shop.

46. What is you favorite color?
Blue, in a lot of its shades.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
Four.

49. In what time did you finish this quiz?
Close to 45 minutes, just coz I was multi-tasking.

50. Coffee drinker?
Yepp, totally. Can have upto 3 coffees a day, and still be able to sleep peacefully in the night.

PS: Would like Apsy, Peenuts, Rahul, Satish to please respond to the tag ...

The Catch Up Session

It's been forever since I have been away from Blogger. My life's moving faster than I can take it. I still haven't caught up with myself... let alone catching up with my blog... I really have no time to catch up with myself - life's taking me on a zooming rollercoaster ride. And I'm totally loving it! I've never been happier, never been more content. I don't have a spare moment to sit and think - the past and the future isn't there. It's the present, and has really come like a present in my life.

But I do miss writing. There are times when my mind's so full of ideas, there are times when I know I want to write, but, well, I don't have the time...

So anyway, a brief update of my life-at-the-moment follows. In terms of work, have been able to complete two successful semesters, and am starting up with my research. Besides that, my time in the day gets spent in cooking. Evenings are for tea and samosa-and-the-likes-of-it sessions. Weekends are abuzz with friends or partying or with traveling here and there, including home. I go for occasional Shiamak Davar dance classes. I've also got a bike (read bicycle) and go biking in the evenings these days. Ottawa is extremely pretty and scenic, and has a biking route along the Ottawa river. I'm loving the summer in Ottawa, although it rains quite often here. Also included in the plan is to get registered for a Beginner's French course in July-August. There's also been a decent amount of addition to my zoo. I'll post the pictures of my lovey-dovey animals some other day I guess.

That I guess is the extremely brief summary of the current happenings in the life of Chunky. Adieus world, I am off to biking very soon =)

Mood of the moment: Chirpy

Song of the moment: Chalte-chalte hu hi ruk jaata hoon main (Mohabbatein)

Time of the moment: 12:45 p.m.

The Change

It was for quite a while that everything in life was right or wrong for me. There was no third category where I categorized events - I tried to do things that were right and felt guilty for doing things that were in the wrong category. Most things in life are relative - so are right and wrongs. Things have changed now. The guilt has decreased for doing the wrong things now. As you grow up, the guilt takes a corner in the heart, or rather, we push the guilt to occupy one of the darkest corners of the heart. And once you are able to do this is when you lose your innocence and step into the world of adults.

Things are more "me oriented" now. I do things I "want" to do. Hiding is not lying. lol that is what I say to console myself... I do not know if that is a good thing or bad, but that is how it is now. Life is an ever continuing learning process, and I'm doing my part of the learning. And my part of the living as well. Oh well, the only thing that doesn't have place in my life is regrets, after cigarettes!!!

For the time being, people, listen to Delhi-6 (Masakali and Dil gira kahin par dafatan)... Masakali is amazingly mast and dil gira is an awe-filled song. Must listen I say...


P.S: @Satish, I haven't forgotten the post... I know it's taking a bit longer, but yea, trust me, I am going to get it done soon :)

The sun rose today!

I got a chance to see the sunrise today after countably many days!! I saw the dusk turn into dawn and the dawn give way to morning. On the west side of the sky was the moon waxed to its three-fourths and on the east side of the sky the sun was cheerfully spreading its lovely red wings and gracefully coming up past the horizon. An amazing site to see... the very warm sunshine wanted a part of me to believe that it was pleasantly warm outside, but good thing our weathermen have more impact on us to make us believe that despite the tricky warm sunshine, the temperature outside is -34 degrees. Yes, and it was very cold outside! After a meager sleep of 1 hour in the previous night, I couldn't enjoy the morning freshness for a long time :).
And I am very tired at the moment, however, not sleepy :) The insomnia is back!!! :)

Just Another Day!

