Agnosticism - My religion

From a very young age, I have found it difficult to believe in the existence of God. Oh! Don’t get me wrong now. I have done my share of prayers and temples and bhajans and poojas but somehow, I have found it difficult to believe in the existence of the Ram’s, Krishna’s, Vishnu’s, Lakshmi’s and the 33 crore other Hindu deities. Nor do I, for that matter, believe in the Allah’s, Rahim’s and Jesus’ of this world.

Growing up in a typical Brahmin family, I have, from a very young age, been taught the required quota of Shlokas and Bhajans. My devout mother used to conduct Bal-Vikas classes for all the children in our neighborhood and I would happily take part, singing glories of Ram and Krishna with great gusto. Those were the days when I believed that if we questioned His existence or spoke ill about anything even remotely religious, Yama Raj would ensure us a place in Naraklok. And that, if I said “Om Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram” 108 times a day, I would surely land in Swarglok.

And having attended a couple of convent schools, I was quite knowledgeable about the ways of Christianity and had gotten quite fond of the peace and quiet that the chapel offered. Moreover, Christmas sounded like one of the best festivals ever.

But as time rolled, I began to question the various things I had taken for granted. I began to question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. And I found that there were no convincing answers. What kind of God would let the hard-workers suffer in abject poverty while the corrupt got away with all the goodies? What kind of God would let Innocent children be ill-treated and beaten up? What kind of God would allow women to be treated as mere sex objects? What kind of God would allow discrimination on the basis of caste, creed and color? What kind of God would turn the blind eye when all around there was just suffering and indiscriminate bloodshed? What kind of God would fail to take care of those who He created?

I had been taught that God would ensure justice and that, by the rule of Karma, the wrong-doers would get punished in their next birth. But I thought that only the Indian justice system was the delaying type, not His justice system as well.

I wasn’t that great a disbeliever to label myself an atheist. Moreover, they have no holidays!And therefore I suffered a religious-identity crisis. Thankfully, I soon learnt of a word called agnosticism and since it suited me fine, I gladly adopted. Agnosticism simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that for which he has no grounds for professing to believe.

I believe that there is divinity in each of us. Being good and doing good is all it takes to bring out this quality. There is no need to worship idols or shed blood – human or animal, in the name of the Almighty. All that is required is a feeling of love and compassion towards our fellow beings.

Few nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made so easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally the god market was fairly glutted and heaven crammed with these phantoms the world has suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or torture. I consider it a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure -- that is all that agnosticism means.

Just to know more about the origin of this term, I googled it and here is its etymology


Etymology: from Greek agnôstos (ignorant), gnosis = knowledge.

The word agnosticism was created in 1869 by Thomas Huxley, British naturalist (1825-1895) who took inspiration from the ideas of David Hume and of Emmanuel Kant. Agnosticism is a philosophy that declares absolute, divine, metaphysics, and more generally what cannot be grasp by experiment, is inaccessible to the human mind and to perception. Consequently, the existence of God cannot be proven. Agnosticism professes a complete ignorance about the profound nature, the origin and the destiny of things. It is a form of skepticism applied to metaphysics and theology.

Already present in the Ancient Greece, agnosticism developed much in the 18th and 19th centuries because of the progress of science that provided experimental results contradicting the religious dogmas and the Holy Scripture like Bible.

God being unknowable, the agnostic cannot come to a conclusion about his existence and consequently considers that it is useless to worship him or to submit to revealed morals that should have been dictated to men.

Buddhism and Jainism are agnostic religions. Protagoras, Democritus, Hume, Emmanuel Kant, William James, Herbert Spencer, Albert Einstein were agnostic. As is Shilpa Krishnan.

Now coming to the reactions of people around me. My parents tried a little to re-convert me but I stood adamant and they gave in. thankfully, I found a few friends who agreed with me and a few others who thought that this was just a new fad I picked up. But overall, nobody was really surprised and my conversion didn’t raise much of a ripple.

