"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying."

-Robert Herrick

(To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time)

green

Pictures taken on a recent trip to Manali.

This Month's Misadventures, Part 1 - Phuket and Koh Phi Phi.

The much-awaited holiday finally happened. I got to tour the islands and various beaches of Southern Thailand. And since there are a few experiences in life that you just cannot hope to draw into, explicate, or approximate in words, I'll just have to go with "AMAZING", and be done with it. Or, I could try this: 

 

Phi Phi Don

A decision has been made. I was born to live by a beach. No, really. Never am I happier than when I'm either underwater, or over it. And recently, I did both within in a span of 3 hours. More about that later. 

So, fully capitalizing upon a fateful escape from the traps of doom(college) and the supreme awesomeness of my parents, the most blissful, hedonistic, mind-numbingly sensational holiday was had. Braving the edifice that is the T3 terminal, over-familiar immigration officers, and the various aforementioned perils that come with air travel(the least of which is a plane crash), my flight descended on the island of Phuket, in the land of smiles and flagrant transgression. Now, most people who know me, are aware of my obsessive love for the country. What's not to love? The warm tropical weather, the beautiful untouched beaches, the extremely friendly people, the good life. But if I had to put a finger on the one thing I love most about Thailand, it would be that that it feels like the entire country is in a perpetual state of revelry and indulgence- bacchanalian, spiritual or otherwise. Thus, Phuket welcomed with sun, sand, surf, and this:

 

Of course, it was rather amazing that my hotel was a 5-minute walk from Patong beach, which treats ones sore eyes to the sights as refreshing as this:

 

 And this:

Where there were tiny, white crabs darting around everywhere in the sand. Pretty little things, those.

...and nightlife that no pictures will ever do justice to.But any seasoned travel-glutton will vouch for the fact that the best thing about a good hotel is the breakfast buffet. Which I was too busy wolfing down to take pictures of. Just let it be said that danish waffles will be the death of me someday.

Then came the Phi-Phi Islands. But before that, there came the ferry to Phi-Phi Islands. 

  

...and even before that, came the storm. (Notice ominous clouds). 

For the uninitiated:

Storm + Sea = Rough Sea

      Rough Sea + Ferry = Not-a-good-idea

Also, owing to the peculiar strain of irrational bravado that runs in my family, I found myself on the unsheltered top deck. Hanging on for dear life(literally). Without a life-jacket. The waves hitting the ship were so high, that they crashed ON us. On the 3rd deck. Now as exciting and once-in-a-lifetime an experience that may be, yours truly did little more with it than puke her way to glory, all the way to Phi Phi Don. I'll leave out the gory details. But on arriving, it was clear that it was well worth it. I'd do it a thousand times over. Why? 

Here's why:

Blue-green water. White sand. And because of the peculiar alignment on the hills and the island, the waves never reach the beach. All you have are soft ripples on the surface of what looks like a crystal-clear lagoon. Imagine that!

 

I may have known beauty of several kinds, but it's hard to beat one that you can dive headfirst into. 

Then there was Phuket again. And the Chalong temple. And Patong by night. Not to mention, the photogenic cat!

 

Chalong Temple, Phuket

With that ended, the first leg of the tour. Coming soon: Pattaya and Koh Lam.

A Little Bit of India. Everywhere.

Batu Caves, Malaysia

February 2010

Petronas Towers - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

March 2010

This Day's Blurb.

Suburban passive aggression.

For fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities.

White wisps wafted towards the sky. Transparent and weightless, spiraling out through the sunroof. Through the mist you could see a faint glimmer. Or miniaturized apocalypse. It's all about perspective, they always said. With a careful flick of his hand, he dusted the ash off. And wished. There was time, after all. Almost enough.

Silently, she looked out the glass at the street ahead. And wished. If only there were more things he handled as delicately as his cigarettes.

UnderWater.

More from Singapore.
Underwater World - Sentosa

Note: I touched a Sting-ray! And I was inappropriately happy about it.

