These happy days are yours and mine, happy days!

Well I must say that as days go, this one has been fine and dandy so far!

A typical day for me goes something like this:

• Get up at some unearthly hour in the morning to one of the following - Taika licking my face or - Taika barking in my ear or - Taika trying to nudge me awake with some miscellaneous article of my clothing that she will rip to pieces if I do not get up and chase her around the house.
• Remain grouchy and sleepy till my morning coffee comes.
• Try and get online only to invariably find that my BSNL connection is, as usual, not working.
• Faff around till the time that I'm supposed to be at work and then run like crazy and get ready.
• Drive like a maniac and curse the living daylights out of everyone in my way.
• Fight for parking space with the watchman. Every single day.
• Somehow get through work - by drinking countless cups of coffee, chatting (online and on the phone), browsing, pretending not to sleep.
• Try and leave as early as possible but normally end up staying till at least 7:30-8.
• Contemplate going to the gym - and decide against it as always.
• Take the dog for a walk.
• Sleep.

Today however has been different - so far anyway:

• Woke up with the absence of tongues (no comments please), barking or clothing in my face. Either all that had happened and I'd slept through it anyway or Taika's just fed up of me.
• Sprang out of bed and ended up having breakfast with my dad which was great as I rarely get to spend time with him.
• Got online because miraculously BSNL worked!
• Was actually ready on time for work for once and was even waiting to get there after 4 days of sitting joblessly at home (I was sick).
• Drove peacefully to work, beaming (somewhat scarily maybe) at fellow commuters and singing to 'Beautiful Day' really loudly. I love U2.
• Arrived at work only to find that there was all the parking space in the world.
• And that the Big Boss B was out of town for the day so there was noone to breathe down my neck and make me all tense.
• Lunch with KC at 'Subway' for which he was only 20 minutes late - a record really by his standards - normally when I'm meeting him anywhere I'm resigned to waiting for at least 45 minutes. And we got free ice cream! And different flavours at that - mint and M&M and tiramisu!
• Even the weather seemed to be holding out - it was nice and breezy when I got out of Subway and started pouring only after I was safely inside office.
• At about 4:30 checked in with the Boss (not to be confused with Big Boss B) whether there was anything to send out. And there wasn't.
• So finished reading 'Tortilla Flat' by John Steinbeck in the one and a half official remaining work hours for the day. (I seem to have become a bit of a bookworm. Read '100 years of solitude', 'Love in the time of cholera', 'Of mice and men', 'Animal farm' and 'Tortilla Flat' in the span of two weeks. No mean feat I assure you.)
• Left at 6 sharp. A lot of people at work shot me dirty looks on my way out. Muaahahahaha.
• Again, the rain obligingly held out till I reached back home. I hate driving in the rain when there's traffic. Though there's something about it that makes me think that I'm in a Jewel video.
• Realized that in about a week, Angel will be back. And a few days after that, Madman will arrive. Hopefully, with a lot of gifts for me.
• Also realized that tomorrow's a Saturday. I love weekends!
• Heck with this kind of day, I may even make it to the gym. Or not. Probably not.

Yep, its been a pretty good day!

Bombay Express

A couple of days ago I was looking through a friend’s college photographs and all of a sudden this big wave of nostalgia came and hit me bang in the middle of my face…college in India is a different experience altogether…not for us are the novelty of spring breaks and Thanksgiving…but just the feeling of being somewhere in between a child and an adult that is indescribable…

I want to go back to the city which never sleeps. I want my biggest problem to be whether to go for my 8 o clock lecture or not. I want to sleep during classes and hit snooze without feeling guilty. I want to be able to drink from 11 in the morning if I want to. I want to go for the 1, 4, 7 & 10 shows of movies because I have nothing better to do. I want to stroll down Colaba causeway and bargain with Malayali vendors for fake sunglasses which I know that I will never buy. I want to sit on Marine Drive the whole night and drink endless cups of chai and watch the sun rise. I want to not have to bargain for cabs and autos ever. I want to go to a pub where I can listen to some really good music. I want to watch amateur theatre and afterwards rip it to shreds and dissect it. I want to fight for the first seat on the top deck of a double decker bus and feel the dusty wind tangle up my hair. I want to feel the panic of not having so much as a text book the day before my final exams. I want to sit on the window ledge of my rented room and stare at the smoggy night sky and daydream. I want to be able to sleep in the afternoons and watch mindless soap operas which seem to be reserved only for that time.

