It's been 6 months since I started working and the experience has been wonderful! I know that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Teach, teach, teach!! *sigh* It gives me such a high

I'm glad that I never have to knock on the doors of a business school or wonder what I want to do five years down the line. It's never been about the money.

Once in a while, it's nice to look at the world and smirk.

Almost There

Birthdays are a fun time to reflect on life. Relationships, interests, goals, wishes... all those big, important things and the little ones that join in along the way.

Turning 24 was extremely interesting. Equations were finally balanced. I don't resist change but I can't say I'm a huge fan of it.

And the clock continues to tick.

A special thank you to all those people who thought of me on my day and sealed some love in envelopes and sent it across :)

There's Something So:

Comforting about Simon and Garfunkel's music

Adorable about Muddy paw prints everywhere

Charming about well dressed men

Gorgeous about Audrey Hepburn

Calming about the moon

Soulful about Jason Mraz's voice

Irritating about horns and crackers

Sinful about Mississippi mud pies

Warm about my blanket

Happy about yellow, pumpkins, popcorn and bubble wrap

Cool about a very high best friend

Funky about a store in the city

Fun about the mater

Right about just plain platonic relationships

Exciting about stationery

Cute about dimples

A fancy free Friday spent with one of my favourite people should have led to a super duper Saturday with more of the ones I love. That's how it was laid out in my head.

Instead the afternoon brought in a bit of terrible news. Hoping for the best, we continued to munch and catch up on all that had happened in the last few weeks. Thankfully, the city was kind and gave us some unbelievably lovely weather. We walked up a road, discovering places for the first time, laughing in the breeze. Finally, we found a spot that looked eerily perfect. Our conversation flowed... till it was rudely interrupted by a fight on the phone. Ah, there went the precious mood. The chatter that followed left us with an unsettling feeling. Right there in the stomach. And that was the beginning of the cold war.

For me, the events only brought back a huge chunk of the past. Childhood grudges, flushes of anger during adolescence and lamenting mistakes made during the post teen era. It all played like a movie. Every incident that follows only reaffirms my "theories" and takes me one step closer to complete detachment.

But every cloud does have a silver lining. Maybe just a sliver of silver. Yesterday it was that time spent under the tree, talking and giggling with two of my closest friends.

For now, I need to find another orbit.

The sun shines through the curtain. You re-enter a state of consciousness as you sense another being breathing in the room. You think it's rather big, going by its deep breath. It fills up the room. Too scared to try anything, you lay still on your bed. You can feel the weight of its head on your pillow.

Something wet touches the inside of your ear.

You open your eyes with a start!

Before you know it, in all that excitement, it attacks, flattens your stomach completely, leaves a couple of scratches on your arm and lashes you with the other end.

And then it leaves.

That big, fat, black lump of dogginess has brought you back to the real world yet again.

Of Conversations

This one took place between my parents while we were in the car. I had just related a story about someone I knew who had eloped. Her folks were livid and had come close to disowning the girl.

Baba: How crazy! Just because the boy isn't from their community, it doesn't mean he isn't a good human being. I wonder why parents do this.

Ma: I know what you mean. Some parents spend their lives trying to make their children independent and want them to stand on their own feet but when it comes to choosing a life partner, they want to be in control. Isn't it a little hypocritical?

Baba: I don't know about others but I'm sure of one thing. I will never force my decision on my kids. Let them marry people from any religion, caste, community, nationality... As long as they're genuinely happy...that's all that matters...

The conversation set me thinking.

It's rather difficult to express how it feels to grow up in a house where all channels of communication are wide open. You just learn the ways of the world at your dining table and know that no matter what you go through, your folks will always understand. Nothing else is as reassuring.

Ma, Baba - Thank you for getting everything that we say. Even in our moments of deafening silence.