Little drops of joy

This is not about the drink which re-invented a colour, santa claus and summer days. Ofcourse being a coke loyalist makes me relate to that tag line, however, they did fail to create a connect here with this copy which could be wonderfully leveraged. Moving on...

This is for all those times, when we feel the grey suit or the too- oft- dawned pair of black heels is slowly dumbing us down. Feeding on our brain cells, making us churn out 'mediocre' as a mandate. This is for days when you feel you should've spent more time and effort to develop more enriching skills like pottery or photography.  For weeks when you're yearning to pull out that incomplete letter of resignation from your drafts. This is also for enduring months of constant crucification before Atlas shrugs.

This is for you to notice those little things, that in their own way, inspire; because inspiration we all know begins with a smile on the face. Heres to all these inflection points.

1) Reads which can transport you to a different planet.

Takes me down the 'slippery slip' to a world filled with pop cakes and google buns  -The Faraway Tree

I am surprised that the Pan-galactic-gargle blaster is not a popular drink and that i hav'nt come across a restaurant called 'Milliways'. Sheer brilliance by Douglas Adams. I particularly adore the description of the most massively useful thing that an interstellar hitchhiker can have and his concept of deadlines :)





2) Dreamy frames: You will now get my concept of picking berries, cycling in the sunshine, having a glass of wine while walking along a clean lone road and staring at the sky.

The long winding road where they meet randomly.

The most picturesque ride with pristine coastlines, vineyards buzzing with warmth and visions of dazzling sunset. What makes it worth even more is three beautiful people.




3) The Sun, the Wind and the Rain: Perfect weather makes your state of mind

The pitter-patter on your windshield just makes a Monday Morning livelier.

A sunny-sitout with peanuts and nimbu-paani to celebrate the end of the week syndrome.

A stroll on a cold foggy evening is best enjoyed on roads where you can hear- the sound of your tappy footsteps, some jazz playing from the porch of the large bunglow facing the park and cold wind blowing across your face.




4) All things girly. WARNING: this is not for women who scoff at pink, think shopping is a waste of precious time or take pride in the fact that other women- nobel laureates, funky film makers, business barons- are not exactly what you or me would call beautiful or pretty or a sight- in crisper words they love it when the brain triumphs all beauty (did someone say cynics)

Epic chick flicks which made every girl want to own a vera wang even more ...

...or get their hands on Kalteen Bars which can cause great damage to one but helps repair another's ego.







                                                          
 Dresses which highlight just want you'd want them to. Your exclusive pick; heavenly creations on cloth, made to be adorned just by you.

              
A single rose in an earthy vase, a bunch of lilies placed on your bedside table and a whiff of Issey Miyake on your pillow.

Bows, ribbons and glitter. Hairclips with small diamonte flowers , balloons with twirly bronze ribbons, shiny green aluminium streamers with red and green mistletoes, white candles with silver glitter dust..

5) Elegant Stationary: Delicate hand crafted or slick & smart. A smooth black pencil or a florescent yellow eraser. A quirky card holder or a clean-cut brochure. We all love stationery and treasure a well designed book mark.

6) Cobbled streets with painted entertainers, lazy diners, souvenir shops and narrow alleys. Going beyond the European feel...I also quite like the almost- cobbled streets behind the hauz khas tank in the market.

7) Cutting chai or a glass of wine: I strongly believe that if there is one thing that can replace, tea drinking in India, the ritual that it is; it is the tinkle of wine glasses. Nothing can lead to the same sighs with the first sip.

8) A good song: Music is a lot of peoples refuge, it begins where speech ends. If there is one form of art which is nigh to tears it is this. As rightly said by Tolstoy- Music is the shorthand of emotion. Hope, sorrow, joy, disillusionment, love is well brought in by strumming a chord or drawing the bow. Here are few lines, I know, that made hearts ache...Remember when I moved in you, the holy dove was moving too and every breath we drew the Hallelujah...            

9) Yellow lights: Let me paint depressing for you; Light blue walls with a thick tubelight, a vase with artificial flowers and typically gupta furniture (no offence to the baniya community, i do know a Few who are quite tasteful). Now walk into a room with fab-india lamps with minumum 60W yellow bulbs, decorative T-light holders, scented candles and a meditating brass Buddha under a picture light , see my point now!                          

