...twenty-nine, twenty-ten!

The sights and sounds all around are typical and familiar.

Belly dancers, smelly dancers, Master "Bapi" and DJ "Montu" are all in town! There is no escaping the usual overload of 'teasers' - a diarrhoea of adverts on the telly, and on the radio, repeated text messages and emails - the newspaper, meanwhile, has an extended 'Page 3' that's spread over its entirety. 'Colourful', to say the least - you could almost use the pages as wrapping paper. Look! They're even giving you discount coupons! If you spend your month's salary on a bottle of beer and some chicken-wings while Miss Anna from Somewhere-Vague-but-Foreign says "Na-mas-tay" and does the 'thumka'... you get a full 5% off! An offer that's hard to resist!?!

Even dull, drab, everyday locations will be transformed into 'rocking' dance-floors for the "Mega-Nite", the "Gala-Event", the "Biggest Party of the Year". Are you coming?

Wait!
We're almost there...3, 2, 1... and I'll bet that, precisely at that 'magical' moment, scores of folks the world over will be "bottoms-up"-ing their way into the 'brand-new' calendar year.
Woo hoo!

But hey! As seemingly cynical as I may sound, this is my stand - of course you should celebrate. You must celebrate. Regardless of how or where. It's really none of my business what you do. To be brutally honest, I don't really care (just as long as you're more or less safe, I guess).

You simply MUST celebrate.
'Cause 2009 was a rough one!

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I know I probably make it sound a bit like dancing at a funeral, but tonight, for me, is literally a send-off for one of the most testing years that I've seen in this lifetime.

It wasn't quite the end of the world (that isn't due for another 3 years!). Then again, it was never a walk in the park. For the better part of this year we've all been at the mercy of 'global' evil - the recession, which was, in my book, as big a pandemic as the swine-flu (they make quite a pair!) and a whole lot of other blood-sucking, spine-chilling, nerve-wracking nonsense took centrestage... and just stayed there! Their vicious tentacles spread themselves all across the globe and held Earth in a death-grip! (Well.. sort of)...

And, on the personal front, all of Murphy's Laws were pretty much the rule through these weeks and months. Not fair!

However, all said and done - somehow, at this point, the optimist in me has finally sprung back to life! :-D

I'm not sure - maybe it's just a simple sense of occasion that's at work. But I'd like to think that it isn't. I have this warm, fuzzy feeling about twenty-ten. No real indicators, no guarantees, but just a strong hunch that we'll be surfing on a wave of positivity well into the year ahead.

Cheers!
"Bottoms-up"... :-)

Have an awesome year!

Please Note: Master "Bapi", DJ "Montu" and Miss Anna are fictitious - they are not intended to bear any resemblance to characters living, dead or somewhat unsure. If they do, well... that's freaky.

greenhouse games...

The 'weather' really isn't getting any better...
Heat-waves, Cold-waves and futile discussions;
The polluters-in-chief are apparently leading the recovery!
The faceless, voiceless suffer - 'unforeseen' repercussions...

Men on a 'mission' huddle together in meetings...
Chaotic! A global get-together of jesters?
The only people on the scene making the right kind of noise
Are the organized sets of protestors.

Is there any magic potion left in that cauldron?
Can it heal this bruise, these wounds, this ugly gash?
What are we offering our children's children?
A plethora of poisons and islands full of trash?

Soon, the acid-rain will bore holes into our skulls;
Scorching Decembers, flooded cities, Winter Wonderlands in June!
And even before we've finished 'consuming' this planet
I'll bet we'll move calmly onto the Moon.

...'super' syndrome!

Yes, I too was once little...

I would stare transfixed at the television as an apparently unassuming, mild-mannered, bespectacled man suddenly re-emerged from a phonebooth wearing bright red underwear over a blue, skin-tight ballet outfit!

And then, Superman would simply take off!

"Up, up and away".

Bizarre.

Fascinating!

I will have to admit - no other fictional character has, till date, left a more lasting impression on me. Not even E.T. Although, E.T. could well be real... but that's another story...

Returning to our 'Man of Steel' - undoubtedly, there were flaws. Then again, most of these are common across the entire 'movie super-hero turf'. For starters, besides their rather questionable fashion sense, most of these guys can't be identified as soon as they change even their accessories. Daily Planet's Clark Kent becomes unrecognizable after he takes off his glasses! Never worked for me :-(.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. The gist of it is - if you take the trouble to look closely, there was probably lots of tackyness to go around and a plenty of 'chinks in the armour'. But to a 'wee lil' kid, the big picture was awesome! I was spellbound!

