Metamorphosis

I was watching the end of The Social Network yesterday and as the credits rolled, I read that Erica Albright (Zuckerberg's ex girlfriend) was played by Rooney Mara.

Yes, Rooney Mara of The girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame.

I mean she is the girl with the dragon tattoo.

What a transformation!

And all this time I thought only Madonna could metamorphose into new versions of herself.

Chikoo

There are very few things that I can make.
One of them is milkshake.

Milk + fruits + sugar = a firecracker of a drink.
Water + fruits + seedless dates = the healthier version for the lactose intolerant.

I'd make them for my mom when she'd come home after a long day at work.
I'd lay the table like I was serving up a 7 course meal.
But all she got was a milkshake.

It was like an amuse-bouche and no entree, plat et dessert.

And now she is returning the favour.
Almost everyday.

Tiger (the dog) guarding my chikoo tree.

Since it isn't mango season, and because my mother has got a gazillion chikoos from the tree outside my house I've been drinking chikoo milkshakes pretty much everyday.

And I seem to have a love-hate relationship with it.

Because as good as it tastes, after I drink it my lips get all weird.

Like I've worn a super glue lipstick.

And it doesn't come off with facewash, body scrub or even handwash that removes 99% bacteria.

I thought that stuff was hardcore but clearly it isn't.

It's kind of gross and looks like I took a bandaid off my lips and the glue didn't quite come off.

Now do you get what I mean?

Does this happen to everyone in the world?

Or just me?

Is it an allergy?

Or just the sap?

Or does the Chikoo God want my lips to get stuck so I finally shut up?

Am I a superhero?

Over the last year I have noticed a change in myself.

I have become a lot more sensitive.

To sound

Smell

[Not sight]

Change in temperature

And Taste.

Especially onion and garlic.

Maybe I need to sort out my issues with Rahu*.

I can't eat it anymore and avoid it unless I'm having it in small quantities.

Or have to follow it up with running my mouth through a car wash.

My friend Mallika found this piece of information hilarious and asked me if I was recently bitten by a spider.

I certainly hope not since I'm petrified of all insects.

And I thought 'Oh my God! With great power comes great resposibility'.

Do I have the time?

But I doubt I'm becoming Spiderman anytime soon with my deteriorating eyesight.

Clearly I have given it a lot of thought.

via

 * In the Mahabharata, during the Samudra Manthan, Amrit (the nectar of immortality) emerged from the Milky Ocean. Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of Mohini, the enchantress and served this nectar only to the Gods. Swarbhanu (a demon) disguised himself as a God and tried to get some of this precious Amrit. When Surya (the Sun God) and Chandra (the Moon God) noticed this, they told Mohini who then took the original form of Lord Vishnu once again. He then threw his Sudarshan Chakra (divine discus) at Swarbhanu (the demon) and this separated his head (Rahu) from his body (Ketu). When Rahu fell to the ground there were drops of blood that fell to the earth from which emerged plants of garlic and onion.

Click here for an even more detailed story.

Haii know

Haii know you've got your own town

Haii know you got your own ways 

Haii know you got your own lieefe

I'm just sayin' come on down to my place 

Come on make some new friends 

And tell me what you drinkin' 

Haii know there's no place like home 

But I know you gonna like it in my citaaay

Don't ask what that's about.

But if you insist, Haii will try to explain what it's all about.

It's a new music video which plays on Vh1 all day long.

It has the stupidest lyrics ever written.

I wrote a little poem when I was 7 years old called By the Seaside that only made it to the School Magazine but it makes more sense than this song.

In my City is Priyanka Chopra's first song and features Will-i-shouldn't-have-done-it.

In the song she talks about how amazing it is - in her citaay.

And after watching the entire video I still don't know which citaay it is.

You can see a Rickshaw and what I think is the Gateway of India.

And then you see a London phonebooth and an Underground sign.

And a big Ferris Wheel.

Is that a random Mela or the London Eye?

We will never know.

Now Priyanka Chopra can sing.

She's not wow but she's not bad either.

But when you sing ridiculous lyrics, make a low budget looking video, wear clothes that make your waist look so freakishly thin that you'd give Dita Von Teese a complex, and do a very Yo dance interspersed with Namastes+desi-girl-moves and tribal-capoeira-like pieces in between, do you really want us to take you seriously?

And Will-i-Am is singing lyrics like - Coming out inside my car.

What?!?

I'm sorry Priyanka, but we stopped taking you seriously when you got Daddy's lil girl tattooed on your wrist.

And Will-i-Am is now Will-i-Made-a-Big-Mistake.

Oops!

The one and only

Photo by me.

