Thirty Four

The time when your eyes only directly look at the waistline of women first and then go upward to scan the face
The time when you think you are too good for the place where you work for, that you deserve much better and are very clear about this, only that the dozen odd places you have applied for don’t seem to think so
The time when you want to make-up to those whom you have been harsh on or ignored, basically ‘trying’ to undo what you have been until now, when it comes to social skills
The time when you have had the mother of all break-ups with this fascinating world of ‘books’ and are waiting for the rebound book to land into your hands
The time when you keep attributing to all your mood swings not to PMS, but to MLC – Mid Life Crisis
The time when you think all your friends who have two kids have entered auntydom, but you, you are not yet there, baby you’ll never get there, stay girl!Aunties are boring, and quite large in number, work on population control here
The time when you keep telling yourself that ‘f’ and ‘t’ of social networking are either for the teens and twenties, or for those who love their lappy and the net, while also wondering what’s stopping you from embracing these new technologies
When the true art of living is more art of juggling and art of living-off-the-edge of insanity and tugging hard to stay sane. Definitely an art.
The time when your idea of a party is not more than 4 people, talking about the places they yet want to see, the movies they just have to watch, the bosses they just want to strangle, and the jargons they just want to throw around, the new venture that they would just begin any time, just put it on hold cos of recession the big picture, and wallet, the small picture
The time when the heart beats too fast merely looking at the calendar and the pace with which it has moved, that too, without recording any moments of yours, and so, there goes those moments of glory that could have been, if only..
The time when friends decide to get in touch only to show you their Colgate family album and the suraksha chakkar they think they are living in


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The time when you realize that the best moments are the most insignificant ones spent sitting on a mat teaching your kids to paint, more fun with paint all over except the book
The time when you conclude a weekend is good if you just decide to chill out and achieve nothing, go with no real plan to get things done
The time when you are taken aback at how much more you learn about yourself through something your kids do, sometimes they shock you, sometimes they make you pat yourself on the back that you were not so bad after all
The time when it hits you that for all the independence you crave, you cannot define yourself without this guy and the kids in your life, well, make that almost
The time you know you’ll look back upon and perhaps call the best of times despite all it brings along with it – the formula is to ‘just be’ rather than ‘wanting to be’

Jaipur

Got back from Jaipur this morning. Jaipur! Fell in love with the city instantly. It’s like coming home to a warm place where a grandpa lives, the kind of grandpas that you want to keep going to for a nice hug, and whose presence makes the house lived in, now, grandpa lives in this home that has all modern amenities well kept up with the times, and in a home where there’s such a grandpa, his goodness rubs off on at least a good handful of people living in the home – that’s Jaipur for you. At least for me.
Saw a bit of the City Palace – the not-to-miss section is the Armours & Knives Section, man something! To even life some of them, seems like you need team work!! And the knives, razor-sharp, sparkling silver shine, you keep staring at it long enough, and imagine that one of those warriors is out there with it right now, ouch, it pierces! One other thing that fascinated me was the ‘chaugar’ (polo), apparently a popular sport then. Seems Akbar used to play chaugar very well and even at night! In order that the ball be seen at night, he had invented a mechanism by which a small candle burns inside the metal ball. The candle is juxtaposed such that with gravitation, although the ball may rotate and bounce, the candle will be firm. And so that the candle should burn for longer also, I forget what it is, a particular substance / chemical used to light up the candle that could burn for hours on end!!
Went to Hawa Mahal – superb piece of work! Simple, yet classy. The umpteen small wooden windows offer a great view of the city, the same windows through which the purdah clad women would witness social proceedings back then!
Founded in 1799, the city was washed pink to welcome Prince Albert who paid a visit in 1820s. I hear that it is one of the earliest well-planned cities in India. The Old Jaipur retains its pink charm and surrounded around the Hawa Mahal are shops and shops and shops.. close to 250 shops on each side, all neatly numbered and written. Offering a view of the mountainside on 3 sides, and far beyond the fort walls, the city is a living organism where bazars galore, selling jewellery, blue pottery, vibrant coloured clothes, bandhinis and razais – the city is a perfect destination for our next holiday!