What dreams may come..

“How’re you?”

“I’m okay..”

”So lukewarm?! What happened, my darling?”

“Not much..well, you know sometimes how have a weird dream? And when you wake up, the only thing you remember is it being really weird, and then you spend all day trying to remember why it was so weird?”

“Yea..pretty much like all my dreams..and then something happens that reminds you? And you wish you never remembered?”

“Yes..it’s terribly frustrating. It’s a frustrating way to live, if you ask me. Frustrating, yet enlightening. I guess that’s why they say ‘Ignorance is Bliss’”

“It totally is. What was this dream then?”

“I can't completely recall it but I know it involved a few people and a rat dying and it made me cry a lot- in the dream, I mean. And when I woke up, I actually found my pillow drenched with tears.”

“Youch.”

“I don’t remember much, but I remember asking a man ‘How do you know the rat is dying?’ and the horrible man smiled and said ‘You’ll know only after it is dead.’ It struck me as a very mean thing to say.”

“Dreams should only be nice and happy.”

”They should, shouldn’t they? I mean we’ve got enough crap to deal with in the real world.”

“Tell me about it.”



A haunting line she read somewhere sprang to mind – ‘When you dream, sometimes you remember. When you wake, you always forget.’
She shook her head in confusion, as if that would help to rearrange all the pieces into something even vaguely comphrehensive.

Then she carried about her business.
And forgot.
Like she did- every other day.

Star Tag : The Next Tag-eration.

You'd better find this interesting (or else...)

This one's from the lovely Mint ...and a whole lot of other people..what am I? The Tag-Queen?

Anyway!
This one's called '8 Things about Me' which should be a breeze for me (Yes..the narcissist that I am) especially after I've done THIS.
Okay let's get this party started!

1) I can't sleep if the chair in my bedroom is facing outwards. I'll squeeze my eyes shut, I'll TRY to count sheep (which by the way, makes the entire excercise redundant. It only makes you more alert) and I'll try thinking happy, sleepy thoughts...but to no avail. Finally after about an hour of tossing and turning I HAVE to get my ass up and turn the chair inwards.
*Shrugs* Stop looking at me like that.

2) As selfish and narcissistic as I am, I'll let you guys in on a little secret - I have and I will take bites from other dogs to prevent my yellow-bellied dog from being on the receiving end of them. One of many instances - His own Dad (um..biological doggy dad, not my dad) tried to take a chunk outta him. I picked Kelso up, turned to block the bite and his stupid dad ended up biting my hip. Painfully. Poms have very sharp teeth if you must know.
If he hadn't contributed to half of Kelso's genetic make-up I'd have been SOOOOOOOO mad.

3) I type like I talk. You'll probably see this soon. *Cue Mahi's super-secretive smile*

4) At one point in time I had memorised every.single.dialogue uttered in 'The Matrix'. Yep..that's how many times I've watched that glorious movie.

5) I just realised I wash my hands way too often than is normal. And I don't like wiping them on the same towel- I'm solely responsible for finishing up my family's stash of tissue paper. I go through tissue paper like my dad owns a damn tissue factory. Funnily enough this only happens in houses and never when I'm outside. I'm like a female Adrian Monk but in reverse.

6) I cried when they killed Lt. Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I cried.

7) People who try really hard, really, really piss me off. And by 'try really hard' I don't mean in a 'decent, hardworking' sorta way..I mean in a 'suck-up, kiss-ass, I-like-to-think-I-am-oh-so-important' kinda way.
I love antagonizing such people. I'll go that extra mile to make life juuuuust a little bit more difficult for them. It gives me some kinda perverse pleasure. It makes me believe that I have righted a wrong.
I know I'm so full of it.
If you see me being nice to someone like that, you can be pretty damn sure I've been forced to do so due to circumstances beyond my control.

8) My most frequently used phrases these days are 'No worries!' (sometimes with the 'mate' added at the end), 'Babe', 'What the hell?', 'Uhh-huh. Rrrrright.', 'Take care'


Okay I'm not gonna tag anyone coz I think everyone I know has done this one..
Have a good one guys..