I wasn't sure whether to write a post about God.

It's such a touchy topic.

My sister always told me that there are 3 things that you never talk about at the dinner table.

Religion. Politics. And sex.

I suppose God falls into the religion category but so what.

When did I ever take my sister's good advice anyway?

Everyone in my family thinks of God in a different way.

I know that I believe in God.

The idea of something much bigger than us.

Out of convenience I picture a Ganesh.

I've always liked him for some reason.

And he is the remover of obstacles which is also great.

But, I don't know if I believe in all the stories about our 330 million Hindu Gods.

While some have the face of an animal as can be seen with Ganesh, others are seen with skin colours like blue*.

Or is that just the artists interpretation of the God?

The artists from the Rennaisance period drew Jesus a certain way and that's how we see him today.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that thats exactly how he looked.

Whether I believe it or not, I still love reading all the stories about the Gods. And their incarnations.

And so I'm currently reading children's books written by Gauri Kelkar about Hindu Goddesses. Being children's books, they are very easy to read and have beautiful illustrations. And they also have fun things like stickers at the back.
Also it's quite interesting to see how the Gods and Goddesses who are usually seen together reunite as a couple in every incarnation.
True love!

I suppose I should just enjoy the books for the stories and look at it with an open mind.

After all they are Gods. So why expect them to have human-like qualities like us?

According to my mother, I have always been a tad bit rebellious especially while accepting traditions and beliefs relating to God.

But I know there have been those few moments in my life when I have felt his presence.

- In times of need.

- When I've been fortunate enough to have more happiness than I could expect.

- Or even when I'm working and being creative.

Someone told me that everything already exists in this world.

Nothing is actually invented or created.

But when you open your mind to it, you see it.

For a moment there I thought then what am I doing as a creative person?

But then I realised that that's sort of how I feel when I work and come up with new ideas.

Somehow they never feel like mine.

But more like God dropped a bag of ideas in my head.

And it usually happens during that time when I'm not asleep and not really awake either.

It feels like there's a blackhole in my mind through which ideas just fall through with ease.

Does that make sense?

Or am I alone on this one?

So what I'm trying to say is...

Open your mind.

Open your heart.

And you will see that the world is a beautiful place.


*Blue is the skin colour of Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna and Lord Ram. But for different reasons.
Ram and Krishna are shown to have blue skin as blue depicts their dusky skin tone. Some say this colour also stands for great spiritual attainment as according to Indian spiritual tradition blue is the colour of superconciousness.
Lord Shiva on the other hand was also shown to have blue skin. In the Mahabharata, during the Samudra Manthan, along with the Amrit and the 14 Ratnas, a poison emerged that was so powerful that it could have destroyed all of creation. Lord Shiva on the advice of Lord Vishnu inhaled the poison and on doing so his neck turned blue. This is why Lord Shiva is also known as Nilakantha (the blue throated one).

Word of the day

I just downloaded a new App on my phone through another App.
Am I an App junkie?
Because I feel like the Lindsay Lohan of Apps.

So, the first App I was talking about is AppGratis.
My friend told me about it and it's pretty amazing.
They give you a deal a day - a paid app that you can download for free but just for that day.
So I downloaded App No.2 which is CultiWords.
This teaches you new words.
And I'm obsessed with learning new words and their pronunciations.
It's almost like a hobby.
I think it's time Merriam Webster got upgraded to my Bookmarks Bar.

via

But it's not even like I use these words in conversation.
It's just to activate a few more cells in my brain.
They say we use only 10% of our brain. And Einstein used about 20% maybe?
So I'm aiming for about 15%.
Or maybe that's all rubbish and it's just that some lobe of his brain was wider.

Like every morning I woke up and opened my Cultiwords App.
Today's word was harbinger.
Now harbinger is not a 'big word' and I already knew of it but it was fun to relearn it.
But everytime I think of it, I think of how it could be someones first name.
Which ofcourse would be followed by a last name like Singh.
What do you think?

Anything Makers

I am a big fan of creative people - musicians, writers, artists.
I call them Anything Makers.

Those who see beauty in everything.
And those who create it.

Here's an amazing video that I came across while browsing yesterday.

What can I say?
It made my day.

If you love stop motion, papercrafts and happy music you'll love it too.

It's a music video for Katachi - a song by Shugo Tokumaru.
And if you love the song as much as I do, you can buy it here for just $0.99.

Old. New. Borrowed. Blue.

This is what I did on this long weekend:

I cleaned out a lot of old stuff.

I love cleaning. I have a talent for making switchboards spotless.

I watched a new indie film.

And then I wished I hadn't.

