Goa...of Mical Bar & Mario Miranda

I have been trying ways to put this across gently. Without much damage to my reputation, you see. What the hell...I'll take the risk..label me crazy but I went to Goa and did NOT step on a single beach and yet came back having a fantastic experience of an altogether different side of this tiny, green, crazily warm place called Goa!!

I was in Goa for work-related stuff and the frenzied schedule did not spare much time for respite. May be that was an excuse and I could have really spared some time had I wanted to. But Goa in a hurry? Sounds like a stale fish curry! Not my thing...I preferred not visiting any beach rather than rushing through them without appreciating..simply to tick them off my list. You see...appreciating Goa needs to be a leisurely, slowly intensifying experience...like gentle love.. 

The hotel where I stayed had a small store dedicated to this guy. Mario Miranda.  

The Mario Miranda
- the man behind those popular TOI cartoons...
- the man behind those quirky Bombay portraits... 

- and most famously, the man behind the popular walls of equally popular Cafe Mondegar in Mumbai. 

Needless to say I stole time from work, sometimes even wee hours in the mornings to go through the immense treasure-hold of books by Mario Miranda in that tiny little souvenir-cum-bookshop in my hotel lobby. Reading and understanding Goa from the seasoned eyes of a local...his portrayal of the life in Goa gives a rustic and all-new perspective quite different from the touristy stereotypes..

Mario's Goa

Goa..of the Portuguese and the Konkanis...

Goa...of the Sunday Churches and Kunbi marriages...

Goa...of those lively and colorful markets and colorful lives of the simplest of humankind...

Mario Miranda makes one realize that there is so much more to it than the sun, sand and beach-shacks...

Oh...and I HAD to buy this. (2 copies!!) 

Finally, I have come to believe that everyone has a favourite in Goa...the beaches, cheap booze, flea markets, relaxed-afternoon-naps-under-the-beach shacks-with-chilled-beer-in-hand, Zante's cashewnuts (:P)! Do you have a not-so-obvious Goa favourite? Come on...share along. We can always do with one more reason to love Goa, can't we?

Dear readership of 21,

Silly how I cannot bring myself to write in spite of great many things to write about. The Opposite of Writers' Block - something like a Bottle Neck.

Anyhow. There are stories and stories and stories I wish I could pour out on this blog right now. Let me start off making a list of things to clear some of my cerebral clutter.

1. My oh-so-awesome Europe Trip...ok, UK trip...but Scotland, Ireland & London man!!
2. Latest obsession - Pygmalion & other works of George Bernard Shaw (He is half Irish, half British...no points in guessing my UK trip hangover is far from being over)
3. My first impressions of the Rosogulla land  - Kolkata. Oh! and how I stayed at the country's first Floating hotel aptly named Floatel on Babughat opposite the marvelous and majestic SBI HQ office and a mere hop-skip-jump from Eden Gardens Stadium!!
4. Staying alone...Staying alive.. in Biryani land - Hyderabad
5. And finally since my work involves some bit of traveling, I am contemplating writing my own version of 'The Terminal" (Desi Tom Hanks anyone? Feel free to contact me :P)  

And so deadlines and hectic schedules be damned. Here I am..making a start all over again to make peace with my blogging alter-ego so as not to piss her off and shoo her away for months at end like last time.

Its nearly office time...and I hate the fact that this post doesn't really have any purpose other than a quick 'hi, wassup world. me still alive, ok bye.'

So a post this is! And  I promise to update to my lovely audience of 21 followers and any other misguided random lurker...thou shalt blog regularly from this day onwards...till death and/or bad internet connection do us part.

Amen.

Asian Paints Ad...Ver Rutuja1.0

Kabhi aisa ho jaye ki hum office hi na jaye..
ghar baithe hi anokhi ek picnic manaye

khidkiyon se kare baate, pooche hawaaon ka haal-chaal..
"kya chahiye rangeen parde?" unse hum karein sawaal

kitchen ke bartanon se bhi aaj ho jaye baatein do-char..
cheeni ki meethi chhuri aur achar ki tej-khatti dhaar

tapakte hue nal ke aaj aasoon poch le..
geyser ki garma-garmi se bhi sulaah kara de

bedroom ka aaina kitni baar bulaye..
aaj phursat se usme apni parchhayee taak le

jab arse se balcony ke paudhe sirf hari pattiyan ugaaye..
tab toh phulon ki gowd bharai ki aaj maang kii jaye

darwaza chup chap jab door khada reh jaaye..
aaj uski bhi dosti deewaron se kii jaye

ek hasi aaj is ghar me bhi baaton..
kabhi is ghar ko waqt aur pyaar se sawaron

kuch na keh kar bhi ghar bahot kuch kehta hai
har ghar yeh kehta hai...andar isme mera apna rehta hai!

