To Mom, with love

Well, this is a post dedicated entirely to my beloved mother. Before she (or any of my other family members) starts having palpitations thinking that this kid (me) is probably trying to elope, let me clarify, this is just a normal fun post. AND I'M NOT RUNNING AWAY! 

There are a few traits common to all mothers. Sometimes when I talk to my closest friends and we discuss our "mother problems" you can see the common stuff. 

I think it's mandatory that I begin this post with a lot of praise for my darling mother. So, she's a fun mother, she's got an amazing vocabulary (the kind that can shut you up), a perfectionist, efficient and bestowed with talents. (That should suffice, right?!) 

Now that we're done with all the good stuff let's get to ground realities. My mother happens to be the biggest drama queen. Well, don't take it offensively mom, but fainting in the hospital while you're daughter's bleeding out isn't exactly cool! The doctors and nurses only asked about her on my next visit when I went with my DAD (wasn't I supposed to be the centre of all the attention?!).

There's another doctor story. I was at an eye clinic for a regular check up. I was asked for my details at the reception. "Your name?" "Mm..aa", I barely said this when my mom blurted out my name. The poor lady gave me another chance to answer and asked for my age. "Fff-ii..", I said. And mum completed the rest of the word. I don't stammer, it's just that my mum's too enthusiastic about giving away my details herself (that's polite for "she treats me like a baby!!!").   

Justin Timberlake can't please her nor can Ed Sheeran. She finds them all boring, monotonous and just very meaningless (hello, are ya kidding me?!). 

If I go out with my friends for a morning trip and if she doesn't hear from me for more than a couple of hours, the panic mood sets in. The other day she called me up to ask, "Have you run away to join the ISIS?" (Only half joking). 

For a mother, especially for an overprotective mother like mine, talking to a boy is talking to a boyfriend and if even he's a Shah Rukh Khan or a Stephen Hawking, he can NEVER be good enough for you. NEVER. Mums can pick out faults in anyone you like (better than John Green ever did in the stars). 

Mums also have this curiousity to know every thing that's going on with our lives. If I'm crying, I just had a fight with someone. If I'm laughing, I have to share the joke even if she'll end up making weird faces after listening to it. April Fools' Day pranks make no sense to her and she always shuts me up by telling me that it was sooooo mean to do such a thing to a friend! 

Burgers and cookies are "very unhealthy" only till they're the only way she can make me do something for her. 

And who can forget "When I was kid..."(You know what comes after that!)

Despite all these "chinks in the armour", she is still a loving mother and I love her too. (Believe me, I have to end it with this otherwise I'll probably not be permitted to post this, just kidding!) ;) 

P.S : If you don't see any posts on this blog for the next few weeks, be kind enough to drop by and check! ;) :P 

Today in Pictures

Today has been a day full of adventure and lots of fun. I'm kind of short of words so I'll stick to pictures to express my feelings. 

These pictures have been taken in the absolutely enchanting Udaipur! :) 

Early morning ride, 6.20 a.m

Retrica (always there for the self-claimed photographers) ;)

My love story

"Only know you've been high when you're feeling low

Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go"

Heart breaks are painful. They shatter you, they leave you with scars for the rest of your life and... and they leave you helpless and hungry when the cook doesn't show up! 

If you haven't guessed already, I'm basically hinting at my love story with Maggi. I don't know when did it happen. Maggi has been around since before I was born. I don't even remember when was the first time I got the privilege of tasting it. All I know is the fact that I am hopelessly in love with it. And now, when it's going away from the shelves in the grocery stores (for the greater good, maybe), I'm extremely heart broken and grief-stricken (just like a few million others)!

So, yes, I probably do not remember how and when did I have my first meeting with maggi. But, I do know that it was the first thing I "cooked". The art of pouring exactly the right amount of water in the saucepan, watching it simmer and then vigourously boil, crushing the packet with your hands before emptying the contents into the hot, boiling water filled saucepan, adding the masalas which make maggi what it is and then waiting for the aroma to fill the kitchen and lift your senses to another dimension. I have one complain though. It NEVER gets cooked in 2 minutes. 

People have their own versions of Maggi. My dad gives a whole new spin to the snack (Maggi happens to be just that one thing that he can "cook", by the way). He'll add a few vegetables, spices, and a few other stuff, and then finally you have a whole new version of Maggi ready for you. We fill our plates and stomachs till we can have no more. But, I guess, when dad made that last Sunday, it was the last time we were having it. 

