C for Chicken

"Chicken"!!! - Reminds you of a tasty dish(vegetarians, please excuse) right?
And "chick", often used to refer to a stylish young woman, correct?

Well, now we are going to see a different meaning of 'chicken' and 'chick'.
A definition which we all know, but easy to forget in this world of Food and Fashion.
Chicken: The common domestic fowl
Chick: A young chicken
Hen: adult female chicken


Patience, please, let me explain first the reason for all this chicken talk.

Today morning, i was walking down the road and saw three hens outside a small house.
Everytime i see a hen, flash!, a childhood memory comes up in my mind.

----FLASHBACK START-----
Around 13 years back, i used to go for drawing classes everyday after school hours.
In the class, there were boys and girls of different ages... A few came to learn out of their interest and all others came coz of their parents' interest.

The teacher was very talented, patient and had good sense of humour.
For beginners, he used to draw a sketch on the book, and the student has to make a replica of it.
Sometimes he used to put an object before the class and asked us to draw that.
At times, he would think up of some simple subject and the student has to draw it out based on memory and observation.

One day, he asked few of the more experienced students to draw a hen.
I, among the newbies, was assigned the task of drawing the exact image of the mineral water bottle on his desk. (looks simple, but so tough to capture it on paper, you know)
The class was silent for a while, busy drawing, erasing and drawing again.

I was busy in my sketch when a deep sigh from our teacher made us all look up at him.
Standing beside him, was a girl student in late teens, with her sketch of "Hen" on the teacher's table.
We couldn't see her drawing from our places and waited eagerly to know the cause of our teacher's sigh.
A dramatic pause and pin drop silence in the class.
Then he asked her, 'When did you ever see a chicken with four legs?'
Oh the expression on his face - priceless!!!
We all burst out laughing.
She was a cool girl BTW. None of this embarrassed her.
She joined in the laughter and her answer was simple and honest - 'Sir, its been a long time since I saw a live chicken'.
----FLASHBACK END-----

Since then everytime i see a chicken, i smile and think of her answer and how true it is.
Even in towns like the place where i grew up, things change at a rapid pace.
As a kid playing on streets i remember hens, goats, buffaloes, donkeys (oh i miss them the most), stray dogs here and there in almost every street.
But nowadays... its such a rare sight.

The only form of chicken which we get to see is the one served in Chicken Biryani, chicken curry, soup, ... u name the dishes...

Am afraid that if i ask my nephew how many legs does chicken have, he might get the count from leg joints in a plate of chicken biryani.
Forget my nephew, maybe my own friends might do the same ;) Just kidding.

I don't think these kind of domestic animals are kept in Zoo either. So its so easy to forget how they look like.
Makes me feel sad that most people get to see them in poultry farm as just a source of meat and eggs and not as a household pet as they once were.

I am a strict non-vegetarian, but these thoughts make me think seriously about cutting down the meat intake.
The rate at which we are eating, chickens may as well be among the endangered species pretty soon...

Writing this in hope that, next time you think of chicken, you'll think of it as a beautiful bird and,yes, with TWO legs only :)

Hey! Look what i got on googling for chicken legs count...

Below is the relevant extract from answers.yahoo.com

Question (posted in 2009):
How many legs does a chicken have?
((---See i told you, people have already started forgetting how chicken looks like---))

Answers:
1) how many legs have u observed ?
cos what i saw was 2...

2) I think it has 3, but thats just the space chickens...

3) LOL

2...

and yum.. I love them with BBQ Sauce.. :-)

4) I've seen 2 legs but if you are including the wings I guess it would have 4

5) Mine's got no leg, its all on my plate. Or boiling in the soup.... my oh my, i love chicken and peanut soup.

6) They don't have legs they have drumsticks!
((---this answer is not my own, i swear, its there in that website only... but i would have thought on similar lines.. so same pinch to whoever posted that answer---))

And ofcourse they were many responses with the right answer
7) 2 legs

Thank God!!!

Dance, Dance, Dance till you drop

There are a few things in Life which i want to learn b4 i die. Dancing is one of the top three in the list. But I've been delaying it with some excuse or other.
Recently realised - 'There are no end to excuses if you are looking for them... and there are no end of opportunities if you go looking for them...'

So decided to take a chance today. My friend and I went to the institute near my office to enquire details about class timings and fee. And when the guy there mentioned the fee...he just said it once, but it kept echoing in my mind. I can still hear it ringing in my ears. Such a huge amount to which i was not at all prepared to pay.

