Carpe Diem!

A one sided conversations that I hear at work, that make me rethink the real worth of the work I do.


“Tv set around the head???”
“Precisely the point.”
“different option???”
“I don’t understand.”
“Tell him to FO.”
“I don’t understand the problem.”
“Can’t proceed??”
“Layered?”
“So You think it’s layered?”
“No way.”
“Okay.”


And then I see them... those ads. And stay.

In smog city, when there are a REAL issues that the world is turning a deaf ear to...look what some people are busy doing.

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena has told its shakha pramukhs in the city to launch a protest against Valentine's Day celebrations on Saturday. The public outburst against the Shriram Sene's recent mayhem in Mangalore has not dampened the party's enthusiasm for moral policing.

"The Sena has, for long, been protesting the festivities. We will go ahead with our action plan on Saturday,'' Arun Dudhwadkar, `vibhag-pramukh' of south Mumbai said on Thursday. (does he really feel smart after making that statement!!?)

Pointing out that Sena chief Bal Thackeray and party executive president Uddhav Thackeray were "stridently opposed'' to Valentine's Day celebrations, Dudhwadkar said, "The guidelines have been set by Balasaheb and Uddhav-ji. There is no change in the party's policy. So Shiv Sainiks will launch a series of protests against V-Day festivities,'' he added. However, the Sena official refused to reveal his "action plan'' for south Mumbai.

"I can only tell you that several leading departmental and book stores have been calling up my office throughout the day, wanting to find out about our plan. I told them that we would go ahead with our protest. Now, it is for them to draw up their course of action.'(where were these guys during the terrorist attacks, again?)

Asked if the Sainiks would barge into city colleges, Dudhwadkar was non-committal. "Let's see how it works out,'' he said, adding, "While we don't wish to disrupt campus life, major celebrations will not be allowed anywhere.' (there, that's a mature outlook. Maybe it'll even solve our AIDS problem.)

"The day is against Indian culture and tradition. We were opposed to it in the past and there is no change in the party's stand on the issue,'' said Joshi. (of course in a city where English is the first language, this is a moral stand we must take.)

"The usual practice is that we call on the leading stores, malls and brief them about our protest plan. They cancel celebrations on their own. This helps defuse the crisis,'' Parab said, adding, "This year too we will follow the same strategy.'(and, what a terrific strategy it is in a country where we're supposed to have democracy!)

So, I’ve just finished reading Kari - Amruta Patil and I think it’s extremely dark and beautiful. It’s like a sad song that you like singing. That gets you down but you still sing it. Melodiously.

The writing is what I fancy in particular. I haven’t read another writer who has seen everything so differently. Things that we things are too common to write about, like living alone, or auto rickshaws wading through the narrow city lanes in monsoons, are all captured with their essence. Honestly with appropriate words.

There are times when I stopped reading the book and started listening to the storyteller.
The ink is spread thoughtfully on each page and the interesting illustration compliments the writing.

There are few lines from the book that I’m putting up here. For those of you who usually don’t pick books on recommendation, this might be my convincing argument. For those of you who do, you must’ve already figured out by now… but still.

“No one else could call a colt a flower. And no one was such a flame-thrower acrobat with pans and knives as was Ruth. The grotty kitchen turned into a secret garden around her. The house fit her perfectly like a crystal slipper.”
- Kari on Ruth (her love interest).

“For some people, one coupling is all their hearts can hold. They mate for life like blue-footed boobies. Others mate as beautifully with one as with another.
-Kari on smog city girls.

“There are settling girls. There are unsettling girls. The ones who seem to have it in them to be flyers are the ones who seem to want to snuggle into settling. The ones who look as settled as old housedogs, want to twist their way into flying. Necessarily, you must be defensive about being the settling sort of girl.”
-Kari on girl complexities

Figs are dark creatures too, skin purple as loving bruises. A fig is one hundred percent debauched. Lush as a smashed mouth.
-Kari on fruits that she’s too broke to buy and relishes at a friends place.

“The circus is in my head. Not in my life.”
-Kari on herself.