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Saturday, January 21, 2006 

The Manicured Life

It isn't just a hobby. It's a painstaking one. Attention to detail. Analysing the past, forecasting the future growth. Each lop planned, and then inspected for results. Carefully crafted to look natural, shaped to look untouched by hand. Bonsai.

A wild, fetid landscape of competing, unrestrained life. Towering trees, spreading brooding canopies that seek to smother, deny lifegiving sunlight. In the humid dampness below, wild creepers, deceptvely fragile. Twisting, sucking the very ichor of their supports, clinging, strangling. Wild grass, tenacious, meek, enduring. Mosses, soft, ubiquitious. The sweet cloying smell of the decay of those who lost the battle, covered with the squishy headstones of mushrooms. Weeds, noxious, plastic in brilliance. Proclaiming defiance at a world that considers them unwanted.

Which is why we each treat our passions differently, yours becoming a trophy to be admired in elegant drawing-rooms with colour-matched furnishings. Mine banished to a different planet, to be visited when this one lets go for a while.
So each can continue with the eatworkdrinkfucksleep routine that is life, as everyone else sees it.

Hmmm.

'As I try to make my way,
thru the ordinary world,
I will learn to survive....'

Is that how you feel ? All wearied down and morose ?

Both of you :

Let's head on down the road
There's somewhere I gotta go
And you don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels to be me

I am me. Me isn't. I mean, tres obvious.

(Leave the fauv Francaise alone).

To amplify, friend, we are more than full of indecent cheer. We are presently going through work pressures with the correct stand-up-comic-at-funeral kind of inappropriate exuberance. These are but passing winds carrying with them the dampness of the Slough of Despond

( It's faux).

Just to clarify, since your recidivist proclivities are as well known as your descent into despair.

Doan use polysyllabic pompous words to prove you aint drunk.

Neither does usage of a bastardized ebonic Cockney prove that you are hep.

It's Hip.

And it was Hip to be Square a decade or more ago.

So wake up, now it's hiphop.

But a decade ago, I think you were reading Lawrence Block and wallowing then too ?

That is about the best idea you gave. Googling this is becoming more difficult each time. Let's copy this down once and for all.

LAST CALL (Dave Van Ronk)

And so we've had another night
of poetry and poses,
and each man knows he'll be alone
when the sacred ginmill closes.

And so we'll drink the final glass
each to his joy and sorrow
and hope the numbing drink will last
til opening tomorrow.

And when we stumble back again
like paralytic dancers
each knows the question he must ask
and each man knows the answer.

And so we'll drink the final drink
that cuts the brain in sections
where answers do not signify
and there aren't any questions.

I broke my heart the other day.
It will mend again tomorrow.
If I'd been drunk when I was born
I'd be ignorant of sorrow.

And so we'll drink the final toast
that never can be spoken:
Here's to the heart that is wise enough
to know when it's better off broken.

Break for the nonce!

Hmmm. I see we're at it again. Much as I would LURVE to have a tete-a-tete with the both of you, I have to keep up the sleep part of my bargain.

And hon, you forgot the foreplay part in the eatworkdrinkfucksleep routine. Men!! No wonder there are more men coming out of the closet now!

Like Grace says to Will, it ain't as easy as saying 'Ok, it's your turn' :-P.

Skyrockets in flight this ain't anyway.

Good night, I gots to get me some shut-eye.

Lay-tah!!

Why would people leave anonymous comments?

Hmmm. Mebbe it's because they think I would know them

If you don't know me by now
You will never ever really know me

Better dead than Simply Red

You think you know Me, but you ain't really sure, are you ?

Kai din se mujhe, koi sapnon mein
awaaz deta tha, har pal bulaata tha
achcha toh woh tum ho, tum ho, tum ho

Sigh, back to Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se again.

So what's the problem ? Too desi for you ?

(a) Too weepy

(b) Too old n faded

(c) As said before, tres weepie.

Mmm. Weepy yes. But Dave Van Ronk is not exactly flavour of the week either. Neither do I exactly recall The Last Call being a cheerleaders' chorus. So it comes down to being desi.

Mmm. To change the topic, seen the profile views page?

Yep. Surprising how many here na ?

No comments though. See, they are struck dumb!

Mmm. More likely they escape ASAP.

Self deprecation was cool a COUPLE of decades ago. Right here, right now, it is thein your face self promotion thingie.

Right here right now is a stoopid song sung by rick drivers wanting to appear with it. You better find something else.

You still haven't found what you're lookin for ?

Nope, but then, unlike you, I haven't run through the fields, and I haven't climbed highest mountains

The day you get out of this habit of searching, you'll find it.

Oooh, how profound. But I am not searching. I don't have this happiness hangup

It's wrong to search for happiness?

(a) Which rulebook defines happy ?

