The other day while driving to work, I passed two accidents. There were cops and the involved people crowded around talking, gesturing, pointing and huffing away.
That I can deal with. What I couldn’t understand was why other people, especially bikers, slow down, or worse stall, right in the middle of the road. Eagerly craning their neck for goodness only knows what and no amount of revving or for that matter honking moves them!
* Sigh *
Both times I had to roll down my window and yell.
I ask, what’s the deal? Cops are present, no one is visibly injured, authorities seem to have everything under control. why does one need to slow down to look out for any tragedy that they might have missed at first glance, do nothing about it even if they did spot anything and then ride/drive on.
The satisfaction that someone’s day is going worse than theirs?
The movie Notting Hill, shown on one of the movie channels last week, prompted me to write the chick-flick post and also this one.
Before I start, for the benefit of soups and others who believe that the chick flicks are my ‘fav’ movies, they are not. They are movies that (1) have a ‘story’ behind them (2) I haven’t seen (3) have already seen but want to see again for chick-flick nite sake (4) make me go ‘awww’ (not necessarily my fav ‘awww’s) (5) are my all-time favs (6) purely for soppiness (7) reinforces some bonds (in my head mostly!).
How one thing can spark off thoughts about something very random.
Notting Hill reminds me of Dr. A. one of the closest to the ‘most likely one’. We had something special. Went on for a brief time and then we parted ways. Only to reconnect at a different level (again briefly) years later. And it was a mature reconnection that I enjoyed. No, he’s not someone I’ll call on when I’m at my lowest or when I need a friend. The memories are still good to ride on and I prefer to leave it at that. At that time we even had made a pact that the 3 of us (+1 being the reason we met) will meet in 10 years, at coffee day on brigade road.
He, or my relationship with him, is not the subject of my post however.
This one deals with what I did for the ones (notice plural) I am/was fond of. Mainly the men in my life. Some of the absurd things I have done and continue to do (sometimes), for the ones who meant and still mean the most to me (at the time of course):
1. Traveled 40 hours (to & fro) in an unreserved ladies compartment to spend 12 hours with him.
2. Listened to the sound track (play, stop, rewind, play, pause, play and loop) and wrote lyrics in handmade paper in my best handwriting (wasted many sheets)
3. Read 2 books on Dennis Rodman because Rodman was a fav with him. Thought it would help me relate to him better and understand him better.
4. Traveled to Bombay and spent time with him
5. Traveled to Madras to know him better
6. 9-month cold war with my parents for him
7. Distanced, and ended up isolating, myself from priorities, deadlines, holidays, family time, work, entertainment, friends - for him
8. Gave up pork and alcohol for him
9. Changed my lifestyle for any 5 minutes I can get with him
10. Put my life on hold for him
11. Always paid for him (including dates)
12. Always made excuses for him
I haven’t written about anything I do or have done for the women in my life, primarily because they don’t make me do absurd things :-). And more over, I don’t consider them absurd even if I did/do end up doing something!
News. I still do absurdities. Good news. I am slowly learning to choose my absurdities. Coz hey, what’s the fun of being in love if you don’t go out on a limb from time to time. That’s what makes it so special – then b’coz you are so madly in love, now b’coz you know you loved deeply and passionately and ‘lived’ the relationship. Makes for great memories doesn’t it!
Yesterday R & I bumped into each other virtually.
R was surprised that I was actually blogging. And then amazed that I actually wrote sense (?).
Flashback.
“Radhika. That’s her name,” says Divya.
Cut to SIMC first day, first show.
I go to class and keep my ears open for a ‘Radhika’, hoping that I lay eyes on the ‘Radhika’ and not just some radhika.
And this amazing looking chica in a white top and denims makes her way to me and we could instantly recognize each other as THE roommate. After confirming each other’s identities, we get all excited about….
Cut to THE ‘FC road’ house – a 2bhk (first time I heard of the BHK deal) shared by 6 girlies.
…and the excitement continues. Radhika and I completely clicked. Once we were over the initial introductions and briefs, it was as if we knew each other from so long and catching up after a break. Over time, we exchanged stories, sagas, love notes, concept notes, ideal men, ideal women, class histrionics, teacher gossip, classmate updates, recipes, wishlists, secrets, aspirations, and so on well into the early mornings. It was normal for us to fall asleep after 2am. We had the same ideologies, same love for dancing, same appreciation for arts and crafts, the same approach to money management and the same opinions about the other roommates in the house :-)…all this of course made way for many adventures and mis-adventures including the IFB cooking!.
