Okay, okay so here's what I've gathered so far....

With the imminent arrival of my birthday, it's become harder for me to avoid blogging. I missed not doing a reflection of 2007, so I'm making up for it now.

So true to the title of the post, here we go -

... after joining work in 2007, I learnt more than I've learnt in the past couple of years. And I'm not talking profession-wise. I've learnt people are even more sneaky, contradictory and sometimes more caring than I give them credit for.

... I've seen pure joy in a person's eyes, thanks to me. There you have it. I didn't know how else to make that sound modest haha. The grinning-and-giggling feedback loop it causes is absolutely hilarious.

... I've learnt to say 'No', but nicely and when it really counts. I am, however, still in the process of learning not to feel guilty for saying 'No'.

... I've noticed (a few? some? all?) people are torn between the urge to stand up and applaud you for believing in your fairytale and yet at the same time, can't wait to rip it to shreds. Most of the time they give in to the latter urge.

... I believe, more than ever, in my fairytales and my reality. I'm allowed to have my dreams. If yours didn't work out well for you, then I'm sorry. But I won't allow you to take me down with you. If I have to fall, if my faith has to be shattered, then so be it. Till then.. don't rain on my parade :)

... You have to learn to laugh and let go - of people, of words, of occurences. Not allowing yourself to do so will kill you on the inside.

... Letting go ain't so bad!

... I'm learning the difference between acceptance and resignation.

... Accepting someone for who they are - warts and all, is terrifying but liberating.

... I've become so much more closer to my parents. It's lovely. I'm learning things about their personalities that I never noticed before. I'd have never accepted this, but I guess it's true that they sort of start to move into 'friend' territory once you hit a certain age. I'm lucky coz for me, it was a seamless transition and it was great.

... Growing up is alright. There's a bump in road ever so often and a scuffle here and there. But it's fairly doable :)

(PS - I still hate that Valentine's Day and my birthday is coming up, but I still want to be wished. I'll put that under the '...I'm learning to be more selfish' category, but that goes without saying :P)

The Big 2-3 and the Realisation of a Few Things.

Okay so as I turned 23 years I realised a few things.
Small digression : Yes, yes my birthday was yesterday..those of you who wished me and sent me gifts - you ROCK. You guys are mindblowingly awesome and to quote some dude who won an Oscar "You love me! You REALLY love me!"
Those of you who didn't wish me - You suck. Wish me now! Wish me now, dammit!

Okay okay so I realised a few things.

(This is a picture I took on my birthday dinner last night. It is my 'Mahi knows something now that she didn't know previously' a.k.a my 'Realisation' smile. Also I think I look pretty in it, so there.)

I was on the bus when a few kids hopped on. They were tiny. Really tiny. Like 1/5 my height, and they carried school bags that were literally as big and probably weighed about the same as them. This one girl with really long hair, flopped onto a seat, shrugged off her bag and then, stood up and started executing these really nifty dance moves.
It was ADORABLE interesting to watch.
As I watched I found myself starting to smile.
She seemed really into the dance. It was fascinating to watch her complete lack of inhibition and her facial expressions. She was quite literally marching to the beat of her own drum. I think I sort of envied her. She saw me smiling at her, she smiled back, continued dancing and finally sat down when her brother pulled her to sit down.
I think I sort of felt sad for her then. Life somehow gets to you sometimes, eh?

My parents got me this beautiful white gold ring with 3 diamonds on it, for my birthday. Its amazing how something so tiny can make someone feel so......beautiful and lovely and grown up.
I SO get the phrase 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend' now.
:D
(Note to future woo-ers - Be smart in your wooing. Flowers-shmowers. Think 'Diamonds'. Heh heh)

And speaking of wooing, if you must know, my Valentine's Day was absolute shit. Having to suffer through cramps, sitting for a test and then being stuck in peak hour traffic FOR THREE MIND-NUMBING hours is NOT my idea of 'bringing sexy back'.
I was SO not 'bringing sexy back' on the 14th of Feb.
I NEVER end up 'bringing sexy back' on the 14th of Feb.
Screw you St. Valentine. You know what St. Valentine? I don't even think you EXISTED.

Speaking of bringing sexy back, why the hell is everyone suddenly getting married, engaged, attached or in-the-process-of-being-attached?
Is there something in the water!?
Why can't I have some of that water, dammit.
Like you, Do I not bleed if I am pricked?
Like you, Do I not cry if I am hurt?
Like you, why can't I Bring Sexy Back, too?
(I'm sorry I'm loving the phrase 'bringing sexy back'. I can't stop using it!)

I wonder why everyone seems to think I'm a party animal. Almost everyone who heard that I spent my birthday having a quiet dinner with friends, responded with "What happened to your party animal days?"
I hate that. Coz it makes me sound like Paris Hilton, who yuckily enough, shares the same birthday as me. If you draw comparisons between the two of us, I will shoot you.
It also brings to mind the image of a inebriated me, wearing leopard print clothes, drunkenly staggering around (which I assure you has never happened, ever....well at least not all at the same time.)
Anyway that made me realise that I'm quite homely.
Who woulda thunk it?

That's all for now, folks.
Have a good weekend guys!
Oh, and Gong Xi Fa Cai (that's 'Happy New Year', coz it's the Chinese New Year. What? You didn't know? Shame on you. That's also all the Chinese I know.)

Being black, having 1000 sons and the Impending Sense of Doom that V.Day brings.

I think I've finally lived upto the tagline of this blog ;)

It's been a slow-news-fortnight guys..

