tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32410692012-02-09T17:53:55.649+05:30A little kingdom I possess,<br> Where thoughts and feelings dwell;<br> And very hard the task I find<br> Of governing it well.<br> -- Louisa May Alcott. <br> ...........hmmm....that more or less describes my situation !!Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.comBlogger2171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-20083679100637643442012-02-09T17:40:00.001+05:302012-02-09T17:53:55.726+05:30

I never thought I would feel this way for a puny, small, tiny little thing. I didn’t even know about its existence till three weeks ago, when my brother got a huge cage and this tiny wonder, the little cockatiel bird. My brother told me it was a specie from Australia and he pronounced it as ‘cocktail’. Being my usual pragmatic self, not given to excitement when I see something or someone new, I

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-15210707167382805402012-02-06T14:36:00.001+05:302012-02-06T14:37:20.813+05:30

I was cleaning a room and, meandering about, approached the divan and couldn't remember whether or not I had dusted it. Since these movements are habitual and unconscious, I could not remember and felt that it was impossible to remember - so that if I had dusted it and forgot - that is, had acted unconsciously, then it was the same as if I had not. If some conscious person had been watching, then

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-39203182555036068692012-01-22T20:21:00.000+05:302012-01-22T20:22:43.262+05:30

All beauty is whatBut an impostureCruelty hidden behindEvery act of natureKindness, gentility, honestyWe all claim like masksCarrying on our frightful farceTeach me, O God,To know your waysLike an innocent childLet me not fall preyTo words uttered but never meantTo emotions expressed but never feltTeach me to distinguish the true from falseThat I may live among the corruptBut never to corruption

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-62355397650601233172012-01-19T09:36:00.000+05:302012-01-19T09:37:16.441+05:30

Age cannot wither her, nor custom staleHer infinite variety: other women cloyThe appetites they feed: but she makes hungryWhere most she satisfies-- Shakespeare

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-25813052531839192192012-01-05T11:38:00.001+05:302012-01-05T11:41:48.259+05:30

Okayyy. Let me get the wishes out of the way first.Happy Christmas.Happy New Year.Happy 10th blog anniversary (to me).I had meant to do all these wishes at the right time, if not in advance, but a LOT has been happening. A ‘first’ wedding in my family. My sister’s to be specific. On New Year’s eve, no less. And the preamble to the wedding, as is usual in all such cases, started many months ago. I

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-67728284772116459142011-10-30T20:16:00.002+05:302011-10-30T20:23:53.428+05:30

I have had this question asked often, and am sure everyone asks and gets asked often enough, “what are you doing this weekend?”. Now, perfectly innocent and harmless though it is, I used to feel slightly uncomfortable under its mild scrutiny. People seem to expect one to be “doing something” over the weekend, so one feels slightly pressured to measure up somehow, “oh, I’ll be watching a movie” or

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-66440896055467436922011-09-30T22:32:00.001+05:302011-09-30T22:32:37.836+05:30

Does life have meaning? Does life need to have meaning? Can there be a standard definition or yardstick for life’s meaning? Can philosophers define a meaning that every individual could evaluate their lives by? And if our life did not conform to the definition, would our lives be meaningless? Would a meaningless life mean an unhappy life? But if a happy life could be meaningless too, would that

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-8734316488623205572011-09-11T20:12:00.002+05:302011-09-11T20:19:27.803+05:30

When I discovered blogging almost 10 years ago, it was new territory. There was no term called Social Media then, that I recall. As someone who loves to ponder on things and discuss them with like-minded people, I loved the idea of having a platform to do just that—to scribble away, to think aloud, to share my thoughts, to connect with whoever came along and could relate with what I had to say,

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-9715336339013634872011-07-30T21:35:00.002+05:302011-07-30T21:41:30.576+05:30

A recent incident made me realise how arrogant and conceited people get when in power. And when they get that power in the first place because ‘we the public’ give it to them, you really wonder at it. Look at politics or media. I mean, aren’t politicians and journalists around to ‘serve’ people… do they do that honestly or committedly? The recent Murdoch case is enough said. And they have the

