Morning

Have you ever had the best sleep that you wish could be prolonged exactly 10 minutes before you actually HAVE to wake up. It happened this morning, I was sleeping soundly yet my mind was awake saying – you have to get up otherwise you will be late for work and you can’t beat the traffic….you can’t drive over pavements because you don’t have a four wheeler! And plus…you would never do that to your tyres and if you did….you would get a sound lecture from daddy! (It’s a common phenomenon in Qatar)

And right then my dad came in, saying, ‘Appu!! When do you have to go?’ Well, he knew rightly I was getting late but he is adorable and doesn’t want to yell first thing in the morning. I strongly believe that a bad start really cramps one’s style. If you get annoyed during the first pearly moments of your day the rest of the morning is evidently ruined….you end up being cranky, moody and irritable till something so wonderful and unexpected happens to make up for it….which is a rare outcome! The good thing about your family is that they are aware of these eccentricities and your pet peeves…so they realize that if they mess with that routine they would get it back! Many a time …I have overreacted when woken up early during the day for unnecessary reasons.

I remember one of Frasier’s episodes Space Quest – I absolutely love Kelsey Grammar’s character…his humour is pristine and anyone who appreciates sarcasm in the refined sense would certainly be an ardent fan of his show. For people who haven’t seen his show, he is a radio psychiatrist, a graduate from Harvard Medical School and I am presuming he is in his 40’s in the show but in real life he is a tad older. His father, a police officer is forced to retire because a thief shoots him in the hip and thus moves in with Frasier.

I related to Frasier completely because he is comfortable with the familiarity of his surroundings, décor, his morning routine….however, he forgets that he has hired a physical therapist named Daphne for his father. She is a simple girl from Manchester, England and who is full of life and turns out to be quite the opposite – a morning enthusiast! Early in the day, she keeps jabbering about her life and morning ablustions…she gives Frasier's Kenyan Starbucks Coffee powder some zest by adding odd spices which ticks him off royally.

Frasier's dad offers him a fried egg swimming in oil and some white bread for breakfast which he refuses immediately saying he prefers a bran muffic and a touch of yoghurt for breakfast, which is immediately mocked by Martin, ‘Girly breakfast!!!!’

Frasier - (Looking at the food) - 'I can hear my left ventricle slamming shut as I speak'

Dad - 'Do you want cheese with that???'

Frasier - No! Thankyou I would like some blood flow for the clot to go swiftly to my brain!

The newspaper isn’t out the door nor is it crisp because the rubber band is taken out and it's been read! so he gets utterly furious. 'I can't have my coffee, my breakfast and my paper'

He loses his temper and begins lecturing his dad and Daphne. His dialogues are classic - 'I am not a morning person. I need to ease into my day slowly. First I have my coffee, then a low fat high fibre breakfast and then I read a crisp new newspaper. If I am robbed from the richness of my morning routine I cannot function! And like ripples in a pond, so do the many listeners that rely on my advice to help them through their troubled lives. I've grown comfortable with this part of myself. It is the magic which is me'

Martin (Father) - He looks at Daphne and says 'Get used to it!'

As the day progresses he isn’t able to ease into the book he has been yearning to read and wants to get away from 'his father, Mary Poppins and the hound from hell!' (ie Martin, Daphne and Eddie the dog)

I remember, when I was studying in England, I would wake up in the morning take a shower...quite a long one, have some toast with tea, watch a couple of episodes of Frasier/Friends and then slowly get on with the day. I hate being rushed as I wake up.....I need to begin my day slowly...if you live with people who do not understand this about yourself...i suggest you make it clear...otherwise your going to be a pain in the ass to someone else who clearly doesn't deserve it.

Unfortunately, these rules can't be applied when your on holiday living with older relatives....who will turn off the fan, pull out your bedsheets, keep the water going in the bathroom nearby, talk on the phone in the room while your sleeping, turn on the tube lights, chat with other relatives using the laptop in the room, charge all 30 phones in your room so that you hear a jugalbandi of ringtones in the morning and possibly decide how to clean/rearrage the room cupboard........and leave the door open saying 'my God, she's still sleeping'!!!.......have you heard of jetlag?

Fabulous lives

How much does it cost to be vain? It totally depends on the scale of it. It’s funny to read how things have gotten so overboard. Media has indeed proven to be the most useful tool in spreading the word of the extent of these extremities. I am very thankful for this increasing state of awareness and I would like to share some of it to you. If you happen to stumble upon the show ‘Fabulous Lives’ on MTV you should watch it as it is the one of the most fascinating shows I have ever seen. For example, there is a lot of propaganda about the fashion industry but some interesting facts are leaking out that have totally blown me away –

N.V. Perricone an anti aging cream is described to give an instant face lift without going through surgery. Actresses that use this cream include Julia Roberts, Kim Cattrall and Heidi Klum. Heidi Klum apparently uses this for her entire body every single day – it costs $ 100 an ounce. I wonder how much goes for income tax?

