Sartorial Syndrome

Clothes clothes everywhere but not a one to wear !

 Sounds familiar? Yes I can imagine many people(read female population) nodding their heads in unison. Now don't start treating this statement as discrimintaion against fair sex. I would not do that to my own population. Nevertehless nowadays one has to be very aware of what one is saying or writing. For all of female population who think that I am exhibiting some discrimination by pointing them out , I offer my apologies with full heart. For ladies who are taking this in stride, I have my gratitude for them.

 

 I would like to call this common feeling of  dearth of clothes even if we are sitting on heap of clothes as "Sartorial Syndrome". Though this is 24x7 syndrome but the effects of this can be seen more explicitly in following situations-

• Party invitation from friend
• Wedding party
• Formal party of office
• Onset of vacations
• Birthdays
• Anniversaries
• Dates
• etcetra etcetra

I have just realised that I am getting into the never ending list so decided to put the magic word etcetra at the end. Please feel free to interpret this "etcetra" as per your situation.

 

I too have been sufferer of this syndrome since the time I don't even remember. This syndrome is not genetic in nature but highly contagious and solely depends upon external factors. The only proven treatment(temporary) for this is  immediate buying of clothes. Some scientific and logical people call this as impulse buying too. Well I would refrain from using this phrase. There is a simple reason for this - impulse is which happens with in a second ! Lo and behold...does our shopping end in minutes?I would give an award to any one who can prove that ladies can close shopping so quickly. Please be aware that I want complete evidence in order to give this award.

 

If people think that buying has done some cure, they are highly mistaken. Real woes start after getting the proud buy at home and then trying it, looking into mirror from hundred different angles and finally giving the verdict that the dress is not suiting or not good enough for body type !

 

Anyhow after multiple iterations , one dress comes at home and ofcourse it is used for the occasion. Now can anyone guess what happens after that.....

 

Yes , you are correct....it goes back into the heap and syndrome strikes back!

 

 

 

When Chips Are Down....

In our  life, we come across moments where we feel the best in the world and then we have those moments where we get into deep alleys of diffidence and sadness.There are times when we find ourselves in the tunnel without any light at the end. There will always be help in terms of friends, family and other near dear ones but nothing can compare to the inherent strength which we all possess but somehow miss to call or evoke it. This is the strength which keeps hope floating for us.

The other day I was listening to Mariah Carey's song "Hero". Beautifully sung and even more beautiful lyrics and message. I just love listening to this song. This song is about the strength which is inside us and which we are oblivious of .This is the song about finding that little light through darkness, finding that little buoyant force to lift you up, finding that wind beneath your wings when chips are down.

Wish finding that strength was as easy as listening to the song but if only wishes were horses we would ride them and ofcourse wishes are wishes and not horses! But you can try listening to the song and see if the mere listening works for you :-) Here is the link -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IA3ZvCkRkQ&feature=kp


Having said that it is not that an impossible task to find this inner strength. Though it can be herculean task but not at all  impossible. People have their own way of finding it. A little " Me Time" tossed with retrospection and introspection works for me and I get back on track.

Tell me if you have other "doable" ways of discovering stronger you through the vicissitudes of life.




'

 

Precious five minutes sleep..

Oh is it already time....how can i get five more minutes ? This is the first brainwave which strikes you in the morning.
One feels sleepy the most when it is time to get up? I am not the first one to state this paradox. I am just the humble follower of this philosophy. I am also one of many doing my math of getting extra five minutes every morning whenever my alarm clock goes off or someone is yelling at me for the umpteenth time to get up.

This is what I feel for my alarm clock in the morning -

And this is what my megalomaniac clock thinks...

Anyhow coming back to five minutes - the thrill which one gets by stealing five minutes for oneself from ones own time does not find any explanation in the realms of logic hungry world. Don't they say that curiosity killed the cat. Therefore somethings should be left without answers. What do you say ?

The feeling which you get by just thinking that you still have few more minutes to get up gives you some divine kind of solace.The moment you start you timer, 5 minutes seems to be big time but somehow when the alarm goes again after snooze....you start getting this familiar feeling .....Oh is it already time to get up...five more minutes please. ...and the cycle goes on and on.

These precious five minutes are actually not absolute but very elastic  five minutes. Elasticity depends upon the disposition of the person. These can extend in multiple iterations amounting to hour or hours .

What is the elastic limit of your five minutes?Mine is around 30 minutes :-)
 

Good old world of comics

People who have grown up in non internet era will connect to my post at once. Do these images remind you of your childhood?

I am talking about the time when kids in the colony would fight tooth and nail to guard their treasure of comics .It was a time when there was no 24x7 TV.

The overgrowing pile of comics would be  matter of pride and the owner of the largest pile would be undisputed king or queen of herd.It is amazing how kids organized and tracked  their little trove which included swapping of comics with one another.

