Rich, Richer, Richest

Today, I had a look at an article in Forbes about the world's 100

richest people in 2008. In this haloed list of people from the same countries are 32 Americans, 19 Russians and 10 Indians, most of whom live and earn in their own country. So then, lets go back home and add to their numbers!

Georgie Porgie

We were a bunch of giggling 13 year olds who listened non stop to George Michael and Michael Jackson and Madonna. In our defence, 1. Its was the eighties, 2. we lived in gujju Mulund and 3. these were the most popular artists selling at Telecast, the one and only decent music store in said Gujju Mulund. There was a blink- and-you-will-miss-it period of worshipping the now extinct"NYOKB" or for the uneducated- The New Kids on the Block, but it was George Michael all the way, atleast before he came out of the closet and dashed our teenage dreams.

We had posters of our favourite celebrities on the walls of our rooms or on our wardrobe doors. It helped that Femina had a section for teens, (can't remember the name for the life of me!) with free tear-off posters every month. I would have probably postered all the walls of the room I shared with kid sister, but my grandmom-albeit with blinkered vision (acc to me) but with a stronghold on my mom ensured that said posters were kept to a minimum. Sigh!! Double sigh!!!!!

So gettting back to Georgie old boy, he is currently on what is said to be his last tour ever with the finale being in London. And guess who has good tickets for his last concert ever??? Take a guess or two or ten- C'est moi, bien sûr!!

I am actually going to be cheap enough to mail the other girls , some of whom I am still friends with and who were also crazy about him and gloat!!! Ah, the thought of it makes my day!!

Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie

Refused to kiss the girls and made them cry

When the boys came out to play,

Georgie porgie, ran after them

New blog template

I want to change my template and dont want to use the templates given by blogspot. Any suggestions?

Partner 1 and 2?

I got to watch some TV by myself and without distraction a couple of evenings ago, when I went on my solo trip to Geneva. There was a news clip about same sex marriages and same sex parenting. Apparently, in Massachusetts which has legalised it, there is talk about changing the wording on marriage certificates from name of Husband/Wife to read as Partner 1/Partner 2 and on birth certificates of babies from Father and Mother to Parent 1 and Parent 2.

While i do not have any strong views on homosexuality and same sex parenting, I think children have the right to stable protective parenting with either one or two parents. So it should not technically matter if your parents are gay or not. But I cant help wondering how I would feel about being Parent 1 or 2 on my child's birth certificate. I dont think I want to let go of my "mother" title, even on a piece of paper.

Camping in London

It is about five weeks since we left on our Euro-American holiday, five weeks since I promised myself and others that I would write regularly through my travels in Europe and later in the US. Its interesting how the best laid plans always go awry. This trip was well planned (by me), atleast broadly. Somehow after the first week of travel in Vienna and Prague (more about it later), and ever since we landed in London, our plans have been shuffled with the ease of a pack of cards.

We have now pitched our tents (in a rather nice flat) in the vicinity of Hampstead Heath's beautiful gardens and show no signs of wanting to resume our journey. Instead we are plotting the course of our life over a long term (thats 1 year in our vocab!).

I have got Anan settled in a nursery near by, where she spends a few days each week happily playing with kids her age. It works brilliantly for both her and me because its is a break from me from feeding her myself and at the same time moaning about how she does'nt feed herself. Guess anyone can see who the problem is!!

Also gives me time to spend a couple of hours in the gym and get that fit toned body I keep craving for but don't have the will power to put myself through the regime. And another couple of hours to do some reading and writing... (yes dear friend, good news indeed, if my meandering thoughts do interest you!!)

I am missing my dear Shivamma- my right hand back home though- not just for the cleaning and pampering she does to keep me from reality but also for the company. I should write about her sometime, its amazing the kind of lives our domestic help sometimes live, but yet manage to show up cheerful and smiling each morning at work and make our lives so comfortable for a pittance of a salary.

However, I am also enjoying managing my home here, without any interference or disturbance from anyone including the cook, dhobi, courier guys (who call a minimum of 7 times to ask for directions, or is it the address verification guys who do that??)

I realise that I get more creative with my cooking here, trying to rustle up stuff that requires minimal preparation but still passes my stringent requirements of freshness, health and taste. Just have to remember to keep my camera nearby so I can take pictures of the food when its ready and well presented and not when its half eaten!!