The aftermath of Eyjafjallajoekull

Found this picture on FB today :))

A volcano who's name I can't even pronounce has turned Europe into Mordor since the last few days, but alteast one person sees the funny side of life :)

On a serious note: Ma&Pa are travelling to Lux in 3 weeks time. Here's hoping that the ash over Europe clears by then and they have a smooth journey here.

Parle-ing Francais!

It's now the third week of French classes for moi :) And it is easily the most fun I have had in a classroom. Sort of like being in a live version of that old British comedy series where a group of foreigners are learning English in the UK. This is like the French version :) The class composition is something like this - 2 Indian women (including me), 3-4 people from South America and Mexico, 1 Serb, 2 Russians, 4 Arabs, and a couple of eastern Europeans. There is no single common language that the class speaks as yet :) So Prof. Alex teaches the beginner's French class in French!! A very very animated French, to be precise. Like French+dumb charades. For example, "J'aime le chocolat" is accompanied by a 'yumyumyumyumyum' and a tummy rub! And as for the rest of us, each of us speak French with our own unique accents :) Poor Monsieur Alex! (He's quite a linguist though - we've come to realize he teaches English too and probably speaks a few other European languages as well ) But I've realized that this is quite an effective method of teaching. We've quickly developed an ear for the language and we have no choice but to use French to communicate within the class :)

For the love of books :)

Somewhere in her email today was this line - "Sigh! sometimes i wonder y i read those classics...its so hard to ignore the heroes of yore..". I smiled. Because I blame the books too, for many many things :) For things ranging all the way from incurable romanticism to hypochondria. For the rose tinted glasses and the real ones too :) For the love of happy endings and for the depths of misery when things end no-so-happily :(. For being a bit of a drama queen at times. For the total inability to take things at face value. And of course like she said for expecting men (S to be accurate) to be Rhett Butler, Roark, Darcy, and many others all rolled into one :))))

The speed of Truth

It is the instant reponse that forms in our minds. But in the time that the answer is articulated, it has already evolved to be more palatable, polished, or even disingenuous. 

Patriotism

"Jab yahan ki reth nahi tickthi, tho log kya tickhenge" (when even the grains of sand here don't have any cohesion, why would the people here stick together?) said the stranger to me a few months ago, kicking the desert sand in Dubai around with his feet.
The words came back to me suddenly while walking in the city centre this evening watching people go about their lives in the gentle snowfall, insulated against the cold and against each other as well. Make me an Indian everytime dear God!

The thinking man :)

A little ingenuity goes a long way :) The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids and S moved a large wardrobe the same way last night :). I'm impressed!

Now this wardrobe is made of wood, is 6 feet high and just as wide, and used to stand right next to our bedroom door in a very annoying manner. Apart from creating the visual illusion of a much smaller room, it prevented the door from opening fully. Not to mention the risk of walking right into it in the dark. I knew moving it wasn't going to be easy, but obstinate person that I am, I simply had to try. So I went to S about how it's a 'husband' job to move furniture at home and how I would do it on my own, with just a little help from him. I had all my 'bad vastu/feng shui' arguments ready, but S decided trying to move the wardrobe was easier than trying to talk me out of it, and agreed very quickly. 

So I emptied the wardrobe and threw the entire force of my 5'4" 54kg frame against it. Not too surprisingly, it didn't budge an inch. The furry rug it was standing on didn't help matters either. Then I decided wrecking either of our backs for this was not worth it and gave up. S figured that brute force wouldn't work, then tried tilting it forwards and back (!?) and said it could be done, that we just needed the right tools, and went off to look for the said tools :) He came back a few minutes later with the rolling pin, a round handled wooden cooking spoon and a couple of wooden rods from the towel rail in the bathroom. Clever, thought I, and had to smile :) He tilted the wardrobe and I squeezed the makeshift 'rails' underneath it. And within a few minutes the wardrobe was at the other end of the room, with barely any effort! Very very impressed with S right now :)

With a Big Fat Grin on my face :)

1:00 o'clock in the afternoon on very wet, grey and cold Monday. And I'm at home, heating up fish-biryani for lunch, that S made over the weekend. Have downloaded a movie to watch with the biryani, and have a book to finish curled up in bed afterwards. Do I miss working? I think not :)

P.S. Does the voice in my head make me feel guilty about it? sadly, yes :(