During vacations kids of colony would have a meeting where it was decided that what all books/comics to be bought by each one. It was done to avoid the repetition of comics :-).Once bought , books would change many hands .It was a kind of community library run by everyone. It was unsaid norm of taking proper care of books and surprisingly even the naughtiest kids followed the rules without being told because defaulters were chucked out from the community library immediately.
Kids used to opine about the stories just like reviews of books which one sees today.The books with maximum number of opinions would be most sought after. Those were the days .Kids would learn so many things related to organisation , dealings ,responsibility just by doing these little things on their own.

While writing i have got so nostalgic that I am just going to finish this post here only and search internet If  I can get old editions of my favorite comics on internet.

By the way , what was your favorite book or comic or character?Mine was Mandrake the magician.Though my friends always discounted his charisma owing to his magical powers.They were more into macho hero like Phantom.I did like phantom but not over Mandrake :-) Though I liked Phantom's mysterious cave and family.
 

Joys of rains in hills

Rainy season always bring freshness in my mind. With freshness , it brings a lots of nostalgia which take me back to my days in Shimla.People who have visited hills in rainy season will connect to my thought on the same.

Sipping hot tea and listening to pitter patter sound of raindrops soothes mind to the deepest.You can pass hours and hours just by watching  raindrops trickling down and making their way from spikes of cedar trees.Occasional sound and flash of thunder and lightening is the only sound which can get you away from your thoughts. This is also the time when friends can get together and can gossip for hours over cups of teas and pakodas. The cosiness this season brings is wonderful.

Sun gets into naughty mood and gives way to magnificence of colurs in nature while playing  peek a boo with clouds.It shines through trickling water from roofs,leaves and if you are lucky it will give you a glance of rainbow too.The sunshine makes drenched trees,bushes and shrubs  appear more fresh and a cool breeze accompanying makes it heavenly.

A stroll in the misty weather under the canopy of trees is enough to awake your romantic side or may be your writer part.Clouds get so near that you can almost touch them.

As I finish this post , i am yearning so very much to revisit hills in rainy season.

Drenched road and trees in misty weather

So guys if you too love misty weather and rains, hills are beckoning you...go and enjoy

Some eye talk

Eyes are  by far the most prominent feature on face which get noticed except for the case if the person you are talking to has some special kind of nose! If that is the case then nose takes the cake else eyes are at the helm.

Most of the times eyes are the true reflections of person's personality but sometimes they can be just opposite of it of what person actually is.

Arrogant persons have eyes that just  cut through you with their sharp looks whereas humble confident eyes will have assured look. Diffident eyes will never look into you. Beautiful eyes will always capture you.Deep eyes will get you engrossed.Twinkling eyes have freshness and naughtiness to them.Wicked eyes gives you jitters.Talking eyes do lot of talking silently and then there are eyes which are in the middle of water reservoir! A little trigger will make them flood in no time .Sad eyes are always lost in some thoughts.Spy eyes are always searching for something or other.

Color and shape  plays an important role in giving a distinct character to eyes. Blue eyes fall in the elite class of most likable .Green and hazle eyes also fall more or less in this class.Shades of black and brown are quite common. By simple rule of demand and supply princple and the amount of pupulation we have of these eyes , they definitely fall in common category.

Then  of course there are colours like yellow which falls into sick category and and should be treated as an  invitation from a doctor. And not to forget  red colur. If it is due to hangover then please go and have lime water else just stop reading this and give your eyes a much deserved rest.

BTW what do your eyes reflect? 

My sweet little peccadillo

Everyone has hidden sins which seldom make to public stage.I too have my sweet little peccadillo which can not be hidden and any party and celebration manifests it more . Hold on to your high horses...my only sin  is my unconditional love for chocolates and Indian sweets!

Since my childhood , this thought is deeply imbibed in my heart and brain that stomach does have different compartment for desserts and you have always that extra space even if you have eaten like a monster !

As I grew up , my brain did change it's idea(thanks to internet for getting Ms. Calorie into center stage)  but heart still abides by that imbibed thought :-).My heart and brain are at antipodal positions when it comes to eating sweets and needless to say my heart wins by unbeatable margin :) And my accumulated pounds do echo the same.

I am not alone in this quandary .I have many acquaintances and friends who too struggle with ...to eat or not to eat  sweet and eventually they end up eating only .I myself have tried to give up sweet many a times but I guess it's deep there in my DNA .When you don't find any logical reason .... DNA is an easy culprit to put blame on !But my food DNA is not that bad ....I owe big thanks to it for disliking ice creams infact a very big thanks (looking at calorie content of ice cream ) and a bear hug for making me dislike cold drinks and pastries .Imagine if my food DNA had strayed more into sweet territory I would have ended up with menu like -  ice cream for breakfast ,chocolate for mid morning snack well supported by aerated sweet drink , pastries for lunch  and so on ....

Thank God for making my DNA sane .So for now I am just  trying to find peace with my peccadillo as I have come to know  DNA is a blueprint... unchangeable!

Finally it is one story with happy ending :) Tell me if you think otherwise.