Having converted into an agnostic, I could enjoy the best of both worlds. I could celebrate the festivals I thought, made sense. I could mock the rituals I thought were insensible. And I could make all the fun I wanted of the so-called god-men. So I had a galore when the Shankaracharya was charged with murder and accused of molestation. And couldn’t stop telling all and sundry about the Breast baba (apparently he molested women on the pretext of ensuring them their progeny).

All you believers out there can curse me all ye want, but I give a damn cos I don’t quite believe that such a place as hell does in fact exist. on a closing note, I would like to say that even if one might not quite believe in God’s existence, it has occurred to me that God has Alzheimer's and has forgotten we exist.

Agnostically yours,


p.s. check out this joke.

“Q: What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic?

A: Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.”


Anyways, here’s an online quiz I took. Now, this might say I have Islamic tendencies, but I didn’t spend the last half an hour typing about my new-found religion, to be labeled a Muslim. I therefore insist that I am a devout agnostic. Even if this test claims otherwise.


Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Islam. Your beliefs are most similar to those of Islam. Do more research on Islam and possibly consider taking the shahadah and officially becoming a Muslim, if you aren't already. Despite the actions of some - who go against the teachings of Islam - Islam is a religion of peace; the word "islam" means "peace through submission to God." "Muslim" means "one who submits to God." Islam is the third of the three Abrahamic faiths, and it shares much with Judaism in Christianity; its differences are the acceptance of Muhammad as the last and final prophet, and the oneness of God - in other words, that Jesus, though he was a revered prophet, was not in fact God, and only one God exists. Apparently the Taliban could not read (though their name means "students"), because the Qur'an states that men and women are equal as believers, and that all believers should be educated and seek knowledge. Modesty in dress and behavior is required in Islam for both men and women to preserve the values of society and move the emphasis from superificial appearance to intelligence, knowledge, and God.

Islam		92%
Paganism		88%
Judaism		79%
Satanism		79%
agnosticism		75%
atheism		71%
Hinduism		67%
Buddhism		63%
Christianity		29%

Building Blues

From a very young age, I was quite used to moving from one town to another, thanks to my father working in a bank. By the time I was ten, I had lived in six different places. And gotten quite tired of this moving around jhanjat. It is quite a pain leaving old friends and making new ones every couple of years.

So when pa decided to quit the bank and settle down in Hyderabad, I was relieved to say the least. Anyhow, one fine summer morning, we landed in Mount Santoshi Apartments (MSA). My very first time in an apartment complex.

Being the shy kid that I was in those days, it took quite a lot of persuading from my mother to actually go and talk to the other kids. Exasperated, she did the intro while I was hiding my face in her sari pallu.

But it didn’t take me long to become friendly and before I knew, I was one of them, running around the building and screaming away to glory.

Now, MSA was a huge building with 41 flats in it and almost 150 residents. People from all part of the country, living, laughing, screaming, celebrating, crying and loving together. If ever you wanted to view India in a nutshell, this was the place to be.

Anyways, within a month of living in MSA, I had landed myself a part in the annual building play. I was to play Cinderella’s evil step-mom. What a miscast! How did they expect an innocent faced me to pull that off? Well, all I had was one teensy-weensy line. I was to make my grand entry with a cup of tea in my hand, saying- “Oh! My tea is so cold.” and then I was to slip and fall down. Quite a horrid experience. No wonder that was my first and only foray into dramatics.

Well, now most of my evenings were spent playing downstairs for 4-5 hours straight. We used to play all sorts of games ranging from cricket, throw ball, badminton, football, French cricket, 7 stones, hide n seek, sly fox, hopscotch, and a whole lot of other silly stuff the names of which I can’t remember.

Coming to the interesting characters in MSA. Let’s start from the ground floor, shall we. Well, there was Venkat Uncle, my fave uncle in MSA. He used to play with all of us and even help us organize the Aug-15 celebrations. His kids Manu and Mansa were good friends of mine. Then coming to first floor, there was this uncle who was the building chimney, smoking 24*7. Almost everyone in the building had a disagreement, and once in a while we would get to see an open name-calling session, all the uncles in the building against him. Boy! Was it fun or what.

