Fickle February

I have been seeing a pattern in the weather for the past few days.  Early in the morning the sky is overcast.  I can see that from my bedroom window and just want to hibernate under my rajai.  But at around 9 AM sun peeps through the clouds and there is a promise of it being a bright day after all.  So I go about my chores happily and plan to sit in the sun for a while.  The warm sunshine soon turns diabolical and I find myself sweating, shedding my sweaters, sipping water, until it gets too hot to bear and I have to go back indoors.  At around 4 PM, I notice the clouds gathering again and the day turns wretched and dull.  This is fickle February after all.  Not until Holi passes can we rest easy and pack our heavy sweaters.

People in Chandigarh are always anxiously watching the weather reports from Shimla to gauge what the weather is going to be like for the next few days.  If it has been snowing in the upper reaches of Shimla hills, Chandigarhians know winter has been extended.  The winds will turn very chilly when all that snow melts, making us shiver despite the sunny weather.

Within a week or two, the harsh sun will warm up the winds and we will be able to shed our woolies and let our bodies breathe in light clothes.  I am looking forward to that happy day.

My first Pizza and my first Levi's

In the year 1971 people in India had not really heard about Pizza's and Levi's.  Most of them didn't, that is.  Courtesy an American Stepmom, I had heard eaten, worn and loved both these items.

My Mom (I am going to shun the 'step') loved cooking.  In Bangalore, in the 70s, she was able to get most of the ingredients of her western recipes in Russell Market.  We would often come home from school to find something exotic cooking in the oven.  The oven was something unique.  It was like a tin box with shelves and a door that just sat on the normal gas chulhas that we have.  It was ingenious and workable. Later when mom got one of those round electric ovens, she found it not as efficient as the simple gas-top one.

The pizza's bases were handmade, not one of the bread things we get so easily these days.  The toppings were usually keema and Amul cheese.  It worked, I tell you, like a charm.  Pizza days were a big hit.  It was nearly the end of 80s when pizza's started appearing on the menu's of fast food restaurants.  I rushed to eat them, reminded of the glory days of eating pizza's in Bangtalore.  I was disappointed with the bread bases, the vegetarian toppings of the early pizza.  It has improved vastly now but I am not crazy about it anymore. The taste of Mom's thin crust handmade pizza's will linger in my memory forever.

Sometime in 1972 or 1973, my Mom made a quick trip to America to visit her ailing mother.  When she got back, she brought for me an american classic; A pair of Levi Strauss jeans.  Again, in those days it was not yet something youngsters died for, simply because they did not know of it. The way the pair of jeans was 'treated' is worth recounting.   It was soaked in water overnight, then washed, its legs twitsted into knots and beaten to soften it.  I was told that a 'new' looking pair of jeans was just not done, it had to look worn and faded to be really valuable.  Needless to say I practically lived in those jeans.

Again it was nearly the 80s when the jeans mania hit the middle class.  The only way of procuring a pair of Levi's was to have someone bring a pair back to you from USA.  Ah, those were the days when jeans were lovingly ironed to sport trouser like creases, or even dry cleaned!  How boring it is these days to just walk into a showroom and buy a pair of any brand of jeans.  We used to feel like conquistadors when our beloved relative returned from a trip abroad with a pair of jeans for us that sported this label.

My resolutions for 2012

The predictable resolutions are there this year too, and they should stay on my list forever.  I mean how can you go wrong with a resolution that says "I will lose at  least 5 kgs this year" or  "I will work out more" or "I will eat healthy".

It is not the question of what you will be able to keep or not.  The whole point behind making resolutions is to remind yourself that these things are important to you.  On some level you will wind up following it, to some extent.  And that is what you are really aiming for aren't you?  To change your lifestyle gradually.

10  I will eat healthy.  

I have started by getting Olive Oil to cook in.  I eschew unhealthy snacks in general.  I try to keep some tips in mind.  The best tip I got was... don't shop when you are hungry.  I realise that is really useful.  I tend to buy chips and coke for myself in the evenings post office when my stomach is growling and I am craving some comforting junk food.  Buy Apples, Grapes, Oranges.

9.  I will work out more.

Ok this is the one I follow the least.  I haven't gone for a single walk or jog.  My Jane Fonda DVD lies dusty and unused.  But hey, its so cold and foggy yet.  Wait till February.  I will surely join an aerobics class or a gym or do something wonderful.

8.  I will write my book.

Again, sigh, I don't follow this much.  The minute I get my laptop up, I am on facebook, I am on gmail, I am on blogger.  Well, blogging is practice for writing, and reading blogs is again practice for writing.  Soon soon!

7.  I will watch each movie and judge it on it's own merits.

I have often found movies that others diss quite entertaining, and vice versa.  Newspaper ratings can be quite off the mark, as we all know. I have a friend who watches all movies unfailingly and forms his own opinion.  Bravo!  I will do the same.  If I don't watch a movie, I will not judge it.

6.  I will visit friends more often, be more social.


I am terrible at calling up people.  I am busy with my work and home ALL THE TIME.  I don't go out, I don't socialize.  My social circle is limited to the people in the office.  Change Change!

5.  I will read more books.

Again, I am seduced by the TV as soon as I get back home.  It is so comforting to just watch what's on TV, surf a little and drop off.  I do keep books handy all the time, but don't read much.  More More, review more too.

4. I will do my household chores promptly.


I love my house.  I love houses that gleam and shine.  But I am not very efficient at housework.  I tend to do all that needs to be done and leave the rest.  I need to be less laidback and finish the household chores in time.  Do the laundry, do the dusting, do the sorting.  It looks good and makes me feel really happy.

3.  I will pay my bills on time.


Paying the bill on the last days does not make it diminish, so I will not procrastinate here and pay my bills first as soon as the salary is credited.  It is actually a step towards my next resolution, but it is important enough to be listed on its own.  I have often fallen into deeper shit just by delaying my bill payments.  Desist, desist.

2.  I will get my finances in order.


We cannot deny that it is money that makes the world go around.  Love does not pay your bills.  Unless your love is very rich and very generous, which is not likely to happen, so quit daydreaming.  Only way to put your finances in order is to work towards it.  My flower child attitude to money has cost me dear.  Its time to turn into Ebeneezer Scrooge.

1.  I will do my own work first.

I need to get my own affairs in order.  Get an adhar card, driving license, learn how to drive a car, get my passports renewed.  I can be terrible lax in my own affairs.  If a friend wants a thing done, I scale mountains for it, but for my own affairs its always later.  NO MORE.  I am IMPORTANT TOO.