news all around

Am reading an average of four newspapers a day along with magazines and a few books and with the entry of a data card into my life one more activity gets added....blogging.
The Tv has been monopolised by the husband.Back after routine tour and the "I am missing home"thingy,he picks up the remote like long lost wife and is back to watching tv.So silly wife asks silly question...."do you love me or the Tv"....after being married for as long as we have one must say that was asking for trouble.
So here we are, one engrossed in movie and one busy reading all that one can get.Its a perfect partnership.

Getting back to my newspapers,I am now an expert on why Madhuri Dixit is back in the movies,what its like to be a star at 40 in an industry that doesn't accept age among women.I aware of Sanjay Dutts homecoming,his private jet and his forthcoming movies.I know that Britney Spears is throwing a lavish Christmas party.....hey wait a minute,I am reading serious news.This is my daily diet and call me fluffy but looks like half the world or at least half of India is reading this stuff and loving it.

The outcome of all this is that I plan to see Om Shanti Om very soon(even though I wont understand a word of the movie,not knowing the language),after which its all the other Hindi movies and I shall be updated on most things that matter to India.For the rest of the time I am off to watch BBC news(news the way I knew it) and as for entertainment,hey....that's what newspapers are for.

want to break free

I want to break free.....that song was one of my favourites but its meaning struck just a few years or months ago.Brought up on a regime of being steady in a job(meaning a government job was the best one to have)keeping the faith and rising slowly but surely etc meant that job hopping was not for me.For a long time this value system helped and sustained.Then all of a sudden the industry opened up and hey there were jobs a plenty.
Somewhere there was a reckless me,dormant for years and in need to break free,so when the bug bit it was time for action.One calculated risk(in retrospect only) and there I was in anew job which by any stretch of imagination was a hard one to crack but it came with a lot of perks.Freedom to do ones own thinking (big plus),freedom to work in ones own style and a chance to meet all kinds of people and be up against all kinds of situations.The like life always is,thing settle down and routine sets in.So what does one do.You guess it,look around ....
The thing with adventure is that its a catching habit,so here I am again in yet another reckless move and having fun at it.Freedom to act,to be to wonder and to do....then what?I am getting the hang of this,next step hitchhike to some far off place...who knows what comes at the next corner

hot buttered toast and chutney

In the mad rush of peak hour traffic,I happened for a split second to look to my right and it set off a series of memories.It instantly brought to mind hot buttered toast and tomato chutney.A not so common combination but thats the memory attached to that place.
Its a set of government quarters set in a sprawling estate on haddows road.My elder sister had a friend who lived there and as I was a constant appendage to the elder sister,there I was visiting.As a child I loved these outings,for the simple reason that I always had a hungry look and most people would bring out a snack or two when I was around.I loved the tangy chutney which always showed up and in the mango season there was always juicy mangoes.
The reason for being in that house is really far more interesting.Like always one memory led to another.
Our school always had a Christmas play and my role was always that of one of the three kings or of some Chinese merchant from far away land,(thanks to having slit eyes)so a lot of rehearsals and make up had to be done and being children the teachers insisted we be there the whole day.It was my sisters responsibility to escort me to all this and as she was in a college close to the venue she had to make sure I got to the place on time and was looked after and not left alone otherwiseso.
My sister obviously had other plans and babysitting was not one of them so instead of taking me to rehearsals,she took me to college,got a group of her friends together and they plotted and planned as to what they were to do with me.One of the girls suggested they smuggle me into the literature class for a lecture.So there I was being warned of dire consequences by a bunch of college girls and given strict instructions not to make a noise and not to ask any questions(like I knew what to ask).
The class went off well,being rather small the lecturer didn't notice me in the backbench until almost to then end and the girls were ready for that.A sob story about how the poor child mother was ill and they had no choice but to get me there was all said and accepted.Of course after that everyone and her aunt wanted to give me sweets and chocolates so I wasn't complaining.When we were through with class one of the girls decided to take me home which is how the toast and chutney happened.
I continues to visit that girl as the house had loads of play areas and her mother always had interesting food.My home was always well stocked but the grass like they say is always greener on the other side.
The years spent being appendage to elder sister were always eventful and fun and long forgotten memories crop up at odd times like they did today because for me Madras is full of memories and every corner tells a story.