And to the sheer horror of my parents - inspired! ;-)

Episode 1-

"You haven't seen a tree...

until you've seen its shadow from the sky." ~ Amelia Earhart

The "wonder" years -

"I believe I can fly..." :

Flashback. It's the early eighties.

I don't think my parents got this for me willingly. Maybe I was rewarded! I must've coloured in the shapes perfectly in kindergarten and earned a 'star'. But hey - by then, it didn't matter. What was important was that I had it!

The 'Superman' outfit!

The stage was set. I was squinting with the Sun in my eyes and my cape flailed wildly in the wind. My mind was made up. There I was, perched up on our 4th floor balcony. And then, just seconds before I was about to embark on my first ever 'test-flight', "super-mom" (they can do it all even without the costumes), in rather dramatic fashion, came to what she thought was my "rescue"...

I was alive and well, but my confidence had taken a severe beating.

I was 3.

I have never flown since. :-(

" There is an art, or rather a knack to flying.

The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." ~Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Take two:

However, nearly two decades later, during a bash on the last day of college, the thought of making a second attempt floated into my semi-conscious mind. This time, it was well past midnight, and, in going with the 'mood' of the party, I was in a 'compromised' state of awareness ;-). Needless to say, this wasn't nearly as meticulously planned as 'take one'.

By now, the stakes had doubled - I was on the 8th floor! I gathered momentum as I steadily made my way towards the 'big gap' in the wall. Again, just when it mattered, at the brink of what I thought could have been history (read: finale!)... I bailed out. A friend (thanks AP!) who was standing by the window, skillfully talked me out of it...

Who needs kryptonite?

I became the dodo. I was momentarily filled with hopelessness. I was the toothless tiger. The fin-less fish. The moo-less cow or the quack-less duck. Well... you get the picture. The 'mediocrity' was setting in... I was 'normal'! How utterly boring! :-(

In more recent times, I have decided to pursue things more achievable... like bending a spoon with my mind! ;-)

-------------

There was always a lot on offer. Superman was pretty much an all-rounder. Amongst a host of other things, he also had invincible strength, would do the fancy laser-beam thing with his eyes and could stop a speeding train with a lot more ease than Toby Maguire did in Spiderman-2. But, for me, it was always the flying that took the cake!

However, as the comic books found their way onto the silver screen over the years, there were a lot more traits you could pick as a favourite. You could cook up quite a storm, or even heal yourself after a rather nasty brawl, or maybe you'd just settle for high-end knitting skills! Then, of course, there are other "super" heroes (read: imposters!) who weren't really born with it, like Batman, and just get by with cool gadgets like a neat car and an iphone, in addition to already having a really efficient butler. I have a bunch of friends like that ;-).

(I'm kidding... I actually think Batman rocks!)

All said and done, I'm not sure if I'd make it as a superhero. Leaving aside my present levels of fitness, I always have been rather clumsy! But then again... you never know. Tomorrow, could be my 'calling'... ;-)

So, what's your "super-syndrome"?

[Fill in the survey at the top of this page!]

politically yours...

Can you tell a chameleon apart from the branches of a tree?
And me? Am I a friend or your arch-enemy?
I am an everyday 'con-man' - a master of disguise;
I am everything you adore and everything you despise!
Fact is, the moment I walk through these doors
My mission begins - I am 'politically yours'!

'Trust' is a common error, the temptation is compelling;
So, even after the lethal blow, you do not feel the swelling.
You are numb, in a trance, you do not see the puppet strings;
And it's all over - well before the 'fat lady sings'!
It may be your row-boat, but I have the oars -
I am the friend who is a fiend - 'politically yours'!

I am Corporate Perfection - shiny shoes and the tie -
And once I win you over, I am 'your kind o' guy'.
Its a pity you didn't have your eye on the game -
I'd hate to see you fall this way - isn't it a shame!
And till an even bigger fish gets washed onto the shores
I remain unstoppable - I am 'politically yours'!

...grüezi!