I sit sharing my hot cup of large coffee with my loneliness at the Timmie's close to my home. Staring out of the Timmie's glass window has become my favourite, and in fact, the only past time these days. Everything's white outside, with the hillocks of snow been reducing in height everyday since the past three days - it hasn't snowed again since then in my part of the world. There's a transit bus shelter right outside the coffee shop which has been abandoned for more than a month now. One side of the shelter has a huge poster reading "Be part of the Solution - Take Transit". It couldn't get more ironic than this, specially at this given time when the public transit of my world has been on strike for more than a month and has crippled a lot of people and businesses alike.

A few cars are on the road - the area's quite and it's 9:40 p.m. on a Sunday evening. A very small bunch of people are out there too - it is minus 13 degrees with the wind blowing at 10 kmph afterall - either they must be bored or need urgent groceries and the transit's not an option. The Timmie's staff is busy doing their chores even if there are no customers in here except for me.

I like this time of the day because I am purely dedicated to my loneliness. We smile, we think, we talk. My companion loneliness hasn't left me ever. It's been there when I have been alone and when I have needed a friend. There have been times when it has been there with me even when I have been amidst people. I've grown so used to its presence and thank it for literally, always being there with me!

But anyway, I am done with the last sip of my coffee and realize it is high time I get to home and have my dinner. Good bye world! It is 10:00 p.m.


P.S. The photograph is not related to the place I was at! It's a picture clicked on the snowy afternoon of 7th Jan 2009 outside my house.

Longgg time!!

I have been missing for the longest time now! And where have I been? In a world where all that I literally saw was a bunch of assignments, papers, presentations and exams... It sure is a crazy world! CRAZZZZZZZZZY!!
And finally, I am done with my first semester. Can you believe it? It has been a huge change in my life. And positive one at that. Yes, there are days when I go without food :) but I guess it's all good! There are days when I choose between cooking and working, and between sleeping and working. My health hasn't been fine for the longest time either, but I guess it's still all good! And I am luvin' it. I am all set to go home, take a month long break, and hopefully come back revived and refreshed. I really hope my trip home doesn't have any surprises, if you know what I mean! ;)
And the new year is fast approaching as well. 2008 wasn't necessarily a bad year for me. It wasn't. Part of it was, but overall, there have been worst times I can say. I've taken my time to do my part of learning. I am now taking time to do things I want to do, before life starts sucking again :)
A list of stuff is awaiting my attention before I leave for home - from laundry to cleaning to returning library books to filling some crucial number of forms to talking to my supervisor to filing claims to.... urghhh - it is stuff that hasn't been taken care of for more than a month now; I guess I need a to-do-list and start crossing items I need to get done one by one.
I haven't blogged for the longest time either. Call it lack of time, or some contribution of laziness, it will both be true. There were times when I had an urgent need to blog. There were times when I wrote stuff to post it, but haven't done so. My walks, although became infrequent, were still very much not affected by the cold whether (was due to the workload). I feel the need to walk, and Ottawa's cold weather still hasn't come in the way! Oh well, it's not even half as cold as Ottawa gets. It's decent - negative 7 is how far it is as of now and has just snowed two times till now. Ottawa's like my boyfriend - I am always praising it, regardless of the downsides =). Talking about downsides, well there's funnily none! I miss my friends in Toronto, and I miss home. I miss telling my family that my health has not been good and I miss their care, but Ottawa does seem to cover it all up!!
The Mumbai massacre left me in pieces, as it did to a humongous lot of people. And not surprisingly, I got emails about people taking pride in the "spirit of Mumbai" to move on. And about signing some form. Tons of questions I am sure walked around, some answered, some responded to with mugged answers, some, or most, left unanswered in a hope that they will soon drown and die out, as have numerous other questions overtime. It is sadly pathetic. A very bizarre thought comes to my mind - how come the extremely brainless lot of people are ALL being born in the Indian sub-continent? It's disastrous. The everyday humdrum doesn't however, come to a complete hault. Yes, Mumbai has to move on.
That, I guess is it about me! Wasn't that a potpourri? And ppl, I haven't heard from a lot many of you for the longest time as well. Please do tell me how life's been with you all :-).

