Do you ever meet people; have a laid-back dialogue and wonder who it is you met, what kind of people they must be? Not in some romantic kinda way, just out of interest. Perhaps the point is that we all come into contact with so many people on a daily basis and somehow we never really get acquainted with any of them.

When I started blogging a year and a half ago, I'm not sure I would have just had a conversation with someone I didn’t know. I'm sure I would have smiled at someone but after that, I'm pretty sure there would have been silence. And if not, I'd have been wary with what I said, inspecting every word that came out of my mouth, terrified of being me...or too much of me nonetheless. I believe that being open, being me, has allowed me to become more at ease with who I am and what I have to say, in the real world. It’s what I've become aware of over the last year or so. And for that - the moments to share myself and the support I receive - I'm appreciative of.

It’s finally that time of year. Usually the first week of December marks the time to buy Christmas clothes and liberate the holiday decorations from their boxes. This weekend was an exception. We only had time to spread merriment by going through every possible square inch of Brigade road in search of my Christmas attire. And with the cold slowing showing up, it does seem like the holiday season at last.
I didn't have a chance to listen to much at all but I am rather proud of myself that I started playing Christmas music by Frank Sinatra, a collection I had acquired many moons ago. I'm a big fan of Christmas classics. Yup, I like me some old-school too. Let me tell you, they’re definitely worth owning.

And if this doesn't get you into the holiday spirit, nuthin' will. Happy Monday y’all!

The Ideal Weekend

I wish I could walk into a place, rest my thoughts with a nice drink and listen to someone sing. It’s hard to believe that B’lore, of all cities, has banned places like those.

Saturday, somewhere in B’lore city, I met Shreyas and Ruan for brunch. Alexis and Venky also joined us. For those who haven’t read my older posts. Alexis, is comparatively new to the music scene in the city but she has made quite an indelible impression on the audience. Venkat Subramaniam, known as Venky in music circles, is the Frank Sinatra of B’lore. And that is not an overstatement (hear him here). The 5 of us met with the intention of having a late breakfast together. Six pitchers of beer and innumerable stories later we realized it was late evening and that it was time to move ourselves out of the place. All I can remember as I write this post is the beer and the generous serving of bread, bacon, eggs, sausages and mashed potatoes. It reminded me of regular weekend breakfasts with friends back in my college days.

Returned home drunk and sleepy. Took a quick nap, then went for coffee and got back home because Runa and Ruan wanted to come over and watch ‘Grapes of Wrath’. We had read the book in college and I finally got my hands on a great print. But I was reeking of alcohol, a little too sleepy and it was bit late, so we ended up talking about the day. I spoke to Ash after the girls left. She’s a good friend who’s in Chennai at the moment (taking a break from b’lore or someone in b’lore). After the call I then hit the sack.

I think I’m going to do this weekend-breakfast thing more often. I never want to get myself into a situation where I have nothing to do but watch movies all day. This is how one falls into depression. I need exercise and people.

The weather makes me think of these days as weird and wonderful. It's definitely not wonderful when others have to put up with the nuisance of traffic jams and slushy roads, or worse, flooded areas; but watching the rain just fall, feeling the breeze brush past my neck and the cool air all around - leaves me feeling quite relaxed at this time of year. I'm going to remember these past couple of days as the ones when I breathed the air, learned to wait, stepped out of my world of inhibitions and hoped for better things.

There's beauty yet in this world. Sometimes it's right in front of us that we miss it altogether.

I spent the last couple of hours playing with my niece. Some jumping, some kickball. I gave her my drumsticks, again. Her father will soon have to buy her, her own. Much laughter, then goodbyes. A good Sunday afternoon.

A Perfect Circle- 'Gravity'. For my dearest Ash.