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-91073135808213757312011-07-19T18:02:00.000+05:302011-07-19T19:21:46.903+05:30

Goodbye is a word I have always hated. Maybe that is what makes me prolong the moment forever. I like to stick to things like glue and never say goodbye. Sometimes it does more harm than good… Good and harm… why do the things that feel so good, do so much harm? I am going off on a tangent actually. I have changed my job after seven long years… it was a very strange feeling saying ‘goodbye’ after

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-21243224361236557512011-07-03T18:37:00.002+05:302011-07-03T18:45:49.413+05:30

Is the intention to commit a criminal action important in determining a person’s guilt? Or, is a criminal action in itself or of itself enough to prove a person’s guilt? Or, does the degree of guilt (and therefore punishment) in either case vary? I was reading Herman Melville’s short story Billy Budd some time ago. More than a story, it is somewhat of a case study in how the letter of the law (in

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-38608271964001189612011-06-05T21:54:00.002+05:302011-06-05T21:59:14.520+05:30

A feature in today’s edition of Brunch, the Hindustan Times’ Sunday magazine, got me thinking. It was about relationships and how relationships these days are so much about individual choices than about the family, community or religion, as they used to be. Individual choices have thrown up new ways of approaching relationships such as live-ins, open marriages, and what not, and people no more

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-80944985301848869822011-05-12T22:39:00.000+05:302011-05-14T02:09:53.346+05:30

Memories grown oldfall like dry leaves over my balconyI hold themcaressingly, quiveringlyafraid I will tear them, break them, lose themMemories caught in instants of timefreezing vistas and faces and thingsframes that capture more than photosEach embedded with sweet, sometimes saddrops of feelingLost in time, yet never to be lostlike dry leaves with everlasting soulsthat fly away skywardsto

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-78130765232034149702011-04-24T12:46:00.004+05:302011-04-24T12:51:05.196+05:30

No one can give-to me-that peace, whichmy ris-en Lord, my ris-en King can give.Wish you all a very Happy Easter! :)

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-17962006748080860522011-04-17T20:17:00.009+05:302011-04-17T21:27:40.237+05:30

Poetry was my greatest love when I was younger. And then life took over. One of my professors said that everyone is a poet till the age of 20... To sustain the passion after that is the mark of a true poet. I guess he is right. Felt like doodling with lines after a long time yesterday... What avails emotionWhere no object is fairWhat use are tearsWhen life is all about careNothing ever

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-961816473956107832011-03-20T10:25:00.005+05:302011-03-20T13:39:11.573+05:30

When you admit people into your life, you don't know for how long, and what purpose they are meant to serve in the grander scheme of things. And then, one day they just leave...willingly or unwillingly, leave you to pick up the pieces of your own life. You wonder why they ever came then, why they made things a little easier, a little more rosier, little more happier by their presence, if they one

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-78492905745412591182011-02-03T21:06:00.004+05:302011-02-03T21:29:49.507+05:30

Another year gone by, and this year I didn't get the time to make a blog entry on my birthday. I also felt it was time to break this tradition; the problem with me is I do things consistently by nature and a pattern comes in for no apparent reason and then I follow the pattern just because there is one! Sounds confusing, I know, but that's me :) My horoscope this month says "You've got many pots

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-42232255571392640872011-01-10T20:29:00.003+05:302011-01-10T20:37:31.277+05:30

Last Wednesday at Church (I attend the Novena mass every Wednesday morning at the famous Mahim church), the priest made some very interesting observations about New Year resolutions. He said that a New Year resolution must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound). I was quite impressed by how the mnemonic summed it up beautifully! He said, and I quite agree, that most of

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-71154968822058137482010-12-17T20:55:00.002+05:302010-12-17T21:08:46.075+05:30

Where have I been? "here only"! Nothing much happening to speak about, except that last month I went on my first ever visit to the north of the country. Delhi, to be precise. I had been hearing a lot of tidbits about Delhi from my very close colleague (more of a friend...actually, more of a mother figure; she is an original Delhiite), and was waiting to explore the city in all its

