Too much luggage

" Do you need help?? "

I looked up from picking up the books that I had dropped. He was standing there smiling his cute gorgeous smile at me. My heart melted......

Ohkkk ohkk * sigh * who am I kidding...Such things dont happen to me :P...( And knowing me its most likely going to be 'A book' rather than books, strictly w.r.to academic books 'f course...If its fiction..thats a whole other story.. u couldnt even see me then . I might as well be hiding behind 20 books :) ..which would give an excuse for cute boys to help me pick them up...u see how I am going around in a circle here :D)

Nywhoo...so since I started my intern ( "wha:O? really u got an intern?people are willing to let u throught the front door of their office ??" Suprisingly yes thats the case..wat kind of work I do..now thats a whole different story :P :D ..what is it with me and digressing ...sheesh :D)

Since I started my intern, I decided to be all ladylike ( plz plz dont ROFL :)..I am trying my best :D) and decided to start carrying a 'handbag' or tote ( yea thts what I want to call it :P...'handbag' is a li'll to Indian auntyji-ish in my book :D). And no unfortunately its not a "designer label * single tear rolls down her cheek * ( Do u think acting would be a good career for me..I mean common now..I can BAWL and I mean BAWL when I dont get things that I want..but I guess that only works with Appa huh..being daddys li'll pricncess does have its advantages I guess * shrugs * :) )

So yea I started carrying a handbag to work. And being a girl, I need tons of stuff ( dont ask me what...oh all right ...i'll tell ya :))..It includes stuff like moisturizing lotions ( yea plural :P ),gum ( now I knowww guys need this as well), my purse ( handbag and purse...two verrryyy different things people..seriously now keep up with me here ) obiviously, a calculator ( yea one of 'em big,huge old ones..its easier doing calculations on that then on the one in the computer..actually I borrowed it :)), a tiffin box ( I get hungry at lunch...and contrary to what people think I dont want to become anorexic just to fit into those Joes jeans * sighs *...ohhh who am I kidding..I would do ANYTHING to fit into a pair of 'Joes' jeans....do u notice the drama here people...can u see why I think acting might be a good career ?* dodging sharp object thrown my way * :D) , tea leaves container( Yea I drink tea :P) etc etc. This pretty much doesnt leave space for the actual useful " work" related stuff like files, papers, notepads,pens ( and they allowed u to intern...why again ur thinking )...which I have to hold in my hand. And I actually hold my laptop in my hand too (" They gave u a laptop too after actually letting u in through the front door ??? " ...close those jaws people :D).

So before u can picture me as an oversized stuff carrying cart...its not all that bad ( I actually manage to look quite ladylike :D). But now can you see how much potential there is for the aforementioned 'cute-guy-helping-me-pick-up-stuff' scenario..and me gazing into his 'blue/green/grey/black/brown/purple ?? eyes...yea 'm not too picky 'bout the eye color..although purple might be taking it a bit too far)...* sighhhh*

Shocking...ermmm..Shopping tales

Gucci, Prada, Jimmy Choos,Marc Jacobs...what do all these things have in common....apart from being bigggg brand names...(and I mean huge)...they are conspicuous by thier absence in my wadrobe ;)...Big deal u say...'like I have them in my wadrobe'??....I knw I kwn...'m being a snob here...but oh well....

Cut to 1987: A blue and white frock...frilleless ( thank god) , very comfy and one happy kid playing in her building ka garden (ermmm...with 2 exasperated parents looking on )...I thnk I had good dressing sense back then...coz tht was the only dress I didnt keep picking at...(in the 80's frills were the height of fashion I swear :p..and one which I disliked..like reallly really disiked :D )

Cut to 1996: When a li'll girl with pig tails finds florescent yellow pants 'where its at'
Cut to 1998: Now not so little...girls fashion sense is improving steadily...but she has a lot...and I mean a lotttt of black tshirts in her wadrobe :D

Cut to 2007/08/09 : Our dear protagonist has improved her fashion sense tremendously...with words like GAP,AE,A&F and New York and COmpany thrown in for good meaure :)

How the sudden change u ask...well money my friend is the answer ( oh tht and being in a place which has a huge mall and actually nothing much else for entertainment= to one happy girl+one maxed out card...which I am trying to repay btw :D)

yess fashion...bigg barnds...shopping..all this a girl maketh ...( see how I cleverly slid old english saying in :D )....I have been a shopping crazy nut all my life...so much so that my mom almost fainted in surprise ( this before running at me with a broomstick :P ) when she saw all my 'Umericalenthu pannina shopping' (Shopping done in the US)...many are the times I have had to give advice to 'aethetically chalenged' friends

Case in point:

Incident 1:

Me: Hey 'Honey Bee' ... ( Scresms loudly as N gets onto the bus)

N: Now why on earth would u call me tht D...and r the good old days of saying 'hello' and all gone forever :D ??

