jabberwocky

Want the house to look like this.. just like this.
woe is me

How difficult is it to build a house. Very-if you ask me.
After years of thinking I finally get right down to it.. and before you know i wonder
if i've bitten off more than I can chew or eat or whatever.

First those stupid banks and their stupid loan procedures,
they tired me out so much..i gave up just as soon
borrowed money and started... and now..grrrr
the money is getting over the work is not
simple hand blastered walls was what i wanted and what do i get
walls that look like they been pressed with cow dung cakes.
good god.. i'm tired. no more money and a house that is... not too stunning
flooring is working out expensive.. what do i do???
the truss and tiles --i can't afford.. what to, what to, what to do???
anyway.. this is what is should look like when/if finished.

This is the house that Jack Built
This is the table that lay in the house that jack built
This is the cheese that lay on the table that lay in the house that jack built
This is the rat that ate the cheese that lay on the table that lay in the house that Jack built
This is the cat that chased the rat that ate the cheese that lay on the table that lay in the house that Jack built
This is the dog that bit the cat that chased the rat that ate the cheese that lay on the table that lay in the house that jack built
This is the cow that horned the dog that bit the cat that chased the rat that ate the cheese that lay on the table that lay in the house that jack built
This is the maiden that milked the cow that horned the dog that bit the cat that chased the rat that ate the cheese that lay on the table that lay in the house that jack built
This is the boy who wed the maid that milked the cow that horned the dog that bit the cat that chased the rat that ate the cheese that lay on the table that lay in the house that jack built

And, his name was jack.

IT's a very small picture and not clear but ít shows a group of girls sporting alphabets on their clothes that read... Y R U LOOKING AT ME
A bunch of girls wearing crazy clothes(only jasmeen actually) hang out at the Brigade road railings and stare at guys. Sounds like dream. Only this one happened. Jasmeen has been working on this for very long, its and interesting way to protest...collectively.. because the truth is that all women no matter how brave they are ( or pretend to be) are a bit darpoky when it comes to maniacal men.

so collectively they can stare and even trash one or two, like priyanka rana did when someone acted smart with her. Good fun, though it was damn irritating to hear a lot of rubbish that the guys were saying. Can you imagine half the smart asses on the roads were all mals. so much brethren, frustrated and bored guys.

Y R U looking at me? each girl has an alphabet, and when they stand in line at traffic signal .. this is what it reads as. And this is exactly what women have been asking for avery long time. Blank Noise also has an interesting project where they ask anyone who has been harassed to donate the garment in which they were harassed. this garment will travel as a exhibition.. and be called You ASKED for it.

www.blanknoiseproject.blogspot.come worth visiting, mailing, joining.
this time i went as an observor, not participant, next time will pariticpate.. and hope it'll rock.

First there was a journalist from Pakistan, who lived in America, who sent me some information in 2004. He was damn sweet-I forget his name. Then there was this editor-again I forget his name that I corresponded with briefly over the Lahore fest..also sweet.
And, now there is the ultimate. I posted something on the Pakistani Writers forum on orkut about Ashfaq Ahmed and his writings and whether I could find a translation.. in comes Yahya-ultimate sweety, and offers to send me his books..quite something.. want to go and check out soon... if nothing then atleast anarkali's grave!

Gato and Qayum
It's probably the most heart breaking of all stories
A little boy and his cat
The quest for a pet
The bonding between the two
and the angst of separation

Gato tells the tale through the boy's eyes.
It's beautiful and incredibly sad.
A must read for every adult and
a must-must for every child.

There is a Qayum in every one of us
How the hell does one hold on to it
it's slipping away every second.

Arshia did it. Put him all over town
in newspapers ads, in posters, on building walls as flex, in pamphlets good .. here in koshy's also.

here comes the donkey baby. NOOR.
or little hundred.
hundred because noor is hundred in kannada-nooru, tamil-noor, malayalam-noor, all strange pronouciations of course.. NOOR it is.
and little because she is atul's daughter.

We hoped she would look like sheeba if she was a girl--unfortunately she looked like atul
which i thought was bad news. She doesnt' have sheeba's eyes, I said.
It's okay, says Vinod as long as she doesn't get atul's hair!!!!