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-7440991695658123732010-10-18T23:55:00.000+05:302010-10-18T23:56:16.010+05:30

I have always loved languages. The ability to transform one’s thought into something tangible and to convey it most effectively to another person—no doubt, it is a skill. I have never stopped to think so much about the technicalities or rules of language simply because it came naturally to me. When you see your mother cooking and learn the art on the go, you probably don’t remember later why a

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-4460481611738032962010-09-04T14:20:00.001+05:302010-09-04T20:14:03.467+05:30

I think this must be the longest gap between my blog posts ever!At present, going through a feeling of deja vu. A feeling of walking over unpleasantly familiar territory. Change. I resist it, and as if determined to get me on good terms with it, fate pits me against change.I hate to see known faces go. My boss of over 5 years put in his papers last month. I had read somewhere that employees are

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-66816675699388849292010-06-03T22:14:00.004+05:302010-06-05T13:00:07.256+05:30

I don't belong to the Facebook generation. I use the word 'cool' to describe the chill in the air at best. I don't have any yuppie attitudes. I don't fake an accent, American or otherwise. I am comfortable with my 'Indianness'. I don't understand people who are happy in relationships but balk at the idea of marriage as if they don't go together. I don't understand the disconnectedness that

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-36021976273514602652010-04-18T13:41:00.000+05:302010-04-18T13:42:36.227+05:30

There are so many lifetimes in one life... when one feels one has lived enough, done enough, borne enough... but death is only once... that feeling of peace and closure and silence one craves for... one pursues... but ever so elusive...what is right... what is wrong... everything seems meaningless... not to the purpose... where does it all go... king and pawn go into the same box... is there any

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-28465350055813263852010-02-21T18:10:00.001+05:302010-02-21T18:17:38.945+05:30

Went on a spontaneously planned trip to the Dubai Shopping Festival with family. Had high expectations shopping wise seeing as every celebrity touts Dubai as a favourite shopping destination but have to admit I was pretty disappointed. Apart from a lovely piece of jewellery from the famous Gold Souk there, I did not return with anything better than I left with.Architectural marvels such as Burj

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-933592416661927332010-01-19T22:08:00.002+05:302010-01-19T22:11:26.544+05:30

Another milestone has been crossed. A friend objected when I used the word milestone in relation to my birthday. But what is a milestone? A birthday’s not a milestone in the goal achieved sense, yes, but it is a milestone in the journey of life. You have crossed it and you can only look back but not go back…Every year my excitement about the day approaching diminishes. I understand why kids and

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-60120772923743459752010-01-02T21:06:00.002+05:302010-01-02T21:09:54.513+05:30

Is there such a thing as being tired of ‘too much’? There was a time when people had too little and they knew what to do with that little. They had food at home, clothes once or twice a year, Doordarshan supplied enough entertainment, the odd extravagant expense was also on something perceived to be of long term value. People had limited needs and limited means, and in trying to meet the two,

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-5489674767843400392009-11-26T22:27:00.002+05:302009-12-13T13:52:09.561+05:30

Personality Vs. CharacterHave you noticed that any problem today has a quick fix solution? Need to improve your relationship with friends? Here are five simple steps. Want to lose weight before Christmas? Just follow these 10 rules. Want to become an effective leader? You can’t go wrong if you do this, that and the other. Your career is going through a downturn? Never mind, help is not too far

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-12784311077510585582009-10-08T21:54:00.004+05:302009-10-08T22:19:46.459+05:30

Mangalore CallingGoing to Mangalore after all of 4 years! The last time I went, there were no "malls" in Mangalore. Malls, and in Mangalore? I have to see it to believe it. Though for myself, I hope those little bylanes and small saree and jewellery and bakery shops still exist... and oh, if I haven't mentioned before, the one item I never miss whenever I am there, no matter how watchful I am of

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-58869030595810991972009-09-24T21:38:00.004+05:302009-09-24T22:00:39.281+05:30

A friend of mine in college gave me this cute card which said 'It is easy to die for a friend but it is hard to find a friend worth dying for!' ...the friend didn't stick but those words have...Being back home has been a mixed experience. Miss my new friends though I can't say I miss much else. I noticed something different about my bonding with Bombay... till only just a few years ago, I never