A couple of mentions though, pretty funny stuff

My friend is currently interning at this engineering place, and one of her co-workers comes upto her and asks, completely straight faced "Do Indians feel warmer in summer and winter??"
My friend just looked at this person and finally managed to squeeze out a "Why?"
And this person goes -
"Because black absorbs heat right? And Indians are blacker...."

Sigh. Just when you start to think that maybe people are getting a little less ignorant about things, they go and make statements that seriously test the limits of how ignorant a person can get.
In case you were wondering, my friend was too stunned to say anything...
***

While I was at the airport on my way to Chennai, we suddenly heard a ruckus. I turned to see a skinny frazzled woman with 3 young sons and husband who seemed to be busy doing nothing.
All 3 sons were dressed in identical brown suits and were bouncing off the walls, I'm serious. They were going nuts.

"Rrrrrrrrrrrreuban! Vada! RRRRREEEUBAN!"
(My tamil may be way off but I think she was calling Reuban to come to her?)

Now I'm not usually one to laugh at the misery of others (OH YEA, RIGHT.) and this is terribly mean but for some reason this tickled me silly and you know sometimes you get these giggling fits at the WORST time possible?
Yup...
I couldn't stop. I just couldn't. I think I MAY have even snorted a few times. The more she yelled at her kids the harder I laughed and after looking at me I could see a few other people starting to chuckle
...I knew she was cursing me to hell. I could see it in her eyes.

And then I suddenly remembered this birthday card I got from my friend Manjit. It was my 14th birthday and in it she had written "Mahima, May you be the Mother of a 1000 sons."

Apart from making me inwardly cringe at the thought, it also worked as a laugh-stopper.
(But it was still really hilarious..don't ask me why.)

Note to self : Must emotionally guilt Mom into realising that my brother and I were absolute angels as children. No crazy screaming, no bouncing off walls at the airport, no pooping in weird places and at weird times.
Must remind her she had it easy.
Hopefully this will make her forget about my phone bill.
***

Valentine's day is coming up people.
Remember, if you stay at home, those couples-in-love won't get to you!
Solidarity, my people. Solidarity.

And for those of you who have huge plans for V. Day....well I hope you enjoy yourself.

I'm SO not bitter.
:P

My Valentine's Day

Dear Reader,
I am Sad today.
If there are two days in the year that I truly, madly, deeply do not look forward to, its -

1. Valentine's Day
2. My Birthday (17th Feb. Remember it.) [I feel OLD.]

Today is, as you must have noticed, Valentine's Day . (The drawing above is a Mahi original. Serious Buyers are welcome.)


Today is the day single people like me either a) pretend to not give a rat's ass OR b) hide and try not to go out in public alone and forlorn.

Alas, I belong to the b) category. I mean WHY would I wanna be surrounded by couples-in-love, if I can't show off my man too (or lack thereof, in this case)!

It started off as shitty as they can get. My mom fell ill, thank goodness I skipped my lecture (I told her the day before that it was cancelled. It's like I'm a friggin' psychic).

So I took her to our family doctor, a jovial Sardar guy . On our way there, I noticed the Singapore Government tried to spread the Romantic spirit (what with falling birth rates and all) by putting up big, ugly, red plastic hearts, with a company's name in the middle, on every tree.
'Happy Valentine's Day- California Fitness' [ Jeezus. Why the Hell is a fitness centre wishing us Happy Valentine's Day? I don't get it. It's freaking me out.]
'Happy Valentine's Day- Pizza Hut' [ They even have pizza's in the shape of a HEART. What is the world coming to?]

You might think I'm a bit odd for saying this, but visiting my Doc cheers me up immensely. For one thing, he's always greeted me the same way since the past 8 years - "How's my Princess doing!"
Hey don't knock it. I don't get called 'Princess' very often. *small voice* It makes me feel special.

So anyway he started joking about how he got his Valentine's day gift from his wife (complete with actual winks and nudges), the night before.
Cue uncomfortable laughter from my mom aaand me covering my ears and going "lalalalalalala" in my head but with a serene slightly-traumatised smile on my face. I just nod.

"So, Princess" -wink- "Who are YOU going out with today?"
"No one." Dull-ly.
"Aww I can't believe that!" [I think at this point he notices that I really am a bit depressed]
"Oh don't worry! Your time is coming! Look at you, you're gorgeous darling! You're glowing! And anyway if you don't have a Valentine, I'd love for you to be my second Valentine!"
-Mahi is all cheered up now-

We get back home, mom is sick and I get her tea and stuff. I also tell her to take a panadol. Panadol is my answer to every illness. I'm like that guy in 'My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding' who uses window cleaner for everything, from a sore throat to a zit. But you can't use Panadol for zits. Not in a way that I know of (yet).

So later Dad gets home and asks me what I did for Valentine's Day. Which I found rather....silly?
I mean if I really was getting all mushy and romantic with some guy, it's not like I'd tell him! And Dad doesn't usually ask about my love life of all things.If he's anything like me, I thinks he'd just rather not know.
But I told him about my boring, lonely day and he starts sniggering. Sniggering.

"You really didn't meet or get anything from any guy?!"
"You're one to talk Casanova. I didn't see any V-day gift for Mum. And she's sick."
After that Dad was too busy wallowing in guilt to taunt me about my lacklustre love life.

So that was my Valentine's Day. Please tell me yours was as shitty.

I just got this message from Surya (Surya I'm pretty sure you don't mind me putting this up =D )-
"happy anti-valentines :) ...this day is only worth it when you happen to be foolishly in love ...in which case its just another excuse to spend time and money on your lovely"

Yea!
Down With Valentine's Day!!!



If you must know *cough* I take Gerberas, not Roses. *cough*