Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Not a child anymore

Last Sunday my mom and my wife had organised a ceremony for our daughter. It was basically an all-ladies and all-children event. Gents had nothing to do it. So my cousin bro, my dad and I planted ourselves in front of the TV in our bedroom.

However, I was the official photographer of the program. This is when the reality dawned on me. When I was clicking photos of the event and the people, it struck me that I wasn't a child anymore. I took a moment to register that. "I wasn't a child anymore," I thought again.

Just few years back, my friends would come over to celebrate my birthday. I was still cutting cakes and singing 'Happy Birthday to me!". And now, there were children who had assembled for an event of my daughter! WOW! I have really grown.

Celebrating Birthdays was the in-thing for me. But the fact that Birthdays brought out the child in me, excited me even more. I used to prepare a list of 'buddies' coming over to celebrate, mom and dad would ask me about the food to prepare and what gifts I wanted. But now, I would be doing it for my daughter.

All my buddies have grown up and married, having to take of their spouses. Celebrating Birthdays 'together' seems a distant reality, with the responsibility of 'our family' resting on our inexperienced shoulders. No, something has to be done about it. Some sort of celebration, may be a get together. With everyone involved in it. I will be a child again.

I suddenly think about an earlier blog I wrote about 'Old Times', where I had stated my desire to meet my young self when I am old.

Really. Times change. People grow. You grow. :) It's all for good. Seriously. Godspeed.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Sales! Sales!

I am averse to going to shops which display 'Sales! Hurry.. Offer Till Stock Lasts!'. I am trying to assess why I think like that. I think I have at the back of my mind that this 'stock' is not the best of the lot. I buy things that last long and are of good quality. Therefore, sometimes, I overlook the cost factor and purchase something that is of the quality I want.

There's another issue: You are tempted to window shop in these places initially. You visit these shops, and end up shopping way over your budget. Which is funny, you never went in with a budget because you were just window shopping. In hindsight, during this fast-paced, and sometimes mindless, shopping you end up having things you may not like, and sometimes things you don't need.

I remember some catchy lines to grab some attention: "Buy 2, Get 10!". What they are actually saying is, if you buy 2 items, you get 8 items on them, which totals to 10. The salesman had clarified it to me once.

The pace at which these shops are mushrooming around, I am begining to change my mind. They are actually making money! They have tied with companies to give them a huge cut on margins, so that they can offer bulf discounts to customers. It's a consumerist market afterall. Good for us! I already see 'Sales!' signs coming up on prominent brands like Adidas, Reebok, Arrow, Bata, Metro, and Fastrack showrooms. I had seen similar signs just 4 months back.

It's sometimes good to visit these places. You get to meet lot of old and new acquaintences at 'Sales!' shops. I am also going to visit these shops, but will be taking a considered decision and will purchase something I need.

Happy Shopping!

Friday, January 08, 2010

Old Times

Yesterday the following thought engulfed me: How must it be like to be old? How must our grandparents be feeling at that age of 65-70? Will I feel any different at 60? Hard to say, because I have not been through that experience.

Time-wise I would have grown, yes. At the family front, I might have become grand pa. But at the thought-level, at the mind-level, spiritual level, would I be any different than what I am? Hard to say. No clue whatsoever. Relativistically speaking, I have not grown in time with respect to myself.

I don't ask this question to senior citizens I meet, because of their seniority! But I want to ask someone, inquisitively, about how they felt when they were younger.

My journey of 28 yrs seems to have gone in a blink. On a computer you can create progressive versions of your files, and can subsequently view the changes/ modifications done in that file. In life, it does not happen. Every second, millions of varied inputs are acting on you, millions of improvizations taking place within you, millions of developments happening, millions of cells dying, millions of cells getting created, millions of thoughts shaping you into a better human being. But there's no way we are able to refer to our 'previous' version later... atleast for reference.

We just grow. Retaining memories which have influenced us in some way. Others, which have faded into oblivion.

There should be some way to compare notes between a person when he is young and when he is old. Someway, our young-self should be able to interact with our old-self or vice versa.

May be by the time I am 60, time travel would be a reality. And I would re-visit 8 Jan 2010, and meet myself to answer these questions.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Happy New Year 2010!

The New Year has come at the right time. I somehow resolved my 'self-generated' problems very recently and am taking life ahead with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. I am back, again!

This new year celebration was memorable. We had invited two of my closest friends and their families over to my place to celebrate the new year. And we did celebrate it well. We had prepared 'Misal Pav', a heavy Maharashtrian snack that is easy to cook and yummy to eat. All the credit goes to my wife, mom and dad. All the material supplies, logistics, transportation, preparation, serving, arrangement etc was done by them.

During these days, exactly when they needed me, I had to put in long hours at work due to high absenteeism. While work was satisfying, it was difficult to see the same 'satisfying' expression on my wife's and mom's face! Especially when I wasn't there to help them. They still managed well, naturally.

My wife's busy work schedule did not prevent her from making delicious 'Gaajar ka Halwa' for everyone. Those who know how to make it, also know how time-intensive it is. Of course, it was amazingly made!

All of us (totalling 3 families) appreciated the menu. The credit, I reiterate, goes to my wife, mom and dad. Considering that I did not contribute anywhere, I was happy that they just let me eat it!

My daughter has completed 7 months a day before the New Year's eve. And she carried herself really well! She was attentive, fun-filled and responsive. She was the centre of attraction at the event. With the little vocabulary and ample mischiefs she has mastered, she had put the place on fire. We just laughed, and laughed. It was an evening well spent.

After playing Antakshari for about 3 hours, we all got tired at 2am. We decided to call it a day and others left for their respective homes to have a good night's sleep. Me and wife realised it almost at the same time - how the hell are we going to get up at 6.30am to be able to go to office at 8am? With that pleasant thought, we just slept.

I woke up very late at around 9am with happy thoughts of last night's celebration. Somehow, I managed to get ready quickly to reach office at 10am, surprised to see that several others had reached late after their late-night celebrations.

The new year had arrived - with new hopes, new aspirations, new events, new celebrations, new thoughts, new ideas, and most importantly, NEW LIFE! Happy New Year, again! :)