Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Voices in My Head - 28


Divya’s Wedding

Thankfully, Divya’s wedding outfit did not turn into the catastrophe it had threatened to be. We went to the tailor’s, and Divya tried her lehenga on. It fit perfectly. We thanked fate for this minor miracle. After we got back to Divya’s house, I helped her fit into the sharara she was going to wear for the mehndi that evening. I saw little reason in wearing a brand new dress that was very likely to be strewn with mehndi soon – or cut off at the knees, as her mother brightly suggested… but however Mandakini won over Miki and I let her take over, staunchly playing my role of the devoted (albeit unofficial) maid of honour.
The outfit was sea green, and I helped her on with the silver jewellery that she was wearing with it. A lovely delicate necklace and chandelier earrings: no rings or bangles, to keep her hands free for the mehndi. She had hired a stylist only for the actual wedding the next day, so I tried to help her on with her make-up – at which she was far better than I am, so I finally sat back and voiced encouragement and compliments.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Books I Read: the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series

I've resolved to post about every book I read (even if it's something for work, so you've been warned). Not only do you get to know what I think of the books, it also forces me to slow down my pace a little (for some weeks lately, I was reading four books a week, and I cannot afford to keep buying that many) and get the most out of the books I do read.


So this is just a short note to say how what I thought of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. I read three of the four. I bought the boxed set on sale at Landmark (online), inspired by the many positive reviews I read online. I wish I hadn't wasted the money.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Voices in My Head - 27


Divya’s House 

Divya’s wedding was on Saturday, so I planned to go down on Thursday afternoon and stay till Sunday morning. The wedding would go on through most of Saturday night, Divya had said, and there was the mehndi and sangeet on Friday evening.
So on Thursday morning, after a leisurely breakfast, I sat on the floor and pulled out the suitcase that contained my fancy clothes to see what I would wear. I had three choices for Saturday evening: a dark red silk saree, a black chiffon sari with blue sequins, and a traditional Assamese muga mekhela sador. I realised I needed to try on the blouses.
I tried the black one first: it was so tight I was afraid it would tear if I kept it on any longer. I hurriedly pulled it off and tried on the red cotton. This was easier: though it wasn’t much less tight, the fabric was stronger so it would probably last through the night if I held my breath and didn’t move my arms.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

The Voices in My Head - 26

One Last Try

On Monday, I decided to contact Vikram.
“Try once,” Miki had said. “Don’t expect anything to come out of it, but give it a go, so that you don’t regret not trying.”
So after lunch, when the rest of my team was still in the cafeteria or off for an after-lunch smoke or walk, I pinged Vikram.
“Hi!”
“Hi,” came the reply.
“How are you?”
“I’m very well. How are you?”
“Great, thanks. So how was the weekend?”
“It was nice. A friend had come over, so I was showing him around town. What about you?”
“Nothing special. Got some much needed rest.”
“Good.”
I waited for a few moments, my fingers poised over the keyboard, willing more words to appear in the small window.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

The Voices in My Head - 25

Miki and Mandakini, Alone

I wasn’t in love with Raghav. But I was lonely. I knew I had lost Raghav forever.
It would never be the same again. It couldn’t.
We had had lovers, and none of them had lasted. We had got swept away, each of us, in the first throes of romance, and forgotten each other for a while. But each of us had always returned to the other. I had endured the distance because I knew it wouldn’t last and he would come back to me, and all would be right with the world again.