Me: No da...u have a shirt which is with stripes...yellow and black on..how how on earth..wha??? :O

N: * sighs in exasparation * ...and kinda desists wearing the shirt to school ever again (also because the whole bus heard me scream...including many of he classmates/friends...sooo :D )

however the seetie tht N is she still wears the shirt for me ( btw miss u tons N :) :) :) )

Incident 2:

Me: You need  a better dressing sense...why on earth did you think those pants went with that shirt...??

G: * Sighs* and * literally begs * plz dont go off on u fashion rant again...i'll take u next time we go shopping...and he was as good as his word :)

Now which brings me to the point...I want to become a 'Personal Shopper'...wha?? u ask...I wanna shop for rich ladies at bi

g brand name stores ...and hget paid for it...imagine....pure true bliss :) :)

Cut to 2009: Girl standing outside A&F drooling t the merchandise and walking away :D  ( yes recession hurts everyone ) :D

 

Airport tales

Yea my FB status changed...from nothing to ' Divya is at JFK ,has a 12 hour wait and is a flaminggg idiot :D. ' Now why would u do that you ask...why on earth would u declare urself an idiot thus removing any doubt in the minds of people who thought otherwise :D ....nywhooo that fact aside...I was sitting (and I must say hatch some of 'em bright blue , pink or whatever colored eggs in JFK)..It mean a 12 hour wait :O....are u alright u ask....who does things like wait 12 hours for a flight u ask ...The story my dear friends...has to do with the fact that my dear darling 'University town' (for lack of a better word :D) Syracuse doesnt have a flight which arrives early enuff into JFK for me to catch the connecting fight. (and at this point ppl my mind is crashing...need tea ....must stay awake :D), so the previous night flight.

So apart from getting bored....randomly looking here and there and twiddling my thumbs what did I do...I decided to buy Internet...for 7.85$ or somesuch... (such an innovative way of making money methinks...rescue ppl form boredom... :D ) and use it I did...I pinged and pakaoed quite a few ppl on my gtalk list....and then called and ate ppls head (I apologize for any excessive jabber - jabber :) )

And well orkut,FB and gtalk failed ..what did u thnk i did...I talked with my co-passengers (c0ntrary to belief some of them actually initiated the conversation :P ...) So thts how I met a doctor whos coming to do his residency in NYC from India, a real hep chick studying Tennis in FL and who was intrested in Syr Univ (she was pretty smart and 'm sure she'll make it to some of the top tier school), a german literature student and a Japnese woman who was gonna work in the langauge institue in NYC....a common thread...all wanting to go home...some moving on successfully...some halted as the weather puts a dampner on thier plans....

In the end :

Someone falls to pieces
Sleepin all alone
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
To finally drift away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
Catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave

To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

Happy holidays yall :) :)

Brilliant...who me :) ??

Now that I got an award *does a little jig *...woohooo yea yea :) ... I bow to buddy (ermm bowing is a bit much..but still :P)..chalo i'll thnk him :) :)

Anywhoo I am tagged (ermm and dear readers...or ny1 who happens to accidentally wander across this blog :D...I literally did badger buddy once for not tagging me on a seperate post altogether...'m guessing the poor guy remembered those few hours..or was it days of nagging :P...and promptly tagged me for the next similar kinda tagged-post thingi :)....cheers :) :) )

The rules of the tag are: Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like).So here goes:

Family: Now I wonder how I havent just outright written a post about them, Which is surprising :O considering I really do luv my whacky family (and I have the whole immediate Iyer family-thingi going on :D..thatha,paati,chittapppa and so forth :) ). SO I tght I would go ahead and write a post before this...but then thts cheating :P. So I have mentioned posts wherever there is a passing reference to one of them. Here, here, here and here

Friends: Interestingly some of the people who I am most close too,who have helped me get through the hardest of times I miss more then ever now. Anywhoo not to get depressing (it being the holidays and all and every person worth his salt and pepper seems to be all christmas carolly...strangely enuff I used to think snow would make a post card christmas...but then...not really :D....and 'm rambling again...) Here, here, and here

Yourself: Ermm not that 'm not narristic and stuff, I somehow couldnt remember if I had written many posts 'bout myself.. *need to find post 'bout self*.... *dig,dig and then some more* Here ( and it even includes a small sketch...shamless publicity as buddy puts it..me the liketh :D
) and here

Your love: There is just one. More a crush really. Happened ages ago.As many ppl have said no comments :)

Anything you like: Ahhhh my fav part.. Links to posts (ermm in this case mine obvio :P...that I feel are good) . Here goes : Heres one of 'em and yet another and perhaps more to come in the future ;)..

