I decided it was time to visit my blog. Getting ready to settle down to pour my heart out; I cut the season’s first mangoes. The first in Mumbai for me. It took me a whole 3 seconds to debate whether I should hit the keys or enjoy the mango. The choice is predictable. The sourness that immediately hit my palate confirmed the decision was a hasty one. Not between the 2 but the one itself. A day’s wait might have been a better idea. Sourness or no, a well cut chilled mango is a treat. Hasty or not, I love to be able to live with the decisions I make.

People. Lots of people.
Phenyl smell.
Fight at the pre-paid taxi counter
Colours.Vibrant.
Sachin
AB
News Channels with no news
Cricket.
Boys that cry.
Mangoes.
Parents
Marriages
Brands

Smiling Immigration officers.
A queue. A real one.
Order.
IPL matches.
Improved roads
Traffic sense
Smiles
Health
Electricity
Cheerleaders
Broccoli
Divorces, separations
Logo-less brands

Take 2 hot headed people;equally stubborn with huge egos.  Marinate with intense passion. Sprinkle some love and top it off with  a solid friendship. Add a third person for the spicy edge.You get six years worth of unending stories. For me it was a once in a life time phenomenon.

A phenomenon that encompassed conversations,  friendship, togetherness, loyalty, love, romance, secrets. Intermingled was pain, betrayal,disrespect and heart break.

No matter how painful, one has to put right before happiness.A decision was  made and stuck by. With such stringency that even dreams would not dare give concessions.

Been half a decade since. Of a lot of effort. Banishing thoughts of crossing paths. Wondering at the same time if I was ever to cross that path what would be the one question I would like to ask. Having thought of it every single day since, I reckon the question is obvious. The answer not so much. People aren’t as forthcoming as they used to be.

Today I want to remember the excitement, happiness, tingling, dizziness euphoria. For no particular reason. Reality is far removed from this all. But for now I want to indulge in the memories that still bring a smile to my face.

I wonder some times the common thread between all the people that like me. What they see, hear or read. Some thing in themselves makes some thing in me acceptable.

More pertinently I wonder what is the common thread between people who don’t like me. The friends who became strangers, the lovers that have become hurtful memories, family members who don’t recognise me and a part of me that never understands myself.

If all these people had to come together and exchange notes, I am curious what they will find in common. Some thing about me for sure. My money how ever is on what they will find common in themselves.

I write like I talk. One can have long convoluted never ending sentences when one has audiences as generous as I do with their listening capacity. Also one can get away with mispronunciation of words and blame it on accent. How ever how does one write badly constructed grammatically wrong sentences with spelling mistakes, have a blog visit count of over a 100 a day for the past year and not one comment regarding the terrible language skill.

I have had only 2 bloggers in the 3 years of my blogging activity point out a mistake to me. Don’t get me wrong. I am not giving away free tickets for every one to correct me. How ever I wonder if all of you are way too polite to say anything or no one really reads my blog.

I miss the time I started this blog. I used to live in a crazy Chinese landlord’s house in London. The stone walls render London colder, only to be worsened by the lack of warmth in the people who shared the house with me. Still, that time I miss. It was a good period for this blog. It was all about me. It still is.

I feel bad that I seem to have no energy to write on this blog as regularly as I used. Some comments are left unanswered. I know that is uncharacteristic of me. I have been told my writing style has changed. Poetry has left me. So has humour. A few regulars don’t seem to be around any more. A few of us share more than this blog space. The line differentiating my blog life from the rest of my life is now becoming indistinct.

Just when I had been musing over the entity of my blog, along came Phish. He understands what I want to say. He also does a great job of connecting with my thought process. Since I have always believed that if I could connect with even one other person with my means of communication the entire process is worth it. He and the likes of him make blogging worth while. So not only does he bring a new spark to my blog life he goes ahead and gives me an award. Thank you. While you were away you were missed too.

The point I am trying to make is, that one can be  an artist, a realist, an author, a girl next door or a guy next door (avoiding gender discrimination)  and be excellent.  In my opinion that is. Or one could just be themselves and some one else  will be OK with that.

Catharsis is good. So are tears.

Do it yourself. No one is going to do it for you.

Keep a good distance from friends. Keeps the expectations low.

No one likes a whiner. Chances are because they never had anyone to whine to.

Smiles can do wonders.

Work smart not hard.

Little Napoleons exist in all of us. I call them misplaced egos. Exert them appropriately.

Consideration, courtesy and common sense are very uncommon. Inspite of this statement being very common.

A good carpenter and surgeon require similar acumen, dedication, and practice.

Good judgement of character comes with practice.

A day full of of hard work is better than the alternative.