Dear Guest

I really like to cook. Cooking is my stress-buster. And I really, really like to entertain. And I like you. Otherwise we wouldn't be inviting you, would we? So, please PLEASE stop doing this - "I will bring idlis for everyone. No? Or I can bring just the batter and you can make the idlis. No? OK, then Vadas. No to that too? Okay, how about sambhar? No? Then I MUST bring the sabudana snack I brought to M's party last time. Everyone loved it!"

I know you are trying to be a considerate guest. But please do take a moment to think - if I am saying no to every offer of yours then wouldn't it be the most considerate to stop insisting? And if you are doing this to showcase your own culinary skills, then it will be best that YOU invite US!

Oh, and next time I call to invite you, PLEASE don't say "Don't invite us now. Now is not the right time for you to have guests over. You need some rest". Let's pretend I know when I need rest and when I need company. Okay? Okay!!

Also, it just occurred to me - for the Love of God, please DON'T start cleaning right after dinner. My husband and I would really like to be able to chat with you over a cup of coffee or a tall glass of cold coffee with icecream. No, really! I prefer chatting over coffee to chatting over the sink. AND I am quite particular about how the dishes are piled in the sink, or which containers the left-overs are emptied into. And I am quite a traditionalist when it comes to entertaining. I DON'T want my guests to work. And I would ask for help if I needed it. Honest! Besides, that chunk of ear you see in that jar over the kitchen sink? That belonged to the last guest who "insisted" on helping me clean up. Just kidding!! But you know, every time a guest like you heaps their "help" on me, they are pushing me really close to doing that! Just a friendly reminder, nothing else :D

I would so SO love to see you this Saturday. Come hungry!

Lots of love,

Cee

You DON'T have to be a mother

or a parent to realize how close a call this was. And how terrifying. Nightmare inducing terrifying.

You have to be a decent human being to realize that you made a mistake and apologize. No, you aren't a decent human being when you apologize only after being tracked down and threatened that an FIR will be filed against you. Doesn't matter that you are a (so called) TV star. Fame does not make you "Mr. Always Right". Besides, the way you behaved, Mr. Gaurav Chopra, is how arrogant cowards behave, as Dipali says. Grow up!

Note: After La Vida Loca's comment, I realized you don't have to be a parent to realize that this was a close call. Any decent human being would realize that, parent or no parent. So I changed the title from "You have to be a mother" to "You DON'T have to be a mother".

The romance is not dead. Yet.

Not when he sneaks off to buy Valentine's day cards for the girls in his life. He only got caught because he bought the cards at a store he has never been to before, so the credit card company flagged the transaction and called in the evening to confirm it wasn't a fraudulent charge. As luck would have it, "she" took the call :)

Not when she slinks off to buy cards under the guise of getting candy for the older daughter to distribute among her classmates on V-day. And gets caught coming in the home with the bag of cards.

Not when they "hide" the bags in front of each other, secure in the knowledge that the other won't peek.

Not when they still enjoy these simple, silly little things in each other's company.

No romance, and more importantly LOVE, is not dead.

Yet. :P

It's been, what? 18 years? They celebrated V-day for the first time in 1991. When they were the best friends. Then came love. And roses. And cards. Then marriage. And kids. They haven't stopped. Don't plan on stopping.

Happy Valentine's day everyone!!

What's good for the goose...

...should also be good for the gander. Ideally. But Ms. Barkha Dutt doesn't seem to think so. I am sure by now everyone has either written or read a post on how Ms. Dutt and NDTV sent a legal notice to a blogger Chetanya Kunte for expressing his views on how NDTV and Barkha handled the airing of the Mumbai attacks. He later took the post down and put up another post apologizing for the previous post.

So, coming back to the point. I remember reading somewhere that Ms. Dutt said if anyone doesn't like what is being aired on a channel they simply have to flick the channels and watch something else. Maybe somebody should tell Ms. Dutt that if she doesn't like what a blogger wrote, she should just click the "X" in the top right corner. Easy peasy!

Now, I agreed with Mr. Kunte's observations on shoddy journalism but me being me, I also wanted to know Barkha's stance on them so dug up (Okay, I Googled her name) this article and read through it (an accomplishment for attention-challenged me). And I still agree with Mr. Kunte.

To say we did it because no one stopped us from doing so is no f***ing excuse! Yes, there should have been guidelines and directives from the government on how to handle broadcasts on an issue of such sensitivity. If there weren't any, there should have been an awareness on the broadcasters' part as to what could possibly jeopardize people's lives or the rescue operations further. Other channels and people in media have criticized the way NDTV team covered the event. To bully just one blogger in that case seems to me to be an effort at face-saving. Not that it saved any faces. The outpouring of support for this blogger makes that evident.

Okay, so the family members and friends of the hostages wanted to speak to her. She didn't hound them as the general thought goes. Even then, if the conversation started veering towards something that could jeopardize people's lives or give away their location to the terrorists, measures should have been taken to stop the airing of that part. No? Oh well... And HOW does one justify the live telecast of the actions of the commandoes that were sent to intervene? How can a live telecast of their approach NOT jeopardize their operation?? "Someone" should have thought "Hmmmm.. Maybe we shouldn't telecast how or where the commandoes plan on entering the building?!" But no! Someone was probably more concerned about the shock value of the videos. Of how they would help increase the viewership. Or maybe they innocently, genuinely thought this was journalism at its best - bringing the news AS IT HAPPENS to the public. Don't worry if that hinders a rescue operation. The public has a right to know. Right?? Right!

