Give time a break!!

Yesterday, I started my bike, put on the helmet n realised that I had left my headset at home...so I was going to ride to banjara hills without music for company...if not for my swollen knee n inability to kick the bike again I would have gone up home n brought it...

So when im riding along grudgingly, i thought....

I go to yoga for peace n i plan my day while i do my suryanamaskaras....
I read the newspaper and have breakfast...!!
I listen to music while I bathe...
I watch TV/read a magazine while I have lunch...
I surf facebook while I talk to my friends on the phone...
I play FRIENDS in the background so I can listen to it while I work on the computer...
I always either listen to music or talk on my phone when I have to take a longish walk to someplace or I'm shopping alone....


I never just lie around on the swing in my house...
I never stare out of the window in my room...
I don't just sit on the terrace n look at traffic go by on the street...
I don't simply listen to music...
I don't go out with friends just to talk..there's breakfast or lunch or movie or play....


I wonder.... Have i become so obsessed with making the most of every minute that I'm now incapable of making the little moments count???

Maa da ladla bigad gaya!!

Right to freedom,
Right to Equality,
Right to Freedom of Religion,
Right against exploitation,
Cultural and educational rights,
Right to constitutional remedies..

The FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS of every citizen of India...!

We are granted the freedom of religion but we are denied the right to express love... to the man/woman we want to..isn't it the most essential part of our lives?...love...companionship...togetherness...isnt it completely hypocritical to be given the freedom to worship whichever god u want...but not to love the one you want???

I was visiting Delhi a while back n I read in the paper about the first Queer pride march in the capital.Considering that i don't even live there I felt I had to be there...n i was..waving the colours of the rainbow n getting deeply moved by the emotion...Men, women, kids...urging the govt to scrap Sec 377. To do away with the legislation that denies basic rights to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals. Coaxing the judiciary to see that such restrictions on the most intimate aspect of private life are unnecessary in a democratic society that values tolerance and broadmindedness.

We as a country cannot stop feeling proud of our freedom from the British and yet even today we are slaves to our conservative thought processes. Doesn't being free mean being yourself??

The queer pride march was not just about Sec 377 of the IPC.
It was about accepting the totality of ourselves
It was about looking at your loved ones and daring to share a part of you that may make them turn away from you...
It was about realizing that in order for your love of yourself your parents, your friends, and you partner to grow and become fully realized they all have to first know who you are!!

Truly Madly Deeply!!

Love is like a book on rainy days,
A warm n cozy fire all ablaze..

Like laughing for no reason at all,
A midnight long distance phone call..

Like running bare feet on the sand
Having a puppy slobber all over ur hand...

Like a long moonlit motorbike ride,
Lying in bed n listening to the rain outside..

Like a nursery rhyme about twinkling stars,
Waking up n realising u can still sleep a few hours..:)

Like flowers blooming on a windowsill,
A picnic on a clover covered hill...

Love brings such contentment to the heart
Of all lives pleasures love's the sweetest part!!

This ones dedicated to Kush..my sweetheart...the love of my life!!...the man I'm going to grow old with!!

My bucket list!!

I watched the movie(loved it)..n read a lovely blog post about it (aishu!!!)..i got tempted to write my own!!...... so here goes!!

1. to make the worlds best chocolate cake!!
2. to play guitar like a pro..
3. to speak at least 10 languages like people to whom its their mother tongue!!
4. to study food..n cooking...in different countries..with people who really care about it!!
5. to own my own "Central perk"
6. to join aishu in her shelter for animals venture.. :)
7. to do a headstand.. :)
8. to do a full split ;)
9. to teach yoga
10. to go on a vacation alone..somewhere far far away from home where nothing is familiar..
11. to go skinny dipping in a lake at the crack of dawn...
12. to see India..closely..with my sweetheart!!
13. to run a full marathon!!...
14. to whistle with my fingers in my mouth!!..(minnu help!!)
15. to get a tattoo..i don't know of what yet!!..but i know i want one..
16. to buy my parents their retirement home...where mom can have her garden n dad can sit in it n drink beer!
17. to handpick from my own garden all my herbs n veggies i need to cook!!
18. to have waist length hair..at least for a while..

that's all i can think of right now...hoping to start crossing them off my list now!!

Forever and for always!!