And then there were Shilpa, Swetha. Now Shilpa, being my namesake, was called Big Shilpa while I was called Small Shilpa. And even though she left MSA a couple of years later, the name struck on and I was always referred to as Small Shilpa.

Second floor would definitely be the most interesting. Cos in that floor resided the mad lady. And when I say mad, I really mean it. This lady, by the name Hajra, was really insane. She would do all sorts of crazy things. For starters, she developed an animosity towards Venkat Uncle and his family. Poor things, she would make baseless allegations against them and even once made a police complaint. And oh! You should hear her rabble when she is in one of those insane fits of hers. She would just stand in the middle of the road and shout out all obscenities. Do ask me for a personal narration next time u meet me cos it’s more effective when said in person.

Once, when we were all playing downstairs, she threw boiling hot water on us. To which someone quipped, “paani tho phek diya, shampoo bhi thoda sa phek do na”. Apparently, she once threw knifes and vessels at Chintu, the building bully. His brother Ballu and he were as different as chalk and cheese.

Then coming to the third floor, not many interesting people. There was Nandini, the national tennis player. And then there were raki and sunny. I remember this incident. Once all of us gals were in the terrace and Sunny was standing in his balcony. The positioning was such that we could see him but he couldn’t see us. So anyhow, one of us was waving out this white dupatta and it was late evening at that time. Must have been quite eerie to see just a white duapatta floating in the air cos Sunny darted into his house and wasn’t seen in the balcony for quite a few days.

Now, the fourth floor. This was the floor in which I lived. Had a Muslim neighbor on one side and a Christian cum Parsi neighbor on the other. Now this Muslim aunty would keep advising all the girls to stop playing and start cooking. Her son was like the building Casanova. And mind you, quite an old and married one at that. Nancy aunty, the Christian neighbor was quite fun. Both of us would spend hours to an end discussing books. And I still remember those days we played teacher-teacher, House- house et al with Serena, Merena and Sweety. Ahh!! Nostalgia.

Oh! And how could I forget the watchmen, there was Vittal, an old guy whom we used to love to hate. We would have a competition of sorts to see which one could tyrannize the other more. Then there was Narasimha, a fat, lazy watchman who wouldn’t bother even if we broke all the windows. Then came Bahadur with his Nepali troop. With his relatives visiting him every other day, it appeared as if the whole of Nepal had migrated to MSA.

Phew! This sure has been a long post. Nothing else much about MSA. Shall update when something new strikes. Oh ya, a passing mention on the fun-filled kite flying days of Sankranti, the cracker bursting during diwalis, the coulour-play during the holis, the evening bhajans during Janmashtami and best of all, vinayaka chathurthi. My greedy brother, along with his bratty friends, would tour the locality on their bikes collecting the prasadam from each ganapati idol stand.

Ahh! If only I could revisit those lovely days again!!!!

The Indian Connection

Here are some very interesting questions put forward by foreigners to Indians staying abroad. and here are the witty answers they gave --


Q. What does that red dot on women's forehead mean?
A. Well, in ancient times, Indian men used to practice archery skills by target practicing by aiming at their wife's red dot. In fact, that is one of the reasons why they had many wives. You see, once they mastered the art of archery and hit the target....


Q. You're from India, aren't you? I have read so much about the country. All the wonderful places, the forests, the snake charmers, the elephants Do you still use elephants for transportation?

A. Absolutely. In fact we used to have our own elephant in our house but later, we started elephant pooling with our neighbours, to save the air. You see elephants have an "emission" problem...


