It's time

It's time..

To take out the blankets, to dryclean the unworthy, to snuggle with the clean. It's time to bugger the caretaker, 'Fix the old geyser, or else........' Or else I shall suffer a minor a heart attack, when the cold jets of water fall, or else, I shall simply stop having my baths. The latter is easier, but my colleagues may have something to say.

It's time to restock on body lotions. 'Body cocoon' sounds so inviting, tho I'd never buy it in summer. It's time to hybernate, atleast till 9 in the morning. It's okay to say you're down with the flu, because it's that time of year again. It's time to snuggle, switch off the alarm. Because this year, you're not flying home, come rain or shine, on rickety planes nor on reindeer sleighs.

This year, you're stuck here, with the cold, with your books, with your frowning turbanated gods. This year is the last year, this time, it's going to be a blue, blue christmas.

And it's time to close the old blogger, because I never had that much to say, and it was anyway mostly just a lot of yarn. And I need the yarn for a nice old sweater. It's time I hit the books, because, time, my friend, is ticking away.

(pic from landscapedpic.com)

Happy Birthday to H !!!

October 16th, Happy birthday, dear H!!

Music

My single female friend was telling me about her romantic escapades, and she said,'...we even have the same taste in music'.

That made me think of two things. One is how mature and practical I imagine myself all of a sudden. I used to like guys with the same music taste as mine, in fact, it was almost a vital criteria. But if we're talking of ingredients for a good match, similar music taste probably would not be in the top three. Although totally opposite music preferences could probably play havoc in married life too; a constant barrage of rap music would possibly turn me into a knife-wielding lunatic. The same friend and I had once made a list of all the things we would like in a guy, and I remember some of the things I wrote:

• same taste in music.
• must be a smoker.
• preferably have long hair.
• can watch endless movies.
• should hate cricket.

....and more juvenile things. The list now reads more like a guy I would avoid at all cost, except for the movies part of it. hehe. More important are trust, respect, similar ideals and principles, and the really, really liking each other aspect of it that can make you bear each other for long.

Another thought was, what has happened to my music taste? I remember when I was into Alanis Morissette, Oasis, the Cranberries, the Beatles, Cake, Travis, Fiona Apple and the like and I kind of 'adopted' them and even felt sort of possessive about them. Now I listen mainly to country music, Tracy Chapman and other mellow songs. I am totally unaware of new hits, and I'm quite happy without them. Someone once lambasted me for liking country music. He said people who like country music are all complacent dolts. He could be right, but what's wrong with being a dolt if you are complacent about it ? :)

@#$# !! Monkey

October 2nd, Gandhiji's birthday, and H and I were enjoying a sleep-in, alarm being subjected to multiple snoozes. There was a loud noise from the balcony, I thought it was our neighbour dropping something. But then it happened again and it sounded suspiciously like it was coming from our balcony. My first thought was that it would be a monkey, having had one creep into my room before.

I opened the door a fraction, and there it was, perched on top of the AC. I quickly closed it again and banged on the door and window. But I could still hear it moving about :( I woke up H, he went to the loo, grabbed a stick, and the monkey was gone (before H could wield the stick, ofcourse).

We use the balcony as a kitchen and so there were raw potatoes and onions scattered around and bitten into. It must not have liked the taste much because it spat out everything, but it tried quite a number of them. It had tried opening the jars too, but he gets zero for dexterity. We already had a net in place covering the whole of the balcony, but the furry thing had managed to creep in from the top. I have a feeling it'll be back:(

I hate monkeys. I dislike them because of a number of reasons.

• They are just so smart and human-like. In my previous hostel, the monkeys used to knock on closed doors, and get inside as soon as the door is opened. They know how to open jars, they even take tablets out of blister packets and eat them. God knows why.
• They can tell the difference between male and female humans. When I tried to shoo away one, it actually charged towards me, making me run faster than fast. There were recent reports in the news about how monkeys specifically bother female workers in the fields. Chauvinistic little things.
• They are just not cute and cuddly like the rest of the small animals, like dogs, or cats.
• They don't seem to know when they're not wanted. I wonder if they ever go bother Maneka Gandhi.
• They have really sharp teeth. They can harbour rabies, simian virus 40. But mostly, they have sharp teeth.

According to my friend, there is a monkey in Sikkim who hitches rides on jeeps and buys food with money. It does not know the denomination of the money but it shoves the money towards the shopkeeper and takes what it likes in return. I don't know how much truth is in the story, my friend likes to tell me stories sometimes :P

Complaints of monkey menace are usually dealt with in a nonsensical way. The authorities either ignore the complaints, or they station a langoor (pic) where monkeys abound. But when they go all out and catch them, they stuff them in cages and maltreat them, so that the animal activists are up in arms breathing fire and venom. We can't seem to win.