Vegetables in Vogue

I never could have imagined that I would ever write about this…no not even because I’m a hard core foodie! I mean just think about it, the conversations of the kitchen are now making headlines and rightfully so as the grumbling homemakers concerns are just not hers anymore.

This really isn’t about the cartels formed by some colony cart-walas who seem to cast the prices of the day in stone and follow them like they were sent by the Lord Almighty himself! This isn’t even about the famous Mr. Onion who seems to have hogged all the lime-light posing on magazine covers, making special appearances in conversations of the high and mighty and even re-inventing the reason for why he used to make us cry! So all of you who love your Dal-Makhani with Naan so much more for the Onions in Vinegar which accompany it, please rid yourself of this sheer moh-maaya (worldly attachments).

Ok, ok I’ll come to the point…you see I have always loved Okra aka Bhindi and even refused to eat food without it while growing up. The reason I am so upset is that nobody cares about the dear lady finger anymore. I understand that the Onion prices are hitting the roof and soon a century but the Bhindi isn’t far behind (at least till yesterday in South Delhi =72/Kg). What will happen to all my friends, chefs and countrymen who love it as much as I do?

I even applied the logic of it being a lean vegetable and the Onion a well-rounded one and I understand that “curves are back”, etc but this kind of favoritism just won’t do!

Anyway on a more serious note, I was just thinking about how times have changed and the time when flaunting what you ate for dinner or what’s packed in whose lunch isn’t really far away! Imagine a conversation which goes, “Hey so have you heard that the party at their house last night had 27 dishes and all of them with Onions ;)” or “Did you know that Mrs. XYZ hasn’t bought any Onions for the last two months…Do you think they have a financial crisis?”

Come to think of it branded vegetables and fruits are already in the shelves of neighborhood supermarkets, so how far could ‘Vegetables in Vogue’, conversations be? Don’t believe me? Just answer the question -So which brand of water do you drink - Bisleri or Evian?
Sanchita Johri

DU Special

There's just something about this time of the year in Delhi. There's a flavour in the nip in the air and a blanket of winter memories from the years gone by that weaves itself around all bonfire flames.

I clearly remember my first winter in North Campus in Delhi. The college festivals,the competitions, the jugaad for passes,the late night coffees at Barista in K-NAGS and the chai by the roadside :) There was always someone who hadn't eaten enough dinner and if the maggi magic wouldn't do the trick we happily walked to the carts selling boiled eggs or to the overnight tea stall whose TG was primarily hungry folks like us :) Our other nocturnal counterparts comprised a mix of students from all colleges with conversations and topics that beat even the number of colleges in DU and that is quite a few. These were the unofficial DU debates which neither had a prize nor a judge but the participation was overwhelming. The only interruptions were shouts from someone who had either too much sugar in their roadside coffee or none at all.

There was so much that perplexed us right from who would pay the bill today and to who had paid it yesterday, to the grouses we bore our paying guest landlords, to the angst of broken hearts and hearts that were brimming with unproffessed love, to classroom talk to discussing which college would have been a better option in terms of hotter crowd ;)

There was this self selection criteria which had catapulted people into groups - the hostellers, the day scholars and the DU special bus buddies (how sweet!!!).

No matter how empty the pockets they were always full, no matter how much the pressure there was always time to 'chill maro' and no matter when you studied or if you did at all...it all worked out :) Right from the farewell parties for senior batches to the fuccha parties for the first year's we just looked forward to an excuse to pose for photographs. There were these long practice sessions before any fest. with tempers and hopes both running high, the fights , the patch ups, the canteen hopping...life was so simple or maybe we were :)

We have come a long way but the cold winters we shared together will forever be warmed by the cherished memories of those times.

Dedicated to all at DU esp. my friends.

Sanchita Johri

On Second Thoughts

So you obviously haven't forgotten the competition where you were awarded the 2nd prize and the judges consoled you by announcing that it was just by a few points! You would also still remember the time when you came second in that bet...but then there were only two people competing ;) Remember that colony aunty ji who always compared you with her Bablu who always came first in well..uh. everything! You surely recall the pain in your chest when the love of your life stood posing with the winner and not you, as again as usual you were second :) So there you were ready to take on every Bablu and every Auntyji who would ever mess with you a.k.a beat you to first place!
You now of course are in first place and didn't let anyone beat you or get ahead but someone did beat you. All the auntyji's and Bablu's were always ahead of you...no not actually but in the space you gave them in your heart and mind. They made you forget how to throw your head back and laugh like there was no tomorrow,they made you forget your individual journey, your own race track which you could have created and been the sole runner on, they made you run and that too right into the rat race! Sometime's wanting first place becomes more a function of defeating those we dislike than pleasing those we like including ourselves :) Stop, pause you can read this at leisure,that is of course if you choose to take the time. It isn't for nothing that they say - EVERY SECOND COUNTS :) and it always will...only if you want it to...
Sanchita Johri

