Contemplations and Ruminations

I picked up a few books by A.J. Cronin last month.... and some of them turned out to be really good. The Keys of the Kingdom: This was a great read, loved the way he protrayed the faith and belief of a humble priest, Fr. Francis Chisolm. Fr. Chisolm is sent as a missionary to China, cause his way of thinking was unlike the other priests of his time. He was unconventional, he believed that God was the same... whatever name you use to call Him by. His attitude towards the protestant missionaries was rather nice too, he welcomed them instead of shunning their ways. I sent a copy of this book to my parish priest cause he seems to be facing the same kind of oppositions and obstacles any priest faces with a few parishners rooted in self righteous behaviour and a puffed up opinion of themselves. Adventures of a black bag: This was a pretty good book too, it's a collection of short stories in the life of a certain Dr. Finlay. (A.J.Cronin is a doctor by profession and he gave up his me...

Heard this song by Amy Grant today.... can't get it out of my head now. Do you remember me I sat upon your knee I wrote to you with childhood fantasies Well I'm all grown-up now And still need help somehow I'm not a child But my heart still can dream So here's my lifelong wish My grown-up Christmas list Not for myself But for a world in need [Chorus:] No more lives torn apart That wars would never start And time would heal all hearts Everyone would have a friend And right would always win And love would never end This is my grown-up Christmas list As children we believed The grandest sight to see Was something lovely Wrapped beneath our tree Well heaven surely knows That packages and bows Can never heal a hurting human soul

Read a few good books this past month.... Keys of the Kingdom by A.J.Cronin : I heard about this book from Mother(Sr. Magdalene,Mother Superior in the convent/school I used to work in earlier). She is a retired english professor, and we used to spend a great deal of the day talking about books, authors, daily events happening in this world and the children. It was obvious our love for reading, we would exchange books and talk about the story and the plight of the protagonist the next day. I kinda miss that... those were days when I didn't mind working extra hours or even during Sundays, cause work there was never really like work... it was just one big happy family. I used to wake up thinking, wonder what's gonna happen today... what dare devil stunts will Carlton do today (he is autistic and these children are usually fearless, they have no sense of danger), what funny thing will Raja say today (this guy is hyperactive and cannot keep quiet for half a second, a staff member o...

This new song by Taylor Swift is really good.... so is the video.

Had a four day weekend for Diwali.... and this city really does celebrate diwali in a grand way. Saw these cute little diya (lamp) designs outside a shop... I am going to get one of these design making kits when I go home. Had to select the wedding invitation cards for Arun's wedding, so Saturday was spent working on the invitation script, deciding the pattern and the designs. I am already excited thinking about all the weddings coming up.... I have to start buying gifts. So people who are getting married please tell me what you would really like. P.S:Charmaineeee you can give it a rest, your wedding is not anytime soon.

Last Sunday was beautiful, it was pouring the entire day and we couldn't go out anywhere, though we did go to church, and came back soaking wet. We (Tonio, his cousins and me) decided to spend the evening baking a cake. This is the nut cake and the strawberry cake we baked. I was actually surprised the nut cake came out well, cause I made it without a recipe. I had to give it away to people though, cause Tonio doesn't like nuts and I didn't want to eat the whole thing and put on weight. I can't wait to go back home and start baking again for Christmas. P.S: The baking utensils I am using here were given to me by Judith Aunty for my wedding and I love them. On an unrelated note, I read this in the paper today. "Dhoni has reassured us that he is no Samson and that locks or no locks he can still plunder runs". He does look even more dashing with his new haircut.... doesn't he?

DON'T bring it closer!! Fu*K OFF Man! Put it down, Put it down! Hey..... FU*K You! This was what the kid on the cycle was telling the other kid who was dangling a chubby worm from one end of a stick. Sunday mass just got over and I was waiting for Tonio to start his bike and bring it around when I saw these two boys, probably no more than 12 years old. One of them had a fascinated expression on his face as he stooped to pick up a chubby wriggling worm with one end of a stick. He turned to show it to his friend and this was when the boy on the bicycle started acting like a profane mouthing baby. I wanted to walk up to him and knock some sense into his head and tell him not to use the F word. He's only TWELVE.... that word should not even be part of his vocabulary. But the people who really deserve a whack on the head are his parents. What kind of parents think it is okay for their son to use such profane language..... Even I didn't know that word when I was 12, I heard i...

Was just switching through channels last weekend when I came across "Princess Special" on History Channel. Turns out they were movies about the lives of Princess Diana, Princess Grace and Jacqueline Kennedy. The movie they were playing that time was about Jacqueline Kennedy though and this is where I started watching it. So there she was... Jackie, pregnant and very beautiful (although it wasn't her, it's a movie... remember) talking to her senator husband John (the guy in the movie looked much better than the origianl one) . Anyway, the senator had a conference to attend in Paris and during that time, Jackie goes into labour and loses the child. So there she is still amazingly beautiful, with deep sorrow etched on her face... and her husband is nowhere near her side. He was off gallavanting in Europe with other women and his good for nothing friends. He took five days to get to her.... five days while she was enduring acute mental anguish, when she was mourning the l...

