So English!

Got to hear "Morning, Miss!". Am so charmed and thrilled

the tale of the buddha

He was thirty seven years old and blessed with a beautiful wife and two equally, if not more beautiful girls. He was talking about the time when he was in the US, some fifteen years ago. Had to stay a night at his friends place in philly. Since his friend and his girl friend shared a studio, he had to share their bed for that night. He was saying that it was the most freaked out thing he had ever done in his life. "Nothing happened", just so that you know...

Is it not such a heavy burden to carry one thought with you for fifteen years? Especially - if "nothing happened"?

So, I did not hire Jaseera.

I am a great advocate of the feminine right to wear whatever a woman wants - from shorts, to bikini tops, to nine yard sarees to train dresses to whatever not, as long as it is her choice. Infact, I thought that the french ruling on trying to ban burkas was completely absurd. So, it came as a pretty big shock to find myself kind of hesitant towards hiring a petit, pretty moslem girl in a burka. 

And I got to wondering what it was about the dress that made me uncomfortable to having one at work. First of all - chennai is hot. Hot as in sweaty hot, sultry hot, the kind of hot that makes you discover you can sweat out of your hair tips and finger nails. So, when I see a girl in a big black all covering dress, it reminds me of masala vadas. (They use a couple of days old masala vada as bait for the rats - supposedly the aroma is simply irresistable!!!) So, the idea of having a sweaty person in the office is not completely alluring. 

Also, it is so unpleasant to the eye. Though I do not expect any major head turning dresses at work, I still expect to see something that is pleasing and welcoming. Not something that will make me think twice about talking to the girl. I dont mind the vohra burkas - Most of them are handworked, embroideried and very tastefully done. Infact, I have worn one myself... 

Finally, I think, girls should be girls. Their innate craving for pretty things, shiny stuff etc. should not be constrained and forced inside a billowy, ghost of a completely unimaginative dress. 

So, I did not hire Jaseera.

what should I do with all the beers that I owe you??

I remember the smiles

And cheerful banter

I remember all the days of sunshine

and cracking up with tinkling laughter

I remember the times of tarot cards and reiki

Of crank calls and riding bikes

Of wisecracks and bad, BAD puns...

And Morse code swears

Of dancing and guitars

And Taichi and Deutsch

Of envious times of poring over Himalayan pictures

Of wishing “I were living his life”

Now – I just wish

you were alive.