Euphemism...the way of life

According to dictionary definition of Euphemism - The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.

Just wondering what all euphemisms we use in our day today life. Nature's call, bun in oven, passed away, differently abled are few of the euphemisms which we come across. There are many more like these. There is a lot available in our story books, newspapers, magazines and in our daily conversations.

My objective is not to talk about these common euphemisms. I am just trying to mention few which are actually totally opposite of what we mean :). I came across a very apt quotation for that - "Euphemisms are pleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne". Examples of such usage are -

• " I am unwell, won't come to office"  actually means "Boss , I just don't want to see your face today" !
• "I will put my best foot forward " means  "Damn it Why should I spend my energy in this freaking work"
• "You are so cuddly" is "OMG you are so fat !!"
• "You look different" does mean  "You looking awful"
• "Can I please call you later" may mean "Stop bothering me and calling me.
• "You know so much" may mean "Would you mind shutting up your Google engine"

These were the few I could think from top of my head. I know there are many more nasty ones lurking around you. Keep adding if they are shareable ;).

Fashion Faux Pas

Have you ever wondered if the dresses worn by super models can actually fit lesser mortals like us. These super thin super models sashay on ramps exhibiting the dresses. The effect of dresses and the aura of smartness created by these models entices us but outrageous prices for these pieces do not fit in budget of many of us  therefore we end up buying stuff which looks more or less the same as original. Needless to say that in our pursuit of emulating them, realization dawns on us that the same effects are not observed on lesser mortals like us. I have this weird feeling that the clothes are stitched with models in it else how can clothes be so fitting !! The top which looks superb on super model takes a nasty turn by giving the glimpses of muffin-top on us!

People tend to wear clothes which are as per current trend but not as per their comfort. For me fashion is what I feel comfortable in but I do take care of that I do not look outrageously out of place among other trend savvy people. When it comes to fashion, I am not very experimental. In fact I have a very conservative sense of dressing. I think my style has been same since ages. I am agnostic to the fashion trends and I have started feeling that markets do not offer enough for people like me. I am sure people might say that I am committing  fashion Faux Pas. I appreciate that but I think  fashion should be a very personal thing. When I say personal, I mean fashion should be something which a person can carry off with comfort and panache. True fashion is the style what adds to one's self confidence. Isn't that?

As long as I am at peace with myself, I am ok to stick to my age old style. By the way what is your style? Are you also trapped in some one style since ages just like me :)

Billing - Sun kissed Hill and a Lone Tea Stall

Billing Hill Top 

Billing in Himachal Pradesh is the world renowned place for paragliding. Words can not do enough justice to describe it's beauty. One can either trek the route or can just use vehicle. The height increases from 1350 m to 2400 m in a route of 14 km. The road has been cut through the dense forest. The road is quite narrow with lots of hairpin bends and blind curves. One gets to see beautiful views of valley. One has to be experienced enough to drive through this road. My intent of this post is not writing about Billing because one can find a lot of literature available on net for this picturesque place. Nevertheless few pictures for your eyes.

Hill in the Evening Hues

Beautiful View from Top

View of Valley from Trail

View of Forest

More than a place I was so impressed by a lone shop owner aka Chachu ji. The lone shop is known as Chachu Tea Stall and is on the top of hill. The owner is here 12 months a year and lives in a complete solitude with no human population in vicinity.It can have pretty harsh winters. The water supply reached this place in 2013 only !! There is still no electricity and the source of energy is few solar panels. These too were given by Government in 2013 only. He lives alone in his hut cum shop and is a one man army ! Quite an interesting fellow with plenty of stories about place and paragliding. Such an optimist and effervescent fellow. I saw few polythene bags filled with water hanging from roof. He told that once a team from discovery channel was visiting and they gave this advice to get rid of houseflies and this works!

Chachu Tea stall



Remedy for Houseflies

The Man Himself

His positive outlook compelled me to think that city dwellers like me have so many facilities at our hands but whenever it comes to complaining about life , nobody can beat us.He never overcharges unlike other places I have visited where inaccessibility adds an additional price to commodities or food items.He made best ever Maggi and we were so tired and hungry that it was like a panacea for us.

 Joy of eating maggi in such a serene and calm place in sun kissed mountain is heavenly. For me slurping hot maggi in rains and under clouds is always a high point of any visit to hill.Call it childish but somehow I just relate so much to Maggi and mountains. I think people who have visited Himalayan lower hills will agree with me.

People can do day trip to Billing and enjoy tandem rides for paragliding. I do not have heart to do paragliding :(. Adventurous people can do camping here itself . For rest they can park themselves in Colonels Retreat which is down there in valley and just go for a day trip to Billing and can slurp tasty Maggi made by Chachu Ji.

Vacation Aftermath

With everbody going on vacation I thought of penning down this piece. I guess people like me take vacations quite serioulsy. As we embark on vacation , we tend to send all the pressure inducing things on holidays. Pressure inducing things like office work, dieting and ofcourse conscious eating. Just like we have term called Comfort eating which I will discuss some other time, we should also coin one more term - "Vacation eating". For us vacation time is the time of indulgence. We get in auto pilot mode and devour whatever we get offered or whatever pleases our eyes.

 Things become worse if you happen to be taking vacation where your umpteen relatives are staying. You can't say no to the food  you are offerend number of times at number of  relatives' houses you visit. There are three reasons for not refusing - one is that you just don't care as you have sent all your diet plans on vacations . Secondly you do not want to be rude to people who have prepared food with so such an effort.Third and final is your own greed :). Only a crazy person would say no to the food which stimulates your taste buds.

The word guilty which never shows it's presence during holidays just emerges miraculously once they are over! Even if you deny the verdict given by your mirror but that benchmark dress which you have hidden in one of the corners of your wardrobe would just refuse to fit you.After a days of denial , finally the bitter truth that along with many free deals during holiday there is one more freebie got  which we had not asked for but did quite religiously work for(through ruthless eating). The measure of freebie is not the dollars saved but the pounds gained !

Now that the truth you have gained pounds as well as courage to accept that, people like us do our annual duty of going to gym for renewing our memberships. We are the most profitable customers for gym owners because we pay but we are so sensitive to their equipment that we use them seldom to save them from deprciation ! All the gym owners, if you see less depriciation in your balance sheets , you guys should come personally to us and say a big thanks .

Yes you have guessed it right , I am going tomorrow to renew my membership ;). Anyone in this league ....do let me know. It will give me some respite that I am not the only one :)