Anju had tagged me a long time back and I had forgotten about it until she tagged a few other people for the same thing recently(and I will never forgive her for tagging sajeeve! My poor mind was tortured reading his list regarding the amount of time pigs and lions take, being entangled in the throes of passion...) Anyway, getting back to my list... *If I walk into any room and I find the bed messy, my mind stops functioning. I just HAVE to clear the bed, make it neat and then get on with whatever I am supposed to be doing. *Weird colour combinations make me so mad... if peope wear clothes that do not match or if the church altar is decorated in vividly loud colours that do not match... it again stops my mind from functioning. I cannot focus.... unless I will my mind to tune out and go to another place where everything is in harmony. *I actually rock myself slowly to sleep. *If you have seen curly haired babies/kids, you will know that they look amazingly beautiful (just lik...

There was a Hugo and a Rosie... but no Fred. Oh well, it's over... that is more than enough. So finally the Harry Potter series has come to an end. And I did read all the books... but somehwere between the third and the fourth book, all the success went to her (Rowling's) head and she started churning out lousy sequels. I mean the first book was really nice, stuck to important stuff... and did not ramble on unnecessarily. I liked the third book the best, cause of Sirius... I thought he was the most amazing character, he was portrayed as this handsome reckless and brave guy, rugged looking but great looking, kinda like Aragon in the movie, "Lord of the rings" or Oded Fehr in "The Mummy Series". So it was only natural that I stopped watching the Harry potter movies, after I saw who they had cast to play the role of Sirius Black, some demented looking guy. Just look at the pictures!!! Anyway, this last book was just too much... there was too much of everyt...

Well, finally done with the exams... its been a few fun weeks with Jacques Derrida, Edmund Husserl, Wordsworth, Mathew Arnold, and the rest of the guys.  Came to know about  phonemes, allophones, consonant clusters and what not. Anyway, went to school the past fewdays to hangout with the kids... and when I am there, there's no where else I'd rather be.                                                                            Other than spending time in school, been spending some time in the kitchen too, tryin out a few dishes. Made Stuffed Roast Chicken ...

Here are a few pictures taken in school, when the guys and me dropped by one fine beautiful monday.   I showed them the school chapel, and this is what they did there... At a roadside 'cafe', where we stopped on the way back to drink sarbath.

Too busy with exams to contemplate anythin else.... Just enjoy the few videos below.... Manoj was playing this song, and I was wondering who had this kind of deep, amazing voice... Saw this video on Nameeta's orkut page... she's good, Danielle I mean and not nam. Nice chorus: 'Cause when push comes to shove You taste what you are made of You might bend 'til you break 'Cause it's all you can take On your knees you look up Decide you've had enough You get mad, you get strong Wipe you hands, shake it off Then you stand, then you stand Especially like Taylor's hair in the video... and her long flowing dress too...

It's been a while... I don't know where to start. School reopened last week and I get reports every alternate day from the sisters (either they call up or I do), I miss that place so damn much. Seems there are many new admissions this year, about 20 of them!!!! Can't wait to go back and see them all... a boy (this new kid from bombay, 12 year old Down's syndrome) already broke a pipe and enjoyed the water shower. Yeah, life was fun there... Life now is not bad either, there are so many weddings coming up. I want to attend all of them, though I know one won't be possible. It's fun listenin to the wedding talk and all the other stuff that preceeds a wedding. Other people's weddings are so much fun compared to your own. I've been wanting to meet anju for a very long time, being in the same city and all that. But things haven't been working out (thanks to a couple of very lazy guys, who say 'yes' to everythin then go disrupting all my plans t...

(don't worry, not mine....) We had gone to Pondicherry last weekend to attend a friend's wedding and it was a cute little hindu ceremonial thing. The hall was practically empty, cause most people turn up for the previous day reception, while only the really really close family members are present during the actual 'thali' tying ceremony which took place at 7am. When we entered, the bridegroom had one end of his attire tied to the girl's pallu and they were walking round the stage... I don't know what this signifies, but I really liked this part of the ceremony. (Enrique's song "you can run, you can hide, but you can't escape my love" would have fit the mood...) Anyway here are a few more pictures taken in/on the way to Pondicherry: Apparently alcohol is damn cheap in Pondicherry... The salt farm on the way to Pondicherry. Sajeeve's bullet proof cellphone, he got hit by a bullet a few days back, but the phone saved his life. (you can...

Tonio was looking at himself in the mirror, shaking his head and sayin, " Travelling so much my complexion is getting spoilt." So I told him, " You are already married, so why bother. It's not like you have to find somebody." To which he replied, "What if you die?" Am I lucky or what...

That's what Tonio said before he left for work on Monday and I started laughing. He's going back to work after the wedding and stuff and all he could say before leaving was "don't touch my jeans" . Poor thing, all my clearing and arranging must be gettin to him. He keeps saying "you're like my mom.....keep this back, don't leave this here..." (mimicking me) And I keep telling him "you're like manoj... leaving your clothes lying around..." Yeah... sure feels like home.

Here are a few picutres that won't find a place in the wedding album... but they were equally (some of them, even more) memorable. Everybody loves sunoj.... I was so happy to see them all...... (first time they were coming to my new place) Sunoj again.... hanging out with this guy is like shopping, ice cream, chocolates... etc. You can't get enough of them. The crazy cousins gave us a very interesting gift... this gift will be with us for six months then it will start its cycle of educating the owners. Though I doubt my cousins need much education in that department. It was fun opening the book and Jardin being the smart guy wanted somethin read from page 69. It was so cute the way Sunoj quickly picked up "The Magic Faraway Tree Series" from the corner and gave me to hold up when Robert uncle walked into the room (turns out he was the one who bought the book). I still remember Robert uncle laughing his head off.... good times. This wa...