To Chance On A Dream...

I sat on the dentist's examination chair staring at the wall ahead of me as if there were some sort of an imaginary television playing a blockbuster movie...but my ears were listening to the sounds of drills, chisels and other equipment that only a dentist's office could boast of...apart from a carpenter's, perhaps! A lady walked up to me with a large paper bib and clipped it on me as she prepped up both me and the equipment that my dentist would use to perform the procedure that I had been there for. I watched her manicured hands moving effortlessly all over the place as she placed all the tools in appropriate positions. She seemed to me to be in her late thirties. Neatly dressed, short curly hair that stayed perfectly sprayed in place, make-up so neat that you would know she spends time to take care of herself. She looked me in the eye, her soft hazel pupils telling me she had done this ever so many times before, and said, "I will take an X-ray now" as she pushed some weird looking thing into my mouth. In less than a moment she went out of the room and was back again and said in the same matter-of-fact tone she had earlier - "The doctor will see your X-ray and start the procedure" in a heavily accented voice - an accent that I still am unable to place. French, may be, considering her dressing sense and flawless figure. But, her words did seem slurry and incomprehensible in places so I really do not know. I acknowledged with a nod as she walked away.

The dentist walked in and started his work. I lay there staring now, at the roof, for a change, trying to count the number of squares the false ceiling had. The local anaesthesia and all the tools that found their way in and out of my mouth had me drooling without control. Only ...there was no food in sight. So, that moment my dentist said, "Suction"...and that lady who prepped me walked back in. She forced down the suction tube into my mouth and cleared up all the saliva to allow the dentist to work and walked away again. He dabbed and pounded and drilled. Again in a few moments, "Suction" and there she was, Ms. Hazel-eyes. This went on a couple of times and I decided to re-christen her from Ms. Hazel-eyes to Ms. Suction. Or was the earlier name better? I really could not help but think about her role in the doctor's office. Had she once dreamt that one day she would be summoned by the word, 'suction'? I imagined her as a child. A little girl with unruly locks, running green grasslands in her pastel pink frock in the beautiful spring mornings of Italy. Oh, sorry France. Ah, wherever!

But, you get what I am saying? There should have been some moment in her life when she stumbled on something that she would want to crave to doing all her life. And today, from the look of it, she seemed very happy with what she was doing. I portrayed her in a different light, so you and me would see her as doing something so uneventful. But for her, she was an accomplished nurse at a dentist's office, who knew what to do and more importantly when to do it. She would have at some time in her life chanced on this dream that she would be a nurse and she achieved it. And, when I began to see her at every subsequent appointment my respect for her grew more and more.

I believe it is the same with all of us. We come across this one moment in our life when we know what we have to do and we dream about becoming 'someone'. Some of us grab on to those clues life throws at us and go all out to reach our goals ...while some of us get a wee bit unlucky and miss out on them. But there is always a moment in every persons life when you know what you want... the moment you chance on a dream!

A Reason To Celebrate

We're heading into another winter from tomorrow. As I sit writing this post, I see snow slowly falling down in a steady yet random fashion as if the Gods wanted to remind us humans of the uncertainty of nature. Still, we try to conquer it by predicting the weather to as much accuracy as we can...and we do well, no doubt - Thanks to God's humongous investment in human intelligence!


Well, far from what I'm saying right now (all the weather talk, that is) I'm here again writing on my blog because another little thought occured to me. So, as I sit and write this blog watching the snow accumulate over my beach chairs that sit on the woodden patio all year long, I crave hot chocolate, cookies and pie even...Ummm....warm fudge over ice cream perhaps....And the best part is, 'tis the season - for all of this and more!

Christmas is just a week away (and we sure have a white one this time, thanks to the current snow storm!)and I can almost smell all the goodies in the air. Diwali just passed by and I added a couple inches with all the sweets and savory items I made and received from friends and family alike. Oh and there was Eid too... I saw a lot of my friends talk about the best biryani's and roast meats they ate.