10) Quaint Little places and things: Charmingly odd especially in a old fashioned way is what quaint can be defined as. Antiquated and ornate also being in the same ambit, a lot will remind you of this. I am not talking about venetian drapery and victorian furniture, what I mean is Brass and wood mirrors with lattice, Jodhpur stone jaali windows, creaky wooden floors with old books and brick buildings with Virginia creepers, Vinyl records and the mouth-watering smell of freshly baked cakes.

11) Colour: A Soft sea-green Stole, a royal blue shrug, bright red stilltos-a la' DWP, a traditional Madubani painting, multi-coloured tresses in a wedding pandal, M &Ms.. all this makes one skip a heartbeat.

 12) Ice-Cream: Going out for an ice-cream post dinner is our attempt to save the day and sleep happier. A waffle cone is the cherry on the cake.

Living the high life is not just about exclusive hotel suits and mojitos at the beach... in our self-consolation phase, we can attempt to give it a shot with these little drops of joy.

P.S: Though they might give momentary relief till a few Fridays, do not escape taking a pause and looking at the bigger picture. Once you realize what you're looking for- Take the plunge!

Knot fair!

For the myopic many, it is an easy decision... to indulge in the prettiness and reach a towering exaltation which makes it smoother to go through the ordeal that is marriage. I also believe that the grandeur associated with a wedding is part of a conspiracy theory by the propagators of this institution to cloud the vision even of the most sagacious man or woman. It is only fair to be on a level playing field and then race for the 'whos more pathetic' title.

And then begins 'crappily ever after'. It comes full throttle first at the guys. Suddenly someone for whom handbags equaled utility realizes how your huge yellow bag has to accommodate a hairbrush, a kohl pencil, a lipgloss and the rest are sundry items thrown in as a filler. He now has huge vocab issues which he tries to cope with for he knows not what a clutch, a tube, a shrug or the MAC strobe lotion is. On a serious note, his TV time gets split between Ten Sports and Star World; He who has never panicked unless India's losing a match is now clearly stressed if the geyser breaks down. Never had any attention been paid to anything, apart from the TV or laptop at dinner and now in a flash he has to take time out to appreciate the delicacy prepared painstakingly for him. Between the devil and the deep sea, wanting to burn his fingers and dive into the stormy waters at the same time. Frequently meeting an expectant gaze or a disappointed sigh; for being solely responsible for another person, brings with it, along with undying love- PMS, high decibel venom and a lifestyle overhaul. Undying love now sounds like an oxymoron :)

Though more wieldy for the girl.. what stumps her is how elementary the transformation is and if you think thats music to her ears, it is'nt. Cuz she was armed with a duffel bag to dawn her jaw dropping avatar at her mothers' but not with an appetite to stomach food that her taste buds refuse to recognize.  Guilt is something she experienced when she overspent on a pair of striking indigo sandals, not when she slept till 11 AM on a weekend. And for the angelic non-diplomats it does take great effort to restrain from clawing someones face out every time the old chatty neighbour who happens to be her boyfriend's friend, talks like he knows it all, for she would'nt give a toss, had she encountered him at a pub, in a mall or while at work. The identity crisis looms large, she hangs on tight to her sleepover sessions with girlfriends, occasional drives to get a drink and trips to the mall with no agenda what-so-ever. She hates the cocoon which beckons.

And then unknowingly without making an attempt to glorify where they're placed in life, they notice the following: That everyone around them is getting married or hoping to someday and that the former meet their elbow grease to socialize with a frail 'hmm'... as if just trying enough to peek through the shell they've gotten into. The latter kick around before learning how to swim, they don't know what to do with life so they keep trying to entertain themselves by latching on to lonely others like themselves, like a log of wood to keep afloat. And slowly the blur that becomes reality has you nodding your head in agreement yet again to the age-old rule: Each generation carries with it a midas touch which gets lost in translation to the new age contemporaries, so you see the corrosion every time you see an amateur. Solving the ever-existing conundrum about why girls always fall for older men.

It  really doesn't do much harm, when on a foggy winter morning you've got someone to drive you to a plate of waffles with warm maple syrup.