Simply Coffeelicious !

There is a café in Tokyo that I used to haunt. You have to drink their coffee to believe the flavour and the cheesecakes there are simply to die for. You would find me there every weekend, enjoying their coffee or simply spending time reading or working.
Today, sitting in Delhi, thousands of miles from Tokyo, I suddenly thought about that cafe. I felt as if I was sitting there, in that soft-cushiony red sofa by the wall with a cup of cappuccino in front of me. I could actually smell the coffee, feel the mist swirling up from the cup and the rich dark aroma of that heavenly brew tantalizing my taste buds. I could see the chocolaty-brown froth delicately balanced on the top. I almost saw my self digging a spoon in the slice of moist, creamy-rich cheesecake and feel it melting in my mouth.
My taste buds are all a-tingle now and suddenly all I want is a cup of that coffee.
Ever Happened to you?

55 Fiction- The Circle of Life

The old man walked slowly, laboriously; oblivious of the kids around him. Pausing for breath, he watched the brown leaves fluttering down, like tired souls at the end of their lives. Nearby, the freshly planted saplings swayed with the breeze, puny but showing promise of growth. The kids played on, full of vitality and life.

Photo clicked by me in Japan - Nov 2005

55 Fiction - Triumph

He ran furiously, blood thundering in his ears, each breath searing his lungs, every fiber of his being focused on the target;painted an ominous yellow and blue. A last burst of adrenaline; he lunged forward, grabbing the handle by his hand. Triumph! He had managed to catch the last bus home.

Confessions of a Compulsive List Maker

I have a confession to make. I am addicted to making lists. Actually if compulsive list making was a type of OCD, I would be in a padded cell by now. Every morning when most of mankind is groping for their morning cuppa my fingers are itching not towards my cup of coffee but for a pen and paper. I don’t rest in peace till I have written down a list of everything I want to accomplish through the day. It’s not caffeine that gives me my morning kick but making lists.
I have a separate list for everything – grocery shopping, clothes shopping, things I need to clean and sort, books I want to read, cuisines I want to try, places I want to visit, favorite websites. I even have a list of topics I want to blog about. My computer at work has a Post-It with a list for tasks I need to accomplish that day or week. I can face any situation in life provided I have a list ready. At the doctors’ clinic, I am known to whip out a list and ask questions from it much to the doctor’s amusement. I even make lists about what to pack whenever I travel. Once for a cousins wedding, I made a list of what to wear when, and which accessory to wear with which dress. Before meeting a close friend or family member I make a list of things I absolutely must tell them about. For those wondering, yes my memory is in absolute tip top condition thank you. Give me any memory test and I will pass with flying colors ! Its just that whenever you meet someone after a long time you get so carried away that you might forget to mention a few important things that happened in their absence.
And I am a master organizer of these lists. The items in my shopping lists are categorized according to each shop I will visit or sometimes even down to the items in the same aisle getting listed together. I have been known to berate shop attendants when they change the way things are placed on their shelves because it just about ruins my whole list!
Send me shopping without a list and it’s very probable that I will come back with a lot of things that I don’t need and nothing of what I need. If you want me to do something for you, better make me write it down! Important things in my lists are double underlined and have arrows pointing towards them.
You can never make me take a decision unless I have listed down every pros and cons of the issue. My friends are so exasperated with me that they think I need to join a List Makers Anonymous to cure myself of this malady. I rather think it’s a neat habit. And anyway I got it from my mother. She is an obsessive list maker and she got me hooked to it when I was really young. Mom says she got it from her dad. So if anything is to be blamed its heredity. But I am sure I am not alone in this. I am sure most of you make such lists too. Don’t you? Umm you DO Don’t You !
Oh Well I guess I better write down “Find List Makers Anonymous” on my list and double underline it !

Meeting Just the Mother of Two !

Some friendships are forged in childhood, friends you grow up with and who are a part of all your childhood escapades. Some friends are made in college and the predominant memories with these friends are of classes bunked together, movies seen, last minute cramming before exams and hostel days. Some friends are ‘Travel’ friends who are only remembered when you need to take off on yet another backpacking adventure. Some friendships are simply convenience friendships with people you have tea or lunch with at work. These people are conveniently forgotten once you change your job.
Then there is a special breed of friends called 'Blog Friends'. Friends whom you meet through their blogs, start off by commenting on their posts, move on to exchanging e mails and messages and gradually a friendship develops. They become a part of your life and you feel happy in their happiness and concerned when their messages and blog posts are less than cheerful. But these friendships feel slightly tinged with the unreal. You’ve never met these people in real life and your image of them is based solely on blogs read and mails exchanged. But when these virtual friends and their families step out of the blog pages and you actually get to meet them the experience is like magic !
This is what happened when I met Preeti Shenoy of Just a mother of two, her husband Satish and their two very adorable kids Purvi and Atul. She was in Delhi from UK on a whirlwind trip and was sweet enough to squeeze out time to meet me. After innumerable discussions about where to meet and a lot of tearing out of hair due to Delhi’s notorious traffic jams we finally managed to get together.
To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive about the meeting. I am not an extrovert by nature and tend to get choosy about making friends. But as it turned out, I was worried over nothing! Preeti is such a warm and genuine person and it was so easy to talk to her. The awkwardness that’s usually there when you meet a person for the first time was totally missing. We connected immediately, conversation flowed effortlessly from topic to topic and off course about the two things closest to our hearts; blogging and writing ! Time simply flew past while I was with her. The saying ‘Life’s finest moments are those that you spend in the company of friends’ describes our meeting to the T !”
I had been quite skeptical about virtual friendships before but now I feel that they are real – sometimes even more real and enriching than our other friendships !