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-86727259995751833912009-08-14T00:53:00.000+05:302009-08-14T00:54:04.596+05:30

I don't crave for chocolate. I have it everyday.-- my one-liner of the day :)

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-61818607460142535082009-08-06T02:02:00.002+05:302009-08-06T02:03:11.876+05:30

I happened to read an article on how parents are rewarding/bribing kids to encourage good behaviour these days. Makes me wonder. Especially when I look at today’s children. When you bribe someone for doing something good, do you teach the right value? Say for example, if a child doesn’t go to sleep on time and you tell him/her that you will buy them a toy they have been hankering after if they go

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-69403328544883927962009-07-28T07:15:00.001+05:302009-07-28T07:17:52.590+05:30

I have picked up a new hobby. Check it out here!In other news, I expect to leave for India very soon. The US has been a great experience with some challenges interspersed but all in all, I have got more good memories to look back to. Life can be equated to some sort of collection expedition, collecting memories as we go along…some focus more on the memories they have already collected and some

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-27884193777217421362009-06-16T03:32:00.002+05:302009-06-16T03:41:20.630+05:30

When I was thinking of writing for the blog today I realized the whole exercise has become a bit of a routine… I have been on a trip so I have to write about it… I did this particular thing so I must write about it… I mean, it used to be the same when I started out… I did write about stuff I saw or thought or so on but there was an excitement in the act of writing… there was a spontaneity to it…

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-66751533426513855622009-05-22T00:41:00.003+05:302009-05-22T00:47:24.405+05:30

The LA trip was good. We visited San Diego (Sea World), Disneyland, Hollywood (Walk of Fame, Kodak Theatre…), and Universal Studios.I have been to the Disneyland in Hong Kong but I was expecting this to be a much grander and bigger version – it was. People said it could take almost two days to cover the whole area and since we had only a day devoted to it, we were a little anxious to see as much

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-75623020337866950932009-05-02T01:07:00.001+05:302009-05-02T01:12:05.916+05:30

Why do you sometimes feel unlucky for no reason? The best things may be happening in your life but you will obsessively think about the one or two things that are far from perfect and crib to God or the wall or your inner soul. You will obliterate thoughts of all the good things by magnifying all the bad things. Why does this happen? And why are some days very bad days when people will seem to be

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-58860908481815255672009-04-21T08:51:00.003+05:302009-04-21T08:56:12.278+05:30

I am in California, and so much has been happening this past one month that I have had absolutely no time to write a long post about all my experiences and opinions!Finally I deign to attend to attend to my blog. :( Every time I stay away from my blog for long, I almost feel like an irresponsible mother who has no time for her child or something. I can just imagine what mothers feel!So, cutting

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-72553541864433980052009-03-04T23:34:00.006+05:302009-03-05T07:59:25.310+05:30

Finding MeemoAhem… I am still in Bombay. Some new development happened to postpone the whole thing; should hopefully be travelling in two weeks or so.Have been too busy to come up with a post. Some time ago, when I was reading a fellow blogger's blog, I was particularly amused by his description of a few of his personal traits – amused because I have some of the exact same traits. May have

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-26545374317075460542009-02-11T00:32:00.003+05:302009-02-11T00:39:21.740+05:30

Welcome to the Hotel CaliforniaIf we didn’t have rules about things, wouldn’t we be a happier lot? If we could just be what we would like to be and not be judged by ‘common yardsticks’ or have to follow norms for the sake of conformance? Conformance to what and why? Why do we encourage ‘sameness’ as a society, especially our society? Isn’t it the pressure to conform to societal rules, be part of

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-58288409709839074982009-01-19T00:50:00.002+05:302009-01-19T00:55:20.797+05:30

Good Luck!"There are rules to luck, forto the wise not all is accident.Try, therefore, to help luckalong. Some are satisfied tostand politely before theportals of fortune and to awaittheir bidding, but betterare those who push forward,and who employ theirenterprise, who on the wingsof their worth and valourseek to embrace luck and gainher favour."This is the thought I want to dwell on, on this