A Balcony View

Sometimes it feels good to just stand in the balcony and hear either the silence or the world whizz by. Looking up at the night sky with the crisp nip in the air and the occasional sound from the tampered silencer of someones bullet going past, the master calling the name of his dog out on an after dinner walk and sounds of several footsteps making their way home trying to beat the pace of the dark.There's so much activity yet so much calm, there's a different melody to each night and yet there is a quiet.

The trees cloak themselves in the colours of the night and the lamp posts express themselves with shadows which if you look at long enough sometimes seem more real than the objects from which they stem. They seem to me just like the thoughts, the dreams, the nightmares which seem more real than reality...then I look away...from the thoughts and the shadows. So much transpires in a day and so much more just in our head and heart. There's so much more that we have lived,more than we realise... for there's a real world on the road, another inside our homes but all of us have a world that exists only in balconies even if the balcony isn't real at times... however the thing to remember most importantly is to always look up at the sky :)

Sanchita Johri

An Eyewash?

It's funny that I have changed my opinion about you. The first time I met you I thought I saw you, but I was wrong. I didn't see you at all and though I am taking the liberty of speaking for you...you didn't see me either. No it wasn't that we weren't looking it's just that we didn't see.You know it's just like the difference between hearing the sounds vs really listening. I didn't see you because someone else I knew had met you before .That someone I thought would have done the seeing for me, so I forgot...to see you...at least through my own eyes and you didn't see me either because I had built a wall...the wall of self preservation. If only all these self preservation walls could be painted and sold real estate would be so much cheaper :) Anyway coming back to things we can see and yet don't.

That movie that released last friday...yeah I figured you didn't see it...neither did I but our friends did and we took their word about it being a bore. I haven't yet been to that new restaurant that opened last month however most of the people I know have ...they didn't think much of it so I decided not to go. That review about the book which made you not read it and their opinion about that white jacket you love and now don't wear...yeah I know it's still in the closet. Well I realised that my eyes have been dependent long enough so I decided to let them earn a living. I began by letting go of reviews especially when they are about people I meet for the first time...usually hand me downs aren't the best option you know not when you want to make someone feel really special and when it's something as precious as OUR opinion about someone we know they really shouldn't play a part at all. That is just my opinion what's yours?

Sanchita Johri

Burning Absence

There were these old newspapers on the table almost golden with age and yellow with dust with a lamp by the corner and a diary covered in fading black for company. There were his spectacles on the desk, only the glass was not tinted…with anything.
The paraphernalia had become one with the table on which it lay and yet stood out so distinctly. They say that is what your relationship should be with the world…you must blend and yet retain your identity.
It was the quietest room I had visited in a long time, yet throbbing with sounds all of which can be heard only by the sixth sense. There was a calm, a very disturbing one and the sheer silence almost had a baritone voice. This room hadn’t been opened in years…there was nothing here that belonged to anyone who had any use of it, not a soul entered it except the mice who think that all such rooms have been bequeathed to them.
That day he had walked out in a hurry, he had read something but he wouldn’t say. He had rushed out to help someone he knew, he said he would explain later. The explanation never came and neither did he, this was the night they had set fire to the neighborhood. The newspaper was fresh, the news old and the fire will forever continue to cause more casualties than any newspaper can report in a day.

Sanchita Johri

And I died

And I died, stood yearningly at heaven’s door,
A deep voice spoke through the light through its core.

“Oh! Father let me in I cried aloud,
Let me out of this dark tunnel this shroud.”

The voice again spoke unto me,
“Your work on earth is over you are free.”

“Father free of pain, feeling and woe,
But alas! No place, nowhere to go.”

“Dost thou remember the hut torn down to build your palatial abode?
In that hut I your father lived which you did erode.”

“Dost thou remember the sick kitten dying of hunger and thirst?
But you were too busy for making more money, business came first.”


“Dost thou remember the beggar to whom not a penny did you give,
It was I your father whom you did not help live.”


"Doing no evil does not suffice to open my door
Doing good is the key which you need this hour."


