writing for one person. me.

the problem with having a hobby that is also your profession is that somewhere down the lane, you stop thinking of it as a hobby and it becomes work.

words used to be my best friends
now they are colleagues.
temperamental and moody
sometimes stuffy
sometimes nice
sometimes good for a gossip
sometimes ready for a joke
always there for the client
but never just there
for me
and i feel abandoned.

wise mouth, shut up please

it is nice sometimes
to not hear a voice
that says wise things

it is nicer still
if the voice is yours
and it perennially got you in trouble
because of its apparent lack of connect
with the working part of your brain

it is even nicer
because you really do not like how your feet taste.

i liking this bucket baba business very very

http://bucketbabas.blogspot.in/2013/08/3-hours-with-6-year-old-be-scared-be.html

have fun.
toinks.

The what ifs

Life is full of yes-es and no-es
and a few what-ifs

The yes-es have their own stories
The no-es, their own endings
But the what-ifs,
they are like undigested food
stuck to the craw
arising occasionally
as acid burps.

here we are again, doing what we do best - talking to oneself

when there is absolutely diddly to do
the mind works in strange ways

there are dialogues being exchanged
that are waiting to be made into stories
there are memories flashing by
waiting to be spoken about
there are conversations happening
between people who need to be in touch

when there is absolutely diddly to do
the mind works...
but the lazy body,
the lazy body finds a comfortable couch
and browses through mindless thrash
avoiding the to-dos
and the really should have already been dones
while wallowing in the fugue
created by having diddly to do.

Split wide open

For the first 16 years of my life, my mother put in a lot of effort (albeit with a lot of moaning and swearing) in braiding my hair into two neat long plaits. Every single morning she would appear magically by my side with the paraphernalia for war against curls, knots and stubborn daughter. The ruckus that followed would usually send my dad to dive behind his newspaper and the brother to spout caustic comments. The disinterest in the plaits was a front, because hey, I had the longest pigtails in town and I was very proud of them.

Then, I grew up and college beckoned. It was time to wave goodbye to pigtails and there was only one way around the problem … the hair had to go. So, one bright summer day, I gathered my savings and went and got a solid length of my hair chopped off. This did not mean I went and got a mushroom cut or anything because:

a.      I lacked the guts (proprietary mothers are VERY scary creatures)

b.      As mentioned earlier, I was secretly quite fond of my plait

Through early morning camps and mad college schedules, my hair maintained its health and never gave me much trouble. This was primarily because I never ventured beyond the staid yet sturdy plait, but was also because my lifestyle then, was pretty much all about 3 very important things – me, me and me. I was reasonably religious about my hair care routine – massages, washes and the occasional trim. My hair grew at a respectable rate and most days, we had a happy ending.

Then came the era of what I like to call temporary insanity.

The colouring, the moving cities and the total lack of ‘me’ time lead to major hair loss. Long plaits were a thing of the past. I thought I would end up going bald. Was even contemplating tattoo designs for my bald pate when Dove saved people who know me from a fate scarierthan bald witch meets Godzilla.
 

So now that the hair fall had stopped, I was beginning to have dreams of regaining my rightful title of the local healthy plait contest winner, when horror struck. I had split ends. Horrible, ugly curse that made the ends of my hair look like a much abused broom.

Not. Happening. At. All.

Thankfully, there is a Keratin God and I suspect she goes by the name Dove.

The new Dove Split End Rescue System with 1/4^th moisturising milk claims to bring the split ends together and give up to 4x less split-ends.

Directions to use the Dove Split End Rescue Shampoo:

• Apply to wet hair, lather and rinse. In case of contact with eyes, rinse thoroughly.

• And be logical and follow it with New Dove Split End Rescue Conditioner (apply to wet hair, rinse thoroughly)

I have been using it for over 2 weeks now and I am slowly beginning to see the revival of my hair. It makes me feel all warm and nice to think I would soon be able to go back to what suits me best – a long, healthy plait…(uhm, just don’t tell my mother I said this though)

Go on and get yourself the new DoveSplit End Rescue System, long hair or short… healthy hair matters. 

kiwi drainex unclogging my brain

Someone asked me the other day if I believed in God

And I automatically went into the one Supreme Being spiel

Someone asked me the other day if I believed in God 

And the question remained with me

So, what is God to me?

Good music that gets me to sway automatically

Food that makes me go mmmm

A beautiful face that catches my attention

Laughter that is uninhibited

A river, a mountain, a rambling ruin

Birds that fly for the joy of flying

That puppy whose entire body vibrates when I give him a belly rub

Anything and everything that even for a moment makes me forget me

That is God to me.

when you got to write, you got to write

i cannot dance
i cannot sing
i lead a quite
existence

a brilliant blue
nor an orange hue
will ever announce
my presence

when i leave
no drums will roll
nor curtains fall
to mark the occurrence

i leave no mark
i leave no sign
i come and go
as i please

i may be a shadow
i may be a sign
i may also be
your release.

there. there. i knew today was lets write some stupid poem day. why do these words even come in my head when i don't get them myself is beyond my understanding.
but i had to get them out. or they would just go round and round in my head making me irritable and dizzy.

it is like a disease. this mad rush of words that cause a traffic jam in my brain.

Hairy tale with a happy ending!

Most days I would joke about the stack of hay I call my hair, but never on hair-wash day. On those days, I go into deep mourning. The large clump of hair in the drain should not hurt so much… but damnit, it does. Each time I run a brush through my hair, I avoid looking at the brush, or the floor.

My mother sniggers and gives me the ‘I-warned-you-so-looks’. I have been colouring my hair for almost 10 years now… coating my scalp with chemicals… I was begging to lose hair, according to her.