But, above all this festivity and food..and beyond the fact that what we all are doing around this time of the year, is it so that mankind just needs a reason to celebrate? What reason, you ask? Well, think about it, most festivals come around the time the weather starts getting cold. And scientifically speaking, it only makes sense if you add on a couple layers of flab to keep you warm. Especially, back in the days of early mankind when warm clothing might (yes, I say might because I'm ignorant about it) have been a thing not many knew about. Was that why mankind started inventing reasons to celebrate?? I'm not saying religion is wrong or invalid, because I'm not an atheist myself, but its just a thought that came to my mind. Why do all the festivals just coincide around fall/winter?? Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, X'mas, Eid - All these biggies come in the fag end of the year... Now, that's something to think about, eh?!

The Scent of a Place

This happened not too long ago when we had been to New York to visit Tussauds. It was a lovely summer afternoon when we reached the busy downtown area after a quick lunch at a fast food joint. And as always, the city never failed to leave me stunned with all its charisma and charm, although crowded with people from all walks of live. But I guess that's why I love NYC!!

I'm digressing from the topic....NYC always does that to me!

Well, just as we walked out of the wax museum towards the train station to return home, we past by the umpteen number of shops and restaurants alike. And, suddenly there was a whiff of freshly baked bread that my nose captured and sent my head spinning around looking for the place from where it came. Obviously a bakery. But, what was more captivating was the aroma. I could relate to it so much and it took me back in time - to my college days in Bangalore.

It was then that my mind grew nostalgic and I remembered how I used to pass by this bakery everyday and never miss out on taking a deep whiff of the aroma of freshly baked bread every evening. Is it not funny how even the scent of a place can transport you to another place all together?? Umm.. whatever you say, now I'm hungry for some fresh baked bread :)

Bigger Than Time?

Pages have been written by plenty of authors about time and time management. I do salute all their thoughts. But is there something bigger than time that rules us? "Time is Money"... "Do not waste time" etc. are common phrases we hear as we grow up. But is there something that governs how we use (or do not use) time? A little something happened that gave me the answer to this question.

It was just another day - hectic mornings, busy noons and lazy evenings. Somehow, I had finished my chores early and put my baby to bed for his noon nap. I sat around thinking what to do. I had no mood to browse nor to read nor do anything I'd normally do around that time everyday. Then I had this sudden urge to do something creative since I have been on a home revamp mission. And bang on time I remembered the long lost stitching project I had left half done over 2 years ago. Well, I started it off with great enthusiasm but I stopped since I had better things to do. More important things took the place of my needlework project. More responsibilities let to different priorities. And this little stitch kit (which is completed now and looks lovely!) descended gradually down the priority list and settled back in its cover in the farthest end of my closet.

That's when it struck me. It's not just time. Its' not like I did not have any time to do this. But it was about priority. Had I not been revamping and redoing things in the interiors of my home (to whatever best I can with a toddler around)..I'd NEVER have thought about this needlework kit.

On similar lines, when someone asks you why you did not do something. We so easily say, "Oh I did not have the time". Think again. Its not the time.. its the priority of the task at hand. Of course its a simple thing ..and we all know it....yet, we blame time. So the next time you say this, think priority, not time!

Distant Connections

This summer saw me taking more walks every now and then than any past summer that I have spent here in the US. It has been a long journey from where we started - with absolutely no knowledge of how things 'work' here to being one with the everyday life of this country. Well, that being said, let me get straight to the point.

I grab a chance to go out for a walk almost every time the weather is pleasant and I am in the mood for some outdoors...be it with my lil sonny or without (If hubby's home that is, obviously!). And, I'm considering it normal to take a peek or two around and see things going on rather than concentrate on how you put one foot in front of the other on the road ahead. There were so many things I noticed this way. Regular walkers - some of them who chose to acknowledge my presence others who dint bother, kids playing, flowers, cars, bikes, sidewalk art by children, trees with their leaves slowly changing hues, pets - running outside, inside homes... and those peering outside windows!