I miss the smells and the noise and the hustle and the incredible energy that surrounds everyday life in Bombay. I miss being able to take off whenever and wherever I want to. I miss vada pav and bhel puri and roadside sandwiches and frankies. I miss ‘Sunlight’ and ‘Gokuls’ and all the shadiest of bars that we used to go and drink in whenever we had no dough. I miss eating in cheap mallu joints where you got the best beef in the world. I miss smoking at the bus stand outside college and the Midday crossword that I used to faithfully do every single day (mainly because it cannot get easier than that). I miss the shoe shops on Kemps Corner and the milkshakes at Haji Ali and the strawberries and cream at Bachelor’s. I miss karaoke at ‘Jazz’ and pickled chicken and spicy pork pizza at Pizzeria. I miss the old buildings of South Bombay – they are so elegantly beautiful. I miss knowing the order of stations from Church Gate to Mulund (Church Gate, Marine Lines, Charni Road, Grant Road, Bombay Central…). I miss the independence that comes with simple things like being able to take a cab alone at one in the morning if needed. I miss the anonymity and the feeling of being lost among the crowds. I miss night shows at ‘Sterling’ and ‘Regal’ and the rolls at Bade Miyan’s after a night at the ‘Ghetto’. I miss knowing that no matter what happens nothing will break down and life will go on. I miss the concerts at Rang Bhavan. I miss sneaking into the hostel to catnap and eating mess food with exotic names like ‘Egg Mauritian’ and ‘Egg Burmese’. I miss wide pavements and wider roads. I miss breakfast at Mondy’s and beer at Leo’s and Starters. I miss not caring what I wore to class and loose jeans and short kurtas and oshos and oversized bags stuffed with nothing. I miss getting drenched in the rains and sitting in cold draughty classrooms and shivering my ass off. I miss Orange and Jahangir Art Gallery and familiar bus routes and Barista and a million other things.

I miss Bombay.

Writer's block

I have to write an invite to Dan Weiden...Dan Weiden! Ok that may mean nothing to most but in advertising terms he's huge...and somehow or the other I have to convince him, never mind why, to come halfway around the world to Madras...and I have no idea what on earth to say...I mean there are all these ideas flowing in and out of my head...actually there are about a million - my head at the moment is reminiscent of a cricket stadium during an India - Pakistan match with everyone pushing each other to get a better view...but on paper...aarrgh...nothing's coming out right...

And instead I think of
- The random guy I met this morning who said he'd seen me at "the blues"...what on earth that is I have no idea.
- The conversation I had with my boss yesterday, which I'm sorry was too weird, where he told me that I was an attractive young woman and hence should be careful of my office interactions. Hahaha.
- For the nth time do I move to Bangalore or not. Great job, money's good, I'd be working with my old boss who I love. What's holding me back?
- Why my shower just does not work like its supposed to. Is a hot water bath too much to ask for?
- I need to take Taika to the vet. I'm sure her ear infection is back again.
- The Christmas decorations that are being put up in my office are just too ugly for words.
- Why I get the worst clients? Why? Why?
- Is million-watt hyphenated or not.
- I need new shades. And reading glasses. And a watch and work clothes. And the money to buy them.
- What in the world do the lyrics of 'Cornflake Girl' mean?
- My presentation war with KC. I can't wait to kick his ass.
- A regular 9 to 6 job. My new obsession is to find one.
- Madman's going to be here for a whole month. Yayy! I can talk to him everyday if I want to. We are so going to kill each other by the end of it.
- Whether my chappals go with what I'm wearing.
- My mother who is a sweety and who I'm really really missing right now.
- Why it is assumed that when people are single they must be looking out for someone to be with.
- When I'm feeling so low that I just want to break down and cry, conversations with Moron make all the difference.
- Coffee. In desperate need of the daily afternoon dose.
- Why we give deadlines that there's no way we can stick to.

One things for sure - I chose the right line of work. I can talk about random things with no end in sight - a prerequisite for my job. There's no way I'd have made it as a copy writer.