Well, to be betrayed in love, that's the worst kind of thing. Lead in maggi came as a shock to everyone of us. But, we can do nothing about it, can we? 

What pains me the most is the fact that 50 years from now, our children won't ever discover the blissful taste of Maggi, they won't know what to do when mum's not at home or when someone forgot to get vegetables for dinner. The first thing that they'll learn to make will probably be a boring salad or maybe a glass of punch! 

Well, all things come to an end. The good and the bad (which one of them is this?). I wish our little love story had lasted for a bit longer. But, now, I probably need to let it go. Sigh!

Meaning of Manya ;)

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any another name would smell as sweet."

That was a good point made by Juliet(and hence by Shakespeare). But, that was said, perhaps, in the late 16th century. If you ask someone today, "What's in a name?", the reply you'll get will be,  "Apparently everything!". Haven't you heard of how people add an extra A or delete an O just to get showers of "money, prosperity" and if the letters permit, some amount of genuine happiness too! 

My name's Manya. You might have noticed that right on top, a small little addition to "lifeisbeautiful". When I started writing on this blog, I was really confused about the title. I was merely 13 years old with half as much humour as I have at the ripe age of 16. I'm not exactly Robin Williams now either. But, I'm definitely better than my 13 year old version. So, I zeroed in on the name "Life is Beautiful" because it is, and because it happens to be one of my favourite movies (also known by the Italian name, La vita è bella, starring Roberto Benigni). 

Well, coming back to where I started, my name's Manya. It is an unusual name, I know. Never heard it before? Well, I haven't heard of anyone else having the same name either. 

In India, there is one tradition that every family follows, irrespective of the state they live in or the religion they follow(United we stand, for sure!). You'll always find some distant relative of yours(could be the "London wali Aunty" or "Patna wale NRI Uncle") or sometimes even people with almost the same genetic constitution(read:Parents or grandparents) who would go on and on AND on about how good "those days" were! Well, if you happen to belong to a family where you haven't come across such fine specimens or if you don't belong to India, you might be curious to know, what exactly does "those days" mean. Well, "those days" basically signifies those days when chocolates were available in only 25 paise(I wonder how they tasted), when people went uninvited to everyone's houses, when the only channel that existed was Doordarshan and when the Internet was a foreign word. I know you're trying to figure out what's exactly so good about it. Give up, I did this a long time back. 

When I was 5, I needed my dad/mum's help to have any access to the Internet. It was a once-in-week-thing. My dad would sign in, enter the password(which my little black eyes couldn't catch) and a circle would appear near the cursor signifying that soon I'll be able to go and play all sorts of games(stupid games) on disney.com! I can picture myself telling my little cousins about "those days" a few years from now. So, those were my days. Today, my six year old, darling cousin, sends me screenshots of her creativity in providing a manicure to a barbie in an internet game! 

So, I did use the Internet, once in a while, to surf sites which provided some interactive and "very-educational" games. But, I also used it for one other very special cause. Yahoo used to be subjected to one question every time I surfed on the net, which is, "Meaning of the name Manya". When that didn't give me satisfactory results, I tried other words like, "Meaning of Manya hindu name", "Manya, Indian name", "Manya, freaking girl name, now give me a meaning!!!!". It never worked. I always got bizarre answers. Even the sites were not sure what it meant. They just kept telling that it isn't a very popular name. Well, thank you very much. 

When the Internet didn't provide me with answers, I troubled mom for them. My parents say that they named me Manya because that was the first name they thought of when they decided to give me a name that started with M(that's how my father's name begins) and ended with A(as that's how my mum's name begins). Although, I strongly suspect that she(mum) came up with this little theory to curtail me from pestering her day and night. Little genius, she is. 

I gave up after a few years. One fine day, while I was sitting with my iPad and searching for Bart Baker Parodies (no longer the five-year-old-disney-surfing-child, am I?), I suddenly decided to search for the meaning of my name. I used Google this time! Several results came up and I clicked on one of them. And there it was, BOLD and CLEAR: The Name Manya means....... Bitter (Russian). 