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-56054667877929779942009-01-01T18:32:00.014+05:302009-01-09T22:52:55.556+05:30

New Year ResolutionsI have a few New Year resolutions to make. I make them every year I guess, but don’t remember them beyond February. I have a feeling posting them here will make me probably a bit more conscious; at least I can look them up next year and decide how I fared! :)1. I want to be a nicer person. Extra stress on the “-er” because I feel I am already quite nice. People are always

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-5496882309626890402008-12-24T12:28:00.001+05:302008-12-24T12:31:10.423+05:30

This month my blog completes 7 years… It has been a real friend all along… there when I wanted someone to talk to, there when I needed someone to listen, there in times of happiness, there in times of care… I am so happy to have you in my life… happy birthday dear blog! :)Wish all of you a very Happy Christmas and a fabulous New Year!

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-42182034812204594962008-12-13T23:59:00.000+05:302008-12-14T00:00:00.989+05:30

Wisdom comes with pain as we have all heard people say, but ironically and sadly, it goes with pain too. I am referring to the painful process of uprooting one’s wisdom teeth. I wish I could say tooth, but in my case, again sadly, it is the case of the plurals. And, and not just one more than the singular, but three times more. Yes, we speak of four.I remember having written about the whole

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-80915483420828187572008-11-30T19:59:00.000+05:302008-11-30T20:00:28.750+05:30

A friend of mine asked me ‘so aren’t you going to blog today?’ and I realised he may be assuming I would want to share my opinion on the terror attacks on my blog…It is not that I am lacking in sympathy or sentiment at such times; I feel anger, frustration, bitterness as much as anyone else, but I think what I most feel is a sense of being ‘unfortunate’—unfortunate of being born in a country

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-28910572153039163852008-11-22T18:15:00.001+05:302008-11-23T22:29:20.182+05:30

Wrote this post while I was cooling my heels at the Frankfurt airport for all of five hours. And good thing I did; I have had absolutely no time since I have arrived and I’m afraid I would have lost the best moments by now. I wanted very much to check the blog and post something while I was at Basel, but there was no wi-fi connection at the apartment and blogs were totally blocked in

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-14115680827347882462008-10-28T17:00:00.000+05:302008-10-28T17:03:29.849+05:30

My camera broke down a few months ago (that’s just one of the reasons for my photo blog being quiet this long—what does one click in a place like Mumbai anyway?). I knew I had to buy another one soon, but it’s happened sooner than I thought. I will be leaving for Switzerland for two weeks this weekend on a short assignment, and it would have been too much to miss a chance to get myself clicked in

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-83771273353928605302008-10-12T13:09:00.000+05:302008-10-12T13:10:23.206+05:30

Been thinking of writing a blog for many days now but this past month or two have been too, too busy work-wise ...leaving absolutely no personal time. Before I come up with something to write here, thought I may just let the world know I am alive, and hale and hearty (a little more than I would like to be if the weighing scales are to be believed!)Enjoy this quote till am back…"I'm astounded by

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-46500438291979097692008-08-15T22:25:00.000+05:302008-08-15T22:31:12.112+05:30

A colleague lent me this book ‘the Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne. The secret as it is called is the ‘law of attraction’ in terms of the mind—whatever we think of, we attract into our life; in other words, whatever we think about, we bring about. The problem, it seems, is that we are most often thinking about what we don’t want and not about what we want, and as a result, attracting ‘what we don’t want’

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-72558698512326976202008-07-28T22:11:00.000+05:302008-07-28T22:17:30.212+05:30

I wonder why is it that we weigh ourselves down under the burden of our own expectations. This is the question bothering me and making me sad. I feel that if I learnt to expect a little less from people, I would learn to make myself a little more happier. But, how do you do that? How do you expect less? I believe that we expect only from those who are close to us; I expect from my mother or

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-32419081527064229132008-07-20T17:31:00.000+05:302008-07-20T17:34:33.871+05:30

