Showing posts with label Tags. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tags. Show all posts

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Six-Word Memoirs

Another one of those Facebook exercises - - There's this book "Not Quite What I Was Planning"; its a compilation of memoirs written by people; each one lasts only 6 words. I haven't read the book yet; but a friend on Facebook prompted me to try writing my own 6-word-autobiography.

Ordinarily, I never have a problem being concise; but describing my whole life in 6 words took a lot of attempts (besides, am I not way too young to be writing an autobiography?)
"An epic drama. Tears & laughter."
"Turned 30. Don't feel it yet."
"My optimism made me like this."
"Wish I could sing or paint."
"Been in love. Been loved. Yippie!"

I finally settled for this:
"Ordinary things happened between extra-ordinary moments."

I know its pretty lame (too generalised?); but somehow it was the only 6-worded sentence that could sum up my life so far. Give it a shot; not as easy as it looks! :)

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

25 Things About Me

A facebook tag from my friend Aquin; so here are 25 things about me:

1) I was born in Mumbai & it still is my favourite city. Growing up, I never realised that it was such a difficult place to live in for people who aren't born there. I see that now, but love the city anyway.

2) I love Bollywood. Not because I don't see its absurdity; but I love it inspite of the absurdity. Maybe even for it. After all, this is a world where Rakhee can be confident that her dead sons will return to kill Durjan Singh; and then they do return; without seeming even remotely far-fetched.

3) I enjoy reading. My favourite classical authors are probably Tagore & Tolstoy. While in Dubai, I found myself reading a lot of Arab authors & really enjoyed most of them. It changed my perceptions about Arab literature. These days, I'm digging some good Chinese authors.

4) I have a long wish-list of art I would love to own. But its always the expensive one's that I like (and therefore can't buy). I aspire to have a MF Hussain in my home someday.

5) The current #1 on my list of must-visit travel destinations is China & Japan. China, because I want to see Beijing; I've heard so much about it! And Japan because I want to eat Jap food. And also because I wonder if Tokyo is anything like what they show in the movies.

6) I believe in God; but I'm not God-fearing. I don't believe in rituals; I find that they lose meaning over a generation or two. I do believe in prayers though. I go to temples or churches occassionally (very rarely actually); but I prefer connecting with God in the solitude of my own home.

7) I love my work. There's nothing else that I would rather do professionally. But that doesn't mean I don't find my weekends awfully short.

8) I find 25 is an incredibly large number; I don't have that much to talk about myself!

9) I try to eat healthy; but rarely succeed.

10) My cooking skills have improved since I moved to Singapore. But H is still the better cook among the both of us.

11) My earliest childhood memories involve me fighting with my brother. He was bigger & stronger than me; but I had a shorter temper. So I inevitably picked up fights that I had no chance of winning.

12) I was a nerd in school. I used to wear big plastic glasses & had braces on my teeth. I was quite like Ugly Betty. Except I never got a job in a fashion magazine. And never had a cute boss.

13) Everyone who knows H & I as a couple, acknowledge that we're poles apart. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But its been 9 years and we're still going strong; so I guess we work.

14) I have a habit of asking hypothetical questions to H to gauge his love for me. Like, "will you re-marry if I die?" or "if you knew the world was coming to an end in the next 2 minutes, what would you do?". He never gives me the answers that I expect (i.e. "of course not; I'll never get over you" and "I will hold your face one last time"). His answers are always unromantic (i.e. "I'll die before you do because women have better life expectancy" or "If the world is coming to an end anyway, I will smoke as many cigerettes as I can without worrying about its health effects"). Inspite of those answers, I feel compelled to ask him more questions.

15) The pregnancy has changed me a great deal. Its one of the rare occassions when I find myself thinking more about another person, rather than myself. Before this, I was pretty much self-absorbed.

16) My dad has been my hero for the longest time. Until he got older & I realised there was a negative side to being a stubborn over-achiever. I still do consider him the most intelligent man I've come across. Sadly, that part of the gene pool went to my brother rather than me. I only got his looks, which lets be honest, aren't very impressive. I would've rather inherited my mother's looks.

17) I find its never a good idea to ask, "so what's new?" when I run out of conversation. In my experience, 99% of the time, the other person will respond with "nothing".

18) I like to dunk biscuits in my tea or coffee.

19) I love my nephew. Cuddling him (whenever he allows me to do that) is the most satisfying thing ever. The fact that he hates it does not bother me.

20) I hate awkward conversations. I can never tell someone, "I think your fly is open"; I would rather pretend I didn't notice.

21) I love the British accent.

22) I can't believe I've said 21 things about myself already!

23) I hate smoking ever since I lost my grand-dad to cancer. Yet, I'm married to a smoker :(

24) I like the idea of spending old age in a small cottage in the mountains surrounded by green valleys & blue brooks. Maybe Nainital. But I know I'll never get there. I'm too used to city comforts.

25) I'm the worst driver I know.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Tagged

Got tagged by J...

