25 going on 26

this note was on Facebook and I had completely forgotten about it. to my mortification, my boss found it. fortunately for me, she isn't crazy and judgemental, but I'm taking it off and putting it here anyway.

ps: more fiction coming soon!

I was tagged in notes by Nrithya Randhir, Shibi RaviChandran, Sagarika Sundaram so on and so forth. So now I'm contributing my own list in return.

This is how it works: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person / people who tagged you. If you’re tagged, it's because the person who tagged you wants to know more about you.

1. I loathe forwards but I’m bored now and am hoping that writing this will inspire me to write some more later.

2. I’m mad about my dog. I think I’ll go crazy if I have to live away from her.

3. My job seems “cool” to a lot of people but I’m wondering if it’s right for me. Some day I want to quit, go and do a really “cool” course in creative writing, become a writer and learn some more Odissi.

4. Though I will be travelling during elections I’m going to do my best to go to Chennai on voting day and cast my vote. This will be the first time I’m voting. I can’t wait.

5. I miss my days in school (Rishi Valley) and college (Stella Maris) sometimes. I had pretty eccentric friends. We’re still all friends, but many are far away.

6. In college, I began noting down random mad stuff my friends would say in the middle of conversations.
Eg. Madhu: I think your skirt is staring back at me.
Sharada Banu (SMC lecturer): the tiger is going to make food for everybody.
One day I’d like to make a play featuring all these sentences. I stopped writing down stuff after I left college because I had no more mad friends around me :(

7. No, I don’t hate men. I’m just cynical about them. And no I’m not an ice queen. I know my friends are waiting for the day when I finally start dating and fall in love with someone. It’ll happen. I just don’t know when.

8. I love dogs and other animals. I feel awful when I see starved bulls pulling carts in pouring rain and blazing heat or horses pulling carriages. I feel worse when I see dogs which have just had puppies, scrounging around for a morsel to eat so they can in turn feed their pups. I feel worst when I see puppies hunting for food because their mother has disappeared or been run over by a car.

9. I’m trying to smile more and become more outgoing after seeing how surly I look on camera and during my live chats. It’s not easy… And because I wear no makeup either I look worse!

10. I love black ink, especially in fountain pens. I’ve lost countless Parker pens though so I’m sticking to cheap black ballpoints or micro-tips now.

11. I’m a Gemini. So is my sister. If you’ve met us you’ll never believe we’re related but we’re the perfect example of how extremely opposite Geminis can be.

12. I’ve seen many women in my field flirt (or do other things) with men to get their way at work. I don’t think I can ever do that. I don’t know how to. I think my current boss hates me because I only sms him when necessary and try to avoid calling him.

13. I think A R Rahman is a genius. Also because he’s still so humble and would rather talk about awards for disabled children than the BAFTAs.

14. I also think great poets are geniuses. Poetry confounds me. I can only write rhyming crap. No, not even the Roger McGough, Roald Dahl type. Sigh.

15. I wish my maternal grandparents had lived longer. I think our lives would be completely different if they were around.

16. The person who first helped me discover I could write is a poet himself. He was my class teacher in Rishi Valley and my first mentor. He wrote a beautiful poem for our class called The Moon is Down. After a play we performed of the same name.

17. I have extremely curly hair and though I dream of having straight hair I will never straighten it. It’s extremely difficult to look after but it’s who I am. Messy and unmanageable

18. I lived in Bangalore for a while and apart from Noon Wines I don’t see what’s so great about the city. Okay and maybe the weather too.

19. I can’t wear heels. They look nice on feet but it hurts too much and I can’t walk in them.

20. I invent words. And to say I love it is an understatement. If you know me well enough you’ll know what I’m talking about :)

21. I want to dedicate my first book to my mother. Even if it’s a joint work with someone else I hope my writing partner allows me to do so.

22. I want to join a writer’s forum in the city. There are none though. None I’ve heard of which function like some other creative groups I know.

23. I do not smoke and hate the smell of cigarettes. Unfortunately many of my friends smoke so I end up reeking of the stuff when I meet them.

24. I can hold a grudge forever. It’s one of the worst things about me.

25. I don’t know how to end this so maybe I’ll put a longer list up on my blog. If you want the link please ask. I'd love any feedback on other stuff too.