Notice the expression? Yes. That one. That is the exact look my 5th grade maths teacher wore on her face. Only, evil-er. Exponentially evil-er. Why, she even used blue eyeliner! No wonder I've always hated maths.

An upside-down jellyfish. One of the prettier things I've seen in life.

The Weedy-Seadragon

Where it gets hard to tell what's what. 

The Fire-Eaters.

Night Safari, Singapore

March 2010

Pictures from Singapore.

Merlion Park, Singapore

Under the Bridge, Marina Bay

 Songs of the Sea, Sentosa Island

Singapore Flyer - Worm's Eye View

Chinatown

...

Closure.

Pennies and strings
and a button or two,
maybe a picture
perhaps of you.

Little lost treasures
I was carrying
in a pocket,
all these years.

Some gathered
to capture that,
which could not be
held in constancy.

A few things
to remind us,
that the past
can breathe life
into the present.

All of which
will be thrown out
with the trash tomorrow.

Except the letter.
.......................................................
That, would have to be burned.

Of Earthworms and the MNS Connect.

An andolan against North Indians? A controversy out of not referring to Bombay by its colloquial(and rather crass-sounding) name?

And now, an outright disruption of a state assembly session because Azmi took the oath in THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF INDIA! What next? Work permits to work in Maharashtra? Seriously? Last I checked, Maharashtra was a state. A part of India. Not a separate country.

I find Raj Thackeray too ridiculous to pass a serious comment on. I would merely choose to sneeze in his general direction. Sons of the Soil. Yeah, right. As is evident, earthworms have far more to their credit.

(Pretty little thing spotted on college campus. Prettier than Thackeray, at any rate. It's a caterpillar, after all.)

Confession #3

I acquire a decidedly feminine demeanor when I'm upset.

Bear with me, for this is an embarrassing confession of EPIC proportions. ME, being the person who wore pink ONCE in her life and suffered enough mental trauma and general inferiority to never be able to look at anything pink without a grimace again. It was a dark day in the life of yours truly. I still have nightmares about it.

So, for posterity (lest I grow a beard-and-other-things one fine day and become the happiest person in the world), here's a list :

• I cook.
• I clean.
• I KNIT.
• I listen to chick-music. The kind no self-respecting person would be caught dead carrying on their iPod. Not James Blunt. Think lower. Think woozier. Think Belinda Carlisle and Cyndi Lauper.
  
• I watch sappy TV shows and IDENTIFY with the much-scorned and wronged protagonist.
  

Come to think of it, the last time I was in the end-the-world-right-here-right-now mood was in January. I knitted half a scarf and watched the first 4 seasons of Grey's Anatomy in 2 days flat.

Here's a picture, as proof :

I also started this blog.

So...

Diwali came and went.

And I spent it trying to negotiate with a particularly virulent throat-infection. Do you know what I did not do? I didn't magnify my carbon footprint by a million times. I didn't even aim aerial fireworks into any nosy, obnoxious neighbor's houses. Imagine the agony.

I feel decrepit.
The coughing, wheezing, doubled-over in pain kind.

And I sound like Sunny Deol. No shit.

The Opulence of the Absolute.

तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थमहमज्ञानजं तमः |
नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता ||

From The Bhagavad Gita.
(Chapter 10, Verse 11)

Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali.

Joy / Wonder

Of Tales That Will Never Be Told.

An unlikely congregation.

You and me,
and all of our friends.
Some old,
most found anew.

Whispers passed,
among prattle and cheers.
A twinkle caught,
by one too many.

The illusion,
of much being said.
When realities
stay much too fragile.

Perhaps a skeleton,
waiting to tumble out.
Or a secret- bound by faith,
and a forgotten promise.

Distortions, scandal,
deception, treachery.
Lost in days of inebriation,
and nights of debauchery.

Happy Independence Day, India.

January 7, 2009. India Gate, New Delhi.

Congratulations on 62 years of self-governance.

It's always better to be doing your own thing, than to have your fate decided by the whims of another. Particularly when the interests of "another" show mutual exclusion from your own. Even if the resultant mess may be somewhat harder to deal with, subterfuge is always to the rescue.