Creative license

Ok so I've been getting a couple of calls in the last few days...just random ones...where people would suddenly ask me how I was doing and if I was sure that everything was going good and all that jazz...and I was wondering what on earth was going on until someone dropped the ball and told me they'd read my last post and were a little worried about me...

-----------NEWSFLASH-----------

Whiney aka Whines/Whinsey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A just tied 5 helium balloons to herself for no apparent reason and was carried away never to be seen again. This is thought to be a suicide attempt owing to the fact that her last post on her blog seems to be somewhat in that vein.

----------------end-----------------

Nyaaahh!! I dont think so!!

Creative licence people! A line, along with 'design element', that my creative department is only too fond of throwing in my face.

And so to all those people who thought that I was going to OD on sleeping pills or slit my wrists:
1) No I do not have suicidal tendencies
2) I have never had suicidal tendencies even in the days when people used to think it was supposedly cool to say that they wanted to jump off buildings (Anjix and Bunini, I mean you)
3) No I am not still in love with K
4) If you think I'm still in love with K anyway, ptoooeeey to you
5) Contrary to popular belief I have moved on with my life
6) Also contrary to popular belief, I am happy
7) And by the way the operative words were "A YEAR AGO" in big bold letters right up front
8) If you all can find the time to read my blog and obviously care enough to call and check if I'm ok then why on earth cant you also just leave a comment? Huh??
9) Only about 3% of what I write is the actual honest truth
10) So deal with it

PS - I love you all and it was really sweet of you to worry :)

A year ago...

...I was in love with an illusion.
...I believed in unconditional love.
...I worked till at least 11 every night.
...I ate chinese food almost every day - the spicier the better.
...I was so caught up with living in the past that I didnt realize what was happening right in front of me.
...he fell out of love and I didnt even realize it.
...I fell out of love and I didnt even realize it.
...my work came first.
...my uncle was fighting a losing battle for his life.
...I cried at the drop of a hat.
...I had escape routes and no responsibilities.
...I started caring about the way I looked and dressed.
...I was voted 'Best Newcomer' after 6 months of work.
...cold water baths were out of the question.
...getting a dog was a distant possibility.
...I curled my hair because for some reason I thought looking different might stop the pain.
...I used to have a drink at least 4 times a week.
...I was broke at the end of the month.
...I was fighting with my neighbour about where to park my car.
...I was trying to figure out whether I was brave enough to leave something that had been my life for 3 years and move back to a place where I no longer knew anyone and start fresh.
...I realised that I wasnt.
...I decided to move anyway.
...my dinner sometimes used to be a packet of biscuits.
...I barely saw my room.
...my reflection in the mirror looked completely different.
...I thought being stuck in a dead-end relationship was OK.
...I spent all my time with family when I came home on holidays.
...the little things used to matter.
...my life used to revolve around someone else.
...seems so far away.

The malluness of mallus

Note: No offence meant to anyone on this. Just a couple of observations sparked off by some recent events.

Ok so I'm a hardcore mallu fan myself...being a product of the species (albeit practically an outcast) its not like I have much of a choice on it...but they're definitely an amazing bunch of people...extremely strong-willed...and really good fun to be around...

This post is not about any of these things...it focuses primarily on qualities that seem to be characterisitic of them...and you can think its endearing (??) or irritating depending on how you look at it...

1) The need to know everything even about random strangers: I for one, have exceptionally bad reactions to this one and immediately feel the need to say something scandalous and innapropriate. For eg - I was at B&B with the Dodo's minus two and due to a fairly large intake of beer felt the need to run to the loo every 2 mins or so. And there's some wedding happening in the vicinity so on one of my trips there's this gaggle of old mallu aunty type women also waiting to use the loo.

Mallu Aunty 1: Sthalam evadya? (Where are you from?)
Me (blank stare): ----
Mallu Aunty 1 (to mallu aunty 2): Idha oru english type aana (She's one of those only speaking english types)
Me (attempting to redeem myself): Ilya inikya malayalam arayaam (No no I know malayalam)
Mallu Aunty 2: Oh ningalum kalyaanathana vanadaano? (Did you also come for the wedding?)
Me (hello?? I'm wearing jeans and a T-shirt! Do I look like I've come for a wedding??): Ilya kudikyaam vanadaana (I've come to drink my ass off!)

And run out of the restroom leaving shocked expressions all round!