Okay, okay I gotta add this is - my friend sent me what she thought was a 'Star Trek' joke.
'What does the Starship Enterprise and toilet paper have in common?
They keep circling Uranus looking for Klingons!'

This is NOT a funny joke. Because of two things:
1) If you MUST know - Klingons come from the Planet Klingon.
2) The Enterprise has better places and deeper space to explore than Uranus. Uranus is child's play for them.

Shit. I'm like the Comic-Book Guy from The Simpsons.
I'm SUCH a geek.
Oh you love it. :D

The One where Mahi has Kids over to the house, and goes "HEY!!" a Lot.

Okay, if you hate posts on Kids and me, then you'd better switch to another page coz this ain't gonna be pretty.
Ah who are you kidding. You love hearing about me being antagonized by kids.

Okay, so about a week back, my Mom invited this lady and her two sons over for lunch.
Her two kids were of the ages 9 and 4 (and to answer your burning question - No, I didn't hit on 'em. Wisass.)
So the older one - let's call him 'A', was a pretty nice kid. Soft-spoken, mellow, made intelligent conversation and was overall a gem of a kid.
The younger one- let's call him 'CRAZY', nah kidding, let's call him 'B', was a total hyperactive nutcase. You will soon see what I mean.

Of course the minute they arrived, my Mom, via a series of extremely complicated and nuanced 'looks' instructed me to shadow the two kids so that there didn't end up being any breakage, spillage or cry-age by the end of the afternoon.

B is a big fan of Kelso (or 'Canso' as he likes to call him) so the minute he arrived, he spent much of his time hounding Kelso. I followed him as he followed Kelso. We arrived at Kelso's water bowl.
"Make him drink water from there."
"He only drinks when he feels like drinking."
B then knelt down and I became horrified as I watched him lower his face to the water bowl.
"HEY!! What are you doing?!"
"Can I drink from Canso's bowl? I like pretending I'm a dog!"
"No!! You're not a dog! Up, UP!"
He pouted. I shook my head and my mom called everyone to the table for food.

We proceeded to eat..and I kept an eye on B. He took out one pasta shell, and proceeded to zig-zag it across the table. I watched him quietly...and then I glanced at his mom, hoping she'd nip his vandalism in the bud, but she was too busy talking to my mom.
I watched, horrified, as he used the pasta shell as a medium to create a very disgusting piece of tomato-paste artwork on the table.
"HEY. Don't do that....dear." (The mom chose to look NOW.)
He slyly grinned at me. I frowned at him.

"Mahi, help him wash his hands." Trilled out my mom.
I saw B running into the kitchen towards the sink. Now the sink already had a dish that had been emptied at the dinner table and was hence quite dirty. B squealed in delight and started splashing his hands about in the dish that had water and remanants of the food that was in it.
"HEY!! What on earth? Stop that! That water is dirty! Wash your hands properly under the tap!"
"No, no! I like washing my hands in dirty water!" *Splash, Splash*
I firmly (BUT GENTLY!) grabbed his wrists (in a sort of wrist lock, if you will) turned on the tap and washed them until they were all nice and clean. He ran off waving his wet hands about. I'd loved to have them dried too but hey, I'll take what I can get.

"Mahi, give the boys their ice cream." Sang out my Mom.
I opened the ice cream box, peered in and ....shit. My pig of a brother very generously left only half a cups worth of ice cream.
"Oh don't worry! B doesn't even like ice cream that much! Just give him a few teaspoons of it and give the rest to A." said his Mom.

B doesn't like ice cream? Uhhhhh-huh. He finished his share and started bawling his eyes out - "I want more ice cream!"
I panicked slightly (like I always do when someone starts crying) and said "But B, darling, there's no more left, would you like some chocolate instead?"
He thought about my offer for 2 seconds, turned to look at A (who was just only starting to tuck into his ice cream), brightened up and said "No, no it's ok! I'll just take A's ice cream!" and as simple as that- he took A's cup of ice cream and happily started digging in.