And because list-posts leave very little room for BS,

Things I love about India :

1. Diversity. A blinding, overwhelming extent of it. Geographical, cultural, linguistic, religious, communal, and economical.

2. The very prevalent amalgamation of the aforementioned diversity. It is, in effect, an explosion of colors far more than you would ever find on the world's most expansive palette.

3. Having the right to make your own choices and live by them.
India is a country that doesn't tell you to be something she wants you to be. There is no code to be followed, no stringent norms to adhere to. Society here, gives you a taste of everything you may want. From anarchy and chaos, to a communist sense of order. India, imposes no expectations.

4. One doesn't have to be filthy rich(by global standards) to have a taste of the good life. Through the practice of which, one quickly learns what it entails. Boredom.

5. The fact that when you're sitting in a cafe with a group of friends, odds are that each one of them speaks a different language at home. Yet, if you ever get them to bring it to the table, each one would be understood perfectly by all. (Try it. It happens.)

6. Opportunity. The nation makes no pretenses about the dog-eat-dog philosophy. Fight for your life, and get it. In a place where law is more about working your way around it, it's the only fair game to play. And growing up in such an environment, if you make the slightest of efforts, gives you a rock solid sense of judgment. Needless to mention, a certain degree of savoir-faire.

7. The people. Melodramatic and theatrical. Completely OTT, mostly harmless. Usually annoying, but ever-present. I doubt if the extent of inter-personal interaction we have here is paralleled anywhere else in the world. You learn to hate them with a vengeance, but once in an odd while, they surprise you. In a good way.

8. The tangible heritage. Epics, mythology, beautiful monuments (temples, dargahs, sarais, tombs, stupas, churches, etc), ancient crafts kept alive by modern artisans(regional paintings, sculptures, etc), various schools of music(Carnatic, Hindustani, Sufi, etc) , dances and martial arts. No point in extending the list. I might as well make an Indi-pedia out of it.

9. Spicy food. Praise the Lord for chillies and garlic!


Things that will eventually drive me out of here :

1. Decadence. It's like a disease. Or weeds. Penetrating every inch of existence, every aspect of being. Slowly corroding everything it touches. Till it all begins to resemble red, blood-stained scraps of metal.

2. Gender Oppression. No matter what fate you are born to, no matter what you do, it's there. Whether you choose to bend under it's weight, or fight against it, it is a crucial part of your existence. You live through life feeling either violated, or having to fight it every step along the way. But it never goes away. As a child, you're lucky to be loved and wanted. And are asked to be thankful for that fact. Thankful for what? For being loved despite being a girl? DESPITE? You grow up feeling intimidated. Scared. Inhibited. Locked up in a cage for your own safety. Because it's a big, bad world out there. As a woman, you are treated like a piece of meat dangling on a hook. With no respect, no honor, and no voice. You yell, you shout. But even a million voices shouting with you are drowned out by a roar. The deafening roar that bears down on you with the gravity that reality brings with itself.

3. The deplorable state of the education system.
With no credit given to actual learning, original thought is suppressed all over. Mug-and-regurgitate. No research involved.

4. Nepotism and the power of political influence.

5. The widespread resistance to learning. I know exactly what I mean by this, but don't want to put it in words.

6. Disregard for the value of human life and time.

7. The clearly laid out outlines of public morality, present only for the purpose of keeping up appearances.

8. An assent(and absurdly, a preference) for mediocrity.

9. An ineffectual government.

10. The need to get more out of life. Much more than what 3,287,590 km² of land and 1/6th of the world's population has to offer.

To conclude, some things are and some things are not. That doesn't mean that they can't be better.
Thank you for your time.

Now go fly kites.

Tiny Russian Dolls.

(Because the Russian variety is harder to find.)

The oddities are not,
what they are thought to be.
Not spread over space,
but coalesced into layers.

One within the other,
another within the last.
A million different people,
intertwined through many pasts.

Like tiny Russian dolls,
that tell stories of their time.
Enclosing a million little secrets,
or an odd, unforgivable crime.