Cut to the present.
Radhika and I have walked almost similar paths in parallel. That’s uncanny. The cycle hits us, not always at the same time, but we each go thru it. And that’s the best part. Because of the similarities and sometimes dissimilarities and how we deal with the entire situation, we always understand each other and extend support no matter what.
I’m really proud of R. The past year has been really difficult for her but she’s come out of that rough patch flying high. She moved out of her comfort zone, physically and emotionally, accepted and dealt with change, and looked at challenges square in the eye. That’s strength.
It’s always been her dream to start something on her own. And Dec 2008 saw that dream come true. The Floral Deli. (the end of this post has the FaceBook group info!!!). that’s commitment.
So anyway, ravishing R is still gorgeous as ever, now totally into flower power. I’m lucky enough to be a recipient of her service – for sure one boutique beautiful bouquet served right up every birthday.
I’m even luckier to have her in my life. R, we’ve gone through many ups and downs together and, of late, on our own. Over the years, through jobs, cellphones, boyfriends (official and unofficial), even with the least amount of contact sometimes, we’ve somehow always been there for each other and know that we’re just a thought away. And I don’t see that changing.
Cheers to you woman. You rock.
The Floral Deli was conceptualized over a dinner table while re-constructing the many benefits of flowers and plants. It's the fervor for flowers that led the founders Sanaya Karkaria and Radhika Sankhe to branch off with the vision of creating a company where consumers could be presented with never seen before stylized products that would emerge from their passion for flowers and ingenuity of mind. The Floral Deli is a premium floral boutique specializing in exotic floral bouquets and arrangements. At The Floral Deli, we love flowers and are totally committed to offering the freshest premium flowers. We know that a truly exceptional gift of flowers relies on expertise and attention to detail. That's why every gift from The Floral Deli is personally designed by an expert and arrives artistically arranged.
Our flowers are sourced from the finest suppliers and directly from growers. Every bouquet or arrangement from The Floral Deli is lovingly crafted in-house by our team of inspired floral artists. It means we monitor quality very closely and promise that a purchase will never include a wilted blossom or tired stem. We believe it’s not enough for flowers to be just ‘fresh’, they also need to be gorgeously presented and fashioned to perfection. Groomed with fastidious care, that make them exotic and elegant, the flowers have a longer shelf life too.
TFD Expertise/Products
1) Premium Floral Bouquets and Arrangements
2) Wine and Gourmet Baskets
3) Green and Flowering Plants
4) Wedding and Event Décor
TFD Services
1) TFD deliveries
Mumbai deliveries: We deliver FREE throughout Mumbai. We also deliver midnight and early mornings at a nominal charge of Rs. 100.
India deliveries: We deliver all over India through our vendor network.
International deliveries: We deliver beautiful flowers internationally across a 100 countries.
2) TFD Reminder Service.
Our reminder service will remind you of your loved ones birthdays and anniversary. All you need to do is register once. It’s free.
3) TFD photo bloom
A picture of every gift you send through us will be mailed to you. We believe you should know what you are sending.
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Contact Info
Tel: +91 (22) 65292050/ +91 (22) 23644258
Email: thefloraldeli@gmail.com
Office: Shop # 14, Jethabai Building, Kemps Corner, Bomanji Petit Road, Mumbai, India
Labels: The Floral Deli
The other day I thought to myself that over the last few years, I seem to tag-team with a ‘certain’ friend to do ‘something’ ‘some time’ all the time! Not that it gets done. But the hope is there that some day we will do it and in a strange way it makes sure that the connection is never severed.
This is one such tag-team account.
There is a certain allure in a sleepover, with chick talk, chick flick and chick-comfort-food in absolute relaxed guards-down ambience….(assuming that it’s a gang of girls. Throw in some boys and it’s a different ball game :-))
Madhuri and I have been planning to have one of those sleepovers for a long time. Every time we see or read something chick (and chic) we text or mail each other so that its added to our ever growing list of things to do during the sleepover.
I was always told that one makes the strongest of bonds during the ‘education’ days – skool and college. The first few places where I worked I realized that that held some truth. I could never find anyone I could remotely connect with or carry on a relationship outside of an office or professional setting. Until Aditi.
