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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Rparvaaz" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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08:09 pm
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Heh
Koko is upset with me. Here's why:
K, right out of a shower: Mom, we are out of x leave-in conditioner.
R: I know
K: It is good
R: yep
K: Can you get some for me?
R: Sure
K: Thanks, I really like the way my hair looks, feels and moves when I use it.
R smiles.
K: Don't find me amusing!!!
K storms off
I can't help it. She is nine, worried about how her hair falls...and that amuses me. :)
Aj makes me sign contracts [weekly] to provide him with bed-time cuddles and stories. In return, he promises to listen to me. We actually sign a piece of paper every Thursday.....
A few days ago, he told K that she doesn't get a story because she didn't get me to sign a contract. I ruled that my relationship with K is based on mutual trust and we do not need the formality of contracts between us...
Current Mood:  amused
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01:01 pm
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Stuff
Life/work have kept me busy. The details aren't likely to be interesting to those not living this life, so I'll save myself the bother of re-living last week.
Last night, as I wanted a book to fall asleep to, I picked up Tepper's _Beauty_. I've read it once before, a decade ago, while I was pregnant with Koko, and I hated it. I remember, very clearly, finding it sad and dark and depressing and hopeless. The book affected me strongly and so very negatively that it took me a decade to pick another of her books up again. Last month, I picked up _Gibbon's Decline and Fall_ and I loved it. I thought it was a fluke...at least until I picked up _Beauty_ again. I was up ridiculously late finishing it and I have no idea what I was thinking of the last time around. Since this morning, I have been trying to figure out which bits hurt me so terribly the last time...and I wonder if the book made me feel so very bad because it took the romance and the eros out of fairy tales and still talked about an affirmation of beauty...will think some more...
But really, given that I like two of her books, chances are good that I will like the rest of her work as well...and she has written a decent amount...hee..
Right, will catch up later. I need a nap - India and England are in a knock-out game tonight....
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11:46 pm
[Link] | A good final. The match was alive till the second last ball.
Would have said 'pity the wrong team won' but Gilly's boys outplayed Jumbo's boys...held onto their nerves better...and fair's fair.
Damn.
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03:21 pm
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Sunday ramblings
I vaguely recall something annoying in Vir's article today but, really, who cares...?
I, at least, don't. Not when I can talk about one of my favourite men - Anil Kumble. :)
I have watched more of IPL this year than I did the last - can't help it. With Jumbo retired from Test and One-Day cricket, IPL is the only place where I can watch him play and lead.
I have had a lot of people laughing at me over the last few weeks - ever since Kumble became the captain. For that is the day I knew that RCB will make its way to the semi-finals, if not the finals. I was mocked, laughed at, told I am too old to understand the format or the passion of the 'younger' teams. I accept the former - I *am* too old to accept T-20 as proper cricket [sorry Gilchrist, but it just ain't the same as Test Cricket]. But I understand passion, and the desire to win, and perhaps more importantly, the determination, diligence, motivation and intelligence Kumble brings to a team he leads. And I know he is brilliant enough to weld his team so that they raise themselves to the final four, even if the glorious unpredictability of cricket came into play.
And tonight I will watch Jumbo lead his team into the IPL II finals. One more match where I'll see him play and lead.
Is good. :)
Current Mood:  lazy
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09:38 am
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Lok Sabha Elections 2009
So India went to vote for its 15th Lok Sabha over five weeks. The first phase of the polling was on the 10th of April, the fifth and last phase on the 13th. The counting was on Saturday and I have spent the weekend chuckling.
Some stats, from HT:
714 million registered voters. (edited]
420 million people voted.
7 mn officials oversaw the electoral process.
8070 people contested in these elections
390 political parties were in the fray
543 is the number of seats in our Parliament Lok Sabha [the ones we vote for anyway].
Five poll officers walked 40 km in snow in Ladakh to ensure that a tiny hamlet with 37 residents got to vote. Another polling station was set up for one voter in Gujarat's Gir forest [This is really going to screw up the polling percentage stats, innit?]. Mobile booths roamed the countryside, visiting tiny hamlets in states like Rajasthan. Violence went down.
The results were sensible and pleasing. India gave a strong mandate in favour of Dr. Manmohan Singh. For the second time in the history of our nation, a PM was voted back in office at the end of his term. The UPA won 261 seats and is 11 seats short of a simple majority - a tally far better than what had been predicted. I am less surprised than last time, no less pleased though. We are, despite all predictions, headed for 5 more years of stable governance. Well done, Team India. :)
Congress did well in UP. Lalu lost. Left out in Bengal. BJP soundly routed. It has been fun. :)
Advani is retiring from active politics - nothing else he can do after running for the post of the PM and receiving a resounding 'No, thank you'.
Congress leaders actually said 'The BJP may be surprised, we are shocked.'
Rahul Gandhi actually said a few sensible lines.
I am very busy this week, so will stop here. Might post my thoughts later.
Current Mood: pleased
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09:32 pm
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Today....