What we thought of as a strange looking creature is fast become really cute and sweet.
atul gushes too much, but the little monkey is begining to look sweet.
I gave her socks, shoes and a pink monkey which i'm sure her stupid parents won't let her play with...
bloody elitist, urban types--will turn that monkey into a dabba if they dont' watch it.
but she's cute and here she is.. there are other pic with her wearing a lampshade on her head.. but it might be overkill. too many babies --bad for health. ashte for now.

two of my favouritest people.
Atul is one of my BESTEST friends and sheeba his wonderful wife.

I saw him at the main bazaar street or the temple street as its known.
he was dark, smiley and wore clothes that made him look like'he'd stepped out of a mythological tv serial. like ramayan, or mahabharat. But he was great fun, he ran around, troubled a few foreigners and was generally having a blast. He was quite a performer, and soon his antics made me smile, which was my undoing, because he pounced on me immediately. "give me money" he say. No way. I back off. "give me something , i'm hungry" hmm hunger is always a problem. Okay i'll buy you food. try to take him to a dosa place. Oh no.. he wants to eat a the steak joint. That would set me back by 300 bucks.. no way. I say no. "Okay buy me something," he says. And, what does he choose, a picture of Hanuman-costs 45 bucks which I part with readily. Gireesh takes a picture. happy monkey. lovely monkey. I'm feeling kind and sweet and happy and the jackie chan interview almost happened. We are all set to meet jackie and the horrible mallika sherawat the next day, as well as the chinese director. all is full of love. And, while walking in the village in the evening with Deep, who do I see but my little monkey and what is he doing? begging , and this time with the hanuman picture that I've bought him. I contributed to his begging whether I wanted to or not. Silly monkey-but atleast he was a smart monkey. Actor saala.

Gomateshwara: In our childhood whenever we saw an image of Gomu, we giggled. Mainly because he was naked. Having been to Shravanabelagola earlier, and once during mahamastakabhisheka, I wasn't expecting anything fabulous during this trip. On work, at the Abhisheka. Everything was the same, naked jain munis all over the place, unperturbed by celeb visitors and the media, women in white, rich jains from all over the world praying devoutly.
Everything was the same-and yet something had changed.
This time the statue look more majestic than ever. If i felt embarassed it was because of my smallness, in size, in mind and in everything. He looked so above and beyond all this, everything that was happening around him. And, glorious and majestic and peaceful.

The greatest thing was seeing the colours of the statue change from milk white, when washed with milk and bright yellow, after the turmeric abhisheka, there were so many, coloured crystals, precious stones, sandal paste, milk, sugarcane juice(substitute for honey-which the jains don't use), bright red vermillion. I saved a pic-it was just too much to take in. Lovely . Everyone must go once for the mahamastakabhisheka, it more art than religion

It's really too much. First a silly neighbour cuts a tree and then I see one cut on the way home.
how can anyone want to cut a tree? I can't believe that someone would want to cut a full grown tree. It takes years to grow one. We should know.. we moved into an area that was barren. Today 15 years later its green and this goose comes along-wants to build a biggish silly house and before you know it.. the tree outside his house is cut.

We didn't even see it coming or we would have done something. They got the job done when everyone was out at work. Firstly it's illegal to cut a full grown tree, EVEN if its standing on your land. Secondly this tree was NOT on his land, it was on public property. Thirdly the goose has not taken care of it... we did all that.. we ,and the forest department for 10 years. And, he cuts it down. Where will his children play, doesn't he care. Sujay says they'll be on their computers and will play video games only-so he doesn't care.

Maybe. It's too much, how do those activists keep at it. they're fabulous man. For anyone who might wander here and is interested for anything on Trees:
HasiruUsiru@yahoogroups.com it's a help line for anything on trees especially for NOT cutting them.
Call the Tree Officer – BMP - 22975523 or Deputy Conservator of Forests (Bangalore Urban Div) - 23346846
OR You can also call up Enivronment Support Group (ESG) @ its helpline - 26534364 which would guide you on further action. ESG would periodically gather this evidence and follow up with the Karnataka Forest Dept. for necessary legal action.