Goddamn you! Who asked for a Russian meaning? I searched again, "Meaning Manya INDIAN, HINDU, SANSKRIT, DEVANAGARI, BHARAT, HINDUSTAN!!" and I finally got what I was looking for. Manya means someone who's worthy of honour and appreciation! Tadaaaa! 

Perfect. 

Well, things aren't exactly better now. Mr. John Abraham did a movie called Shootout at Wadala, and the name of his character (a Mumbai gangster) was, wait-for-it, Manya Surve. Can you believe my luck! As if my name wasn't already tampered a lot in West Bengal that an A-list "male" actor ends up with my "female" name in a well-publicised movie featuring a track on that name(bonus, yay!)! 

Poor me! But, I'm glad that atleast I can proudly tell the meaning of my name to those who enquire. If you happen to be a person with the same name, do write in the comments. Please make sure you don't mention that if you happen to be a boy, thanks (just kidding)! 

Oh, and here's a quote: Your name is your going-away gift. Make them remember it. Make them shout it in the streets.

(Obviously, it shouldn't be followed by "Hands up, you're surrounded by FBI agents!")

A Few Thoughts

India lose by 95 runs to Australia. 

Once, we've over all the 'ooh's and 'aah's, let's just see what happened today. 

Sydney Cricket Ground, with a capacity of 42,000 people, is empty. As Harsha Bhogle interviews Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid on what should be the best approach for Australians and Indians today, you can see, the Indian Cricket Team practicing it out behind. The gates open and people start coming in like swarms of bees. Blue and yellow. The only two colors that you can identify. There's this excitement and immense amount of nervousness. Is it the crowd unanimously screaming or is it the sound of the heart thumping hard? 

Well, I'm not much of a cricket expert here. I'm not particularly sure if I can really differentiate between a cover drive and a pull shot(wait, I think I can do this one!). But, here are a few things about today's game. Smith performed brilliantly. That was a wonderful knock. Not something that we, Indians, will be particularly happy about, but, yes, there's no denying that that knock was wonderfully executed. India bowled well. They could've done better during the death overs. The support in the field was amazing. The Indians had transformed the SCG into Wankhede completely. The atmosphere was electrifying. Well, after playing 50 overs and with some wonderful contributions, Australia posted a total of 328 runs. That's a really huge target for a world cup semi final. HUGE! I could feel the pressure over our guys. A hell lot of pressure, for sure. 

They come out to bat. Initially things looked good. With Dhawan hitting the runs and inching closer to a half century and Rohit, slowly rotating the strike, it seemed like a winnable match. But, Dhawan soon lost his wicket. And then we lost a few more. All of a sudden, we were 4 wickets down, required run rate climbing up, Australian bowlers getting more and more confident with each ball they bowled and yes, the hearts of a billion (minus a few thousand) Indians slowing down. By the end of the batting powerplay, we knew we had let the match slip out of our hands. Painfully so. And we did lose. And by a huge margin, let's admit that. 

(Funny how a few terms like "execution" and "contribution" coupled with a few statements borrowed from the post-innings shows, can make you sound like a Sunil Gavaskar in a post match press meet.)

We lost. Am I heartbroken? Yes. Am I sad? Hell, yeah! 

Am I disappointed? Yes, here's why:

Remember how I mentioned a billion minus a few thousand hearts in the last paragraph? Let me explain that. Open your facebook account. Go through your news feed. So, you'll find a bunch of excited Indians posting in erratic grammar about how much they love the Indian team and how "hashtag-we-won't-give-it-back", "hashtag-we'll-win", "hashtag this" and "hashtag that". Support for the team with erratic grammar, accepted. But, bullshitting about the Indian team and it's members? "Hashtag" not accepted! 

You're Indians, remember? I'm not asking you to go sacrifice your life at the border. But, you can support your guys out there, it's really not that "un-cool". You should! And do you really think a single person can make all the difference in a match? Why is cricket a team sport then? And what's with the whole thing behind Anushka Sharma turning up for the match? Isn't Virat Kohli, and Virat Kohli alone, to be blamed for his performance (or rather, the lack of it)? 