2) The need to talk in malayalam to everyone around even when they're not in Kerala: As is clearly illustrated in the above. Though I cant really complain about it as I'm a guilty party as well. Especially when I need something urgent done at work, I rattle away...and in the most terrible malayalam...and it works too!!...if I'd said the same thing in english there's no way I'd be home by 7 almost everyday :)

There was this one time when I was flying to Colombo from Trivandrum and I didnt have some stamp on my passport that I apparently needed...but I stammered away in my broken malayalam...which was far worse in those days...and jumped on the flight anyway...though I dont know if thats because of the language bonding or my (ahem) exceptional powers of persuasion! Or it could just be that I whine a lot and it probably seemed like the easier option at the time.

3) The need to get sozzled and make complete asses of oneself: Especially prevalent in the males of the species between the age of 18-30. And a couple of females as well (sheepish smile). Particularly noticed this tendency when I was in college amongst my Bombay boys...it was almost always the mallus causing the havoc and creating the scenes and these pavam chinky/rajput/any other region above Karnataka guys who got caught up in the entire thing and walloped in the end!

4) The need to argue about everything: Potato...potaato...who cares!?!? Its a freakin' vegetable...you really dont need a 2 hour discussion on how to pronounce a stupid word...proper noun! If wasting time by having pointless arguements could be a career option, we mallus would rule!

5) The need to hitch up everyone above the age of 20: Ok I really do not get this one...so what if your 26? Your happy...you have a successful job...really nice friends...beautiful house...does it really matter that you dont have and maybe dont want the husband, the kids, the home with the white picket fences?

6) The need to be fair: With relation to skin colour. Why on earth does the colour of your skin have anything to do with how you look? If your fair does that automatically make you beautiful? And why does it seem to apply only to women? I've heard matchmakers actually reject women because they happened to be on the darker side.

7) The need to criticise everything coupled with an inability to pay compliments: According to the mallu dictionary, there is no such word as perfect. For eg - your going out for dinner...and your in that madly-in-love-cant-take-my-eyes-of-you stage...so you take the time to get all dressed up and smell nice and wash your hair and all that other "I'm in love" crap. And then K would say something like "Have you put on weight?" Like what the hell is that??

Oh and Rat, "What are those earrings?" would definitely qualify under this category!

8) The ability to take a joke: Definitely our best quality probably the only reason that I may not get pounded into the ground and beaten to a pulp for writing this post!

Midnight blues

Well not exactly there yet but its going to be a long night for sure...and to top it off I have cramps...really bitching cramps...my eyes are shutting...moodiness is back in full swing...and I'm pissed off coz I cant go to the gym and I really want to...I hate IT clients...they're the scum of the earth...and I thought my keeping-a-toothbrush-in-office, curse-all-Wiproites, Bangalore days were over...feels like I'm back at the beginning again...full circle really...except without the loving boyfriend to go home to and the amazing boss to cry and whine to...I'm home though...and there's Taika who always makes me feel better no matter what...but I have to be home for that...not stuck in this stupid office which is more like an icebox than anything else...I dont understand why people feel the need to lower the temperature so that your hands go blue and you need to wear a jacket to work in freakin' Madras...they're all demented...this is a really angry post...well not really angry, more like pissed off...like I just want to bitch-my-ass-off-to-somebody kind of pissed off post...I have a feeling that I'm going to re-read this and delete it...or not...ok I'm officially rambling now...

I'm it!

Tagged by the Ratster (haha I kind of like that Rat)...so without much ado:

Seven things I plan to do:

• Backpack across Europe - especially want to see Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and then maybe hop across to Morocco
• Study more - doing what and where still kind of undecided
• Buy a huge house by the sea where I can keep LOTS of dogs - other than pomeranians...hate them...
• Get a high flying job so I can be - so to speak - the corporate bitch :)
• South America baby - Kodath hold on I'm on my way!
• Work out - hey I'm trying!
• Fall in love again - not any time in the near future though - cant quite deal with it

Seven Things That I Can Do:

• Sit through and even contribute to a certain extent to conversations that revolve solely around cars and women and off late even cricket!
• Drink, drink, drink and then drink some more
• Think that I have every illness known to mankind - I'm a hypochondriac
• Fake cry
• Have a conversation on the phone even though I'm sleeping and sound normal
• Have a conversation on the phone when I'm drunk and sound perfectly sober
• Read anything I can get my hands on - not as much after I started working though

Seven Things I Can't Do:

• Handle awkward situations - I run away at the hint of trouble brewing
• Desert someone who needs me
• Be the socialite ie pretend I love the world and hug and kiss everyone I meet
• Talk in Tamil - pathetic I know since I've lived here pretty much my entire life
• Go a day without listening to music
• Handle the cold - I freeze in Madras
• Multitask

Seven Things I Say Most Often:

• Shit happens
• Whatever man
• Shut up
• Stop irritating me
• Rocking
• You're such a rockstar
• So what?
  