I got myself a new haircut! Not an earth shattering event, put like that, but I don’t think I can recollect the last time I had a haircut that was any different from the one before that. I remember one time going with friends to this really posh and hip kind of salon (at least that’s what my friends said), called “Tress to Kill” I think, fully determined to “do something with my hair”. The three

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-58066791300346189512008-06-25T22:03:00.000+05:302008-06-25T22:09:24.173+05:30

War Here dead lie we because we did not chooseTo live and shame the land from which we sprung.Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose;But young men think it is, and we were young.--A. E. Housman

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-51302920934266752052008-05-27T21:36:00.000+05:302008-05-27T21:38:54.063+05:30

It's that time of the year again. Time to plan for tax savings (that's if you bother to plan these painful things when there's time enough to plan). Reminds me of this really funny quote I read recently:"The way taxes are, you might as well marry for love." :)

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-90320926792781523872008-04-20T11:43:00.000+05:302008-04-20T11:47:23.680+05:30

I remember an anecdote in Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat where the chap has a tendency to imagine that he suffers from the symptoms of any disease he happens to read about or hear about. I suffer from a similar tendency, though maybe not in so high a degree! There was a time when plague hit the headlines, and though I cautiously avoid reading the newspapers, one morning my eye

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-4538285946174704662008-04-13T22:37:00.000+05:302008-04-13T22:38:48.747+05:30

Ambalapady… after a long time, I thought of my favourite place…nostalgic memories came bounding back…my mom has planted almost a whole garden outside the French window of our house…this little shrub of greenery is reminding me of Mangalore and our ancestral home in Ambalapady which is all but locked up, for want of inhabitants…I keep feeling that as time goes by, we go further and further away

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-52929964904658400202008-02-23T20:19:00.001+05:302008-02-23T20:21:15.427+05:30

A very common question I encountered, in those school/college scrapbook things, is "what is the most embarrassing moment of your life?" I remember not knowing what exactly to write in this section, because I never seemed to have had occasion to be embarrassed to the point that I would actually remember the incident for later reference. Not so surprising too, because being extremely sensitive to

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-68670845598675438722008-02-14T21:01:00.000+05:302008-02-14T21:02:51.431+05:30

But true love is a durable fire,In the mind ever burning,Never sick, never old, never dead,From itself never turning. -- Sir Walter Raleigh Wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-46732258870185468522008-02-03T13:15:00.001+05:302008-02-03T13:23:20.188+05:30

Have you read the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes? I had it as a lesson in school and it is one of those stories I have never forgotten.I feel that most people tend to exhibit the behaviour shown by the Emperor’s subjects in the story. Let me first summarise the story (the details may be hazy).Once upon a time (how I love stories that start like this!), there was an Emperor who wanted a new

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-79840233653364431862008-01-19T13:53:00.000+05:302008-01-19T13:56:31.662+05:30

"I mean, what is an un-birthday present?""A present given when it isn't your birthday, of course."Alice considered a little. "I like birthday presents best," she said at last."You don't know what you're talking about!" cried Humpty Dumpty. "How many days are there in a year?""Three hundred and sixty-five," said Alice."And how many birthdays have you?""One."--Lewis Carroll (in Through the Looking

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-81717169718296806422007-12-24T17:33:00.000+05:302007-12-24T17:35:47.679+05:30

It’s the season to be merry, it’s a season full of joy, it’s the season when the heart grows happy, though it knows not really why! :) (ahem, I’m in a ditty mood)It’s that time of the year again and like every time, it brings a smile to me. I happened to bump into the Capricorn characteristics (by the way, I am keenly interested in astrology!) on a page on MSN, and one of the things it said about

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-62646381773938156342007-12-07T22:00:00.001+05:302007-12-07T22:00:58.160+05:30

The CD-DVD drive of my laptop conked off recently! If one knows me a little, one would know that this is a calamity of no small proportions for me. I palpitate to think of what may be wrong, why did it go wrong, who can set it right, and will it ever be right—I guess it's called fear of the unknown :(My affinity with electronic items is extremely weak, to say the least. My friends however say

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-73453243653142334902007-10-15T21:46:00.000+05:302007-10-15T21:50:48.913+05:30