After the initial shock wore off, i decided to go back to the online instructor, the ever reliable, Youtube.

Dwapara yuga Ekalavya (from Mahabharatha, remember?) learnt what he wanted from clay image of his guru.
Kali yuga Ekalavyas can learn what they want from online gurus.

Youtube has so many videos for different kinds of dancing.
Am posting few of the Nachle ve links i found. Will keep updating the list.

Ooh, hold on a sec, i found another website which has online videos from different Indian TV channels.
Omg, so many other things are there on the homepage http://www.parilok.org/
'Tv Channels Zone' is just a small section in this.
Anyways coming back to our dance videos... Posting the link from this site below

Search result for 'Nachle ve' in NDTV channel in below link returned 3 videos as of today.
All 3 are parts of song 'Crazy kiya re' from Hindi movie 'Dhoom 2'
Warning: Its just like watching on TV.. be prepared for lots of ads in between :) ...
http://ndtvimaginevideos.magnify.net/search/?search=nachle+ve&sort=recent&ente=1-5&info=1-5&fits=1-5&reco=1-5

Will be posting similar videos in this blog under same category 'Dance'.

Pardes - Jahan Piya Wahan Main...

Freedom.. In search of Freedom, I've been seriously thinking about long term stay outside India. So many traditions and social customs, uff, i felt i needed a break, a big big break...

While searching through some job portal, found this link somewhere in the corner and clicked on it:
India Tourism - IndiaWeek SIUE

Somehow seeing the video about few places in India (and the backgrnd song, a lovely flute instrumental one), moved me to tears (yeah right, i cry at every small opty).
Made me think, what am i doing? I haven't even seen my own country which i love a lot.
What am i running away from?
Made me think again of what my friend asked me - "What do you mean by Freedom?"
I didn't have an answer for that but felt that whatever it is, it is calling me from abroad... Freedom is calling out to me from somewhere out there, from some other country with lesser restrictions...

This song came to my mind, describing my mindstate in this context

Pardes Song - Jahan Piya Wahan Mein

(For translated lyrics - scroll to the end)

Just replace "Ganga" with my name (it rhymes too!!) and replace "piya"(my love/beloved in English) with Freedom... and the new lyrics describe exactly about what i was feeling and thinking about Freedom.

Then i mentally fast forwarded the movie and drifted to the movie ending...
I live in movies and books half the time :D ...
And I try to relate reel life and real Life and get the advice from there whenever possible.
Anyways, where was i, yeah got it, ... in the movie ending, Ganga's destined to find what she seeks back in her own country.
And then i thought, why to waste my time and money to get the similar lesson in life?
After all, i don't have the job offer anyway, so nothing to give up :) (thank God, no need to prepare for interviews now)
So THE END to all the working abroad thoughts.

Moral of the day:
The Freedom am looking for.. is within me... nowhere else... i carry it within me...
None can give it to me, and none can take it from me.
Its upto me to follow the traditions i like, and break the rules i don't believe in.
So am here to stay in my dear own country.
There's always option to travel abroad on vacation if i need to widen my perspective on Life, right?


AKS, hope this definition of Freedom is practical enough for you :)
and Ash you are right, am never going to work abroad :)

-----------------------------------------------------------
Heres the song 'Jahan Piya Wahan Main' from movie 'Pardes'.
are ganga tu kaahe jaaye pardes
O, Ganga, why are you going abroad?

kaahe jaaye pardes
YWhy are you going abroad?

chhorke apna des...
Leaving your country?...

ganga chali kahaan qasam torke hamein chhorke...
Ganga, where are you going, breaking your promise, abandoning us?

piya mere piya
My love, my love

jahaan piya vahaan main
Where my love is, there I must be.

des chhudaaya pardes bulaaya...
He made me forsake my country; he called me abroad.

sandes yeh aaya mere naam
This letter came with my name on it.

jahaan piya vahaan main
Where my love is, there must I be.

mere piya vahaan main
I must be where he is;

main kya karuun mere raam
what can I do, my God?

jahaan piya vahaan main
Where my love is, there I must be.

mere piya vahaan main
My love is there, so must I be.

aisa lagta hai ki dil ke andar kuchh tuut rahaa hai
It seems as though something is breaking inside me.

baabul ke aangan mein mera bachpan chhuut rahaa hai
In my father's courtyard, I am letting go of my childhood.

main khush bhi huun udaas bhi
I'm happy as well as sad,

nadiyaan mein jaise pyaas bhi
like being thirsty amidst rivers.