To finishing each others sentences...
To instinctively knowing whats wrong..
To never having to explain yourself..
To knowing all each others deep dark secrets..
To late night talks about work n love n life..
To sharing everything!!
To hugs that heal..
To long walks on streets we grew up in..
To getting tipsy n maaroing bollywood thumkaas..
To drooling over cute guys n fighting over cuter guys.. ;)
To watching FRIENDS for the fourteen thousandth time n eating truckloads of chocolate..
To laughing till your cheeks hurt..
To always being there...
To reminiscing about childhood memories..
To fantasising about the future..
To knowing that time n space may keep you apart...that work n marriage may take you halfway around the world...but NOTHING will ever touch the bond!!
Cheers to the amazingness of growing up with your best friends!!...to the inexplicable joy of being sisters!! ....

Somewhere I belong :)

The city of pearls..the capital of the nizams..the new techno hot spot..the home of the famous biryani and my home...Hyderabad!! The city is a living before and after story...the irani chais in the Alphas and the Madinas to the cappuccino in Mocha..the Sunday book bazaar in Koti to the air conditioned book bazaar at the Odysseys... the old city and the hi tech city...Hyderabad has the wonderful ability to let the leisurely old world n the deadline meeting globetrotting new world exist as parallel universes... :)

Thanks to the techies the city has become home to so many people whose roots are so far away from here...me for instance( but mine is a bond that started at birth)...my first loud wail was heard here in Hyderabad...n since then i have lived in n seen many cities but my heart lives here...In the crowded streets of Charminar..in the quiet of the Birla Mandir...in the glittering spectacle of bangles in the Lad Bazaar...in Sangeet theatre :( ...in Monda market with the piles of vegetables carelessly stacked n periodically sprinkled with water...in the central library in Afzalgunj where a wrinkled old man will get you a 25 yr old newspaper and smile at you till his eyes are reduced to slits...

Wherever i go i will always be reminded of the warmth the people of this city exude..they are always more than willing to direct you or even personally take you to wherever you want to go..The most astonishing inhabitant of this bustling city is the autowalah..he could be the creep who winks at you n calls u an "item" and also the hero who will yell abuses at the guys on bikes who look inside autos to check u out..

Hyderabad leaves an indelible mark on all its inhabitants...For me its the "Hou"...i know no other way to say yes..whether u live here for 3 months or 30 years u leave the city a "Hyderabadi"...The people u meet here are each so different but there is something about each of them that screams Hyderabad..much like the Biryani that is so popular here...the ingredients are so many and the flavour of each so distinct but when they are all blended in a pot what u get is harmony..the flavours complement each other..the unique taste of the blissful acceptance of the others...that is why the biryani is best in Hyderabad..because it reflects the true Hyderbadi!!..

The queen of my life!!

"Until one loves an animal a part of ones soul remains unawakened"-Anatole France

I couldnt agree more..and anyone who has shared living space with a dog, cat, rabbit, cow, goat, horse will vouch for it!!

I know that bringing Layla (our beautiful golden lab) was the best decision we made as a family..we second guessed it for a while though, cos she seemed to hate us..she destroyed the box we put her in..her tail was almost always tucked between her legs..she wouldn't walk..she wouldn't even bark..she was giving us the silent treatment!!..But something we did(thank God we did it) told her it was ok to trust us.

She started bounding joyfully with her ears flapping on long walks..she was the easiest dog to potty train...she flew down the stairs when we opened her box of pedigree..she thinks everyone is her friend and will wag her tail and extend her paw in friendship...but she saves her ears bent, tail wagging, drunken walk for the people she loves the most!!..n that is her most amazing gift...her ability to love..so easily..so unconditionally..so many people...our family..our friends..friends of friends...have all been touched by her..

my life for sure has been doggified...i know the names of all the dogs in marredpally n i have named the ones who don't have names(street puppies)..lets see there's split personality..disturbia..whitey(a black dog with a white soul)..chocolate n my favorite little limper floopy..i have conversations with her where i feel she actually replies in human..;) i love her smell n i miss it when i go on trips..she seems to know when i need her to be around n when to give me a reassuring lick n walk away..the epitome of peace n serenity..for all those who are seeking inner peace, Sri Sri Layla is the answer!!..10 minutes in her divine presence and u feel all ur stress ebb away and you can be one with the universe!!

Layla is easily my moms most pampered daughter..my dads little darling..n our favourite lil sister...She bounded into our lives, dug a nice pit n made herself so comfy that now i feel like i have never known life without her!!!