A dear friend, in the course of correspondence, happened to mention to me an oft-repeated quote "absence breeds fondness". To which I agreed, but couldn’t help countering with another equally oft-repeated quote "out of sight, out of mind".Not too long ago I had comes across two lines that I absolutely loved, and that sum up how I feel about this matter on the whole. Here goes --"Absence is to

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-60067732457832464732007-08-19T21:24:00.000+05:302007-08-19T21:31:16.744+05:30

Nothing much been happening worth the writing.I have never been comfortable sharing private thoughts/reflections on my blog, but it was far easier to do when I started out...these days I find myself thinking far too much. Maybe the fact that more and more people know about my blog makes me more conscious; it defeats the purpose of the blog to some extent.I have been reading many views/opinions/

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-66748796202307050512007-06-18T21:56:00.000+05:302007-06-18T22:07:54.775+05:30

Ranjani has tagged me to share "8 things about myself". I have once before done a tag on five of my topmost quirks... so maybe I'll try to make this non-quirky? :)hmm...here goes...1. I am keenly interested in astrology. Not so much forecasts or predictions, but personality characteristics. The star sign is one of the first few things I tend to ask about a person!2. I am geographically-challenged

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-84317192173585723152007-05-20T11:16:00.000+05:302007-05-20T11:18:11.170+05:30

I’m into a new mode of cooking these days — baking! All thanks to the new “convection” microwave we’ve got.Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to bake stuff at home, and now that we’ve got the oven, I’m letting my fantasies loose, so to speak! :)Last weekend I made Nakhatai and Pizza! Both turned out great, except that the Nankhatais were slightly crumbly in texture. I’ve decided that I

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1175439526170428722007-04-01T20:06:00.000+05:302007-04-01T20:28:46.180+05:30

We’re moving into a new house next week. We have lived in this house ever since I was two — when my parents relocated to Bombay from Mangalore.I’m going to miss this house very much…needn’t say…The new house is pretty close to this one; just a few blocks away in fact. Probably this is why I am not feeling as emotional as otherwise I would. Though the house itself will be different, the

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1172993224667664912007-03-04T12:54:00.000+05:302007-03-04T12:57:04.680+05:30

Just read this book—What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark H. McCormack.The book provides practical or “street-smart” techniques for effective marketing and selling. I am personally not a marketing oriented person, or at least the sense in which we understand marketing, which is “pushing”. I don’t think I can push a hat to a cowboy! Jokes apart, I could attempt to market

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1170586112998313062007-02-04T16:08:00.000+05:302007-02-04T16:28:38.393+05:30

I have entered the Market. Not the shopping market—that I had entered when I was two, and have been a major force in keeping it up and running ever since. I mean THE Market.I have always been a savings-oriented person; even though I love splurging on clothes and other things of taste, somewhere at the back of my mind, a small niggling voice always cautions me to ‘save’. It is probably an innate

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1169179145485287852007-01-19T09:28:00.000+05:302007-01-19T09:29:05.496+05:30

Came across a lovely quote in the Sunday paper:“A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for!”Thought-provoking, isn’t it? And, somehow, seemed apt for the special day that is today -– when I grow a year older! Hope the weather is not rough along the way, while we go in pursuit of our dreams, away from the safety of our harbour, to achieve that which we’re capable of or

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1168756956407426332007-01-14T12:10:00.000+05:302007-01-14T12:12:36.416+05:30

Just read this book Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It is a book about punctuation (!), but unlike how you’re systematically taught to hate punctuation in school, this book might convince you to love it! :)An excerpt from the chapter That’ll Do, Comma ­--“When the humorist James Thurber was writing for New Yorker editor Harold Ross in the 1930s and 1940s, the two men often had very strong words about

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1166868559618688902006-12-23T15:37:00.000+05:302006-12-23T15:39:19.630+05:30

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.-- Burton HillisWish you all a very merry Christmas, and a wonderful year ahead!

