Do you think it is a terrible thing to accept the fact that you are alone? Well, not always. Although I am a very gregarious soul, I love being alone,cloistered in the safety of my well heated room,comforted and connected to the outside world by a virtual screen, seated on my lap.

It is in this general setting that one day, I had this epiphany at work.Well,to be more specific, when I was just packing up from work one day. There is this person, in my office, female,40 never been married,who lives by herself. I just casually mentioned to her how I really admire her, and cant wait to stay by myself when I earn enough. What followed was a series of discussions, that got me thinking.Have you thought about living alone ? Answers in my workplace ranged from"No, that thought has never crossed my mind" to "Well, mm.. I dont know.." to "Hmm.. I wish I had the opportunity".
There are some people to whom this very thought of living by oneself is outrageous. I am not one of them. I am not against the concept of marriage at all.But,to me marriage, is what not one accepts blindly as a societial chore. To me, its is purely a decision that one has to make based on when he/she has what it takes to fulfill a relationship as deep and intense as marriage.My point is, if you are not mentally, emotionally at a point where u can get into such a thing, there is no point doing it, because its a question of two peoples lives here.

Which brought home the fact, that maybe I am not made for a thing like marriage at all.(Ed..Sang you went down a hundred places on your "single and looking" index :)) ). And, coincidentally,I have always been fascinated by the thought of adopting a girl kid.My colleague began relating a story of how some seven to eight American families in her neighborhood have adopted Chinese girl kids.She went on to relate how those families strive to develop in their families a greater understanding of the kids native culture. So, two weeks ago,(Hmm.. finally the story begins!!!) I began thinking about adoption, in all seriousness.

How, who, and when? Will this fall under the International adoptions category? Are there agencies in India which let single moms adopt? What are Indian adoption laws like?When is the right time to start the proceedings? How am I going to raise that kid?Would my family understand?Would they be supportive?Are marriage and adoption mutually exclusive?Do I have what it takes to be a good mother?Hours of research on the net(yup, there is your desigrad talking!!), egroups,chat rooms, and talking to people,and soul searching and marathon home calls ensued.

There are about 600 Indian kids being adopted in the US per year.More number of chinese kids are adopted. I have read numerous stories of American parents,decorating houses with Indian arts, reading out Ramayan to their kids,take them to classical concerts, to honor their Indian heritage.People living worlds away feel strongly about infanticide, and raise children of different races in their households, and enrich their lives.On the other hand, there is us,who have seen suffering, and lack of opportunity in graphic detail.Why arent we doing much about it ? Has seeing too much of all this numbed our senses ??

On a seemingly unrelated note,I was on a vacation when the Tsunami disaster happened.My inbox was flooded with mails from concerned colleagues equiring if my family back home was ok, and asking if they could in anyway contribute to help. In the Tsunami fund raiser yesterday, one of my friends related the story of how they were travelling by the Metro bus,to get to the fundraiser.Casually chatting up, the bus driver equired where they were going, and why.As my friends were getting down, the driver handed them a five dollar note, asking them to contribute to the fundraiser on his behalf.


I am not drawing any conclusions here.I dont consider myself too patriotic.This is not a bunch of sentimental crap inspired by swades.(Incidentally, I havent seen the movie yet!!) I dont yet know fully how I would go about this process,I dont yet know how many people will understand my desire to adopt,I dont yet know how my career and adoption would fit in,but all I know is that if I can change the life of a small, innocent,kid,dumped by the world for no fault of hers, I know I will.
Its Pongal time!!

And I cooked a real good dinner after a while !!!!It usually happens that when I spend time cooking an elaborate meal (read as more than one dish !!!) I spend about an hour and a half from end to end, and by the time it is done, my appetite is all gone. Plus, I also grow to dislike the dish I took so long to prepare.

