What is the meaning?

I came across this word document I had running into about a dozen pages with random tidbits, almost like one of my old diaries with cut-outs, poems, quotes, notes, recipes and other stuff!

This post will pen-down one of those pages, skipping some important words!
1. greatest
2. ruler's counselor
3. pearl
4. flowering/in bloom
5. messenger/messenger of God
6. light/saintly woman
7. star of the sea
8. will helmet/protection
9. fame and happiness/slender and fair
10. helmet of God
11. radiance
12. alive and well
13. new village
14. famous warrior

Snow footprints

I absolutely enjoy putting in my footprints on fresh pristine snow. There's so many emotions attached to that simple act, I can't begin to explain it. It probably stems from my slightly obsessive attitude towards order, I haven't figured it out yet! I can sit hours looking at the snow fall on the side-walks, on the grass, on what was once the road and not bother doing anything else. The act of looking back and seeing your footprints or rather I must say shoe-prints is exhilarating, uplifting, simple as it may be.

Try it, it sure will give you a good feeling.

Here's a slightly skewed measurement of the snow we got this past weekend.

The lone glove

There she was sitting in the bottom drawer; she keeps longing and hoping that she finds her better half. She looked all around her and found another one just not like her, she was black, and the other was red, a little longer too. The black glove couldn’t quite fathom why she wasn’t discarded? It’s not like she could be matched with the red glove!

Yet, she still has hope, maybe when her owner rummages through her couch, she’ll find the one missing glove or maybe she’ll buy another pair just like her or maybe she’ll learn to live!

Come winter and I find myself missing a glove, so now I have two single gloves, I can’t discard them. What if it is a serendipity situation as unlikely as it may seem? Maybe I should also write my number on a 5$ bill before using it at the grocery store too.

Of course the attachment to the gloves is not as much to the head cap I lost a few days ago, the only one I’ve really bonded with, the one I’ve possessed since my sister gave it to me years ago, from the hills of kodaikanal.

This usually happens with socks, not to me though, maybe I’m more careful with socks, it could be the fact that I have a few that are all the same and it won’t matter if I miss one, 3 exact same socks will still make a pair, no?

And then there are those pretty earrings, about 4 dangling single earrings and again they can’t be worn mismatched. Maybe I’ll find the second one, maybe I won’t.

C'est La Vie

And as long as it does not hit the fan, it’s all good and even if it does hit the fan, as long as it does not hit you, it’s all good and even if it does hit you as long as you can clean up good, then it’s all good, maybe it was even worth it, maybe you’ve learned something, maybe it will enrich you!

That’s 2009 for me.

Spending the first four months of the year in my hometown sparked some much needed realization, re-thinking and resolutions. In retrospect, I think the initial charm of working in Mangalore had just started wearing off. It was an almost annihilation vs acclimatization scenario at work too.

Then the assignment, having heard of the single street, desi dominated culture, I was kinda prepared for what I was getting into. However I really got off the wrong foot on the start of the trip itself with trying to postpone the trip by a week so that I could cast my vote in the Loksabha elections (missed polling day by 3 days). I think it was disappointing with my enthusiasm for administration and politics at their zenith during the time especially considering the efforts to oust ‘anti-secular’ candidates, not that it was successful in the end and not that my vote would have made a difference to the result!

I did not particularly enjoy playing the lead role that was forcefully thrust on me in the movie that was titled with a literal definition of being taking for a ride in Mumbai and then having to deal with the most arrogant staff at the ATL airport was just over the top! Thanks to them, I missed my connecting flight and was subsequently on stand-by for 3 more and then had to spend a day in Atlanta, all this after a painful 17 hr journey plus the 15 hours in transit!

From the Pacific Northwest to Northwest Arkansas, the differences are stark. Of course, it’s not the geographies of a place that make or break you, it is the people. Nothing much changes at the workplace and even if it does, I don’t want to dwell on it here. Slightly averse to workplace friendships, looking back, it’s been a good year with friendships and despite all the long distance friends I have, I can count at least one good friend here.

Where would I be without my long distance friends? Be it the innumerable travel tales or the little pieces of advice on health-care, the constant cribbing about your ex employer or ex girlfriend, the countless pictures from every single occasion back home, the process of learning to climb trees while rediscovering myself in the most surreal ways, smiling more and being a part of me while I made sure my glass is always half full (be it with wine or vodka or more recently whisky!) . You’ve stood by me through the rain and snow, you are very much appreciated. And to my sister, you are beautiful in every single way, you are loved.

If you blame me for the decisions you made in life, fine. Get on with it, move on, I still love you, there’s no two ways about it.

To my two best friends who are expecting babies on the very same day and coincidentally on my ma’s birthday, I wish you the very best and to my friend who’s facebook status can no longer say ‘single and complicated!’ you’ll be okay, you have a beautiful future ahead of you and don't forget the enlightenment you still owe us ;’). To all that’s been amiss in 2009 may it find its right path, to each of you, to all that you do in this year, may it make you happy, may you have no regrets and at the end of the day, take the time to wait for the smile that the eyes began and keep smiling.

And now this sounds like a speech! Happy New Year 2010.

Feliz Natal

Merry Christmas to you all.

May this season serve as a reminder that the old has passed, there’s a new beginning.
It's a time for rejoicing in all that we see
A time for living, a time for believing
A time for trusting, not deceiving
A time for giving, a time for getting
A time for forgiving and for forgetting
A time for hating and fighting to cease.

Good Morning USA

'The best part of life is when your family becomes your friends and your friends become your family' -

What struck me the most about this report? certainly not the fact that Diane Sawyer is quitting GMA but rather the above remark. Is that what we aspire for? probably not, not consciously for sure but inevitably it happens and the journey people make from friends to family and vice-versa is truly remarkable and one to be cherished.

The few moments before I get on to the daily drudgery of work these past few years, I've spent with GMA, the drone from the show's anchors, Sawyer included have kept me company while preparing that cup of chai, through grabbing a quick breakfast or skipping it, through checking email and on those rare ocassions of searching for the keys!

Of course, I like the drone, it is very info-entertaining and will continue to be the show I watch in the morning, (if the cable works!) the little tidbits, the music and the little break for the local station with the weather which helps me make that oh-so-important-decision of 'Do I need to carry my tall umbrella to work!'

Deja vu

I'm still around, for anyone still checking! and of course, of late my thoughts are limited to 140 characters, not more. The word hectic is such a good excuse, I always use it as an excuse for not returning someone's call after having not called in the first place for months, for not crossing off items on my to-do list, for not cooking... well, you get my point, the list is endless.

And then there was the move, that was really hectic!

The best time of the year is here and if I ever get down to buying a Christmas tree then there'll be some pictures, if not there will be some thoughts if not in 200 words, then in 140 characters for sure.