(b) Which rulebook says you gotta be happy ?

Answers to these might help.

There isn't a rulebook. And isn't that part of life ? A quest for happiness?

There isn't a rulebook for being happy. Proves there isn't any happy state to really wish for

So then life is aimless ?

Pal, life isn't a ffing bow n arrow game. You don't have to have an aim

Nother break.

sleeps, which blah blah the brow of ravelled care etc

Gah, you been hitting the bottle again last night. One notes that the last quote is wrong too. It's the ravelled sleeve of care that is knit up.

       Seeking answers
   I knocked at your door
Your reply : "Who are you?"

Mmm. So life need not have an aim.

Yep. As in it can be just enjoyed for the moment.

Just for the chance
Just for the moment
Should the moment pass us by

(Sheesh, you'll like DESTROY any chance of being thought of as hip).

If the moment doesn't ?

You'll spend your life waiting for a moment ? That *might* not happen ?

Well, I believe that eventually, the moment will. But more than that, every moment is potentially THE moment. Of your life.

Sheesh. The Chicken Soup for the Pot bellied perv again.

Not at all. Every moment could be the moment. Cept of course, that I spend some with you. To inject some sanity into a wildly rich, hyperbole filled life.

Mmm. Remember that gent who said that in a crazy world, the sanest are those listen to voices in their heads.

But we digress. Are we to spend a life in anticipation of that moment that may just be possibly vouchsafed to us ?

Umr-e-daraaz maangkar laaye the zindagi ke chaar din

Do din kat gaye aarzoo mein, baaki intezaar mein!

Yeah, the point being that you don't KNOW that the aarzoo is granted. (That's where hope comes in)

Gent, I have a prescription for you.

Yeah, I bet one that invokes the medicinal properties of Kremnaya, no doubt.

LOL. This is by far the most interesting blog I have come across! MPD was never such fun, no?

OK, you asked for that. Am a Spl_IT Personality.

Gah, you were WAITING for that cue.

Yep, else I have to always wait for you to give the straight lines.

TO get back, has the alcohol helped ?

Ducky, alkyhall doesna help as in help. It isn't like an assist. It more like changes the playin field.

Mmm. Recorder or human, every head could do with an occasional cleaning with alcohol.

The emphasis, of course, on occasional.

You are here. I am here. Isn't it an occasion ?

Khoob jamegi mehfil jab mil baithenge hum tum aur Bagpiper.

You've taken to addressing yourself with endearments now, eh? Ah, the joys of self-love!

Jahaan kahin mil baithe hum tum
wohin kahin ho Madhushala

But I had a prescription.

Which was, stop mooning about and sneering about the eatsrinksleepfuckwork life.

Because that IS life. And you can either go through it with a smile or not. It isn't going to change much.

Me : You don't know how it feels to be me.

And so loved :)

In reply to comment 63: Please don't tell me that is life. I have much to see and much to do before I think along those lines.

In reply to comment 64: :). Good for you.

"And that inverted chicken coop thou callest the sky
Look not to it for help;it rolls on
as impotently as thou or I"

Fatalist==loserwimp.

I can see we are on a roll here. Let's not discount the good parts. Yet.

Tom Petty. For example. Where does he fit in?

Eat?
Work?
Drink?
Fuck?
or Sleep?

Me :

Le mere tajurbon se sabak
Ae mere raqeeb
Do chaar saal umr mein
tujhse bada hoon main

(Lekin yeh sochta hoon, ab tera kyaa hoon main)

And it is neither fatalistic nor wimpy. It is realistic and bopfatheadedgentwithbeermugistic.

A fatalist is resigned to fate. Why can't you just embrace it ?

Pliss to clarify.

Look, LIFE as everyone sees it : isn't a coincidence that everyone sees it. It is LIFE.

What you have here, is the product of a hormones, alcohol and an overactive imagination. Not to mention typingspeedthatcouldbemuchmoreusefullyemployedinbecomingabiztycoon.

Life does not recognize happysadfuckedupeuphoric. If it did, all the slum dwellers would've queued up for euthanasia. It just carries on. Labelling it does not work.

On the other hand, this stuff: it does. Guess what ? It also comes with its own magical property : the bottle is blank. Label it happy and you are. Label it fucked up and you are. So out here, and right here, right now, as you say, you gotta choice to say wowee, me happy or me sad.

Neither of which, incidentally, makes the fuck of a diff to Life.

You're no fun when you go into this cynical mode. I think you just want someone younger to say 'I have 'x' years on you, so listen to me when I say...'

Pfft!

( Right, now, the bottle is not only blank, but the Life aseverybodyseesit has a bot that is empty)

When you want to use an adjectival clause, put it in quotes. Like, Life "as everybody sees it".