"Oh! Father one more chance is all I ask,
I will live every moment do good in every task."

"It is too late my child to repent too late,
Your journey’s over and now this tunnel your fate."

"You were not evil nor any good did you do,
I give you not hell,but so not heaven too."

I stood an apparition wild and wandering,
When I awoke from this heavenly nightmare,
Realizing how my life I had been squandering.

(I had written this in 2001 and it was published in the HT City 18th May Lko edition in 2002)

Sanchita Johri

True Alibi

He knew he wasn’t going to make it on time; yet again he’d have to think of a great excuse about why he was late. Thinking of a new alibi everyday almost seemed like a KRA now. With the car keys in one hand, a sandwich in the other he just ran towards the car. He didn’t even have time to match his belt with his shoes, forget wearing the cologne!He left the dog at the door with eyes moist with either the morning dew or pangs of yet another day without a hug from the forever on the run master! He had a whirlwind of noises filling the car, some from the radio in the background and some from the scenarios that played in his head. Images from hoardings came screaming in as did the faces of vendors at red lights.

Why was there never enough time?The humdrum of the inside and the outside was disturbed even further by the cell phone ringing, it was mum, and he knew she was calling to check if he’d eaten the most important meal of the day. He just couldn’t take the call, there was no time, and he’d call her back later in the day.The conference had obviously begun; no one was in their cubicle, except of course the new girl who gave him butterflies in the stomach. He always wanted to say hi to her, but managed just about a smile everyday.

Today he didn’t even have time for that, all the noise hadn’t let him come up with a story which sounded less irresponsible than the truth. The truth being as simple as over lazing in the bed with the Winters setting in.Well it finally struck him like the gong in the ticking clock, after all today was his grandparents anniversary and he would say that he’d gone to visit them.( He promised himself that he would do precisely that in the evening after work). They had been calling him for a while now and he just didn’t seem to have the time. So as he adjusted his tie and walked confidently into the conference room, to his surprise he found it empty. As he walked back to his cubicle wondering if he had the conference dates mixed up, he saw his colleagues strolling in after a coffee session chatting louder than usual. Their glowing faces told him before they actually did that the boss had called off the meeting. The boss was going to meet his grandparents for their anniversary!

Sanchita Johri

Clouded Memories

It’s raining outside I don’t know what is more clouded the window or my thoughts, but there is a fog…a mist outside or maybe within. I am comfortable in the warmth of the blanket and the sound of the downpour reassures me of my blessings. Then again I don’t know if I would feel more blessed if I could just go out get drenched in the rain, play in the mud and sleep like it was the longest picnic of my life or am I blessed because I am comfortably sitting wrapped in a blanket shielded from the gushing rain outside.

As a kid all I knew was to roll up my pajamas and sing at the top of my voice in the backyard when it rained with the rain drowning out the noise of all the off key notes and the made up lyrics for a tune I liked and couldn’t sing to save my life but now I couldn’t do it…I don’t know which one got lost in all these years, the kid, the rain or the tune.

I could still remember the half punctured football we kicked around in the colony park marinated in the “keechad” and in those days we didn’t even have a commercial which said , “Daag Ache hain”, to save us from the aftermath at home. There is always this one house in every colony where the hungry gang of friends finds refuge in someone’s grandmother’s garma garam pakore and chai and we did too! It was us, our dirty clothes , our puppy eyes and rumbling stomachs that must’ve been the perfect package, come to think of it anyone would have fed us looking like that!
It is still raining outside but somewhere it had never stopped…

Sanchita Johri

Rise and Shine :)

So I woke up and found myself on a vast expanse of land. There were no clear boundaries, no human faces, no buildings, no trees…nothing at all. Just me, my thoughts and memories of the life/lives I had lived, the roles I had played and the feeling of distance.

Distance they say is relative to time and space, here there was none. Yet I had come far, there were roads I had travelled and yet I couldn’t see any of those neither could I see one ahead. I knew I had to walk but I didn’t know why or where I was headed.

There were familiar faces around me and yet they seemed so far away, they were…a reflection from the abyss of my mind. I didn’t know whether they were still a part of my present or would I not see them again, yet they were there if only in the realms of my mind.