I stared open mouthed at B and then at A and then at B again.
Dear, sweet A just smiled sadly and said "It's okay...." and shrugged as if to say 'What can ya do, eh?'
My heart just melted.
He reminded me of me when I was his age. Like B, my brother would constantly take my stuff too, except the only difference is instead of letting him get away with it I'd punch him and take it back. 'Kay so we're not THAT alike, but still, I felt for him y'know?

B gave me a victorious chocolate-ice cream-y smile. I frowned at him and turned to A and asked "Hey would you like chocolate instead? I have LOADS. I have this and this and this type.."
"Sure! Can I have 2 of this type? " He broke into a happy grin and seeing that, so did I.
"You can even have 3 if you want."
"I want chocolate too" announced B.
"Too bad. You took your brothers ice cream so no chocolate for you." Just call me Sherriff Mahima. Heh heh.

So A was happily tucking into his chocolate and talking to me about his favourite breeds of dogs when I suddenly spied chocolate ice cream-covered B trying to entice Kelso into licking the chocolate off his hands, and Kelso being the greedy bastard that he is, was only too happy to oblige.

I FREAKED.
In case you guys didn't know - Chocolate is like poison to dogs.

"HEY! Wash your hands!!"
"No, no it's okay, I'll just wipe my hands on my shirt!"
"The hell you will."
I marched him to the bathroom.
"BUT I DON'T WANT TO WASH MY HANDS."
I put on my low, sinister voice - "Do you want Canso to die?"
He paused (HE PAUSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and said "Hmm..no..."
"Good. Neither do I. Now wash your hands because if a doggie eats chocolate, he will die." (Well he may not DIE but he'll be violently ill and I just don't want to take that chance)
Phew.

So I sat with A to have a conversation. We talked about our favourite breeds of dogs when suddenly we were rudely interrupted by - "I LIKE DOGS AND PUPPIES AND CATS AND KITT-UNS AND HUMANS AND BABIES."
And B carried on chasing Kelso, who would occaisonally seek safety in my arms but not without giving me a "Thanks-a-LOT-Mahi-Thanks-for-the-HELP" look first.

I sat on the sofa opposite B and his mom (who was, once again, really busy with talking to my mom, who in turn was once again very busy listening) and much to my horror he turned around, grabbed our delicate lace curtains and started cocooning himself in them. I gaped at him..and then slowly looked up. I saw a couple of curtain hooks giving way.
"HEY!! S-s-top...don't do that!"
My mom looked at me and followed my horrified gaze upwards.
She got up, unwrapped B and said to him sternly "Don't.do.that." while his Mom just gazed on adoringly at her little monster. He just gulped and looked down. My mom can be intimidating sometimes.
Go Mom!

Alas, the day was getting late and they decided to go back home.
Outside I took A to the side and imparted some first born-to-first born advice-
"Hey A..don't let B bully you okay?"
"I don't...but I love him...I like to watch out for him...." said A. This is kid is adorable.
"I know you love him, but fair is fair..don't give in to him all the time." and I gave him a hug. Fine, okay I gave B a hug too...but it was a very half-arsed hug coz the kid was filthy.


This event made me realise a few things -
1) I have a soft spot for the underdog.
2) Kids are dis-gus-ting sometimes
3) As hard as I try I'm not one of those people who can turn a blind eye to yuckiness.
4) Running after kids is tiring. I came down with a cold that evening.

Kudos to you mothers out there!

What? Racist? Me? Nawww

People sometimes are really daft, here's an example-
The following is a conversation between Prema (who by the way can be blamed for my black and white photos) and I. Have a conversation with her and hilarity inevitably ensues! Over here she's at work and her colleague is the topic of discussion.


Prema- My colleague's feet stinks and she's the only Tamil girl I know who thinks fasting for Thaipusam means eating chocolate bread...cos its not real food.