[Pic: Zermatt/ Mt. Matterhorn]

Let's face it - I've never really been much of a 'blogger' per se. It isn't as though I've never wanted to be one (just for the record, I've also wanted to be a fireman, a 'ghost-buster', a 'teenage mutant ninja turtle', a journalist, Steve Jobs and Emran Hashmi amongst a host of other things, at different points in time). Its just that, by nature I'm more of a 'scribbler' at heart - a 'pen and paper' person - the kind that hurriedly churns out a bunch of lines in barely legible handwriting. Soon after, there's this mental 'disconnect', and before you know it, the words stop flowing. The 'piece' is then mercilessly chucked out with the rest of the garbage! '...I turned to look but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now...'. The thought has passed, almost immediately after it came into view.

So, is this some kind of a comeback? But then again, how can you 'come back' when you've never quite been in the game? It could well be a 'coming of age' or a 'brand new beginning'... but in these troubled times, I wouldn't risk putting my money on this one.

Nevertheless, today I'll just 'go for it'. I'll finish it. For better or worse.

Based on the times we live in, it would probably be fair to say that my blog posts are as frequent as salary hikes, promotions and new jobs have been in the past couple of financial quarters. The planet has seen 'happier' times for sure. Before I went into this prolonged 'hibernation', the world was "apparently" 'a better place for you and for me' - yes of course, relatively speaking. And yet, for most of this overtly eventful calendar year, I've been a fair distance away from the action; on a pedestal, in a viewing gallery, on an oasis... take your pick.

While I've braved two ruthless winters and cashed in on a beautiful Summer and Spring, elsewhere - 'Hope' and 'Change' took centrestage and hit a home-run, one of my role-models hung up his boots (well, more or less), and the cheapest car built made such a lot of noise and then disappeared into nothingness! Sadly, and on a very solemn note, there was lots of terror to go around as well. Unforgivable. Unforgettable.

I guess we're all constantly becoming different people on some level or another. In my case, over this period, I've gone from becoming more of a philosopher and less of an adventurer. I weigh more, have less hair and paid a painful price for wisdom (before the dentist put an end to my misery). I think about going to the gym for a lot longer than I actually spend on the treadmill; therefore, I am more likely to watch and wait than watch my weight. I will leave you to extrapolate this brilliant example to other day to day circumstances. :-)

[However, now that I am suddenly aware of this, chances are that I'll work towards turning things around. Especially, the part about the gym :-)]

Meanwhile, when I'm not slogging in the confines of the office, the hour-long commute to and from work and all the idle time (from time to time) give rise to an unending array of thoughts. Some of the more convincing of these have graduated into actual plans. And even if it seems as though I've succumbed to a mundane life of 'everydayness', I am constantly wrestling with a handful of these ideas; the rest of them are safely on the back burner... for now. One of the positives is that my culinary skills seem to be at an all time high! The food I make thesedays is mostly edible. Somehow, in the scheme of things, I find cooking therapeutic! Having said that, I will share with you a very important lesson that life has taught me - when times are rough and the going gets tough - anticipate this in advance and stack your shelves with a dozen packets of instant noodles! ;-)

Switzerland hasn't exactly been a 'honeymoon' experience, but, all in all, putting everything into perspective, its been good so far. Moreover, it has thrown up something special every now and then. I will never forget my first tryst with the breathtaking Alps, or the time that my parents spent with me in Zurich. I will cherish and re-live these in my head for years to come. It is a blessed country to say the least. I'm not getting into comparisons, but I'll some it up in one word - 'wow!'.

All of this, then again, has come at the expense of time spent with my nearest and dearest and with my friends from back home - worth its weight in gold. I feel poorer, now that I've thought about it ... :-(.

Anyway, I'll take a bit of risk and get 'sentimental' for a lil' while - I just want to say thanks to my pals and my family for having stood by me, for remembering to say 'hello' from time to time, for making my day when it wasn't my day, and for being who they're supposed to be. I sound like I've just won an Oscar... a la Slumdog Millionaire?! ;-)

Finally, I'd like to apologize to some people. I know you're out there. I'm sure you'll know this is for you if and when you read it. I've been really sloppy with returning e-mails and phonecalls and sometimes even text messages. Keeping in touch hasn't exactly been my forte in recent times. I assure you, it isn't intentional and, believe you me, it's nothing personal. And by the way, I'm improving, as you can see ... ;-)

With that, I'll end my directionless rant. It remains to be seen if this post provides the neccessary 'stimulus' to revive this blog. A trillion dollar question, don't you think? ;-)

Cheers!