M is one such ex-A and is now away in the US of A pursuing her masters in biz admin and enjoying being pursued. Somehow when we least expected it we clicked. That info should suffice for now. Back to the message of this post.
For our M & Yum sleepover, I thought I should list our chick flicks so that once we settle on the choices and the availability at the DVD store, we are all chick-ed up and aww-ing and sighing away the nite.
1. Notting Hill
2. A Walk in the Clouds
3. When Harry met Sally
4. Gone with the Wind
5. Fried Green Tomatoes
6. PS I love You
7. Beaches
8. Steel Magnolias
9. Pretty Woman
10. Sweet Home Alabama
11. The Holiday
12. 27 Dresses
13. Terms of Endearment
14. Mermaids
15. The Joy Luck Club
16. Before Sunrise
17. Waiting to Exhale
18. Up Close and Personal
19. City of Angels
20. Horse Whisperer
21. Erin Brockovich
22. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
23. Love Actually
24. 50 First Dates
25. The Notebook
26. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
And this list includes flicks we want to repeat watch, get all soppy and re-believe in xxx (you fill in the blanks. Yep – that’s exactly what I think too)
Watch out for the couch version of chicks on flicks.
& M, methinks that we have a long nite ahead of us! So we better stack up on the wine and popcorn.
Was this one too many chicks?
You can thank seashell for that!
I have a big block.. A writers block to be precise. Perpetual. I don’t even know where it came from. But lo and behold, there it is. Hard to miss, heavy to carry and thoroughly opaque. With this writers block I keep bumping into things and because of its heaviness (not to mention the subsequent falls I have) I always leave the ‘heaving of the block’ to the bottom of my priority list – no matter the consequence.
That’s changed of late.
Somewhere along the way, I realized that the block is malleable. It’s like Play-Doh. The more you bend and twist and squish and squash and flatten and roll, the better shape it takes until finally it resembles something that exists!
That’s why I post regularly. I’ve come to realize that penning down some random, some times inconsequential, thoughts and at other times defined opinions and reminiscences, kickstart my vocabulary and train of thoughts. Ultimately, I draw stimulation from memory flashes that are subconsciously stored in deep crevices, motivation from personal jottings and soon, the private writing gets me into the mood to launch into business writing.
That’s why I post regularly. Seashell requires me to write. A lot. And apparently I write well…hahahahaha…*wiping tears away from all the hard laughing* …I can write…I write emotional, sentimental, adjective, verb-y and descriptive stuff very well. But business writing? Am hardly setting the trail blazing there. Though I am getting better at it. Crisp, to-the-point sans the bells and whistles, high-level business lingo takes me time and sometimes inspiration and more importantly the mood.
That’s why I post regularly. It gets me into the mood. I am in the business zone. It’s like clearing the clutter in my crowded headquarters in the penthouse (read: mind) and getting ready to cut to the chase. I usually write in a conversational style – I write as if I am talking – good for chatty mails and letters. But to the CEO? Wrong approach!
And that’s why I post regularly.
Like I said, Play-Doh. The more I play around, the better I get. That’s true not only with my writing skills! :)
This time it was a slow and smooth ending to a year of many ups and downs. I managed to finish the year off with an up and down in the same day J. Talent I say!
Most of you who know me know of my roller coaster rides, and I thank you for being there for me.
For the first time in all these years I actually fell asleep before my b-day. So much so that when my folks called they were more than surprised that I was snoozing! My dad asked where’s the party happening and I replied in someone else’s house. The darling had actually called me at 10.30 and asked me what my plans are for bringing in the day. Of course I had no plans.
But I enjoyed the day. No rushing about, no tiredness, a lot of me-time (like I didn’t have enough of that already but this was a totally different and pleasant me-time altogether), and at the end of the day I realized that I spent most of the day answering calls and responding to texts.
And I mean almost the entire day. Spoke at length with those who called, many of who I connected with after a really long time. So it felt good to re-establish contacts. And it felt really really good to respond to texts in a systematic and unrushed manner, without much delay J. Considering that I’m way too lazy for my own good, I mark that as an achievement!
The power of the internet and social networking reminders unleashed a bunch of posts, scraps, messages and some mails. What would we do without that!
All in all, I loved the easy lazy Sunday – filled with voices, words, thoughts, action, punctuated with litres of self-wine, some yummilicous ‘chocolate celebrations’ cake and lotsa lotsa love that I felt throughout the day from all corners.
I am now 30 years and 367 days old.
God bless!
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