Cheers :)

I bow my head down
I salute it 'The spirit of mumbai'

Battered over the decades,
but still resilient,
Moving on,
Like the vast ocean beyond

You might crib and gripe,
but once you come to the city,
you love it,
a love which is unique
a kinship you feel cruising through your veins
Mumbai is its people and its the people that make mumbai

I salute the people,
my people,
Mumbaikars, them of the unbreakable spirit,
who have gone through hell,
watching near and dear ones suffer

I hold my head up high
regardless of the corner of the world 'm living in
and say 'Proud to be a mumbaikar' always and forever

She lifted the heavy pot of water and placed it above her head...and wiped the sweat from her brow.The summers were cruel...and carrying heavy pots of water to the big 'sethani's' house was just as much as she could take. She sighed..and picked it up...no way could she be weak...3 hungry children were waiting for her back home....

She stared out of the window,watching the raindrops gently fall on the greenery all around.It was the first day of the monsoons and the smell of mother earth was all around.She gently pushed back the small strand of hair that fell on her face and tucked it behind her ear and hugged herself. The rains always had this effect on her and made her sigh and contemplate about why things happened in life.....

She got out of the subway and rode the escalator up. She passed by shops,actually 'THE SHOP' which had the most beautiful black short minidress by Donna Karan. She sighed...and turned her head the other way and kept walking on...After all thats what we do many times ..sigh and move on ...

**************************************************************************************

She had been hired as a consultant in one of the biggest consulting firms in NYC. She just couldnt stop smiling to herself..It was a culmination of all her chilhood dreams.Sitting in that office on Times Square.Oh she knew she was getting that Donna Karan for sure now. She remembered what her mother had told her as a child 'When you get something good,its good to give back'. And well today was one of the biggest gifts in her life.She opened her web browser and went to a little known charity that had been struggling since quite sometime . It was recommended by a friend.She decided that she would donate $100 !!...

The donation mail message popped in her inbox.There was that loud pinging sound.She mometarily tore her eyes away from the raindrops outside and went to read the mail ..'Must be one of those hundred junkmails' she thought.Since the project had been stopped,she was in a dull mood and had questioned almost everything and cycisim was all she had left. SHe tucked the strand of hair back and read the mail.When she finished,her eyes glistened like two shining diamonds.A generous donation of $100 from someone in NYC had given her the much needed money to finish the long awaited project of building the well....

The next week was one of the happiest in her life.Her exhaustion was reduced to half 'coz all she needed to do now was draw water from the common well close to her backyard...and yes she had more energy to get more work done which meant more food on the table and less cries of hungry strved children...God Bless the generous owner..she thought...and satisfy all her wishes...

Meanwhile the Donna Karan dress was being delivered to her appartment ....

Hmm what is freedom... I guess we each have our own perspective on this. To some people it might essentially mean the freedom to make their own choices, to others it might be to voice their opinions without any backlash of any sorts, to others still it might be not having to answer to anyone about their actions... To me freedom might just be a mix of all the above things that I just mentioned.
But u know what I found out...I guess my whole perception of freedom kinda changed after coming here...(and I still wonder why certain things tend to change with the places where we stay :D)...like when I was back home , I had a coupla restrictions that well were pretty diligently enforced by mom (like the dont stay out too late thing...and in a city like mumbai...can u beat that :D)...well when I came here , I had the choice to stay out as late as I wanted...but do u know what I found myself not doing that very often....hmmm so much for that concept of freedom(*psst: I also found out I kinda missed moms nagging...sheeeesh of all the things to miss * ...I guess a coupla months in mumbai should cure that right outta me :P)
On my trip to NYC recently (haha..see how I actually fit this in here..common I did have to show off to someone :P)..but no really...I felt exhilaratingly free...why..I dunno..don't ask...there were millions of people around me ('specially since my friends and me did the whole touristy NYC thingy).. I just felt free.... maybe I just kinda drew a parallel between mumbai and NYC (now now ppl don't snigger :D..I admit mumbai has its faults...but its one of my favoritest places in the whole wide world :) :) ) maybe that kinda set off the free spirit in me...to be in a place and devoid of rules and regulations...can be well really like a breath of fresh air....have u guys ever felt that way on going to a particular place...that feeling of freedom ? :)
(oh btw I had food at 'Saravana Bhavan,NY ' *drool drool* :D :D...and yup NYC is the fashion capital of the freakking world :) :) )

P.S: Dedicated to my friends who made that trip possible and fun: to V,AU,J,AD &G...thnks guys :) :)

R.I.P: My dear darling 'pod...shuffle which I lost there.....for the hours of music it provided and all the lonliness, long walks ,traffic jams and sadness it has gotten me through.

As a friend puts it a bittersweet journey :)

Cheers :)