In Vacant or in Pensive Mood

On some days, my heart is overwhelmed and my thoughts are a blur. For no particular reason. My body goes to auto-pilot mode on such days. I can ride from home to work without noticing a thing. I can sit through the day at my desk without getting a single task done. S PA C E D OUT. Such an apt word. Not just because I am mentally absent from earth (and therefore "spaced"), but also because my mind itself looks like a black oblivion, with thoughts, like fiery red celestial particles of dust/rocks, swirling around in it. I take to writing on such days. An empty word document in front of me is like therapy. Like some force that can calm the thoughts that are in constant motion within my head. They slow down, coming forward to show themselves, word after word, in front of my mind's eye. I type each word I see, putting them down, not knowing what would come next. As the words line up next to each other on the blank page, I begin to see what they mean. Clarity. Th...

I wrote this more than a year ago, based on my experience of ordering from Wang's Kitchen on a working weekend. And today, when I ordered again from Wang's, I was reminded of that day. This was a very long Zomato review and Facebook post then.  It's a blog now. ..... I was working last Saturday (unfortunately), and as a treat to myself, I left my boxed lunch behind at home and decided to order my lunch from a nice restaurant. About an hour before lunch time, I browsed Zomato, zeroed in on Wang's Kitchen and placed my order. Since I knew I wouldn't be sharing my lunch with any of my colleagues that day with most of them on leave and one fasting, I kept my order minimal. Moreover, it being lent season, I was left with only veg options. Anyways, my order was a Veg. Schezwan Noodles. The food was delivered to my office an hour after I placed the order. No complaints here, because they had given me fair warning before I placed my order about the time it w...

Recently, I took a poll on Instagram (screenshot attached below) just to get some proof about something I already knew to be true. There are more "dog people" or dog lovers in the world than there are "cat people". Only two people responded to my poll saying that they loved both cats and dogs, one of them being me. Screenshot from my Instagram Poll The reason? Dogs are friendly, lively, over-the-top expressive and totally adorable -- none of which I'm denying and do fully agree with! But what I hate is the other side of the argument made by people who don't like cats. They say that cats are boring, distant, arrogant and always with their claws out to scratch. You know what, there's nothing wrong with the cats - it's you who are judgmental! Trust me, I've seen enough dogs and cats in my life to know this. It's true that cats don't fall in love with you the minute you meet them. Cats are cautious with people; they lik...

When he first told me he loved me, I made him a list of all the things I consider as flaws in myself. I had warned him that I am not perfect - that I was probably not who he thought I was. He had a choice to take back what he had told me. His answer was a pleasantly surprising, "I know", amidst contagious laughter. He was going to stay and love me anyway. Even though we ended up laughing off the list, looking back, I think it was important that I set the record straight at that early stage. Because I didn't want him to come with the perception of finding in me a perfect human. Because I'm not. And I know it. What we often see in this world are couples who mask their real selves to win over each other. But alas, for how long can one hide? It is true that some day your partner is going to see you for who you are. Will they continue to love you then? Oh, to be loved for who we are is a wonderful feeling! Simply knowing that someone loves us, despite our sho...

One of the perks of married life is this: when you get married, your blessings double! You get another home, another set of parents, another family, another set of friends. Sounds too good to be true, does it? It's true that when you get married, you may (or may not) get to choose your partner. But you definitely cannot choose the family, relatives and friends that your partner enters your life with. It's easy to judge, say that they are not your type, pore into their mistakes, and generally complain or wear a long face when you have to meet (some of) them. We all do it sometimes. But I'm learning that it takes courage to love your partner's family and welcome your partner's friends like they are your own. It won't always be easy, not with everyone. Here's a friendly tip from someone who is also trying and learning each day: Remember that no one is perfect. Not even you! Know that there is some good in everyone - look for it, focus on i...

I usually take between three to six days to read a book. But there are exceptions. Some books are so engrossing that I just have to read them at a stretch, from cover to cover, in a single day. On the other extreme, there are books that I begin to read but get bored of along the way, leave behind, and forget about forever! There are also books, like those of Charles Dickens, that use a vocabulary which require too many dictionary references - so I read them in parts. The last book I read was different - it was the book that took me the longest to read. It was the first book I started to read soon after my wedding. I finished reading it a few days ago, eight long months later. Apart from the fact that it was a whopping 447 pages long, and I had no idea that life would be so different after the wedding, the reason I took so long to read this book is because it was...haunting. Here's my review, which has been posted on Goodreads: I had no idea what I was getting into...

How often have you claimed to love someone but found it difficult to forgive him/her when something went wrong? Think about some of your friends, who are no longer your friends because they wronged you in some way or the other. What about your relationship with your partner? Is your love still as strong as it used to be, or has it deteriorated with time and inevitable wrongs on either side? We all know that no one is perfect, except God. When someone blames us for something wrong we have done, we immediately point to this fact as an excuse. We say things like, "Everyone makes mistakes", "As if you are so perfect!", and so on. Then why is it that we, despite knowing all of these things, find it hard to forgive? Are you opening your mouth now to tell me that you do forgive the people you love? Because you must, and according to the Bible, love isn’t love without forgiveness. If you read 1 Corinthians 13, you will find the various qualities of love listed o...