Not using the space bar only makes it unreadable.

But OK. We shall ponder over the thought.

Me, to quote a very favourite saying of ours, "Aadmi aur achaar mein yahi farak hai".

Means age n maturity doan necessarily mix.

" think you just want someone younger..."

Stop RIGHT there and you have the EXACT idea.

Young wimmin, sigh. BOCTAOE.

==> Is shy in company. Am not a people person. Gwan, catcher later.

(Gulluck with me.

And ya didn't say Hi to Asmita).

Listened to this today. Maybe you both can sing it to yourselves tonight...

'Raah veeraan sahi,
Raat sunsaan sahi,
Har ghadi saath rahe,
Kitne gham saath sahe...

Thode gham aur sahi,
Do kadam aur sahi,.
Do kadam aur sahi...

Love ya :)

Major entertainment LOL

Boy! You exhaust my intelligence and give me a serious inferiority complex. Amazing, the things you have read and the way stream of your consciousness meanders and creates a beautiful pattern. Keep it up!

I got so distracted by your chatter that I forgot to type what I had originally wanted to comment on when I visited last.

I wanted to thank you for introducing two beautiful words to me today through your post... 'lop' and 'ichor'. I think this is the first time a blog made me look up the dictionary.

Somewhere up there you mentioned that mush-fest - akhiyon ke jharokon se. A couple of lines that we love from it (although we wouldn't admit to it in most company) -

kuchh bolke khaamoshiyaan taDpaane lagii hain
chup rehne se majbooriyaan yaad aane lagii hain
tu bhii merii tarah hans le, aansoo palkon pe thaam le
jitnii hai khushii ye bhii ashqon mein naa beh jaaye ..

STOP RIGHT THERE!!!!

who is ?! and who is ME and who is ?! ?????

God... I am dumb, impatient and dumb. Please make me clever!

I am ?!. ?! is also me.
Conversations inside.

Me isn't me.

Errr. One hopes that clarifies things, sorta.

:)

(also on your post)

We just realized the folly of our ways. Sanity is a no-no. What were we thinking quoting serious song lyrics and all. Tchah! I need to find myself a cliff now.

Sigh, ONE person actually likes the songs and you have to drive her away.

Not at all@ drive her away. You'd be spouting " baithe hOn tassavur mein kisike aur aise mein koi cham se aa jaye" and all and THAT would actually drive her away.

(mebbe she knows Raakh ke dher ne sholon ko daba rakha hai too ?)

Well, don't get your hopes up. And stop singing Ek Nazar.

Well, she DID get the one stanza that isn't usually associated with the song.

Psst. She knows both. Hum ne tanhaai ko mehboob banaa rakha hai is such a lovely line, no? Reminds one of meri tanhaaiyon tum hi lagaa lo also. And she likes the slow versions more than the regular one, so she quoted. And Ek Nazar? Ek Baar Kaho, no? She goes now.

Hey, aNTi, ?! knows me. And ?! knows me, too :-)).

As for you, precious...

Raakh ke dher mein shola hain na chingari hain.

Heard that one?

Jaane kya dhoondhti rehti hai ye aankhein mujh mein
Raakh ke dher mein shola hai na chingaarii hai


From the fine pen of Kaifi Azmi.

And who knew! He converses with the masses. Hallelujah!

Oh wait a minute. Is Me not you?

Me is not me. As I said.

And I was wrong. Of course Me is me.

It isn't I though. (Was only gramatically wrong).

And I know Me. ( If what I think is right).

In which case,

I've been to Paradise
But I've never been to me.

(Dramatickle, no ? But I love this song too).

:))

And when you say He converses with the masses ... I thought the masses crucified the last one ? Hmmm. He may still be at it though.

What if God was one of us ? Just a stranger on the bus ?

Sigh. And this started as SUCh a dignified post.

This is turning out to be the most interesting conversation since post coital silence!

Nope, Megha, I am Me.

And to answer your q much earlier, Me, Tom Petty and Bachchan H, and Bachchan A and Omar K all fit in. They form the bridge that connects the two planets.

:))

The masses crucified Him, but were remarkably nice to me. Not Me and not me either. Remember, this is me we are talkng about. Interesting yesh. And did I ask a question? I no longer remember. Sigh. I am going to retire to my commentspace now. *yaaawn*

And perhaps we should speak lesser so as to retain the dignity of this space and all that. Ahem. We actually managed to say that with a straight face. Heh.

We stopped by to say why our commentspace is easier - No word verification! And ignore the decent folks. I usually do ;)

Do you have any idea how hard it is to convince seventeen people to go on a road-trip? Tsk tsk.

This is too high faluting for me. I will stick to Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi and cricket! Tom Petty and Omar Khayyam are as far away from me as the distance between virginity and Pamela Bordes!

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