Q. Does India have cars?
A. No. We ride elephants to work. (Refer response to earlier question)

Q. Does India have TV?
A. No. We only have cable.


Q. Are all Indians vegetarian?
A. Yes. Even tigers in India are vegetarian.

Q. How come you speak English so well?
A. You see when the British were ruling India, they employed Indians as servants. It took too long for the Indians to learn English. So the British isolated an "English-language" gene and infused their servants' babies with it and since then all babies born are born speaking English.
A variation to the above is a compliment ---

"You speak very good English."
Response: Thanks. So do you.


Q. Are you a Hindi?
A. Yes. I am spoken everyday in Northern India.

Q. Do you speak Hindu?
A. Yes, I also speak Jewish, Islam and Christianity.


Q. Is it true that everyone there is very corrupt?
A. Yes, in fact, I had to bribe my parents so that they would let me go to school.


Q. India is very hot, isn't it?
A. It is so hot there that all the water boils spontaneously. That is why tea is such a popular drink in India.


Q. Are there any business companies in India?
A. No. All Indians live on the Gandhian principles of self-sufficiency. We all make our own clothes and grow our own food. That is why you see all these thin skinny Indians -- it is a lot of hard work.


Q. Indians cannot eat beef, huh?
A. Cows provide milk, which is a very essential part of Indian diet. So eating cows is forbidden. However in order to decrease the population of the country, the government is trying to encourage everyone to eat human meat.


Q. India is such a religious place. Do you meditate regularly?
A. Yes, sometimes I meditate for weeks without food and drink. But it is difficult to keep my job, because I have to miss work when I meditate
like that. But the bosses there do the same thing. That is why things are so inefficient there.

Q. I saw on TV that people there walk on burning coals. Why do they do that?
A. We don't have shoes. So we burn the bottom of our feet to make it hard so that we can walk.


Q. Why do you sometimes wear Indian clothes to work?
A. I prefer it to coming naked.

Q. How do you celebrate Thanksgiving Day in India?
A. By roasting an American....

Random Stuff

10 years ago

I was nine. That was what- 4th standard. So that would mean I was in St.Marys in TPG, a sleepy town in Andhra. Thanks to my short – term memory, I don’t exactly remember much. Grandpa passed away that year. Had gone to Bombay for the vacation – first trip to Essel World. And that was the year my tryst with Enid Blyton began. Used to wonder why none of the elders appreciated Blyton much anymore and swore to remain loyal to her, come rain or shine. Have failed to keep my promise.

5 years ago

In Hyderabad now. Lovely place. 9th standard in NPS. School was fun. Building was even better. Spent roughly four – five hours a day playing downstairs with the other kids. Also, realized that I was visually challenged. Brother’s poonal (thread ceremony) in village in kerala. Superb vacations. Went for sailing and riding classes as well. And started serious reading – the grown up novels, that is.

Last year

Last year was eventful. Bad memories exceed the good ones though. Law classes and C.A. classes wee fun while they lasted. Best vacation ever – to the north east. shillong in particular. Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary was a visual treat.

Yesterday

Was ok. Got up early. At around seven. That’s very very early by my usual standards. Was niece’s choruun (first time eating solid food ceremony). Wore saree and all.. Had loads of fun. Nice sadhi chapadu. Pavi had come home in the evening. Sat in the beach for a while. Pleasant. Then decided to make chocolate milkshake for the both of us. Thanks to the mal-functioning mixer, was splattered with milkshake. Guess that’s how it feels to use the new chocolate Lux. Re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.


5 yummy things

Death by chocolate
Roti with paneer butter masala
Hot hot jalebis
Cold cold pineapples
Veg biriyani (only the one rajji’s mum makes)


5 songs I know by heart

Jana gana mana
Vande mataram
Old mac-donald
Raindrops on roses
A guy is a guy


5 things I’d do if I had a lot of money

Buy landmark
Tour the world
Buy a patch of forest and build a tree-house for myself
Build a school for street-kids
Convert all the money into 1 rupee coins and swim in it like uncle scrooge

5 places I escape to

The park
The terrace
The beach
Pavi’s place
Can’t think of a fifth one

5 things I’d never wear

Bright fluorescent green
Low-rise jeans
Multi-colored robes
Leaves
Accessories with skulls or dragons on them

5 favorite TV shows

Friends
Caroline in the city
The O.C.
Malgudi Days
Just for Laughs Gags


5 things I enjoy doing

Reading
Hanging out with friends
Watching movies
Nature walks
Playing with babies/kids

Favourite toys

I have none.