The dark world of short stories

I have never been a voracious reader but yes I am not bad either.I can read anything but self help books. They mention very obvious.If you have not lost your commonsense , you would anyways know those things and will stick to them.In case you have lost common sense ,then no matter how many self help books you read ...you will always be a forlorn figure. I have seldom voiced my opinion as it can be taken as sacrilege.After all people are very sensitive to these books ;-)

Though I do not shy away from novels but what catches my attention the most is anthology of short stories.These are the stories which take you into different cultures and give you different perspective in few pages. Every story offers a distinctive view.I have huge respect for authors who do the daunting task of etching characters in few words and still able to stimulate your thoughts.Many of these stories have made their place in our school books and reading them all over again takes me back into time.

I have read quite a few pieces but stories which have caught my fancy are the ones by Saki(H H Munro).His stories always have surprises at the end and are very well woven.If one speaks of dark humour then Roald Dahl takes the cake.Being from hills , I have special love for Ruskin Bond's work especially his ghost stories based in colonial architecture. Alice Perrin ,Rudyard Kipling are the  must haves for lovers of  colonial era literature.

Few stories just remain etched in my memory because of their queer endings.Biscobra by Alice Perrin is one of them.It has a macabre ending and not quite enjoyable.It leaves lot to reader's imagination.Reader is bound to get nightmares after reading this but nevertheless the way it has been written and built up is commendable.
Similarly there is a story by Roald Dahl which tells about the super anxious lady who locks her husband in the house before going on vacation. Then there is "Parson's pleasure" by the same author where the super smart antique dealer becomes victim of his own smartness.Saki's "The phantom Luncheon" tells you the story of three sisters who have habit of piggybacking on others and finally gets to pay for that.The "Upper Berth" is the story about the haunted room of ship.And the list goes on....

For beginners who want to get into the corners of this dark alley...Roald Dahl is the good starting point.....Do share your thoughts once you get there.

Conscious eating - inexpensive way to fight flab

Few days back I stumbled upon an article with quite a thought provoking heading - "A moment on lips, lifetime on hips". It said that whatever we eat, it just takes three hours to get it converted into fat tissues in your body.

Though I am not a part of diet police (something like fashion police ;) ) but i do believe that one need not starve oneself from all the temptations, it's just a matter of getting little conscious in the quantity of what we are eating and when we are eating. Though this is the universal truth and common sense but we all know how rare common sense is :).

We don't even realise that a single plate of humble bhelpuri(so called low fat snack) garnished with peanuts  can give us half of our daily required calories. And then by end of day, one just says .....today I just had bhelpuri and no lunch! Villains like bhelpuris exist in ample around us. We don't have to defriend them but just have to control the frequency of meeting them :). Aim should be to restrict the entry of such villains in house. For me as soon as I get back from office, all of sudden I start feeling very very hungry and then my hand just goes into one of the drawers/containers of kitchen and I devour whatever I can get  my hands on. To prevent this I have started keeping healthy alternatives like bananas, almonds or may be good old pal milk in kitchen. Easier said than done but I am trying !


Maintaining a log of what you eat is something which gives you control.You might have to maintain it physically initially but after a while your mind gets tuned to it and you can maintain the virtual log in your brain. To help you there are sites like http://caloriecount.about.com/, http://www.livestrong.com/ and many other. These will help you maintaining the log and you can actually track your progress.

As they say everything has it's pros and cons.When people start following calorie count specific sites, they start to count calories in every damn thing. On lunch tables they would start ranting about the calories contents of each and every thing. As obvious they become a laughing stock:-) So guys you have to strike a balance! Count the calories for you and not for others :-)

Happy calorie counting ...and stop eating as if there will be no tomorrow.

Passion and compassion

Somebody gave me a reference of book "Alive in the death zone".It's a book about  Mr. Lincolon Hall who reached the summit of Mt Everest and then faced some difficulties while descending. He was left for dead at the summit.This book depicts the miraculous survival and rescue of Mr. Hall.Ironically he lost his battle to cancer after 5-6 years of his miraculous rescue.

While I was reading the book , I got more and more intrigued with Everest and the people who climb it. I searched on Internet and found that there are around 200 climbers who have lost their lives in quest of Everest.Bodies of some climbers lay preserved in nature's deep freezer as it is!

Mr Hall could have been one more addition to this number if it was not for one compassionate group of climbers who gave up their summit dreams and risked their own lives to rescue Mr. Hall.There was a other group also who feigned ignorance and did not pitch in for help and kept following their route to summit.

This story left a mark on my mind and heart.I am just thinking why  people can not be passionate and compassionate at the same time.Though Everest is not everybody's forte but I think common people like us also come across our own types of  Everests in day today life. We see lot of people day in day out who just follow their passion so vehemently.Some follow it ruthlessly like the climbers who were more worried about their summit rather than helping Mr. Hall. Some do it with compassion just like the guys who gave up their aim of reaching summit for helping Mr. Hall.

Passion and compassion have to go hand in hand else passion transgresses into boundaries of evils and craziness..