 Initially it started out as being a fun thing to do… something new that could be tried. Now it is a struggle against time and the ever present grey. Each time I colour, my hair ends up being more brittle and dry. It has come to a point wherein I seldom leave my hair down. It is constantly scrunched up in a rather untidy bun.

Occasional hair spa treatments (occasional = once a year in mother speak) leave the hair manageable for a couple of days, but then we are back to square one within a week or two. Things really got to a head when my maid complained about the amount of hair she found each day while cleaning. Disgusting… this after I confined combing to one corner of the house…

I was all set to wage major war on my wilful mane when a friend suggested an easier solution. She asked me to use the Dove hair therapy’s Intensive roots treatment. She promised I would see visible hair fall reduction in 2 weeks time. Since I did not have anything to lose, I went and bought myself a pack…

Since time is a constant constraint, I am usually wary of anything that takes beyond a couple of minutes to use. Thankfully, this product aces the timer and it is really simple to use, here is how you do it:

·       Wash hair as usual and towel dry it

·       Break the nozzle of one vial and apply the lotion directly on your scalp (make multiple partings in your hair to get an even application)

·       Massage gently to ensure the lotion gets in to the roots

·       Leave it on and style your hair as usual

·       Use one vial every two days and in two weeks, you will see a marked reduction in hair fall

Dove hair fall rescue intensive roots treatment is non sticky, non greasy. It has a pleasant smell and is so, so easy to use.

I read up a little more on exactly how it helped and found out that Dove hair fall rescue intensive roots treatment contains Trichozole active with ginseng and soy protein. These ingredients essentially work against natural enzymes and prevent them from breaking down the follicle glue thus reducing damage at the roots, helping to lock the hair firmly in place.

2 weeks down the lane, my hair fall has reduced drastically. It said on the box that the treatment targeted root action for superior hair-fall reduction and stronger hair… and I believe it now.

Personally, it is a mini miracle! The Dove hair fall rescue intensive roots treatment has worked for me and how!

Since my friend did my hair a favour, I think it is only fair for me to share the secret with other women. So if you have:

Hair breakage – When little strands of hair break off from the middle or
Hairfall from the roots – When longer strands of hair fall off directly from the roots…it is time to wake up and listen to the distress signal sent out by your hair.

Do yourself and your hair a favour, go buy a pack of Dove’s Intensive Root Treatment. It is an investment that will make you love your hair.

 * This post was initially posted on Dove Blogs - Share a Secret Campaignand therefore, you must, you simply must check this out:

http://www.dove.in/en/Products/Hair-Care/Dove-Hair-Fall-Rescue/Hair-Fall-Rescue-Treatment.aspx

Free bird to Mommydom

“I used to be a lot of things... for now, I am just a mother, trying to: watch her mouth, catch up on sleep, avoid accidentally killing baby.” I wrote these lines some four years ago, but most of it still stands true, except the last bit. Now, I try to avoid the ‘baby’ accidentally killing me.

I started my career as a writer, a few million years ago and that is what I remain till date, though, there have been many things that have changed over time. I left my much loved city - Mumbai and moved to a not-so-loved – Noida, all in the name of love. Someone older and wiser once said: Love is not just blind, it is also very dumb.

I do not like older and wiser people very much.

I cribbed and moaned about the culture difference, the lack of proper junk food, the way people spoke. I missed the mountains and the sea. I missed my friends and the ability to just be me. And then, the powers that govern all such things, thought it best to grant me a boon. Maybe they wanted me to stop the daily diatribe of vile nonsense or maybe they felt sorry for me… and our little girl arrived.

We named our daughter ‘Ankita’, primarily because it was option two, since option one, which has always been my personal favourite, was unanimously rejected by everyone in the family for being a very unladylike name.

At this point of time, I would like to take the opportunity to twiddle my thumbs and give a definitely unladylike snort … for if there is anything remotely feminine about the little tyke we call our daughter; I will eat my words without any seasoning.

People say motherhood changes a person. Well of course it does, there is no point in arguing over that fact. After all, who can remain the same after putting in 24 hour shifts a day, seven days a week, without a break in sight? Initially it was the feed – clean – burp – change - put to sleep cycle… now it is feed – bathe - send to school – finish homework – do ALL the assignments – monitor television time – accompany to various activity classes – etcetera etcetera…

In this mad rush to be a good parent, somehow, somewhere, the individual went AWOL. The person who once lived for treks has not been on one for almost five years now.

Side note: That is the real reason for all the extra weight one tugs along these days (this is my story and I am sticking to it).

The skin has gone to the dogs and the hair… its best we do not even talk about it. My hair has never been my best asset.

Actually, that is not quite true. I inherited thick, curly, relatively healthy hair from my mother. She worked really hard on it, bless her. Hair care was the highlight of Sundays. As a result, I spent the first two decades of my life with really long, shiny black plaits.

Then came the era of madness = colouring.

I put chemicals on my hair; it reacted by losing all lustre.

I cut it and treated it; it forgot it was supposed to be curly and settled for being something in between wavy and straight.

And then, I moved base to the land of hard water. The era of falling hair dawned and it was all compounded by motherhood.

Conditioning became an afterthought, saved for special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays. The usual hairstyle became an ugly bun and hair fell at an alarming rate. But there was no time for any grooming, so there was really no point in cribbing about the whole deal.

With no time for any kind of grooming, my only hope now lay on the tattoo I plan to get on my bald pate… unless of course, my latest experiment pays off. It was something a friend shared and I pray to all the keratin Gods it works …

* This post was initially posted on Dove Blogs - Share a Secret Campaignand therefore, you must, you simply must check this out:

http://www.dove.in/en/Products/Hair-Care/Dove-Hair-Fall-Rescue/Hair-Fall-Rescue-Treatment.aspx