Seven (Untagged) People I Want To Tag:

Hmm...noone I know blogs...

Kill all voicemail

What is it with all these "just-picked-up-their-bags-and-gone-to-America" types and their voicemail messages? Why cant they just pick up the damn phone?

Ok so first of all, its really annoying that everyone that I pretty much know has absconded halfway around the world...second of all its really irritating that out of this "everyone I know", about a quarter are people that I really care about...

Result: I have noone to whine to over here!

And when I feel the need to have a mid-week crisis whining session (like when I break a nail or get my jeans wet in this neverending rain) and I have to make an ISD call I expect them to bloody well pick up! Who cares if its 2 in the morning for them!!

So this is the scenario: I'm already in this mindf***ed state of mind. Pick up phone. Dial number. Wait with bated breath. Phone rings once...I cant wait to tell M about my rotten week...twice...he will pick up this time at least right? ...thrice...come on come on pick up pick up...four times...i cant believe the ass isnt picking up his phone!after my 40 or so e-mails blasting him about the same thing?...five times...one last chance to redeem yourself M...beep..."Hi, this is M, I cant come to the phone right now yada yada yada...

So I leave a really rude message for the nth time and slam down the phone...follow up with rude e-mail just to make sure the message is received loud and clear...

Hmm...maybe thats why he's not picking up though...

Coming out of the closet

Well I guess the anonymity's kind of over...*sigh*...I think I miss it already...just left comments on Rat's and Ketchi's blogs as a symbol of my "coming out"...

Hello world, my name is Whines and I'm a blogger...

I think I'm mixing up coming out of the closet with AA meetings though.

Topsy turvy, straight & curvy, roundabout, in & out

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

- The White Queen (from Through the Looking Glass)

Seriously a concept you need to live by in Madras. And I thought moving back home would be a breeze. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever get used to the place!

So I started a blog. And other than a carefully selected few, who know pretty much everything about my life anyway, neglected to mention that I have a blog to everyone else. Not for any particular reason and not because I dont want people to read what I've written (lets face it, public forum! how deluded would I have to be if I thought that!) but because I just wasnt ready for all the judgement that goes along with the whole thing at a time when I'm still trying to adjust into my new life.

And then yesterday a friend of mine (not one of the chosen few obviously) calls "You have a blog!?!?" And me (completely caught by surprise) "Wha...???Whaaaaaaaaa...??????????? How???? When????? Why???????" Boring conversation follows where I keep asking him how he found out and he for some reason thought it would be amusing to not tell me until I whined so much that I guess it wasnt that entertaining any more and he told me that my friends roommates boyfriend who is his friend had told him about it.

At this point, I lost interest in the whole thing but thinking about it later I realised that this is the way this city funtions. There is just no freakin' way you can keep even one thing quiet. Even if I go into my house, into my room, lock the door, shut all the windows, draw the curtains and then sneeze, my neighbour will probably come up to me the next day and ask me how my cold is!

Another small point of concern - had I just wasted about 20 minutes of my time begging someone to tell me how they found out about my blog!?!?! What on earth has happened to me!?!? Do I not have a life anymore???????

Conclusions formed: 1) Everyone knows everything about everyone
2) You can make a huge drama out of any situation

Madras - you've got to love it and hate it!

Interludes

You know how you sometimes crave for something familiar, almost forgotten but still hidden somewhere in obscure corners of your mind...more so when your away from home which, agreed, I'm not at the moment...but for me I guess being away is the familiar part...being back home takes some serious getting used to...but just things like eating mama's chocolate cake(she never bakes anymore!)...or the smell of that first coffee of the day...or the feel of your oldest pair of jeans...022 numbers on my cell phone...being called whines...gossiping with old friends...fighting with my dad...P.G. Wodehouse...