Mahima- HAHA

Prema- And she was like "Oh if I am at home I can fast but I'm working so I cant." So I was thinking 'then how does the Muslim population do it?'
Ok ok, i must tell u this! Hahah the other day she feels it necessary to inform me that she is racist, so she says "Oh I don't like Chinese cos they look down on Indians." So I said "Oh ok." Then I went onto say how Indians themselves are hypocrites cos different communities within Indians look down on each other too.

Mahima- Yea! then??

Prema - She didnt understand I think..cos maybe 'hypocrites' is too big for her.
So I asked her "Why?"- she said "dunno".
I asked "Has any Chinese person done any harm to u?"- she said "no".
I said "Do u know any Chinese people personally?"- she said "no".
Then I was like ok..and then I preached about how she cannot call herself a Hindu if she's going to be racist...and then she delievers the PUNCH LINE- we were walking back and she was like
"Oh I fell down yesterday at Bugis..it was really bad..twisted my ankle..and this Chinese lady helped me up"

Mahima- good lord.

Prema- I was like "....." *sound of wind blowing, leaves rustling* and she said this following her racist comments.. and she wasn't regretful or anything! Dramatic irony man!

Mahima - no kidding!

Prema- And she tells me, when we were eating kebabs, she can't eat too much lettuce cos she might FAINT.

Mahima- I ACTUALLY just laughed out loud! What the fucccccccccck?

Prema - She says "No la Prema, I really cannot do it."
***


Can you believe this girl?? Maybe the lettuce gives her too much gas and hence the fainting spells.
*Shakes head*


Another example, this time involving me and a classmate during lecture-


Classmate - Eh, you're Indian right?

Mahima - Yep

Classmate- *giggles* Okay lah you're not like VERY Indian so I tell you this ah... Eh, you know..sometimes Indians are really smelly!

Mahima - *Lo-o-n-g silence*.... Oh really? Are we? [At this point I feel I must point out two thing- 1) What the hell is 'VERY Indian' and 2) she wasn't making some snide remark at me, coz I make sure I never smell, at least not when I'm outside.]

Classmate - Ya lor! Wah, why ah?

Mahima - Honey, your people smell too. Everyone smells. I'm pretty sure all people have stunk at one point in their lives. [At THIS point I'm biting my tongue VERY HARD to refrain myself from telling her that she's stinking RIGHT.NOW. but hey- who's keeping track, right?]

Classmate - *At this point she starts to realise that MAYBE she might have said the wrong thing to the wrong person* Oh ya ya of course..I mean I just came across a few people here and there..you know..

Mahima - Ahuh. *Tunes out*
***


Oh boy. You get ALL sorts, eh?

What have I become, my sweetest friend?*

Reading through this at Faraz's blog, made me recall something that I had wanted to blog about a while back.

When I was in Melbourne in June-July, Arpeeta and I had to go visit Minku, who was staying at an apartment. Now while I depended on Arpeeta for directions a lot of the time, I (and her) were a bit nervous this time around because this route was a previously untravelled one.

We got onto the tram, got off at what we thought was the right stop and proceeded to walk towards what we thought was Minku's apartment.
We must've walked for about 30 minutes until we started to get that sickening feeling- you know the one that starts to creep upon you when you realise the path you've been walking on is like an escalator - in reverse. We weren't getting anywhere. The apartment shouldn't have been more than 5 minutes from the tram stop.

We spotted a tiny elderly lady walking towards us. She was carrying 4 bags of heavy groceries in each hand and looked quite tired as she walked quickly in the cold. Arpeeta walked upto her and said "Excuse me..could you tell me where Number 123 XYZ Apartments are?"
She looked around, thought for a bit and said "I'm not too sure but I think you're probably going in the right direction..the numbers seem to be heading towards your apartment!"
"Thank you so much!"
"Welcome, dear!"

We went our seperate ways, our footsteps quickening with excitement that comes with the surety.
Or so we thought.
We must've walked for another 20 minutes..and no sign of our apartment.
"I think we should walk back..."
Tired sighs all around.

