vaguery in the field

It has rained in Ahmedabad for nearly a whole day, withonly a one hour gap in the middle. It has been most lovely. Splooshed about all morning and slept all afternoon. Drove across the waterlogged city in the evening and returned to Doctor Who at night. Now that I am no longer alone at home I can watch these at night (otherwise too spooky).

Meanwhile I am debating the wisdom of having my hair rebonded. I invite comments from any of you who have had this done- or considered it.

Additionally I wish to complain about the rigours of having to manage a large household (3 people) on my own. This means buying food and water, instructing the cook about what to cook when, and dealing with grocers, laundry women, gardeners and a whole host of other people who float in and float out. The thing about living inside an institutes campus is that nearly everything comes pre-organised. There are minions to help with everything, and helpful aunties to call when in doubt. And despite how easy everything should be its driving me mad.

One more week of planning menus and I shall be climbing the walls. I need to leave before I totally forget what it is like to go to work everyday. To have to make deadlines instead of thinking about how the vegetables are rubbery during the rains and that its not a good time to eat palak.

new house-new cat

so. it seems like the last few phases of my life have, thus far, been punctuated by different and distinctive feline presences.

in the first year at the ma there was the cat that snuck into my room every night and curled up on my pillow next to my head. then she had babies; one of whom had a preference for chocolate biscuits.

in the second year of the me, the orange, non chocolate consuming kit of the pillow-friendly cat moved with me to the next block. and was christened garfield (no i did not call him that to begin with, but he took to the name, and refused to respond to anything else). garfield liked to lurk at one end of the corridor, and race towards people as they stepped out of their rooms, then zig zag between their legs as they moved forwards, having to zig zag to avoid being stepped on. he also liked legs to stand still so he could rub against them. and was very selective about his food. he did not like to be fed fresh stuff, not even milk. it had to lie there, preferably in one of the hostel's many dustbins, before he would deign to look at it. to be able to allow my feet to pet him i set aside a pair of garfield socks, that i wore before letting him touch my feet. his bed was in the corridor distbin, and nothing could persuade him otherwise.

then there was a large black dat. who lived in a house with four other people, so was quitw spoilt. if you sat down for too long she would come and drape herself on you, and claw you for thinking abut shifting. i have often thought about her tail (most beautiful) wistfully, and want one just like it. would be so useful to use as a scarf, or fold up into a pillow.

andn ow i live ina house with a squashed faced patchwork black and orange cat. i donot know if it is a he or a she. and i don't think i'll get close enough to find out. he/she also sneaks in, but sleeps on the rug. and leaves as soon as i wake up. then returns when it thinks i should be asleep.

i wonder if this one will agree to being my friend

The Dollhouse

Because I work crazy shifts my weekends don't always arrive on Saturdays and Sundays. Like this week- Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Which turned into the weekend from hell. And the only thing that made it better was an internet connection fast enough to allow me to watch the entire second season of The Dollhouse . I never was much of Buffy person though I do enjoy the Buffy-Spike fanfic. And I never understood the attraction of Angel. However i am very sad about the untimely demise of The Dollhouse. Though I do not see how they could resurrect the story should some cable network choose to revive it.

What I like about the Dollhouse is that it didn't compromise on vocabulary (maybe many Americans just didn't understand what was being said- and this is why it is going off air). A character in it said soupcon (now I know how to pronounce this).
I truly and utterly loved some characters. Like I used to love those on That 70's Show, which was very deeply, but also very long ago. Think starry eyed teenager love.

The casting was very very good. Olivia Williams being the most lovely woman I've seen in a long time. And I thought the guys who played Topher Brink and Alpha were most competent. This is the second thing I've seen Alan Tudyk in (the first being the hilarious Death at Funeral) and I shall be looking out for him.

Meanwhile I also saw Lucky You. Which was .. bleh. Though one would think the beauty of Eric Bana should be able to make all things better a lot depends on the right hair cut. And after the perfect coiffures of everyone on the Dollhouse this really was a let down.

All this while being down with the flu. Now my weekend has gone and I have not done anything but meld with my couch. And tomorrow work begins again. Sigh.

new house

so i finally have a place of my own. which is making me really happy. even when i get back at 10 at night and there isn't anyone else who might have kept dinner for me. once the weirdness of having only myself for company wears off i think i shall begin to like it.
and- this is no small announcement- i have discovered what is, in my opinion, the best chicken tikka roll in delhi, right down the road from the house. well- down the road and left. it was perfect. not too spicy, with onions and cabbage in a salad (not just reeking of onions), and with a really yummy green sauce, wrapped in the lightest rumali roti, that refused to turn into a stretchy rubbery mess, even after an hour ( i kept a bit- just to check).
most yum
and in two pieces, with 3 tikkas each, for a hundred rupees. not bad at all i thought.
joy