About Two Blogs I Read

This is a post about 2 blogs I read. I have never met the owners of these blogs in real life, and I may never meet them. But I know about their lives through their blogs.

There is the one by a Canadian girl. It’s called Honestly. She is about my age, has a boyfriend, is a devout Christian but loves science, especially biology. Funny how I stumbled onto her blog. I was searching for information on how to dissect squids. And she had a post on it, so her blog appeared on my google search results. It’s a very nice, personal blog with a lot of tiny details about her life, ranging from a tonsils operation to learning photography. There was nothing especially enlightening about anything she wrote, just her simple life, but maybe that’s why I liked her blog so much. It feels wonderful to read about the life of someone who lives at the other side of the world, whom I have never met. And even though I don’t know her personally, I still understand the simple pleasures she takes in looking at autumn leaves or her anxieties about scoring enough marks in her exams. I know that we are different when it comes to religion, since I am an atheist and she takes her religion very seriously, or that she has a boyfriend and I’m still single; but in a way she is so like me and I suppose we connect as only girls can. But i suppose the most important aspect of it all is that whatever she writes, she does so with her heart, what she truly feels, no lies, no show-offs. ‘Honestly’, could a blog have a title more apt?

Sadly, she has been silent for a long time now, I wonder why...

A case of me is a blog by a 20-something Indian woman. I have no clue what she does for a living. She was living in Bangalore for some time, but I think now she has shifted some place in Europe.

She writes so well! I love her blog especially for her poems. I come home after a long, tiring day through the traffic and noise, go online to do some pending task, and on google reader I get an occasional treat. She has posted a quiet little poem. I read, and re-read it and a quiet smile crosses my face.

I have relaxed.

The writer though has decided to shut down her blog. I don't know why. I won't try to change her mind through this post. I'm sure she has her solid reasons, well, at least I hope she does..

But yes, her work will be missed. I suppose I need to search for something else now, that will relax me at the end of a long tiring day.

(Btw, I have commented on their blogs telling them about this post of mine.)

Before and After

I had a new haircut!!!

yiipppeee!!!

I'm all set for the summer heat! 

:) 

 

:(

And so it has happened yet again.
Why?
Why is it that this phase starts just a few days before exams?
Why does this feeling creep into me, of wanting to run away, tear all the notes and books and break away from everything?
I love this subject. I have enjoyed studying it all year, then why suddenly this phase of no-enthu ??
Urrghhhh....
Why am I brooding so much? Why am I starring into space and letting my mind wander? Why am I not focusing??

I brought this upon myself.

I am solely responsible for this.

41

My very best friend, Anupamaa turned 41 last Saturday.
41 !
I admire her for many reasons, and the thing she did on her birthday added to those reasons.
She got herself a tattoo!
Right across her forearm for all the world to see!
Isn't that cool or what?!

Peelu, Peeli aur Peellum!

This is the third consecutive year that they have visited the clump of trees right outside my window- this pair of orioles.

Orioles!

Flying around the branches, a flutter of bright gold and yellow, not just one, but a pair!

A pair, searching together for a home. A home to start a new family in a city where space happens to be a luxury even for little birds. And yet I imagined them setting forth on this seemingly daunting task with zeal, with a sense of adventure in their hearts, with the kind of excitement that grips you when you embark on a new journey. But at the same time this very zeal made them seem vulnerable. Vulnerable to all the big bad ugly crows out there, to the telephone wires and kite strings.

As I saw them wandering around the branches, a bunch of brightest yellows and black I couldn’t help but be thankful for how lucky I am. I had seen such birds only in wooded areas before and here they were, in my own backyard!

Eurasian Golden Orioles are found in many parts of the world. Those found in Europe are known to fly all the way to Africa in winter. I could not find out if the Indian versions are migrants or not. One website labeled them as Residents while some other site called them summer visitors. So I do not know where these little friends of mine go for the rest of the 8-9 months of the year.

I do not even  know how and when I got attached to these little birds. I didn’t want any harm to come to them. Sometimes I even had wild urges to snatch them from those unsafe surroundings and keep them close to me, away from harm.

And as they flew out of sight every day in the morning I found myself praying. Praying for their safety. Praying that they should come back home when the sun sets. And come they did! As if on cue they arrived as the sun sank in the horizon, settled on some branches and cried out in their distinctive voices. And every single time I rushed to the window and clapped at their return. When it was dark, they flew out somewhere else. I imagined they had a nest on a nearby tree somewhere.

There came a time when I was not at home during evenings when they returned. So I had not been able to see them for a while. But one lucky day I was home and I heard their call. I rushed to the window, this time with my handy cam. The male flew away, but the female lingered. I followed her movements till she almost flew into a sparrow sitting on another branch.

“A sparrow? No, that’s not a sparrow, its too big for a sparrow,” I thought.

“And what is that tinge of yellow on its back and neck?”

And then realisation dawned on me- OH MY GOD!! They had a baby!!! They actually had a baby!!

I felt like a grandmother, as I jumped and clapped around. My dear Peelu and Peeli had a Peellum!  

And so my Peelu, Peeli and Peellum go in search of food everyday, soon they will disperse, and Peellum will grow up and start a family of his/her own.

And I hope they come back next year, for yet another beginning!

(The author wishes to thank a dear friend for naming them :)

Whats the worst that could happen?

I shall not freak out this time, no

I shall not be jittery this time,

No biting nails, 

No pacing around the empty room,

No smsing ppl at unearthly hours 

asking for pep talks,

Afterall, 

zindagi mein kabhi exam 

di nahi hai kya? 

This ain't your first time,

Whats the worst that could happen?