A few more things. A presenter, "I-don't-even-bother-to-remember-the-name-of" and who was nicknamed a**hole (rightly so) by my mum (oh, yeah, she's expanding her 'vocabulary'), asks Dhoni if this was his last World Cup. Haha! That man was out his mind! And what a fitting reply was given by Michael Clarke. Respect, man! You earned it. You've gotta give some amount of appreciation to them, they performed wonderfully. There was some tension (polite word for sledging) in the field. But, that part, where they come rushing to see if Yadav wasn't hurt too bad, was bliss! That's what true cricket's about. Or any sport, for that matter. 

We took a lot of things from this particular match. I wish we could've taken a victory too. Well. 

Mammoth bottle diaries

Have I ever written a post on just one person? Maybe not. I did write about my friends exactly two years back. About how I will miss them and how much they mean to me. And yes, I do miss them and yes, they still do mean the world to me. But, coming back to the point where I started, I've never written about one specific person. Today I will. I met this person about a year ago in summer. And since then, I've been in love. To my beloved family, before you start jumping to conclusions, let me tell you that this post's about Aayesha(She's a girl and she's a baby)! ;)

I'm sitting in my school bus. It's been an exhausting, uneventful day. Exhaustingly uneventful. There's no one in my bus of my age. But, it's filled with little children. Cute, little, children. And they're all a little too excited for 12.30 pm. Well, they always are. So, I'm sitting on one of the last seats (because that's where the 'seniors' belong). And in front of me, there are two kids, one of them is Aayesha. I'm not particularly sure about how her name's spelled. But, I am using two 'A's just so you get the pronounciation right. I've 'suffered' a lot because of the absence of another A in my name. Anyways, coming back to Aayesha, I'm not even sure of her surname. But, what's in a name, right? Let me give you a little description. She's tiny but quite tall for her age. She's got these two large brown eyes on her round, cute, chubby little face. She's pretty thin, all the fat's stored up in her cheeks. Her hands are small, very small. I wonder how does she hold her oversized bottle in her tiny, little palms! And she's beautiful. She used to have long brown hair tied up in a messy ponytail(that diva!). But, now, she's chopped off her locks. But, she's still very pretty! 

She's sitting next to a boy, much smaller in height. I think his name is Rudraksh. I asked him his name and he muttered something that my mind couldn't register. But, I think it was Rudraksh. And they're upto no good. Here's what these toddlers are doing: Emptying the water of their mammoth bottles into tiny cups that fit over them and then throwing it all around. These kids! Also, these bus rides can teach you a thing or two about bus conductors. There are two kinds of them. The first kind, who love kids. The second kind, who don't. The one in my bus probably doesn't. He's sitting on the first seat and grunting every time he hears these kids giggling away to glory. 

Kids laugh so much. And their laughter's so loud and clear, without any hesitance or restraint. Plain, honest, hearty laughter. And they'll laugh at almost anything. Oh, a kid tripped, let's laugh! Oh, the bus halted, laugh! Oh, he's laughing, I'll join him! 

Some of the kids have dozed off on their seats. The bus stops near the house of one of them with a 'slight' jerk. But, these tiny inertia lacking organisms start falling hither thither, holding on to each other's hands for dear life!!!

Aayesha gets scolded by the conductor for being too mischevious. I feel bad for her and give her a don't-worry-he's-just-an-idiot smile when she turns around to look at me. She shies away and whispers something in Rudraksh's ear. These kids whisper in a peculiar manner. Almost attempting to bite the ear of the other person! 

I can hear a kid singing a song out loud. And he very flamboyantly says at the end of that song, "Yo yo honey singh-a". I know what you're thinking. That man's everywhere, ain't he? 

Well, we reach her house. And she gets down the bus and waves her tiny hands to say good-bye! We'll meet tomorrow again with a new set of mischiefs and the mammoth bottle. 

Mum calling!! Got to go!

Uh, what's the weather exactly like?

"What's the weather like?" 

"It's nice and sunny". The moment you hear Siri say anything like that, be prepared for some good amount of rainfall before the day comes to an end.

Two weeks ago, we were all cribbing about how cold it is. I used to be completely curled up in my blanket. Mom used to sit in front of the good-for-nothing heater and warm her hands and make an unsuccessful attempt to warm mine. And we used to crib, yes of course. We thought about the good old days in the eastern part of the country where one could hardly differentiate between summer and winter. It always seemed hot. It is perpetually summer all through the year there. I don't have a thing against winter. In fact, I kind of like it. But, it's only good when you can stay rolled up in your bed, blanket over your head, all day long. That doesn't happen in real life, so, my fondness for winter is limited(obviously!).