With so much going on it was hard to miss things that lingered on every time I went out...and one such thing was a little white fluffy puppy that happened to perennially prop itself against the patio door of its home as if waiting to come out. I remember showing it to my son many times and he would be so excited and the lil pup would wag his tail or just move a bit as if he knew we were watching him. I never missed seeing him on all of my walks.

One day - I missed him. I missed the curtains that fell over him making him seem angelic. I missed the furniture that lay beyond my eyesight inside that house. I missed the lamps that glowed endlessly lighting up the indoors. I missed it all. They perhaps had moved. I did not even know them. I had NEVER seen that family either. Just that little puppy that sat near that patio door. And, one day it was all over. Gone.

Funny, how we make connections with people and things we do not really know and yet bond with them at some weird distant level. And when they're gone, we actually miss them!! Life and its funny ways, I tell ya....

The Chosen One

I finally got down to reading Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. It's a heavy read, nonetheless, but a refreshing change from Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner. Not that the latter was bad. It simply was a different genre althogether and I cannot compare the two. I simply made a mention of it to show off what all I read. Ha!

I loved Kite Runner. I did crave for more of the emotional roller coaster ride that I was on as I read it. But, when it comes to Dan Brown, I can sit with his books for hours and rack my brains out trying to just get every intricate detail of his work into my head. I wish he writes more. I always wanted to read Digital Fortress. But, it chose me as its reader only now. And, when I say that I am reminded of a dialogue from the movie Transformers where an actor says, "The driver does not choose his car, the car chooses his driver".

But even before I saw that movie and heard and statement, I always believed in this philosophy. If something had to happen to you, no matter how much you wanted it, it will come to you only if it chooses you. Yeah, you can call it fate, destiny, luck. Call it by whatever name, but, with time its a matter of choice.

Of course, it is often believed a strong/wise makes his own destiny. But, come on... somethings are simply not in our hands. There is a power out there (who most of us like to call God) that decides what we get and what we dont. It's one thing to chase what you don't get and finally accomplish it and its totally another to get something you desired for ages when you least expected it. Perhaps its hard-work, perhaps it's luck. But whatever it is... it will come to you if you are the chosen one!

Fluctuating Interests

Oh, not another article about the financial meltdown. No, please! I know that's what you are thinking. No. Never. I don't have much contribution (as if there is less already) to make in that effect. But speaking of interest in terms of what the word means to a layman (yes, the one relating to being curious, the one that gets you concerened or something that seems to draw the attention of a person), I do have some thoughts to share.

Before we had our baby, there was one phase where all we thought about doing on weekends was hitting the pinball lanes. Bowling took over like nothing else. But with time the magic seemed to die down. Then all of a sudden there was a plethora of good movies releasing and we simply could not find ourselves away from theatres. Of course, things change after a baby. So, this pattern slowly faded away and if there was one thing we did every weekend, it was hopping around baby stores. Well, that's understandable.

But, in life we go through so many stages and phases, that I'd want to believe it's not only children who need to be kept occupied. Even with busy lives, there is a little part of us that devours pleasures in temporary infatuation with some activity. For me, that activity for a long time now, has been working out and exercising. Although that still continues... slowly blogging took over. And, now I can see myself craving some bollywood masala movies. Well, its unfair on our parts to expect our children to be "occupied" with that one set of toys all the time when we ourselves like variety. Sometimes to socialize, sometimes just to enjoy a little "me" time.

Hmm, God has made us this way. To want new things everytime. To hold on to the daily grind and yet subject ourselves to fluctuating interests. I'm thinking its those little things we do that keeps us sane, put-together. And, I also think it's these little things that keep our spirits soaring above the monotony of life. Don't you?