I left work a little early as K's best friend had a b'day party. I dropped the kids off there and went browsing along the 4 second-hand bookshops in the vicinity. I found:
2 Mary Jo Putneys
3 Raymond Feists
1 Marion Zimmer Bradley
and...
*drum roll*
Guy Gavriel Kay's _The Fionavar Tapestry_. The entire series in one volume.
Heh.
And then what did I spot? The IOC Delhi 2009 catalogue. So I asked the shop keeper what it was. He told me it was an excellent book on Indian art. Excellent paper, images of paintings and details about the artist and his/her history. A good guide to Indian art, I was told. He said he had only two copies left - had found 10 and had sold 8 of them to people interested in art. He offered to sell it to me for a 'special price' of Rs. 500. I told him I had already read it...
Lord, how I chuckled as I walked away from that shop.
Current Mood: sleepily happy
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08:22 pm
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And 'tis done...
India has voted for the next Lok Sabha.
On Saturday, we will find out the verdict declared by vox populi. I am nervous, and I'm not sure why. :)
ETA: I think the tension is not just because I have no idea when the elections will happen next and who will rule in the interim. It is mostly because the exit polls were really off mark the last time and the electorate sprung a surprise on all of us. I am wondering what it has done this time....
Current Mood: content
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02:20 pm
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Just read...
That VHP activists in Allahbad burnt the effigy of Taliban in protest of the taliban's treatment of Sikhs in Punjab...
It tickles me on so many levels:
- I bet this is what Advani meant when he said the govt should take 'pro-active steps'...
- I bet the Taliban is cringing...
- I bet this has been a huge comfort to those terrorised by the Taliban, Sikh or non-Sikh....
Current Mood: amused
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10:17 am
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Sunday Ramblings
I think I've finally figured out why Vir Sanghvi annoys me so much - he is the Ellsworth Toohey of Indian journalism. The gentleman seems to have no convictions, can't seem to argue any point coherently and convincingly, and cobbles together random facts to 'reach' a completely unrelated point.
Take his article in the HT today - he is fed up of coalition politics, wants a stable and secure government at the Centre. And so he wants a two party system in India [only BJP and Congress need apply as, and I quote, it hardly matters which one of them wins the elections] and spends his entire word limit talking about how bad the regional parties are.
So, you must be wondering, just why are the regional parties so bad? Well, apparently it is because they have no conception of national interest and don't care for India outside of their regional loyalties. Besides, no government without a clear dominant partner ever did any good to India.
I K Gujral asked the RAW to wind up its clandestine operations in Pakistan and so Indians continue to die in terrorist attacks today [given that Gujral's mandate was only to the extent of disallowing reciprocal terrorism activity in Pakistan, I fail to see how the claim makes any sense, but let's not worry about that now].
Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi have advocated the break-up of Sri Lanka! [Shock! Horror! Oh, hold on, wasn't Sanghvi advocating the same thing about Pakistan 3 Sundays ago? Oh yes, he sure was...so why the double standards? Hmm, well, that was rillyrilly long ago and why rake up old stuff and bore people, right?]
DMK has been gratutiously insulting Hindus over Ram Sethu project. [And that is never to be allowed, mm'kay? We poor mistreated much-maligned Hindus are sensitive souls]
And the poor major parties, BJP and Congress, have no choice but to entertain the demands of these selfish and small-minded regional parties. [Imagine the glorious high minded Titans of Congress and the BJP- Jagdish Tytler, Rahul Gandhi, Shivraj Patil, Narendra Modi, Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj - being hobbled by the pygmies of the regional parties...oh, doesn't your heart bleed? No? Oh you monster!]
And so we need to install a two party system...that is the only way we can look forward to good governance because, as we all know, the BJP and the Congress are peopled by politicians who understand and respect the notions of democracy and are high minded and would rather die than betray the national interest. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
Especially if you are drunk on beer and champagne....
Current Mood: incredulous
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09:38 am
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This morning....
Aj: Can I take over the world in the summer vacations?
R: Why would you want to do that?
Aj: It will keep me busy....it should be fun....and I am anyway the youngest here, so no one listens to my orders...if I take over the world, people will have to listen to me...
R: Okay then, go ahead.
Aj: Hold on...
[runs to the toy cupboard and runs back]
R: Hmm?
Aj: Let me throw the dice in the air...
And, for a moment, I wanted to say 'Hello Caesar'...
Current Mood: amused
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07:55 pm
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:)
Today as we went shopping for groceries, fruits, milk etc, we kind of stumbled into the local branch of Teksons. Aj bought himself a Power Ranger activity book [he has recently discovered mazes and is very enthusiastic about them] and Koko bought herself a pretty mug to drink her milk out of.
So a few minutes ago:
Aj: K, that is very pretty!
K: Yep and do you know what is written on it?
Aj: No! You have a story on your mug?
K: Not a story, a sentence...
Aj: Well...?
K: Sisters are the flowers in the garden of life
Aj, pretending that he doesn't understand: What is a flower?