Two days back, I was having a tough time trying to sleep. I went to bed at about 12 and then I remember not getting any sleep at all. I checked the time, it was 12.44 am. I think I slept thirty minutes later. The reason behind my troubled sleep: It was not hot enough to turn on the fan, and not cold enough to use the blanket. So, I switched on the fan on a really low speed. Put the blanket over me, one leg sticking out. And slept. I woke up again, in the morning. Around dawn. Why? Because, suddenly I felt cold. So, I switched off the fan, blanket over my head, and dozed off. 

What do you think the weather is like right now? 

Well, it's been raining since yesterday. And not the drizzle-kind-of-rain, it's the rain-kind-of-rain! Wind's blowing wild, and it's pretty chilly outside. It's chilly inside too! The clouds have covered the sky. The sun's playing peek-a-boo. And we're all confused about the weather. 

Siri's prediction though for the next few days? Warm and sunny. ;)

P.S. We love you Siri, we do (even though you kind of declined my polite request to be my valentine, because you lacked a corporeal form!) ;) 

So, believe, that magic works!

There's this quote which says, if you don't believe in magic, you'll never find it. Pardon me for not quoting the right words. It's 23.00 in my part of the world and it's been a long & tiring day. So, you really can't blame me for not doing some research before writing this post. Coming back to the quote, we all kind of get the meaning, right? How can you ever discover something if you don't believe in its existence! 

The super boring history textbooks(I got rid of 'em long back, phew!) from our lower classes tell us about Vasco da Gama, the famous Portuguese explorer, known for discovering a sea route to India all the way from Europe. You think he did that without a belief in the existence of some land miles away? Nope, that's not how things work. 

But, I'm not here to talk about history or to discuss geography. So, you needn't worry. The reference to VdG was made to make you realise something very important, i.e, unless you really want something, believe in that something, it's kind of impossible for you get that 'something'. 

So, I realise that the above sentence makes no sense. It sounds vague. And like something out of old feel-good movies. But, let's just analyse that stuff again. 

It's true, right? How do you ever plan to find happiness if you don't believe in it? How will you find love? True friendship? Success? Joy? Pleasure? 

If you don't believe that there's something good out there waiting for you to come and grab it with all your strength, you might never find it. It's like the Mirror of Erised from Harry Potter. It's only better because things that you really want and things that you look for, not only come before you, but, they actually materialise. 

So, there are two things. a) You really want that 'something' b) You believe in the existence of that 'something' 

And voila! With just a pinch of hardwork and perseverence, you'll get all that you've ever wanted. You've got to put in the hardwork too. Nothing comes for free in this world of ours, sorry! 

So, set your goals. Work out your plans. Execute them with perfection. And every once in a while, take in a deep breath. Look around. Don't just sip the coffee, take in its aroma. Don't just work, enjoy every moment of it. Don't just sleep, dream. And most importantly, keep believing. Have faith. Always. And let the magic come looking for you. 

Hold on.

Memories. Some highly convoluted part of your brain holds them. Holds on to them very tightly. Granting you access everytime you want. You can keep storing stuff for the rest of forever. It's never 'full'.

We make memories every year. The good ones, the not-so-good-ones, the too good ones, the pretty ones, the ugly ones... The list can go on forever...! 

When things end, well, they end. And more often than not, you feel bad. The end of a good movie, a fun trip, your favourite show or your phone balance! xD Of course, there is this other kind of endings, the one you look forward to. The end of a bad rom-com, the end of your exams, a rough time, a long tiring walk, etc.

When a year ends, we have a really crazy feeling inside us. A sense of anticipation and anxiety about the year to come. But, we also look forward to creating some awesome memories and having new experiences. 

You'll always find a bunch of people around you swearing about the year that just ended. But, here's something for them(or for you, in case you happen to be one of 'em), you're exactly where you're supposed to be. I'm not much of a fatalist, but, I do believe in the saying that the Universe has got a plan and the plan's always in action. Always. 

So, go ahead. Make new memories. Enjoy 2015. Make it your best year. But, hold on to the previous ones. Hold on tightly, for they do offer you a lot more than you think. 

Start filling the pages of a brand new diary. And as they say, write a good one. :)