Jogger's Park

As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts, I go regularly for a 30 mins walk in the park next door. Now, apart from walking, I also indulge in one of my favourite pass-time, “People Watching”.

Even as a little child, I have always been fascinated by the many faces around me. I always try to guess the story that lies behind each face. This hobby of mine has helped me through many a long waits.

So anyway, coming back to the subject at hand- the people in the park. Now most of you might be wondering what kind of people might be there in the park – apart from the joggers and a bunch of kids. Ah..You couldn’t be more wrong. Every park is a universe in itself – containing many a species ranging from Homo sapiens to animals of all sizes and shapes.

Let’s begin with the Homo sapiens, shall we. For starters, you do have the serious joggers. The ones that are quite regular, dressed in tracks, tees and sneakers. Usually, they come alone, sometimes accompanied with a walkman or Discman (FYI I belong to this category).

Then we have the kids. These little devils come in all shapes and sizes. There are the quiet ones, the naughty ones, the pesky ones, the ones with running noses, the ones with sand all over them, the ones which wave at you for no reason, the ones that bawl out loud if you so much as pat them on their heads, and the ones that make faces at you.

We now move on to the adults. Starting with the elderly…Well, now this park has many a grandpas and grandmas who frequent it. Usually I am quite capable of overtaking most of them on my daily rounds. But wait, there’s this one super-athletic gramps who is always many a step ahead of me. Phew! I have tried many a time to race him, but tried in vain I have. And yes, there’s this Punjabi grandma who has taken quite a liking for me. She makes it a point to come greet me every time she sees me and spends a good 10 mins talking about all things sundry.

My favourite category now – the middle aged. These are the most interesting to watch. For starters you have these aunties puffing and panting in synthetic salwar kurtas (teamed with Adidas and Nike) and smelling like last night’s raita. Mmph!! Then there are these bunch of Muslim aunties, walking in burqas. For god’s sake, there ain’t any Taliban here auntyji. I feel hot in my cotton sleeveless top itself, they sure must be roasting.

Moving on to the love-birds. Nah, not the colourful birds da, but the cuddly, mushy romeo-juliets and laila-majnoos. Most of these love-struck couples are regulars. Same place, same time, same bench, everyday. And do they occupy all the benches or what. Here am I, puffing and panting and in need of a bench to relax myself but alas, each and every one of them has been turned into a lover’s nest. I sometimes have a good mind to click their snaps in compromising poses and send them to their families. That should keep them away from the park and it’s benches for quite some time.

Then you have the vetti porikis (for the non- tamilians, vetti porikis translates to jobless, useless, good-for-nothing idiotic boys). They also do nothing much apart from lounging on the benches, making passes at all the female species. Che Che..

And on Sundays, you have a whole new range of species. Sundays usually mean family outings, and thanks to the over- crowding in the beaches, many families have decided to switch from sea to grass. So we have whole families trooping into the tiny park dada, dadi, nana, nani, ma, pitaji, chacha, chachi, bua, tau, and a jing-bang of bacche log.

Now let us address the part that greatly interests the teenager in me. Yup, I am talking about eye-candy. Sadly for me, this park doesn’t offer much of the species labeled “cute-guys”. There’s this one who comes on Sundays. And this other who comes with his grandma everyday. But nah, they aren’t all that cute. Now this sure is one endangered species. Babes, you have aplenty in the park. But hunks, ah, sorry to disappoint you dear girlie. Search elsewhere.

And how can I not mention those that come with their cameras in tow. Yup, the park is quite a popular shooting spot. Every other day, you get to see a bunch posing for the camera. And for some strange reason, they seem to think that I am quite a good photographer cos I have been asked to do the honours quite a few times.