There were no signboards nor any speed breakers, no direction no speed limits just space…There was so much I wanted to do but that was on known territory where I had an identity, on this ground I wasn’t sure it mattered. I wasn’t sure if anything mattered except memories of the conglomerate me from the life/lives I could recall.
There were flashes of incidents… the happiness, the fear, the pain, the joy all fresh yet as stale as if they never happened. I could have done better, handled them more objectively but I was blinded by the signboards, the speed breakers and the warning signs closing in on me on the territory I used to know. There were things to be done, targets to be achieved and there was a timeline to everything…Time…here it didn’t exist.

I could even recall the perfect family dinner, but of course I didn’t attend the whole thing, I had other responsibilities. There were people sitting around a table, there was peace, these were the people I had set out to achieve everything for or was it really for them? Today all they wanted was my time and I didn’t have it, we never do and we never will for every today will become a yesterday and tomorrow you may wake up in a foreign land.

Sanchita Johri

A Taste of Puducherry 2009

As the gravity let go of me in the capital of the country, my travel plans took flight. From the New Delhi airport to down south, Chennai I slept like a log on the 6 a.m. flight. The flight touched down at around 11 a.m. and after collecting my material wealth I headed off to find the Taxi driver.“Hello, aap ka naam kya hai?” I asked, there came the retort like a bullet, “No Hindi…” i.e. - Welcome to Chennai. The name by the way was Thyagraj.
So began the journey to the quaint little town called Pondicherry aka Puducherry. The ECR road to Pondy seemed like it knew where it was taking me, and a chai by the way side coupled with some kurkure only enhanced the hospitality.
From the coconut trees to the sheep and cows grazing in the lush green it was quite all …ah! India. Soon my feet were acquainted with the streets of Puducherry and my ears with the sounds of the Bay of Bengal. I was on Beach Road on which the hotel, The Promenade is located. Just a few blocks away is a little white square building with arches and a hangover of the French Empire if only in name – Le Café. The grilled chicken is a must try and the wait…well lets just say the pace of the city is all pervasive.
Well I am a woman and you must be wondering where is the Shopping??? Well it’s right here starting on Beach Road. A little shop called Pudumai adjacent to the hotel which sells practically everything you’d like to call souveneirs from Pondy. From incense sticks and cones, to scented candles, handmade papers, and leather bags it’s all quite colourful.
From the shop to the Sunday Pondy Market on Kandi street which is fifteen minutes away (practically everything is!) and shopping for clothes at well lets just say throwaway prices…to walking around MG Road there’s so much to do and yet so little.
Monday morning began with the blues but this time with those of the Bay of Bengal. After a hearty buffet breakfast it was now time for a revolution, that of a cycle wheel. From Mission Street I rented a bicycle at 40 Rs a day and soon got pedaling.
The afternoon was spent going to the Aurobindo Ashram which is a peaceful retreat with the local women and children selling souvenirs around it. After the bargaining and the buying I headed off to the sister hotel called Le Dupleix. This is more like a royal hideout with royal swings, Venetian blinds and a huge Mango tree.Well a holiday is really about unwinding so I happily surrendered to the ancient art of ayurvedic massages at Shree Varma. P.S. only attempt the massage if you are not too attached to your clothing cause there’s not of much of it involved.
Dinner, after a long bicylcle ride to the Church – Sacred Heart of Jesus and a temple, was at a restaurant called Asian House. The place is run by Anandha Inn and a good starter to order is the shredded lamb. The real deal is the chicken sizzler which is totally a 10 on 10 and what’s more comes with a complimentary Pondy wine…ah! A treat for the taste buds.
Tuesday morning saw me strolling down for the buffet breakfast and then heading of to Auroville which is 10 km away from Pondy. At Auroville the visitors centre has three shops, a book shop, a café, and a matrimony mandir (closed for Sunday Afternoon Public) .
The café at Auroville seems a little low key but don’t let the looks fool you. The mushroom lasagna and other specialities are absolutely mouth watering and energize you well in the 1 to 1:30 ‘shop closed for lunch break”. The shops again are full of colourful items and I would be surprised if you don’t pick up a thing or two for that little corner in your house.
After some Cheese and wine shopping from Farm Fresh, the bags were packed for the journey home.
I was soon at the Chennai Airport, had a quick club sandwich at the ITC run restaurant called Flights of Fancy where I sat thinking about how necessary these real flights are to rejuvenate the flights of fancy that sometimes just need a runway.
To quote, William Henry Davies:
What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
Sanchita Johri