Yesterday, for me, was familiar...K's in town (for almost a week yayy!!)...and though I've never got to spend time with him in Madras, spending time with him was exactly like spending time with him anywhere else...I think my relationship with him is the one thing that I'm really proud of...not too many people can say that they have a great relationship with their ex boyfriends...in fact not too many people can say that they have a relationship at all with their ex boyfriends...but when I think of K, I just have to smile...

And yesterday was perfect...a long drive down ECR...blue skies...sitting on the beach and drinking (had some serious Goa reminiscing!)...just being ourselves...completing each other's sentences...knowing exactly what he was thinking and about to say...it was the most fun that I'd had in a really long time...simply because I dont have to try even a little with him...I can just be myself and screw the rest...

Thank God for these little interludes in my life!

In batches of three

This is something that I stole from a friend's blog...and I dont know how many of you know this but I do everything in three's or multiples of three...to the extent that even the volume on my system will have to be a multiple of 3...so anyway I thought its fun...and it makes you think a bit...and sometimes, not always, thats nice...

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
Smits
Mallu
Whines/Whiney/Whinsey

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
sa
Smits
That’s it I think

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
My Hair
My nose
My “thoppeh”

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
My Legs
My Arms
My Smile

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
Dying
Cockroaches
Losing a friendship

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
Deo
Earrings
My bracelet

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
Deo
Earrings
My bracelet

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS (currently speaking):
Alanis Morissette
Tracy Chapman
Rolling Stones

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS (currently speaking):
Brown Eyed Girl
Talking about a revolution
Cornflake girl

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP
Humor
Understanding and if not that at least tolerance
Commitment

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order):
I wish I lived in Goa
I’m so glad I got Taika
I love my job

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
Reading
Singing in the car really loudly
Playing with my dog

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
Figure out whether to move to Bangalore or not
Get my glasses fixed
Sleep

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
Investment banker
Travel journalist
Housewife

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
Spain
Greece
Morocco

THREE KID'S NAMES YOU DON'T LIKE:
Senthil
Lalitha
Meenakshi Sundaram

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
Travel the world
Fall in love again (seems unlikely at the moment)
Start an animal orphanage

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY:
I can drink like a fish
I run away from potentially bad situations
I use “unladylike” language all the time

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A CHICK:
Chocolate helps any situation
I love romantic comedies
I can take hours to get ready

Calvin & Hobbes cracks me up

This is exactly me! Thats the amazing part about Calvin & Hobbes. You can always find something which is so relatable, so real, and even a serious problem seems hilarious!

Taika: "great change"

In the past 4 months I have gone through what is probably the biggest change in my life. A change that forced me to get up before 6 AM every day (unheard of for me...didnt know what sunrises looked like!), stop going out and partying (for a brief period of time of course...now its all good), exercise regularly (another first!) and basically think about something else other than ME!

4 months ago a brat with mournful brown eyes and the cutest face entered my world and right now I dont know how I managed without her. I've never had someone so happy to see me at any given point of the day and even though I sometimes leave her all alone she's never reproachful. While she may ruin my clothes, dirty the house after rolling in the mud, try and steal food of my plate and generally cause all hell to break loose...at the end of the day who can resist this face...

Of singing in the rain

"Singing in the rain" is probably one of my all-time favourite songs. There's something about Gene Kelly dancing around a rainy street hugging lamposts that makes me smile at any point. I sing it in the shower, in my car while I'm driving ( no music system so this is entertainment a la me), when I'm sad, when I'm happy.

The funny part is I hate the rain or to put it more specifically, I hate getting wet. Its all good when its pouring outside and you get to sit at home under a quilt...but when I think of Bombay days where I used to have to sit in cold draughty classrooms completely drenched...I shudder to think how I went through it.

But every time I think of these words...

I'm singing in the rain

Just singing in the rain

What a glorious feelin'

I'm happy again

I'm laughing at clouds

So dark up above

The sun's in my heart

And I'm ready for love

Let the stormy clouds chase

Everyone from the place

Come on with the rain

I've a smile on my face

I walk down the lane

With a happy refrain

Just singin',

Singin' in the rain

...all I can think is the man's right...there's nothing happier...