Oh and how could I not mention the grumpy care-taker of the park. He gets all heated up if anyone as much as steps on the grass and don’t ever let him see you with a ball or bat in your hand.

Well, I guess that’s it about the menagerie in the park. will update if I come across any other interesting specimens.

Till then,

Happy jogging and people-watching.


p.s. that really is the pic of the park i walk in, not some random park.pliss to note the bridge and all.

Where do babies come from???

So where do babies come from? Well, almost everyone, as a child, would have either asked their parents or formed a theory of their own. Now, as a child, I was the quiet sort and so I didn’t trouble my parents with this embarrassing question. Instead I formed a theory of my own.

I always though that the babies were already present in the woman’s tummy and would come out once they got married.

Now, not all parents are as lucky as mine.Many a time, many a parent has been put in quite a tight spot by their kids asking them about their origin.And many a parent have given varying versions of the stork theory. Now, we might be taught otherwise in our biology classes but here is a very convincing piece of research that does make you ponder!!!

- from the Institute for Stork Research and Science

Two different theories exist concerning the origin of children: the theory of Sexual reproduction, and the theory of the stork. Many people believe in the theory of sexual reproduction because they have been taught this theory at school. In reality, however, many of the world's leading scientists are in favor of the theory of the stork. If the theory of sexual reproduction is taught in schools, it must only be taught as a theory and not as the truth. Alternative theories, such as the theory of the stork, must also be taught.

Evidence supporting the theory of the stork includes the following:

1. It is a scientifically established fact that the stork does exist. This can be confirmed by every ornithologist.

2. The alleged human fetal development contains several features that the theory of sexual reproduction is unable to explain.

3. The theory of sexual reproduction implies that a child is approximately nine months old at birth. This is an absurd claim. Everyone knows that a newborn child is newborn.

4. According to the theory of sexual reproduction, children are a result of sexual intercourse. There are, however, several well documented cases where sexual intercourse has not led to the birth of a child.

5. Statistical studies in the Netherlands have indicated a positive correlation between the birth rate and the number of storks. Both are decreasing.

6. The theory of the stork can be investigated by rigorous scientific methods. The only assumption involved is that children are delivered by the stork.


Convincing, ain't it!!!

Hum bhi agar bacche hote!!!

"All characters in this piece of writing are Real. Any resemblance to people you might know is not necessarily coincidental."

*Names of the persons have been changed to protect their identity.



In every person a child is hidden that wants to play. And so is the case with me. Well, there happens to be a park right next to home which I frequent every evening and apart from walking 30mins a day, I also take time to pamper the child in me.

Unlike most other parks which have a gazillion slides, see-saws, swings and monkey bars, this one offers you just a huge sand enclosure. Yup, just sand. But you must remember that a child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of a box of sand. And a huge enclosure full of sand, Ahh that must be worth billions of dollars.

Until recently, I was just one of the serious walkers. None of the kids (all 10 year old brats) who barely acknowledged my presence no matter how many smiles I flashed at them. There was just one cute kid, Rohit, who would shyly smile and turn his face away the moment I smiled back (little did I know then what lay beneath that shy exterior)

Anyways, one bright evening, as I was on my usual rounds, I see a little girl standing on the bridge and waving her hands at me. I wave back and she beckons me to come to her. The little girl was Pinky.

Pinky is no stranger to me. She lives in the same apartment as me and every time she sees me, promises to get me a “ellow” bubblegum. So well, I go onto the bridge and then she drags me to the sand enclosure. And then we set about building a sand castle comprising of a gateway and a chimney and all.
But then, just as we are nearing completion, disaster strikes in the form of Rohit. Yes sir, do not misjudge a shy smile for beyond lurks a destructive mind.