Love me, love me not?

Love me, love me not?
I am but mind with a fear besought...

Love me, love me not?
I am but a heart that's distraught...

Love me, love me not?
I am but a gently fading illusion...

Love me, love me not?
I am but the burnt wick of the torch...

The Echo

Song of the moment: Shaam se aankh mein nami si hai

It was like the dust was scratched off the top of the trunk of memories to reveal the lock; it all came back like the dark cloud from the Pandora's box. It's been a year. One goddamn year, can you believe it. It is strange how everything including the pain comes alive the moment you start talking about something. And it wasn't passive this time. As well. I am so amazed at myself for being yet so under the influence. 

And apart from the opening of the memory box, I am getting to hear extremely familiar phrases: 

"...kitni vehli ho"

"...sharam naam ki toh koi cheez hi nahi hai"

"...nakhre hi bahut hain"

Do you know what that means? I haven't changed! I am partly happy about it, but partly sad as well... I do not want to be me anymore... I want the me to disappear behind a smiling face forever to not to be able to be reminded myself about me... 

Song of this moment: Maine dil se kaha dhoond laana khushi... 

Zindagi (Life)

Kal ki hi sab baat lagti hai jab
Zindagi thi, mai zinda tha tab

Kisi ki muskurahaton se hi
Zindagi thi, mai muskurata tha tab

Kal hi tanhai mei yaad ayee jo, woh
Zindagi thi, mai aabaad tha tab

Woh saath-saath mei chalti hui
Zindagi thi, mai zinda tha tab

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all seems like yesterday when
Life existed, I was alive then

Someone's smile was the reason
Life existed, I used to smile then

Yesterday, the memory in the solitude
Was life, I used to be befriended then

What used to walk along with me
Was life, I was alive then

The day that was...

And that day was really special. More special than what she had wanted it to be, more special because everything was so unexpected. It was the day that marked her arrival into this world, and every year but this she was extremely excited about it. This year the day was also to be "celebrated" as an anniversary. She had decided she would forgive everyone who forgot her birthday and wanted the minimum number of wishes possible - just because some of them are unavoidable. Despite no publicity and despite no want for wishes, she was actually very glad that people who meant a lot to her wished her.
Did she make a list of people who wished her? Yes! That was custom to count the number of wishes she got on her birthday. That was 39 sans belated and early wishes. Sure the number isn't even close to comparing to the erstwhile birthdays, but well, that's a biggg number for this time.
What made her more glad was that oh-not-so-close people wished her as well. And to top it all, some people she knew for just a couple of months arranged a surprise birthday. The surprise did pleasantly shock her, and it showed on her face. She is extremely thankful to these bunch of people for everything - from wishing her, to convincing her to come to the Dandiya/Garba so she doesn't feel alone, to organizing the surprise cake, above all, for making her forget her "birthday woes" entirely! She hadn't danced as much on any of her previous birthdays, nor had she ever been confronted with such a wonderful surprise.
Along side all the nice things that were happening, she was waiting. And hoping! She watched the clock strike 12 and after 24 hours she saw the clock strike 12 again. Can you believe it? The hope doesn't leave her side usually. And that does hurt at times. At times such as these. When it is more than evident that the wait is not going to be fruitful. And guess what? It wasn't fruitful. Why should it be? After all I am the bedard, ya?

I, Me, and Myself

I've often had people saying, "your blog is so much about you." There, you said it - "your blog"! Well, yea, it is MY BLOG, and I write about me, about stuff I hate, stuff I love, or stuff that has anything to do with me or my thoughts... If anyone has problems, I'd really like to confess I am not changing the way things are written on this blog; you might want to start liking it and continue reading it, or you might want to take a break for all this me-stuff, and blog surf elsewhere!

It is MY blog and will remain so FOREVER...