Adhoore Khwaab...

choti aankhen dekhe bade khwaab
mushkil sawaalon ke mange jawaab
khwaab dekhne par na thi pabandi
ziddi mann chahe unka hona puri

Missed Call

She wanted to look her best for him.
Kajal, silver bangles, bright orange kurti.

Decked as Indian summer she made her way to office,
Like autumn leaves, her face paled on knowing he had called in sick.

***

Distracted.

It's foolish the number of times I have begun writing a post, lost the train of thoughts and dumped it into drafts. I love the idea of writing while listening to music. I start with finding the right song for my mood to build up the whole environment (Hindi has a very apt term for it - samaa bandhana. English pales in comparison). Anyway, so one starts with finding the right song for the right mood and hopes to publish a blog-post one is happy with...but things somehow run down-hill after the whole youtubing thing.

Here's what happens with me:

• Create a playlist of similar mood songs on Youtube - say - Romantic
  
• Forget that one song from that really insignificant movie starring Salman Khan & that actress from the South.
• Try recollecting her name for 26 odd seconds. Ditch.
  
• Google for 'Salman Khan + Actress from South' to come up with some ridiculous search results.
• A lil' more head scratching....Ahan!! Her name in the movie was Maggie! (Talk about some food for thought!)
  
• Google for 'Salman + Maggie' - Love it is! All hail IMDb.
• Oh btw, check out this review at the bottom of the page here.
• Haan, so where was I? Yes, "Saathiya...yeh tune kya kiya"
• Buzz on GTalk - ofcourse its an old friend and I am not the one to go invisible after being buzzed, no sire. So one replies, patiently..using very little words just to give the right indication that one might be caught up in something important at the moment or when all fails 'brb' to the rescue.
• Wouldn't it be better to just change the status message to 'Busy' for a while. But no sire no, we are not the ones to simply put up a plain, boring status message are we? We are the creative class (or so we think) so it has to be a creatively borrowed 3rd line of that ghazal one once heard and is not very sure of the meaning. But what if someone pings to ask the meaning and catches one unawares! Imagine the horror! So we google for the meaning and then put up a status msg something like this:
  Kuch to mere pindar-e-mohabbat ka bharam rakh
  Tu bhi to kabhi mujhko manane ke liye aa...Ranjish hi sahi....
  
• Almost 11.5 mins since I last checked FB updates :|
• Yayness! He liked my status msg...need a wittier come-back. Google. (Yes, lame.)
• Hey, new video posted by him..must be something cool...let me check it out!
• Superb video! Like. Comment. Share.
• Hayyee. Relationship status update by Rohan & Pri? kab? kyu? kaise? and most imp. ab kiske saath? ;) (Yes, we are like that only)
• So, where was I? Video..FB...imdb...google...youtube...blogspot!

And so, in this brilliant manner a perfect blogging mood get wasted by yours truly's utter stupidity and one sinks further down the depression of not blogging enough. Does this happen to you? any foolproof solution?

P.S: While I was writing this blog, the following conversation ensued with a friend.

Ashok: abbe

rutuja: hi

Ashok: give me suggestions

rutuja: for?

Ashok: things to do

i got absolutely no work in office today :|

rutuja: haha

i m blogging..abt how i get distracted while blogging

and end up not blogging :P

Ashok: lol

i am guessing you would mention me in the credits section :P

rutuja: brb :D

@ Ashok - There you go...you got a mention on my blog! I used my first 'brb-to-the-rescue' weapon on you and holly mighty did it work!! I am extremely pleased with myself (or as they say in Queen's Land - I am mighty chuffed right now!) for almost having completed this piddly blogpost which may not mean much to the world but is a no small feat for this girl.

Heart-broken

Its official! Google devta is officially miffed at me :'(

First the randomness of gmail - no not in a metaphorical way.
Pings I never received, mails that came in hours later - and no, its not bad internet speed.

Then the blogger.com started playing truant...with the template designer being down for last two days. How is a girl supposed to 'get back' to her blogging? Especially after being told by an ardent follower that the existing template is hideous? Oh, and dont you point finger at me for the font size here. I tried.

I may have worked for Yahoo but I love you, Google. There. I said it.

And I did not cheat on you with this guy here. He was just a minor distraction - nothing more than a rebound relationship. You, on the other hand, are the one forever. The one who stays back even when the party is over. No, not the caterer asking for money. You know what I mean.

Sigh. Just come back.