Udaipur

Truly the city of lakes; deep, glistening and beautiful.
The ideal time to visit Udaipur is August to February. It’s about 637 kms from Delhi and about 12 hours by train.
21st to the 31st of December every year is the annual festival at Shilpgram which is like a mini Rajasthani village re-created.With huts from all over India, handicrafts, musicians, dancers and a little dhaba it’s all quite complete.
Other great places to visit are City Palace, Lake Palace, Jag Mandir, The Vintage Car Museum, Lake Fateh Sagar, Pichola Lake and Ambrai (which by the way is a restaurant). Jaiwana Haveli being a terrace restaurant is rated higher than Ambrai, however personally I found Ambrai much better. Ambrai by the lake overlooking all the palaces and hotels all lit up on a dark night is really as picturesque as it gets. Another must go to place for dinner is the Jag Mandir palace. It is a restaurant on an island palace and one needs to be ferried across to reach the place. I still can’t make up my mind if I enjoyed the boat ride more or the fantastic rajasthani laal maas and non-veg platter at the hotel. For the vegetarian janta a place that is recommended is Aap ki Dhani, a traditional Rajasthani Restaurant.
Other places to visit are the Jagdish Mandir with its intricate design and architecture and also a temple 22kms away from Udaipur called Eklingji dedicated to Lord Shiv which dates back to 734 A.D. Just 4 kilometers ahead of Eklingji is Devi Garh a fort hotel that still stands tall in all it resplendent gloryand grandeur. This by the way is where Liz Hurley and Arun Nayyar tied the knot. The views are absolutely breath taking and the food brilliant.
The shopaholic will also find value for money and time as the bazaars are full of trinkets and artifacts. From silver jewelry to stone sculptures to wooden décor to brightly coloured bandhini there’s a lot to look at and a lot to buy.
For those who enjoy a quiet stroll the city has several ancient parks like the Saheliyon Ki Bari apparently built by the Prince for the love of his life and the 48 women who accompanied her as part of her dowry. I found the stories around the parks more fascinating than the parks themselves.
After a long day of sight seeing and shopping one can indulge in a spa treatment at ESPA in the Hotel Leela . Great ambience, masseurs, music and products are just some of the things I can recall. Sunset at the lake Pichola is a stunning sight and so are the hotels around it.
One of my favourite places is the Vintage Car Collection which belongs to the current Maharaja and a place which is a haven for car lovers.
Udaipur is truly a mesmerizing city which establishes a connection with your soul and will keep you wanting to re-visit the place.

Sanchita Johri

Terms and Conditions Apply!

So I sat there just staring into oblivion wondering about how he managed it, how did he love everyone and have everyone love him. He didn’t have much of a conversation, didn’t buy people gifts, I mean he never even paid anyone a compliment! Yet he managed everyone so well and even his time.
Then I thought about everyone else around me, everyone who is part of my circle of caring and all the others I know. I thought about how most of us have these apprehensions about approaching someone to be our friend, tell them we like them or for that matter people we are closest to don’t often get to hear how we much care. We are so caught up in judging others and also judging ourselves from their eyes that the mind is the Great Wall of China in most relationships.
Intrinsically most of us want the same things … love, health , wealth, recognition, etc - in not necessarily that order and yet we are so different or are we?
You see we all need definitions to survive and therefore pride ourselves more on the fact that our judgment of someone was right more than the quality of relationship we share. More often than not I realize that once we take a dislike to someone no matter what they say or do we look for proof to justify to ourselves the dislike for this person, even though we may have forgiven the same thing in someone else.
Oh Lord! Like I said this staring into the oblivion isn’t really the best thing, it gets me lost in a chain of thought and then I find myself ignoring him whom I had referred to when I began. He is my Golden Lab Scooby.His best attributes - he doesn’t live in the past, has no apprehensions, doesn’t judge others and best of all doesn’t judge himself !

This is a quote I read which said, " Don't take life too seriously, no one gets out alive anyway".

The Road

No that road is not the one outside your house, neither is it the one outside mine. Actually honestly it really isn’t outside anymore, but it used to be.

No, it isn’t lost, neither can it always be found, it takes you places if you want to go there and where you decide to stop is where this road ends.

This road has gone from being rock solid concrete to being light enough to fit into concentric circles of smoke from that cigarette in your hand.


Sometimes I wonder if this road is coming from or going to somewhere, I think maybe both. It sometimes comes from where I’ve been and goes to where I haven’t…


This is a puzzle if you want it to be and not if you don’t. It really is just like the road, it takes the form, the origin and the destination you decide to give it. It really, trust me or yourself for a change, starts and ends just where you intend it to.