It usually takes 2 months for new skin to grow giving you a fresh glow. Apparently, Naomi Campbell uses a cream that costs $ 600 an ounce on her face and new glowing skin is generated in 2 weeks. These are just some basic facts the rest of the details were all shoved in the next 30 seconds that clearly went above my head– too quick and too large a number to remember!

Another cream that is created by Dr. Howard Sobel – its secret is that there are 17 amino acids which direct cells to produce collagen and it is used by Jennifer Aniston, Madonna and Catherine-Zeta Jones. No wonder Jennifer Aniston is on the cover of Vogue – ‘reinventing what it means to be 40 and female in hollywood’. The signature ingredient in his cream is pomegranate so for all u common people out there...u might as well squish some on your face! I might do that if I am utterly bored.

The biggest supermodel as of now is Gisele Bundchen and she gets $50,000 just to do an ordinary walk on the ramp and that was the highlight of the show. She is truly glamorous but the effort they need to maintain themselves looks impossible from what I hear!

I am reminded of a scene I saw in the recent Meg Ryan film, ‘The Women’. It’s when Jada Smith’s character is dating a supermodel (she’s gay) and she introduces her new girlfriend as a supermodel.
Jada – meet Sara (I’ve forgotten the name so let it be Sara) she’s a supermodel
Sara: DON’T CALL ME THAT!!! I don’t want to objectify myself
Debra Messing: What’s wrong with her?
Jada: she just went for anger management classes
Debra: what does she have to be angry about??
Jada: She’s HUNGRY!!!

These reasons make them truly famous – otherwise why would their lives be so hyped?

Musings

I was just thinking how it would be to know someone who had OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) with regard to cleaning. Wouldn't they be fantastic maids? or...the male form...maidens?? lol...no clue...ok cleaners. They would be hired instantly as well.....but on further thought they probably would choke the owner for stepping on the freshly waxed floor....hehe that would be funny...

Its ironic people with this problem have the cleanest homes but the most cluttered minds! the one thing that makes them function is in disarray.....ok, I am beginning to think I am looking a bit deeply into this...

We all know the current market situation with the US and how the country is heading towards recession. I was chatting with someone and suddenly that person suggested that my sister goes to the US - to study and get a job!....and snap came the reply from my sister...

ARE YOU CRAZY?? Why should I give 50% of my income as tax and then let the government bail out some stupid bank for their problems?? It was hilarious and totally SPOT ON! Reading a lot about the finance industry I probably look too much into the various details and she got it all in one line. Its very interesting to see an engineer's perspective....at the end of the day it boils down the practicality of the situation .............Rather than going into the reasons of - sub prime mortgages, CDO's (collaterized debt obligations) and futher guarantees given that fizzled out!....A spade is a spade....simple!

New beginnings

I recently realized that I don't hold on to the past for more than a day or two. I obsess over events at that point in time and I just let it go after. Life is far too short to re-live sad moments. What is the point? It brings back feelings of hurt and frustration all over again for no new reason. One of the advantages of living alone or even having a considerable chunk of alone time makes you examine yourself and experiences.

You begin to have clear insight for yourself and others. I have gotten quite good at this that, a lot of my friends suggest that I should become a therapist. It was a fascinating idea but I don’t think anyone can help someone unless they truly want to help themselves. So it’s actually a tricky question - how much job satisfaction do therapists actually get after a day's work. I guess we would never know given the complicated procedures involving 'confidentiality of information'

There’s a dialogue that Hugh grant says in the movie, 'music and lyrics' - 'I have very strong insight I would use it on myself but I don't have any problems so I can't' - I apologize if it’s not word for word but that was the essence of the dialogue. That line just blew me away - I realized that it wasn't his insight that led him to no problems. He had a wonderful attitude towards life.

He was a failing musician who couldn't come up with decent lyrics and made a living by performing his 'once upon a time hit songs' at birthday parties and shopping malls wearing 90's costume. Obviously the movie made a huge turnaround as the film progresses. But even before the success poured in he was content, happy and witty during his slump.

The only thing that keeps me going - making me all charged and enthusiastic is that there are better days to come. The universe has so much abundance that we are all going to benefit from the pearls of this abundance. When I see old pictures I suddenly find that my family and I have progressed so much from what we were - mentally and emotionally that it almost seems like another life. Were we that naive? I wonder what changed all that...I guess only time.

We often associate some songs with pockets of our life. It’s a natural process, our mind associates few things together and it’s a roll on process – you think of one thing and the other thoughts come naturally after. I associated Rihanna’s ‘umbrella’ with a difficult period I went through (because I heard that song a lot then) and whenever I heard it I ended up feeling depressed. I figured that this was a mere association of the circumstances. Instead of moping about it, I started hearing it while speeding in my gorgeous red Golf car for the past week and I seem to enjoy it so much more because I am in a much better place now. It’s all in the mind if you really want to change some aspects of your life you certainly can. You just need to make new memories!