K, switching to Hindi: Phool
Aj: Well, I have always said you are a silly fool but both mum and you get upset when I say so...
K: Not that kind of fool! A flower!
Aj: I'm glad you bought it and not me. I can't digest anything I drink from a mug that says that.
And I found myself thinking, with a smile, that some things in life never change. :)
Current Mood: amused
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05:11 pm
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Hee!
In the midst of the typhoon-cum-tornado I call my life, a brief glance at the news made me giggle...
Varun Gandhi wants to revive his dad's controversial compulsory sterilisation policy....
ETA: Well, I just found out that Varun apparently said no such thing and what the media had been flinging around was a news story cooked up by the Daily Telegraph. So apologies for misinformation.
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09:50 pm
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_Dinotopia Lost_
Written by Alan Dean Foster, the book follows the adventures of a group of ship wrecked pirates and a young teenager and his friends [different species of dinosaurs - all sentient] as they try to save some captured Dinotopians from these blood thirsty pirates.
It was rolicking good fun, with a lot of parts that made me laugh out loud. Like an enranged and worried T Rex dad asking a flinching young human teen, "What have you done to my daughter?" And a ride atop rampaging TRexes....and getting tribal T Rex names...and a teen female T Rex with a crush on the protagonist...plus an El Dorado...and an ancient martial arts master dinosaur...
A mix of a million tropes and engaging enough.
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07:26 pm
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*twirls*
Two storms in as many days.... :)
And came across a sentence I seem to have been waiting my entire life for:
Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.
And one day soon, there will be photographic evidence of celebrations and other events....
*waves*
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08:16 pm
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Venting
As usual, something came up today. And will rejoin y'all whenever I can. In the meanwhile, Miya Ghalib's ghazal, for the simple reason that it resonates today:
Kisi ko deke dil koi nawasanj-e-fughaan kyon ho,
Na ho jab dil hi seene mein to phir munh mein zabaan kyon ho?
Woh apni khu na chhorenge, hum apni waza kyon badlein,
Subak sar ban ke kya poonchein ke hum se sargraan kyon ho?
Kiya ghamkhwaar ne ruswaa, laage aag is mohabbat ko,
Na laave taab jo gham ki, woh mera raadaan kyon ho?
Wafa kaisi, kahan ka ishq, jab sar phodna thahra,
To phir e sangdil tera hi sang-e-aasthan kyon ho?
Yeh fitnaa aadmi ki khaana-viraani ko kya kam hai,
Hue tum dost jiske, dushman uska aasman kyon ho?
And that is the point where I burst out laughing.... :)
Current Mood: vented
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07:06 pm
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Hmm
News reports state that Taliban has beheaded two Pakistani officials in SWAT valley, in retaliation for the militants killed by the Pakistani army.
And BJP has demanded that the government takes more pro-active steps to protect people of Indian origin in Pakistan...umm, wouldn't that be the entire country?
And my paper tells me that beggars in Delhi are being trained to speak in English, German, Spanish, Italian and French [classes are conducted thrice a week] in preparation for the Commonwealth games...
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08:46 am
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Hmm
I thought it was a tad hot yesterday, especially around noon, especially when I was out in the open. Well, 'tis official now. Yesterday the mercury touched the 43.5C mark, making it the hottest day in April in the last 5 decades. K has already gone to school but I am keeping Aj at home today.
In other news, 11 states and UTs go to poll today.
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09:56 pm
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:)
My babies are back!
After 10 days with their grandparents...and they seem so much bigger than when I saw them last...
They're back and most of the evening has been spent in games of scrabble and tales of their births, and intaaqshari, and stories from the Mahabharata, and kisses, and hugs and cuddles..... :)
We spent some time sitting on the balcony and looking at the stars and talking about the good old days when Pluto was still a planet. Then K asked me if I will be home on time the next two days. I said not likely as there is a fundraiser on Friday.
Aj: What is a fundraiser?
R: Where people come, and we try to keep them happy...
K, interrupting: And, most importantly, where you take money from them..
It made me laugh. :)
Current Mood: happy
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09:51 pm
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Via ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) cakmpls
"This can be a quick one. Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes."
Oh this is easy, as long as I hit post after 15 minutes and don't try to sort out the relative merits of the books....
The Mahabharata
The Ramayana
Gibran's compiled works
Mritunjaya
Jonathon Livingston Seagull
Illusions
Wuthering Heights
My Cousin Rachel
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant [the first two series]
Daddy Long Legs
My collection of Russian Folk Tales
Flowers for Algernon
Freedom at Midnight
My name is David
A collection of Urdu poetry with Iqbal, Ghalib, Momin, Faiz, Bismil etc.
Okay, that took less than 5 minutes. :)
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08:33 am
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Today...
...is Akshay Trittiya.
Legend says that today marks the anniversary of the day Ganga descended from the heavens.
Legend says that today is the day Ganesh and Ved Vyas started writing the Mahabharata.
They are both lovely thoughts to start the day with. :)
Current Mood: A few millennia away :)
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