But Pongal was different.Of course, we had people come over, and had made both the sweet and hot varieties. (A long time ago, all us cousins, in my hometown, chewing on freshy cut sugarcane,watching the milk boil out of earthen pots,the fanfare...... )Anyway, for the first time, I actually did relish the food I cooked !!!

On a different note , weekend has been wonderful,more so because of the bonus day off.Going around in a GPS enabled state-of-the-art BMW doing publicity for a tsunami fundraiser, a surpise party for my roomie, and then all of us huddled up to watch, a , hold your breath.. telugu movie, and a nite-out laccha session,waking up to a white,snowy morning... I hate to switch back to the "Oh-I-have- so-much-more-to-do" mode :((


Oh My Gawd !!! The desert camel took me back to olden times, and has made an old whinny,thing outta me !!!! This is the last of those kinda posts for some time to come, I promise!!!


Sitting and doing some last minute assignment submission stuff, I just let music play in the background. This song played in the background. She came to our wing in our third year.We were worried if she would get along.Along she came,so wonderful and so friendly.She laughed with us, screamed with us, and before we knew it,she became an indispensable part of us.We did courses together,watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S all day in the wing,co-ordinated and hogged all home parcels,went on insane cnot fried maggie treats at 10 50,dressed up for saree days,discussed everything on earth,went to movies together,travelled together,and my gang just fell in love with her. Different psenti-sems parted us,but we would still keep in touch. And, now, I am waiting for her to come to this side of the world.Kutts,when I heard this song, asssignments or not, I knew I just had to write this post. There is just one person this song reminds me of.

Hum, rahen ya na rahen kal
Kal yaad aayenge ke ye pal
Pal, ye hain pyar ke pal
Chal, aa mere sang chal
Chal, soche kyaChhoti si, hai zindagi
Kal, mil jaaye to hogi khush-naseebi
Hum rahen ya na rahen yaad aayenge ye pal
Hum rahen ya na rahen kal
Kal, yaad aayenge ye pal
Pal, ye hain pyar ke pal
Chal, aa mere sang chal
Chal, soche kyaChhoti si, hai zindagi
Kal, mil jaaye to hogi khush-naseebi
Hum rahen ya na rahen yaad aayenge ye pal
Shaam ka aanchal, odh ke aayee dekho woh raat suhani
Aa likh dein hum dono milke apni ye prem kahani
Hum rahen ya na rahen yaad aayenge ye pal
Aane waali subah jaane rang kya laaye deewanee,
Meri chaahat ko rakh lena jaise koi nishani
Hum rahen ya na rahen yaad aayenge ye pal
Kal, yaad aayenge ye pal
Pal, ye hain pyar ke pal
Chal, aa mere sang chal
Chal, soche kya chhoti si hai zindagi
Kal mil jaaye to hogi khush-naseebi
Hum rahen ya na rahen yaad aayenge ye pal
Hum rahen ya na rahen yaad aayenge ye pal
I want to write a thousand things right now.

Part of me is a little tired after posting in my new found fling - another not-so-private blog- The proverbial desert camel.

Part of me , well, is just trying to think of novel ways of dealing with life's many situations.

Would someone just show me the larger picture?So all of this can make sense?

Director,could you show me the screenplay for a bit please? Yes, I know the uncertainity is what makes the play gripping and all.But sometimes, It is a little frustrating to speak your lines with absolutely no clue where the scene and utimately the play ends.
Okay!!!!


My lappie is fully functional AND connected now!!!

My world just got infinitely better!!!

Well,on the flip side though,a wonderful vacation just ended,and whats more a whole new quarter is here!!!

But on the flop side,my work and class schedule for this quarter is much better than the last one.

In hindsight though,I think its high time I get myself a new pair of flip-flops.
Ok I know I should stop.

Just back from an amazing lunch session with Bugs and Ash. Homemade pasta,Taco salad,and NY at NY stories...Good fun!!!

PS: Is it just me or is "Pyar Kiya tho Nibhana...." from Major Saab really swell?