It however needs a frame for it to be visible, a context maybe, sometimes just the truth and usually the truth as we have chosen to see it. It is a road,( that by now should be obvious ) that you have travelled and now it travels on you and yet you travel on it, for better or for worse.


That is a road you have left behind or have you? That is a road that defines you or should it. That is a road that you had taken, (Oh! ok I heard that, you were made to take it) either way you took that road. That road, this road, those roads all of them are now a construct of your mind and are criss- crossing in the labyrinth aka maze of your memories. And yet there is one more road waiting to be taken, the road you always wanted to travel, but didn’t for the maze of other roads that kept you back. That road is still waiting, it is usually called, THE ROAD LESS TAKEN


Sanchita Johri

My Soul is a DJ

I can’t believe they played that song on the radio today. It had been so many years since I had heard it… or maybe not. I think I probably heard it almost everyday, some part of my soul had gotten used to humming it. Then I realized that there were so many songs that my soul hummed to itself almost like a background score to my thoughts. Every song had a little memory attached to it. The images seemed distant but the song as fresh as sipping a hot cup of tea on a winter morning!

There was this song that our Rickshaw puller used to play on his little black radio making a remix version of it with the water bottles and tiffin boxes clanking away all the way to a school called Tender Hearts in Lucknow.I can’t believe I still remember the name Chitrahaar – The MTV of those days ;) and even the Aakashvaani that happened before the Mahabharata started( Main Samay hoon), then the Pop era with the Philips Top Ten, the boy bands, the songs played at socials in school -all of it now seemed like a medley in my head!!!Then there was these MJ songs my brother played several times on his “oh so new disc man”! The Tamil songs our Van Driver Raju Uncle played on our way to school in Muscat, the songs of the several Antaksharis played in the garden with my dad and songs that we practiced hours together on the school stairs with “my gang of friends” to just see who remembered the lyrics more!Then there were Christmas Carols we learnt at choir and my dad played them for a month before Christmas every year at home, in the car and any other place where we could hear them. The sounds of the aarti during Diwali sung by different members of the family and also songs sung during the weddings of cousins getting married.There were songs that I had begun associating with different people like a song that one of the teachers sang in school ( it was the same song every year- lest we forget), songs sung by people in college as performances in college fests, the song that spoiled the walkman for repeat play during the first break up and of course the song that we thought would play in the background when we met the person of our dreams!

There were so many songs in the past and there will be so many more in the future, but for the fear that the DJ in my head takes over, I paused to hear the song playing outside the window- The song of a little bird on a tree!

Sanchita Johri

The Present, A Gift Today!

So you really thought that if you topped that exam, life would be so perfect.You thought that you truly were the brilliant types who didn’t need to study (that’s for nerds).But this time it was different there was this special someone in class, you just couldn’t afford to have them think that you’re any less smart than the one who seems to wear the medal like it was uniform. If this special someone didn’t fall in love with you, no one probably ever would. Just this once it was so important or life just wouldn’t go on.So you crammed the whole night, did decently well but the medal swindler stole the show.The special someone…Oh I forgot, they sort of moved on to a different city, ummm life , it went on… at least you did ok on the exam!

You just so had to graduate with honours, lose weight ,get into shape, look great well duh how obvious is that…it was going to be Grad.Day!If only that new love interest would look at you the way you always candidly looked at them, if only they would join you as your date for the party at your place after the ceremony…life would be so perfect! Else it might just be over! So there you were looking your best, umm maybe a little more toning might have helped, but never mind, you had personality! The degree came and so did the honour of being introduced to the fiancée of that someone special! Life it went on, after all you did have to find the perfect job for the perfect life.P.S. – you also hoped you’d meet that special someone at work, looking at the work hours nowadays, where else?

So there went your updated resume like the morning newspaper delivered on time everywhere it was supposed to reach, life was going to be perfect you knew it, we all do.Why were they taking so long to call, Oh just this once the perfect job…life would turn out just right. There came the calls and ofcourse you got the job, it all seemed perfect till you actually understood the terms and conditions, but then again life went on atleast the chances to meet that perfect someone were still open! It was only a matter of time till you found your next job, the perfect one…Life then would be so perfect!!!

And you like all of us spent your life so far ignoring the imperfect perfect life, in anticipation of the perfect one which you may someday have and call it imperfect for the perfection of it! Inspired by a quote I read which said that the past is history, the future is a mystery, the now is a gift, that is why we call it the present.

Sanchita Johri