We made the 20 minute walk back and to our surprise we saw the old Lady in the distace - walking towards us, hands still full of grocery bags! She hurried up to us and said -
"I realised while I was walking that I think I gave you the wrong direction!"
I gasped "You walked back to tell us!?"
"Yes, dear I know how scary it can be in a new country and being lost..I couldn't let you girls carry on walking like that!"
"That's so incredibly nice of you! Thank you so much!"
Arpeeta and I must've thanked her a million times over. She told us she still didn't know the right way but she couldn't let us continue down the wrong road.

I was stunned. Completely blown away. To actually be in the presence of someone who would take the effort to brave fatigue, distance AND cold just to come back to tell two complete strangers that she sent them the wrong way...it was..a privilege.
I'll be honest- I would have never done it. At least I don't think I would have. I wouldnt have walked those 20 minutes back.

I compared this small, kind act with the act committed by a man just a few days before - He was completely drunk and walked up to me and Arpeeta and told 'us fucking Indians' to 'go back home'.
Both were Australian, both were worlds apart in the way they thought and both would be remembered by two Indian girls continents away for entirely different reasons.

What about the death camps at Auschwitz? I watched Oprah and her guest Elie Wiesel who wrote the book 'Night' and it bought tears to my eyes. How could someone slaughter their fellow men like that? The victims were told they were going for showers...and by the time they found out the shower chambers were actually gas chambers - it was too late. Their homes, their families, their names and finally their souls were taken- systematically and ruthlessly.

It's amazing how people show themselves to be and what they truly show themselves to be once that thin veneer of civility and inhibition is pulled away and power is placed in their hands.

But how about something closer to home? What about someone you've known for 7 years? I had a supposed good friend tell her superiors at the job we worked at to "..watch out for that girl because she's trouble."
Now I can see the warped thinking behind a white guy wanting minorities out of his land - it's obvious. How warped is the logic behind a friend completely screwing you over, for no rhyme or reason? Don't ask. In fact, I wouldn't want to know. It makes me sick.

Want to know how tiny a kind gesture has to be to be remembered? Something as small as an old lady tapping me on the shoulder and asking if she can brush away the red ant that merrily making its way up my back. Something as small as giving up your seat for an old lady/old man/pregnant woman on the bus.
That small.



The point is - just when you're dead sure you've figured out the human race to be the scum that they're known for being, you get someone like the kind, old lady who does something to reaffirm your faith in people.
The world we're in is filled with people who just aren't ready to give someone a break. Do we need to add to it? We're all out for our pound of flesh and payback. We're all out to make a point - that we want what we want, that we DESERVE what we want, that it's our birthright. We try to convince ourselves that we're more in need of that bus seat than the pregnant lady in front of us.
Yes, I've seen grown men refusing to get their asses off a seat, even when a visibly pregnant woman or a fragile old man is standing right next to them. I hope you feel even more a man when you see me getting up for them.

It's bullshit. What have you done to deserve it? Unless you're in the whole 'creating-and-nuturing-a-life' business, you don't.
I don't know about you guys, but I believe in Karma.

Be someone's proverbial 'old lady' and see what you reap later on.
Trust me.

Oh and the next time you think bout back stabbing someone, think of the mouthful Karma will grab when it comes back to bite you in the ass.

Have a good and fruitful day everyone. Pass it on.


*Title from Johnny Cash's 'Hurt'

The many faces of Mahi and then some..

Aaaalritey people it's been a slow week. Between having naughty dreams, lusting after my lecturer (having naughty lusty dreams about my lecturer?), getting pooped out by my screwed up-built-on-a-hill uni and slipping and falling, nothing else has really been happening..
Sooo..this means- PHOTOS!

Note- These pics span a long period of time and are chronologically ordered..there's a kiddy one and there are ones from about 2 years back till now. Everything else in between is termed what I now call 'The Ugly Years'..so don't expect to see those pictures anytime soon.