Last movie you saw in a theater - Michael Clayton

What book are you reading - "A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers"

Favorite board game -Scrabble

Favorite smells - Herbal Essence hair products

Favorite sound - My nephew's babbling

Worst feeling in the world - Hatred

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up - Check my blackberry (I'm pathetic, I know)

Favorite fast food place - A dimsum place near work (yes, that counts as fast food in this part of the world). "Subway" is also a favourite.

Future child's name - Need to discuss with H first!

Finish this statement. "If I had a lot of money, i'd...." -Make a movie with Johnny Depp. And buy a holiday home in the Alps.

Do you drive fast - Not really. I'm a bad driver.

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal - No. Although H does have a tendency of stuffing himself (especially when he gets Indian food)

Storms- Cool or scary -Scary.

What was your first car - Ford Ikon.

Favorite drink - Coconut water.

Finish this statement. "If I had the time, I would..." - Travel around the world. Write my autobiography.

Do you eat the stems on broccoli? -Yes

If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice? - brown streaks.

Name all the different cities/towns you have lived in - Mumbai, Pune, Dubai, Singapore

Favorite sports to watch - Cricket, Tennis.

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you -His music

What's under your bed? - The floor.

Would you like to be born as yourself again? - Absolutely. Wouldn't mind being born as the Sultan of Brunei though.

Morning person or night owl - Morning person.

Over easy or sunny side up -Sunny side up.

Favorite place to relax -By the ocean.

Favorite pie - Apple pie

Favorite icecream flavor -Cookies & cream.

Of all the people you tagged this to, who is most likely to respond first? - ??? They're all pretty lazy :)

Who gets tagged next - Lalunadiosa, Jas, 666

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

This book had been on my wishlist for the longest time. Its not a page-turner, I admit; its a story of soul-searching & spiritual evolution... not the easiest subjects for a casual evening read. Until of course, you reach the end of this story-journey & it all seems so simple, so straight forward, and the beauty & depth of Hesse's prose takes your breath away.

While on this book, Kaya tagged me here. This is how her tag works....I'm supposed to write down 3 sentences from sentence no. 5 on pg. 123 of the book nearest to me. Which brings me to a quote from Siddhartha himself:


"Here we are in the middle of the thicket of opinions, in a battle of words. For I can not deny that my words about love stand in opposition, in apparent opposition to Gautama's words. This is precisely why I distrust words so much."

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Five things you don’t know about me

We were moving apartments last week & I was away from blogging while my internet connection was lost in a big mess of wires waiting to be re-connected. In the meanwhile, Kaya tagged me to write about ‘Five things you don’t know about me!

So here goes:
1. My favourite way of spending a weekend usually involves one of the following: books, movies, art, friends, nice dinner, and interesting conversations.
2. I am a dud when it comes to electronics, cars & technology. I depend on H completely when having to make decisions involving any of these.
3. I love traveling & taking holidays (who doesn’t!); but I also get home-sick quite quickly.
4. My most horrible habits include biting my nails & checking my blackberry too often.
5. I can be so well-organised & hard-working at work, but I’m a slob at home (I hate doing dishes or ironing clothes!)

Time to tag the next five: they are Clickable, Optimistic Guard, Moi, Mr.J, Happy Reader

Thursday, April 26, 2007

The Restaurant Tag

Lotus tagged me with the ‘5 Favourite Places to eat in my City’ & being such a foodie, I’ve been wondering how I could make a shortlist of only 5 places. So I’m going go about this one cuisine at a time:

1) I was introduced to good Lebanese cuisine only when I moved to Dubai about 3 years ago. The shawarma is the single biggest gift Arabs have given to the world (Nah, its not oil, if you thought it was, then you haven’t eaten good shawarmas yet). And the best place for a good shawarma is not in a fancy Leb restaurant, but at road-side stalls. Personally I think the chicken shawarmas at Al Malla in Satwa are the best; but if I’m in the mood for more classy dining I like Nafoorah in Emirates Towers.

2) Another cuisine I tried in Dubai for the first time was Pakistani cuisine. Most people think Indian & Pakistani cuisines are the same. Not quite. Sure, they both have spices & curries; but if you’ve tried the Friday buffet at Barbeque Delights opposite Lamcy, you’ll know how the two cuisines are yummy in different ways!

3) With the huge number of Brits, one can’t escape an English restaurant in Dubai. English breakfasts are the best thing to start a weekend with & I guess nobody does that better than More Café (Murooj) or Coco’s (Shk Zayed Road). And fish-n-chips are best had at Double Decker!!

4) For Oriental food, the best restaurants are Noodle House, or the teriyaki grill at Tokyo@the Towers (Emirates Towers) – an entertaining chef chops & cooks in front of you; but mind you, he gets uncomfortable if you ask him which part of Japan he belongs to, because he is actually a Philipino :) . Sushi is not in my favourite list, but I quite liked the sushi in Sumo Bento at the 1st interchange.

5) Desserts are not a cuisine by themselves, but there are so many places I like just for their desserts! The sizzling brownie at Nandos & the carrot cake at Limetree are pure yumminess!

Finally, as per the rules of the tag, I need to tag five people from five cities; and the lucky (!!) people are: Meghna (New York), Lalunadiosa (Ithaca), Kaya (Abu Dhabi), Ayesha (Mumbai), Suramya (Bangalore).