Change

Nothing is carved in stone. Even if it was, there is no guarantee that something stronger than stone would not break it. The Iron Curtain crumbled, Myanmar may yet be free.

But when it comes to little things, for people like me, who take comfort in the familiar, changes are always regarded with a certain dread. I prefer the tried and tested restaurants, the old familiar songs, the company of old friends, the same flow-chart to life’s tests, and I like the well-trodden roads. I like the certainty of knowing what I can and cannot do, and to a certain extent, I appreciate the restrictions that society puts on us, so that we cannot do everything that we want to do. This could sound extremely restrictive and could very well be the antithesis to progress. But in things that don’t have serious repercussions, I like being stuck in my well-loved rut. Listen to Keane’s ‘Everbody’s changing’.

You say you wander your own land
But when I think about it
I don't see how you can

You're aching, you're breaking
And I can see the pain in your eyes
It's as (if) everybody's changing
And I don't know why.

So little time
Try to understand that
I'mTrying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same.

You're gone from here
Soon you will disappear
Fading into beautiful light
'cause everybody's changing
And I don't feel right.
Everybody's changing, And I don't feel the same……

Postscript: I wrote the post trying to focus on the changes in language, the use of short forms, the vowel-less words, the now-validated obsolence of the hyphen, even some Mizos wanting to replace 'T' with 'Tr' etc(My dad should have taught me how to type it). I wanted to protest about it, but I sounded so feeble, and I got distrated by Keane's song, so none of the original thoughts went into the post. Just so you know :)

Gerard Kelly- poet

I know very little of his work.. I just read one book of his "Rebel without Applause", but I thought he was rather fantastic.Here's one of his:




Cocktail Conversation


If I pretend


That you're noble,


Will you agree


That I am kind?


If I act as if


I'm talking about you


But talk about me,


Would you mind?


If I take up your bait


About a fascinating job


And don't challenge what you do,


Will you fall for my line


About noisy colored neighbours


And say


That you'd have moved too?


Will you confirm


All my convictions


If I don't notice


Your assumptions are absurd?


If so


We can talk like this for hours


Without meaning


A single word.

Right now...

Right now...

I'd like to be a silent spectator, watching old men enjoing each other's company. Maybe something like this.I'd love to have a cup of great coffee, made with real coffee beans and everything.

It would be lovely to re-read a favourite book.

Definely not doing this....
Because I am not doing this!!

(Pics stolen from all over the net. Don't sue me, I'm stressed)

Latest craving

I am an unlikely gadget freak. I love obssessing about a particular gadget, read endless reviews and finally buy something I think is best. After all the research though, I don't always make the best choices. For example the Olympus Fe 190 I bought was just mindbogglingly disappointing. The 6 mp camera had a lousy lens, is all I can say.

Z550i was so-so. I was bemused with clam shell phones at that particular phase. Some beautiful actress in some movie could have flipped her phone and made a lasting impression on my feeble brain, maybe. I 'lost' that phone when I went home last, supposedly at Lengpui airport. I thought it was a particularly pushy fellow traveller who was the culprit, against whom I bore a silent grudge all these months. Only to be informed recently by my wonderful brother-in-law that he found the phone in the back of their car. (They're wondering how the phone got to be in the back seat, when H and I obviously sat in the front seats. I blame gravity, traffic movements, but it's not whatever else it is they are thinking. hahaha). The phone had a terrible 1.3mp camera anyway. My mom or someone else will probably end up using it.

To get back to the original train of thought, after the last two months of using my old trusty Nokia 1600 (great battery life, supports nothing, not even a torchlight), I've been looking at the k550i. Its camera is probably not as good as k750, its keypad supposedly sucks, some people positively hate it. But there are reviewers who are all praises (you get all kinds). I am just not inclined towards nokia, samsung or motorola. If anyone reads my posts, and if anyone has any idea about k550, or if there's a better phone with better camera at the same price range, please let me know. Am planning to buy a phone before the month is out. Thank you!

(Update: Without much input from anybody, I bought the phone 2 days back. It seems to be a good buy. )

I am one of a million people who acutely dislikes being woken up. I can't help it, it's probably in my genes, encoded in the short arm of some obscure chromosome. So I was on 24 hrs duty yesterday, and one thing leading to another, I managed to fall asleep at 2.30 am. 15 mins later, there was a very confident, loud knocking on my door. I opened the door and there was this brain-deficient security guard asking me if I sleep in room no 8. Brain-deficient I say because Room no 8 has '8' painted on its door, and I sleep across from it in an unmarked door. I told him 'No' in my very elegant Hindi and crawled back to bed. That's when tragedy struck, I couldn't sleep till 4, only to be woken by my mom on the phone at 6. * Sigh *

But I am post duty today so I shall be sleeping the day away, except to cook. Because my cousin arrived yesterday, laden with goodies like mai an, behlawi, bekang ro, tumbu pickle and even the dried version of them. So I shall make use of my cullinary skills and make mai an bai. It will be quite an occasion because, for the last 2 months, I have been feeding my husband nothing but fried potatoes, dal and a stew of cabbage, eggplant and beans. H has been stalwart and stoical and has not complained even once ( I don't take his suggestions of dining out as complaints). I think he really deserves the change, I think I may even add a dash of butter for good measure :)

Talking of cooking, I have been cooking for the last 3 months or so on a regular basis (alternative days I suppose), and I have burnt food only twice. That works out to be approximately 4% of total cooking episodes. I say the statistics are very encouraging. I will try my best to remember to simmer.