Connection.

God bless the Internet.
God bless Google
God bless perseverance.
:-)
God bless all of the above and me!

Madhavi Lata is easily the closest friend I'd had till date. Except that We did not speak to each other sine 2001. Yes, weird. We went to school together, shared a heap full of childhood and adolescent dreams together, talked incessantly about out sweethearts (who we are happily married to now!), shared hopes of being in the same profession and watched the mushy Telugu version of Maine Pyar kiya with hands held all thru the movie. (Phew...I dunno how we managed that, being 13 probably helps a little bit! LOL)

It was buddy hood at first sight for us - no. We didn't warm up to each other the moment we met. There was inertia, there were prejudices but all of them culminated into a beautiful relationship that I caught up with just a few minutes ago. When they say that a true friend is someone who never falls out of touch, they are probably true. I met her for the last time when she was preggers with her first baby. Now she has two girls, one six and one 4. Her hubby changed professions since I last met her and I have gotten a promotion too, as the mom to the cutest little brat around. We caught up, we laughed and we cracked jokes on who would be the heaviest among the two of us. "I look like a white pig now" I exclaimed. "No, you cant be a bigger, whiter pig than I am " She insisted. We were transformed to our eighth grade - days of absolute bliss, the days that are the happiest of memories. The past that revives the child in me!

So, I resolved that I'd talk to her today. I googled and googled for the local white pages listing and finally reached the web page of BSNL. After severe persistence and a lot of strain to the memory to recollect her last name (her hubby's) I finally succeeded.

It is amazing that the world is so small now. I wonder how people survived without the Internet, I wonder how researchers gathered information and dear ones communicated. Look, in the seriously wee hours , I am here typing my heart's content and letting that world know that I'd just caught up with a friend after seven years and we felt like we'd left off the conversation yesterday. Lahari, Ravi Kanth, Nalini and a whole lot of people who frequent here will know it as soon as they open my blog. Ahhh.....the boon of technology, the blessing of the world wide web.:-))

So, here I am gushing like a 13 year old and almost feeling like one in the triumph of tracing a long last friendship and in the bliss of discovering that I am blessed with a few things that'll never change.

My happily settled homemaker friend Madhavi might never venture out on the net to see what I'd to say about today but I am sure she'll have an ESP strong enough to know that long after the catching up is done, her childhood friend is still thinking about her and feeling extra fortunate and extremely blessed to have a friendship that is this precious.

Inspired.

I am inspired. It's been a long time since I felt a strong urge to write. I am not feeling the urge right now, but I somehow feel that an inspiration has stuck me. When I was in second grade, I suddenly realised that I could attempt to draw. It was the last period of our day and Bala Miss who taught her Science was in the class to manage us for an absent teacher. I looked at the picture of a girl on a cover of my notebook. She looked like someone that'd come out of an English story (more like Shakespeare though He was non existent to me at that time). I grabbed a pencil and started sketching. To the teacher's surprise, I did quiet well. Then came Hardy (the one from Laurel and Hardy). I'd sketched him in my third grade. All my friends were in awe. Anyway, I did sketch a lot and I do it now too though I am not sure if I'd still believe that I am sketching masterpieces like I'd believed when I was a child.
The laptop feels wonderful. Sarat just gave this to me and I am getting over the fear of ruining a brand new, state of the art machine - Sleek and cute all rolled into one. Computers is one thing that intimidates me more than fascinates me. I have a uber brainy friend who is working on his start-up in Stanford (watch out, he could be the next Bill gates and I'll probably put up a picture of mine with him and start boasting.. "I know this new "Bill Gates"" "We were in the same class" blog. Anyway, He once told me that I cannot say that I hate computers when I use the technology. He is true. I should not. So..back to what I wanted to say - The laptop feels like a sports car. My fingers just glide on the keypad and it is sheer pleasure seeing my typing appear on the cute screen. I miss the knocked tooth one. It has all my pictures and unpublished writings and too crappy to publish ones as well. I'll probably carry this baby with me and try doing some blogging while I am in NJ.
Nj brings me back to drawing and painting. I did some of them on huge canvasses. Huge like the wall of our house. Literally. I should upload the images sometime. So, sketching and blogging so far and may be technology. I sometimes dream about being a techie and impressing my already impressed hubby. May be he'll see me in a new light like this uber brainy thing and not really play the "you are not technical" card. No, actually he doesn't play it. I am the bad guy most of the time. Sarat is pretty flexible. He is a little strong. Those number nines:-( But that is just how they are I guess. Till the sixes come into play. 9 and 6. Librans and Virgos. They are star couples. No I didn't make this up.
Singing is one more thing I enjoy. As a child, I once broke into the song from Saptapadhi clear and loud when I saw my Uncle come and hang a calendar that was compliments of Chamundeswari chitfunds. For those of you who know the song, it is the one that sings the accolades of Goddess Shakti. I actually did a mock classical number along with it for my couple of friends. It is amazing how free spirited I was. Look at me now. I go to the cardio tennis class and wonder what the instructor would be thinking of me "a not so fit housewife ruining the perfectly trained class" or " a way too un-flexible to be playing with the trained pack" LOL. I think I like the former better. But isn't it true that we should not bother what other's think as Santu says?

Writing poetry started in fifth grade.
I came up with weirdo stuff like these original examples below.

In the life of cricket
We should not lose the wicket
If we lose it
Our life will become a puppet!

What shall be I think
The roses of Pink
Or the dew that is twinkling
In the sunshine Blinking.

Wait, may be I didn't improve much in the past two decades on the poetry front but I am the only poet in the family right now. At least till Aarti catches up with her weirdo, wacky bathroom humor laden nursery rhymes. Yess....for the time being, I am the only poet and that is all that matters. It doesn't matter what you think. I'll moderate all the comments. Don't forget that :-)) ROFLMAO.

So what was I saying ??

Drawing, blogging, singing, dancing and writing verse - The simple, most precious pleasures of life.

:-)))
It's your turn to throw eggs and tomatoes ( be considerate. Only the non-rotten ones please!)

Pic courtesy - Mrs. Mahalaxmi Krishnakumar, the Multi talented mom of my friend Satya.
Aunty, if you ever get to see this blog, Your pic just reminded me of all things creative and here I am strolling on the memory lane all egotistic and ecstatic.