It is easy to blame others for your messes. It is SO easy to say "But they didn't tell us not to..." But as I say to S, "Where was YOUR brain at that time?" If my 10 year old is old enough to grasp the concept, why aren't these experienced news hounds?

Nothing that Barkha says on her page convinces me that Kunte was in the wrong. He just expressed his opinion on HIS OWN blog. To quote her -

"Viewing preferences are highly subjective and always deeply personal choices, and the most fitting rejection of someone who doesn't appeal to your aesthetics of intelligence, is simply to flick the channel and watch someone else. The viewer, to that extent, is king. "

Barkha should just have clicked the "X".

The Random Me!

I just did this someplace else and thought I should put it up on my blog as well. I have fun doing it! Here I share 25 random facts about me.

1. I love driving.

2. and cooking.

3. I am a "green thumb" wannabe. I grow many vegetables each year, kill a few plants and learn something in the process. One day I WILL keep a plant alive for more than 2 months. Just wait and see!!

4. I detest "brat-enabler" parents. If your child is a brat, I don't blame him/her. I blame YOU. You are a "non-parent" in my books. Don't say "What can I do? He/she doesn't listen to me." Do your job!!

5. I also detest parents who constantly berate their kids. Even if the kid is a brat. There are better ways of disciplining, you know!

6. I am still undecided about life after death. I would LIKE to believe there is life after death but I would like to reserve my decision/comments until after I have tested it.

7. Sometimes I can be butt-lazy.

8. I actually LIKE working out of home. But don't mind staying at home either, like I am doing these days.

9. I admire people who can be assertive for their rights. Me? I am a doormat! The kind that also has foot scrubbers for you to srub your feet on and leave all the gunk behind.

10. I love arguments of any sort. But I argue only on subjects that I know and am confident about. Which means I don't argue much. He he!

11. I would like to get completely drunk once.

12. I think the bravest thing I have ever done is to go through infertility treatment, considering I am scared (to death!!!) of needles.

13. From 12 it follows that I would make a lousy junkie.

14. I can tune out a toddler screeching at the top of her lungs. Doesn't affect me. After a while I can even pretend I am on a Hawaiian beach with waves crashing at my feet :P

15. Nothing grosses me out except vomit. Guess who cleans up throw-ups in our house? :P

16. I am a big fan of CSI - the original one.

17. I HATE almost all the actors in CSI: Miami but still watch it for the mysteries.

18. I can squint with both my eyes. That is LLTT for you!

19. I can scratch my own back. Any point.

20. I have never been able to make a decent dosa or idli batter in my life! Am still trying!

21. Number 20 follows from the fact that I am a die-hard optimist.

22. I have the ability to find at least one good quality in every person I meet. In even the people I don't like.

23. I hate talking on the phone.

24. I love gadgets of any kind. I don't necessarily want to own all of them. But I love "playing" with them.

25. I don't like talking about myself much. You can tell, no? ;)

Please don't talk to me

Last night I went to Stop and Shop. They have introduced a new toy gadget for shoppers. You go in, scan your store card and pick up a hand scanner and a few bags. As you go around the store, you pick up things you want to buy, scan them with the hand scanner and put them directly in the bag. When you are done, you go to a checkout counter, which could even be a self checkout counter, scan a bar code that says "End transaction" or something like that, return the hand scanner to a holder, pay and leave with the stuff that you have already bagged. It can be a real time saver when a person gets used to it. The self checkout counters used to be my favorites, but now this little toy is on my "Toys of the Year" list. Oh, but I digress.

Using the hand scanner set me thinking - this is ANOTHER way not to interact with anyone. Time was, one would go to a Mom and Pop store, bring the things they wanted to buy to the person behind the counter and pay for it. While the transaction was taking place, they would chat about the weather, what's happening, what's new and what's not. Then the small stores got replaced by the Super Stores. The checkout clerks got busier but they would still talk to you. Then came the self-checkout counters. Now you just go to one, scan your stuff and pay for it without the help of anyone. You occasionally need help and there are store employees around to help. You see the trend here? We are saving time by not talking to people! We are still doing the shopping, the scanning, the paying. All the saved time comes from not having to talk to anyone. Not that I mind.

S' school system has an inclement weather information system. One can check online, on a TV channel or call a phone number to find out if schools are closed or delayed due to snow. I love the online system. Just open a website and see if the schools are closed or delayed.

Personal banking is going the same way. I can deposit a check, withdraw money, check my balance, deposit cash - ALL from an ATM kiosk of my bank. I can pay bills online and transfer money too. Don't need to talk to no bank teller!

When we were going on our trip to India in December, I put our mail on hold ONLINE! Imagine! No need to go to the local post office to fill out that little card that you needed to turn in if you wanted your mail to be held. That way you don't have to talk to the nice man behind the counter who would definitely have said "Oh what a beautiful baby you have there!" upon seeing your 18 month old. I did have to call our newspaper company to put our newspaper delivery on hold (Note to self: remind the newspaper to "grow" with the times)

I have tons of online friends too. I exchange emails with them all day long. As I was just telling my mom the other day - I hate talking over the phone. If I call you every other day (mom, you reading this? :P), imagine how much I must love you! Never mind that I don't say it.

So that, in a nutshell, is what is becoming of us. We are turning into anti-social but efficient beings. And I believe I am leading the way. Do remember I love you, but don't call me. Email me!