This is about the time when the ugly years began (as you can tell). In case you were wondering- Yes. That is me in the blue tee shirt and yep that's my brother (who incidentally was ADORABLE)
Shit. I was an ugly kid. Gangly legs, awful AWFUL haircut, non-protuding bunny teeth and all.


Thank GOD thing have changed since then. My brother can't smile normally at a camera (think 'Chandler' from 'Friends') anymore, he's too tall for me to pulverize and my bunny teeth are now considered oddly charming. According to who? According to ME, biatch.
Oh stuff it.
(Btw this pic was taken just before we left for a friend's wedding. We really don't dress like this everyday. Honest.)


Hi Eliiiise! *waves* This is Elise and I in 2004 when we were auditioning for the first season of 'Singapore Idol' (don't ask me why it's not 'SingaporEAN Idol').
Anyway if you're thinking "Hmm..Mahima doesn't seem her usual sparkly self" then you're pereception is spot on. Not only did we camp overnight (and NOT get any sleep) and go without food for 16 hours, but we got caught in a fucking rainstorm. Can you believe that? Talk about bad omens. So yea..in this pic I'm just about drying off, stinky, sleep-deprived and hungry. Oh and I didn't make it through the auditions.
*Mahi flips a bird at the producers*


This is me on my 21st birthday, advertising a can of 'lemon tea'. Don't ask.
Yes the t shirt does read 'Roar' and before the fashion-nazi of you shoot me down, lemme clarify - I got it FREE when I went to watch a Singapore football match (Singapore lost. Does it matter to whom?)


Prema took a lovely set of black and whites and Kelso was around, so I thought 'Hey why not?' I'm actually telling him to look at the camera- "Kelso! Look! Look you stupid dog, look!" And he STILL didn't look straight at it. Aren't his ickle paws just about the CUTEST you've ever seen??
Also, I hope you now believe me when I whine about my bent nose.


Now I'm not to repeat pictures but I can't help myself :D Ladies..you get what I'm saying, aye? Hee hee hee.


This was taken when Dev came down to visit. This is at Equinox which is on the 70th (or is it 77th) floor. Whatever it is..it's waaaaay up there. They serve fabulous Singapore Slings too! Yes I know we're such tourists, Arpeeta and I, complete with cameras and plastic bags around!


L-R: Roohi, Me, Kunal (Arpeeta's brother) and Sashi *waves*. This was at Sashi's birthday party (Fab party btw) and that's me holding a strawberry margharita that I emotionally blackmailed Kunal into buying for me. Don't ask me for tips.
For some odd reason that night, people kept walking into me..and I don't even mean it in a pervy way! So I turned to Kunal and said "What's wrong with everyone, suddenly? Every other person is bumping into me..am I that invisible?" To which the normally innocent and decent Kunal answered "It's coz you're bumpable."
Jaw drop-->raised eyebrow-->stunned silence-->grin followed by "Ooh Naughty Kunal!"


Mum LOVES this picture. Why? Let's just say it is used during 'transactions that are matrimonial in nature' . *Shrugs* As long as I look decent in it. Although now that I look at it..my head seems huge. Ah crap.


That's me in Melbourne, just a few months back, drinking a 'Japanese Slipper'. It's blissfully deeee-lishus and goes down smoothly. Not at all as stinky as the name suggests.


View from the airplane on my way back to Singapore after the Melbourne trip. The view was mindblowing..like skimming over a very fluffy woollen blanket that went on for miles and miles.
Fucking wing seat.


How can you NOT love a face like that? This is Kelso after a trim..looking all suave and spiffy.


The Lovely Parents. Once again this pic was taken during a wedding (not theirs). We've got this photo and another one of them - black and white, taken exactly 23 years back, the two of them in a park, facing each other but squinting coz it was so sunny.
My dad wistfully looks at the two pics that are now side-by-side and sighs 'Hair today...gone tomorrow'. :D


This is a piece I did a few weeks back..it's called 'More'. Medium used - pencil on white paper.To find out more, go here

Well I'm off to bed, coz I'm plum tuckered out. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Take care all and have a great week ahead.