I borrowed the DVD of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

From the DVD library down my road.

And I painted my bathroom wall Blue.

For a while I felt happy thinking that my painting arm (the right one) had lost some weight and was now equal to my left arm.

And then I realized it's still fat.

With 

Something Old

Something New

Something Borrowed

And something Blue

It almost seemed obvious that there must be a wedding.

And ofcourse there was!

Photo by me.

I ended my weekend by attending a wedding.

It was so beautiful. And the full moon only added to the beauty.

Great food. Live music. And so many unnecessary details that only few would notice - love it when people care.

And watching people who looked so in love with each other.

What's not to love?

Joaquin

Ever since I wrote my last post about sneezing and philtrums I've become obsessed with philtrums.

So if you meet me soon I'll probably not be listening to a word you say and channeling my inner face reader and figuring out who you really are through your philtrum.

Not to worry I was only kidding.

I'm not even that strange.

But it got me thinking about Joaquin Phoenix.

I have always wondered about his scar which infact is a mild form of cleft lip.

When a baby is still in the mother's womb, the two sides of the face form separately and are joined together in the end at the philtrum - which is the last part of the face to get formed.

And when the two sides of the face fail to fuse together properly, a cleft lip is formed.

I had seen it on the Discovery Channel a long time ago and it is quite fascinating.

Clearly I could now write medical journals.

But that's not what's weird about Joaquin Phoenix.

I wikied him and learnt a whole lot about him.

Firstly I love the sound of his name.

Joaquin. Joaquiiiin. I could say it all day.

It would really help me exercise my facial muscles.

Try it.

Then did you know that his actual surname is Bottom?

His family changed it to Phoenix to mark a new beginning when they left the Children of God cult in South America and moved back to the States.

His siblings all have names from nature.

River. Rain. And Summer.

Which made him want to call himself Leaf.

Yes, leaf.

Because he liked raking leaves.

Firstly who likes raking leaves?

And secondly who names themselves leaf because of it?

Luckily Joaquin changed it back to Joaquin (I can keep saying it. My skin's already looking better) at age 15 when he stopped liking raking leaves?

I don't know.

It's just so complicated.

And only a name.

Joaquin is the Spanish version of the Hebrew name Joachim.

Saint Joachim was the father of Mother Mary.

I love how wikipedia leads you to such interesting information when you are only reading about an actor and his philtrum.

Now back to the face exercising.

Joaquin.

Joaquin.

Joaquin.

Try it.

You sort of look like you're doing Lamaze breathing but so what.

For all you sneezies

It's winter.
It's cold outside.
It's cold inside.
My feet are frozen.
It's only Bombay so noone takes me seriously.

I've managed to escape it while being wrapped up like an eskimo.
And everyone's sneezing. Eeks.
And sneezing = germs.

I am a certified germaphobe.
And I'm not afraid to wear that badge with pride.

You'll never catch me leaning in an elevator.
Resting my elbows on a dirty table.
I wrap myself in tissue before touching anything in a public restroom.
I will never touch an insect.
Or walk around with shoes in my house.
Or sit on the bed without washing my feet.

Half my family thinks I'm crazy.
And the other half is just like me.

Germs. Bacteria. Mold. Eeks for all.
Scientists say that if it weren't for bacteria the world wouldn't exist. Whatever!
Eeks again.
And yet I still love my blue cheese - the blue being mold.
Yum!?

[On a sidenote:
I always say I could never marry a man who smokes.
But as they say - Never say never.
Or could one man who smokes be the exception to the rule?
Could he be the mold on the blue cheese?]

Getting back to the point - besides Blue Cheese and the occasional smoker, I hate germs.
(Does that sentence even make sense?)

They make you sick.
They make you sneeze.
That's not fun.
And people are continuously saying God Bless You.
Do you know why?
Because legend has it that your heart stops beating everytime you sneeze.
So saying those 3 magical words will ensure that your heart continues beating and you keep living.

Excuse Me by Karen Katz

So incase you want to ensure continuous beating of your heart, here's a tip to help you get through this weather without sneezing.
Hold your finger on your philtrum* and press down.
My friend taught me this.
I don't know if he made it up but it seems to work for me.

May your days be sneezeless and bright!
And may all your Christmases be white.

Gesundheit!

* The vertical groove in the centre between the nose and upper lip.
The word originates from the Greek term meaning 'love potion'.
Ancient Romans found it erotic.
In Jewish mythology it is believed that an angel strikes a newborn on the upperlip before birth to erase all that he knew as a soul, thus creating the philtrum.
And in science, the philtrum is what joins the 2 sides of the face that grow independently in the womb.