All That is Gold

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

--J.R.R.Tolkien

My Space

Some people have no civic sense at all! I’ve seen this several times – while I was living in hostels as well as now that I live in a flat. Some times it is too much to bear. People hardly realize that there is something called community living and each one is responsible for making their own as well as other people’s lives a little less miserable. We share parking space, common space within the building compound, staircase, terrace etc. Life was worse in the hostels as people share washrooms as well. A little concern for others can really, really help.

Of course parking space and common space is nothing compared to breathing space. Some people refuse to allow you even that. Have I ever told anyone that my personal life is open to discussion? No. Then why is it that people show interest in the goings-on in my life? This used be a perennial problem during my hostel days, thankfully it is less – almost non-existent now. But there are other questions that I am not open to. Well, there are so many that I can rattle off as examples…but then, God only know who is reading this blog!

Why?

Today is only Wednesday
I want to shop madly
I am bored, tired and restless
Why am I getting these crank SMSes?
I’ve fought with three people this week
Just discovered that I can cook awesome doi potol.
Got to know that an ex-colleague, who never knew that I blog, follows my blog regularly
I don’t mind going back to hostel
I can’t live without chocolates
My phone bill is killing me
Why can’t I write poems?
Today I put my Tamil vocabulary to test
I’ve not told anybody about the existence of my blog in the last four months
Bengali New Year was a fantabulous day :)
Why do I suffer from these inexplicable bouts of depression?
I love the Besant Nagar beach
I want to go back to my small town roots
Why am I writing this?
This is not a tag
It is just listlessness

I will be back with a more meaningful post.

Fundoo Fotos

I got these snaps as an email forward. The subjectline read 'How Indians get photos clicked' or something like that. Initially, I thought it was a little offensive. But when I saw the pics, I could not stop laughing. Take a look:

Subho Nababorsho

Today is Poila Boishakh (first day of the month Baisakh) which is Bengali new year. Wish you all a very happy new year. May all your cherished dreams come true. Subho Nababorsho!

Laws of Life

You know what? Mr. Hobson and Mr. Murphy are out take control over my life. I know I’ve been cribbing enough lately and you guys will kill me doing more of this, but I can’t help it. Mr. Hobson is not too much of a problem though. I can make good choices even when there are no choices. But somebody help me when Mr. Murphy comes looking for me!

Are these the only laws of life? Just thinking aloud.

How Much is Too Much?

In practical terms convenience is often equated with comfort. But they are very different and I say that with reference to my relation with the internet. I find it convenient to use the net but my comfort level with it is pretty low! I hope that this does not sound contradictory.

Well, I am into blogging, social bookmarking etc. I invariably fall back on the net whenever I need info and that happens countless times in a day. Good old email is always there. However, I’ve not registered in social networking sites. Moreover, I am really, really sceptical of matches made over the net as well - whether they are love in chatrooms or arranged marriages over matrimony sites. Neither have I done online shopping ever in my life nor have I chatted with any unknown person in chat rooms. The former is precisely because I am wary of divulging my credit card details even over a secure server. The only time I do that is when I need to book rail tickets and the case is helplessly urgent. That’s it!!

My friends make fun of me saying that I will be at a loss in a few years when everything will go online. It is not that I am not aware of such possibilities. I also have a fair knowledge about the less technical aspects of the net, having worked in that industry for sometime. Actually, I still do – in a way. But I’ve heard of people who have gotten into trouble because of over exposure on the net. Internet frauds also scare me to the hilt. This sometimes makes me think whether I am an outdated model with a third world look out?

* In true AFJ style, I want to say that the girl in the pic is not me.

Some Cribbing and a Meme

My sincere apologies for vanishing without informing. Actually I was maha busy. I do not blog at work and I can’t blog at home. I do not blog at work because I do not have the time to look away from my monitor and I can’t blog from home bacause I am quite brain-dead when I get home in the evening. Sigh! Sad but true.

Enough of cribbing, now for some business. This is the loooooong-pending guilt meme. I was double tagged by AFJ and Soumyadip! So here goes:

Culinary Guilt: Well, there are severallllllllll. But to make matters simple I will mention only one – the worst of them. I do not know how to cook authentic, Bengali fare. I am not saying that what I cook does not taste good. It does, but it is not traditionally Bengali and I hang my head in embarassesment when people ask for Bong recipes. Yes, you guessed it right, internet to the rescue. As for myself, I miss ma ke haath ka khana. What I cook never tastes the same! (Of course my green peas kachori and dum aloo are exceptions!)

Literary Guilt: Moving on…hmmm…literary guilt. Now that is something easy and something I am really very guilty about. I lost my reading habit somewhere down the line. I used to be a voracious reader as a child. I clearly remember my dad used to ask me what I wanted from another city, everytime he was about to leave on an official tour and I used to say “A book”! Well, I’ve not been able to hold on to that habit.

Audiovisual Guilt: Difficult! I like serious, food-for-thought kind of movies. But, but, but I must admit that once in a while it is nice to watch Paisa Vasool movies. Actually what gives headaches to my mom actually relieves me of them!! Is that guilt? Naah!

Musical Guilt: That again is an easy one. I did not pursue music. I suddenly gave up after having been trained in hindustani classical music for seven years. I regret it now. Well, the lesser said, the better.

Celebrity Guilt: I used to be a huge fan of Ajay Jadeja. Geee. That was during my school days. So let’s not talk about it now. And yes, though my friends used to make fun of my taste back then, I still do not consider it to be guilt.

Oops, guys at the end of this exercise I noticed that I’ve revealed more about myself that I intended to. Anyways, I still went ahead and posted it.

Update: I know this comes two days after the post, but I had to say it. I forgot to tag others to carry out the meme. :P