Terrified, Pinky cowers behind me for protection from the “shy” destructor!!! Me, the knight in the shining armor, set about to rescue the damsel in distress. I somehow managed to save her from the clutches of the young monster (the cutest monster ever) and we continued on our MISSION SAND CASTLE. After completing it, she wanted to click a few snaps. So off she went to the other side of the enclosure to take a long-shot of me sitting beside the castle. The pic was well shot-good focus, flash (of her milky teeth) et al. She than asked me to click one of hers so I acted as if doing so with my cell. When she came over to see how the pic was, I showed her a pic of Abishek Bachan and told her that it was her. She gave me a knowing look and said “No! No! That is the Dus Bahane guy”. Lemme travel back in time now. At the tender age of four, all I knew was Mowgli and a few characters of Mahabharata. Not a clue about the kingdom of Bollywood. Times sure have changed.


After a while it was time for me to go. So I bid her adieu and she made me promise that I would drop by her home later in the evening.

The next evening, was a lot more fun. She had gotten bored of building castles and was getting hungry. To satisfy her hunger she decided to celebrate her Birthday. Unfortunately for us, we had to settle for a sand cake. But I must tell you, given the right company, a sand cake can sure be a lot more delicious than a normal one.

So anyway, we set out on our culinary expedition. It didn’t take us much while to make the cake (what with us not having to use an oven and all). But it looked quite plain so we decided to decorate it with candles and whipped cream (a piece of crumpled white paper served the purpose). Pinky managed to find a wooden knife and blew off the four candles after making a wish. She then cut it into a zillion pieces, ate a substantial part of the cake and gave me the leftovers.

I then asked her to give the leftover leftovers to another little boy who had helped us with the cake. This little kid kept coming up to me and giving me a few grains of sand saying “cake”, “cake” with every fistful. But Pinky was hesitant to invite company and refused to distribute the cake. So I had to do the honors.

Since it was getting dark and I hadn’t walked much, I pushed off, only to be brought to a grinding halt in a few minutes. This time, to celebrate my birthday. We made a bigger cake and then I asked her to get me 19 candles. She looked at me with a I-cant-manage-that expression and said she could manage at the most only one. So my first birthday it was. And since I was just a one year old baby, she decided that it would be dangerous for me to handle the knife and so once again, she was the one to cut the cake. She fed me as well and then we decided to head for home.

But, for some strange reason, she was in a very benevolent mood today and wanted to give me a strawberry bubblegum. So she dragged me home, opened the refrigerator, took out a single bubblegum, put half of it into her mouth, bit it into two, and gave me the piece that was in her mouth. I gladly ate it and rushed home.

As I got into the elevator, I realized that If children are to keep alive their inborn sense of wonder, they needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with them the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.

Children have neither past nor future; and that which seldom happens to us, they rejoice in the presen
And only in their playful company do you discover the little joys that life offers.

Stupid Cupid

If love is in the air, I don't think I am breathing.

Stupid Cupid has missed his mark yet again. Sigh!!!

What is your Japenese name?

Your Japanese Name Is...

Iva Gojo

What's your Japanese Name?

Try it out. Nice time-pass.

Who am I?

They: Who are you?

Me : I am who I think I am. And what I think about who I am is between I, me and Myself


Now, who are you??

The senses

Here is a list of the things that appeal to each of my senses:

SIGHT:

1. Lush meadows
2. Valley of flowers
3. The sea/ocean
4. Babies
5.Sunset

SMELL:

1. Wet earth
2. Flowers
3. The smell of babies
4. Freshly baked cake
5.Vicks inhaler(only when I have a cold, and that’s always!)

SOUND:

1. The sound of the sea (the waves lashing against the sand)
2. Tinkling laughter
3. Temple/church bells
4. Soothing music
5. Chirping birds

TASTE:

1. Nimbu pani
2. Mango pickle
3. Death by choclate
4. Hot jalebis
5. Cold pineapples
TOUCH:

1. Furry animals
2. Grandma’s soft wrinkly skin
3. Baby’s bottom
4. Soft sand in the beach + waves in the sea
5. A loved one’s hand in mine

So what do ya think of my list…Tell me about yours as well

Sensually yours.