main kya karuun mere raam
What will I do, my God?

jahaan piya vahaan main
Where my love is, there I must be.

mera piya vahaan main
My love is there, so must I be.

chaandi ki katori sone ka pitaara...
A cup of silver, a box of gold...

laa de maiya meri mujhko saasu ne pukaara
Bring them, mother; my mother-in-law has called me!

laali kaajal "powder" bindiya...
Blush, kohl, powder, bindi...

laa de meri maiya mujhko saiyya ne pukaara
Bring them, mother; my beloved has called me!

andekha anjaana sa ek sapna dekh rahi huun
I am looking at an unseen, unfamiliar dream.

apne man ke darpan mukh apna dekh rahi huun
I am looking at my own face in the mirror of my heart.

yeh main huun yaa koi aur hai
Is this me, or someone else?

sanjog pe kiska zor hai
Who has control over unions of the heart?

main kya karuun mere raam
My God, what shall I do?

ganga chali kahaan qasam torke hamein chhorke
Ganga, where are you going, breaking your promise, abandoning us?

wahaan main...
I go there...

jahaan piya vahaan main
I go wherever my beloved is.

wahaan main wahaan main
I go there, I go there.

Stranger in the mirror

There's a scary movie(Hindi movie, Naina) in which the heroine looks into the mirror and screams out in horror.
No, no, no, she's not screaming abt her make-up or appearance (she's beautiful!!)... its bcoz instead of seeing her own reflection, a stranger's face stares back at her from the mirror.... Oooooohhh.. the scariest thing that can ever happen in my opinion.
I would have a massive heart attack if i look into mirror and find Aish(no matter how beautiful she looks ;)) in my mirror reflection.
Ever since i saw that movie, i felt thankful to find my dear own familiar face in the mirror and noone else.

Years passed by since i saw the movie and then something happened which reminded me of that scene and the words "Stranger in the mirror" kept playing on and on in my head.
I lost my so called identity that time...
We define ourselves with few things in life like job, relationship, wealth, beauty, possessions, skills and so on. When one or more become so important to us, such things becomes an identity... something to define who we are.
When we lose that part of us, then comes the identity crisis.
When i used to look into the mirror during that time, i no longer knew the person looking back at me.
The smile is different, the eyes are different, the thoughts are different, everything... in short, a stranger in the mirror.

I used to stand before the mirror, looking at my reflection, hoping it would give back my definition or atleast redefine who i am. (Its not crazy, our mirror images do talk to us, don't u ever watch movies??)
Anyways nothing of that sort happened.
Every time i looked into the mirror, used to silently say hi to the stranger in the mirror. Maybe that should have been the point to go for psychotherapy, but friends therapy worked out all right for me.

Best medicine and diet when you are depressed or lost - its the brain of your friends. Keep eating it and you'll be perfectly fine over a period of time (Can't say the state of your friend after that though).
I talked and talked till i got the drama out of my system (i still keep talking, too much drama inside me).
And here i am - Happy and Healthy.

Alls well that ends well.
I still don't know the woman in the mirror, but i love her anyway.
Discovering myself day by day and refuse to define myself with any external factor. My identity is under construction, and i guess it'll always be.

'The day i stop changing is the day i start dying.'

Boy friends??!!!!

Here's the topic of the day "The cons and cons of boy friends" (in case u didn't notice, there are no "pros"... all "cons" only)

First let me start off with definition of boyfriends and boy friends. Go ahead, yawn if you must, but please finish reading the definition first. It'll take a load off my head and make me feel more clear. Boyfriends vs Boy friends... A space beteen the words makes a lot of difference.
"...There is a significant difference between boyfriend and boy friend. In a strictly grammatical sense, a boyfriend is an 'individual of significance' with whom one shares a relationship. A girl friend or boy friend, however, is simply a friend identified on the basis of gender...."

Boy friends... I used to think that having n number of boy friends was all a woman can ask for a happy independant life.. You get all the freedom and fun. No rules, no expectations. All play and no work. Etc. etc. I used to think all that for many years, but now???!!!!. I've few of the most awesome/awful (can't decide which word to pick, but i know u'll understand) guys as friends. They make me so mad at times that its a wonder i've not injured any one of them. Not yet anyway.

Won't believe me? Here i've the list ready, based on real life experiences.
Cons of having boy friends:
1) No support when you are sad.
When am sad they give some one-liners like 'It happens', 'It'll pass', 'Its ok' with the kind of empty face devoid of any kind of emotion. If my pride hasn't stopped me, i would have screamed and said 'Buddy, i don't want you to cry along with me, but atleast act like you are almost about to cry at my misery. A tear drop or two welling up in your eyes, is it too much to ask for. A woman needs her drama you know...'


2) No support when you are feeling senti.
When i feel senti or attached to them, they say people come and go. Make new friends and be happy wherever you go. (Hello, are you agreeing with them?? You are reading my blog and so you are on my side. Agree with me ok) Be practical they say. How stupid is that. Hit them on the head and that should fix their wierd way of thinking.

3) No support when you feel talkative.
If i chat for a bit longer(ok way more longer) than a sentence or two at a stretch, there will be no response from the other side. I panic at that point wondering if they ran away somewhere to hide and keep checking with "U thr?" after every few sentences or so. If they respond with "Yes", i sigh with relief and continue my monologue again till the next "U thr".
If i go and see my chat history, it will be full of my dialogues with the response from the other side very very rare, scattered here and there, i need to search very keenly that. Its 99.99% solo chat. I could as well be talking to myself.

But there are times, more often than not, when it feels really so wonderful to have them by my side. The fun time together and the kind of support they give... Its so wonderful, that i feel like going back and strike off all those cons above.
If not erase those, then atleast rephrase them as pros below.
1) The times when i felt sad - Their stupid one-liners made me stop crying and made me strong (No use crying when noone's joining you anyway)
2) The times when i felt senti - Their practical advice, somehow filled with unspoken care sounds so soothing... made a mature, practical (hmm, almost practical) person out of me.
3) The times when i felt talkative - Their patience in hearing me out (lets forget about their silence part for now, i don't need their response anyway, i just wanted to talk).. it makes me feel that even if they are slowly going crazy with all my incessant chatter, they will never shut me up(ok, there are times when they ask me to keep quiet, but i don't stop even then, so lets ignore those times also for now). Makes me feel they'll always be there even when am being silly and stupid.

((yawn)) Reading my own list makes me sleepy.
Lets end it here for now before the list increases...

Dedicated to all my stupid boy friends about whom this was written.
And ofcourse to all my girl friends, without whose calming presence, i would have killed those guys by now.

The Perfect Cube

Today is my 27th birthday.
This is the number i've been eagerly waiting for - 27 - Kind of sounds magical to me.
3 cube. and digits sum to 9 (which i consider lucky)

When the clock was about to strike midnight, I've had a very strange but familiar fear.
Was that excitement? Maybe so, maybe not.
Looking at my family, felt comforted and fell asleep.
Note to my sis:
Thanks sis dear for coming down for my b'day. I know i don't say it often, but hope you know that having u as my sis and friend is having a constant source of strength, care, fun and comfort for me.
Ofcourse, on a complaining note, there are times when its so frustrating to have someone know me as well as you do, reading my thoughts and predicting my actions... But thats expected i guess between people as close as we are... Pyar ke side effects, which we have to live through with loved ones :( ... But you know one more thing- Knowing that you can see through my stupid thoughts and feelings and still have you by my side with so much love, gives me the freedom to be myself and know, for sure, that i'm always loved, no matter what...

I slept in peace but woke up in a state of dread in the morning.

But then came home the teddy, red roses and yummy cake.
And along with that, a beautiful message which i'll treasure always.
Coming from you, dear Mad, it means a lot.
I'll carry that note with me as a reminder that no matter how mad people can be, there will always be madder friends around to love and be loved ;) .
Thanks for being such a wonderful friend and staying by me all along. I couldn't call you back to say thanks coz I felt so touched and senti and a phone call then meant so superficial. Hope you read this and know how much it meant to me.

After eating such cake its tough to stay awake.
On top of that, eating all day long whatever mom prepared at home.
Didn't want to begin my new year sleeping and lost in Dreamworld...
I called upon all my will power and though sheer determination managed to keep my eyes open.

And finally the day is over. Such a relief!!!
Did i mention, festivals and birthdays always make me feel so restless that i can't wait for the day to end.
Maybe am bit queer to feel that way, but thats ok.
I got my friends and family who takes me as I am, queer or not. Lucky me!!!

Review - Mane'a - The Salon

I've been to this place today for hair cut.
Mane'a - The Salon

Really good and worth every rupee.
There's something sinfully delightful in pampering oneself.
Having my hair shampooed and conditioned with such care(that too by a cute guy ;)) makes me feel like a princess.
Hmm thats it for now.
Got to run and see my hair again in the mirror.
Can't help it, the mirror wants to see my hair again and again :)