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1163931230413306302006-11-19T15:43:00.000+05:302006-11-19T15:43:50.423+05:30

There is an interesting kahawat in Hindi “Bandar ke haath mein ustara” (for the in-hinitiated, it means “A razor in the hands of a monkey”). Had read it in school — can’t remember what chapter it was — but I have actually begun to understand its application only now.That reminds me, recently, on this show on TV, “Laughter Challenge” or something, this stand-up comedian spoke about how in school

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1161194015035860762006-10-18T23:20:00.000+05:302006-10-18T23:23:35.046+05:30

We celebrated ‘Traditional Day’ at work today on account of Diwali. I myself would rate the saree as one of most graceful and elegant traditional Indian dresses around. I love it!Ever since childhood, I have been fascinated by the saree, and almost intuitively seemed to know how to wear it, the first time I wore it. Or probably, not really intuitively. As a kid, one of my favourite hobbies was to

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1158519054507555882006-09-18T00:17:00.000+05:302006-09-18T00:20:54.516+05:30

Was doing one of my favourite things the other day. Browsing through quotes. There is an option to view by Author, and as usual, I clicked on my favourite, Shakespeare. His words give you the pleasure that reading poetry gives, a stirring of emotions, at the same time, hit you hard with a truth, stirring the mind.one such gem--Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,Is the immediate jewel of

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1157651295956095442006-09-07T23:11:00.000+05:302006-09-08T18:06:05.863+05:30

Long time, again! I hereby promise never to start my blog with an excuse, it’s turning out to be a habit, and a bad one at that. :(I got a bit jolted when I found a mail in my hotmail inbox today – a kind person wanted to know if I would consider selling my blog for a stated sum (which I will not disclose here), as it was in “disuse” anyway. I cannot deny that I was pleased somebody wanted to “

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1153039278583100702006-07-16T14:04:00.000+05:302006-07-16T14:15:56.703+05:30

I’m starting to feel really guilty about the way I have been neglecting my blog :( Bangalore happened and I am back, and still no updates from my side. Hmm…probably if I try to put random updates without trying to ‘polish’ or make my posts more ‘politically correct’ (as a friend always teases me), I should end up writing a lot more, and maybe enjoy writing a lot more! Hmm!Bangalore was lovely.

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1148399022727422742006-05-23T21:12:00.000+05:302006-05-23T21:13:42.740+05:30

Leaving for Bangalore on June 3…Will be working there for almost a month ….looking forward to it!Bengaloooru, Nanoo Barutene! :)

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1145727984757170892006-04-22T23:15:00.000+05:302006-04-22T23:16:24.773+05:30

If forty million people say a foolish thing it does not become a wise one, but the wise man is foolish to give them the lie.-- W. Somerset MaughamToday, again, I realized the truth of this quote. People seem to have this weird tendency to accept something as true merely because “everybody” believes so. Beats me totally.Say, in a room full of ten people, nine agree and one feels differently --

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1144604215238682582006-04-09T23:06:00.000+05:302006-04-09T23:06:55.250+05:30

These days those lines learnt in school seem to have acquired special meaning –What is life if full of careWe have no time to stand and stare:(It’s not just me, but everywhere I see, everyone I see... In Mumbai, one just needs to visit the local railway station to see how rushed and pushed we are to get wherever we’re going. Thankfully, I am back to my old, favourite mode of transport –

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1141842639551487392006-03-08T23:59:00.000+05:302006-03-09T20:14:17.153+05:30

A long blog-break after a long time! (not surprisingly, there are thousand more things vying for my attention here as compared to when I was in HK, and I just don’t seem to find time for a few of the things I would love to do :( )Vacation in Mangalore was good…too late to write about it, I guess!Today was Women’s day. I had no idea of this from the time I woke up till I reached office. A woman

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1137650213111317922006-01-19T11:26:00.000+05:302006-01-19T11:26:53.120+05:30

Happy Birthday to me! :)A lot older (I feel :( ) and a little bit wiser. Don't think any other year has brought so many variety of experiences to my life, and also so many variety of emotions. An unforgettabe year, definitely!Going to Mangalore for a two week vacation this weekend. Have written about Mangalore many times before, but this time I hope to come back with pictures...till then!

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1136621664607971272006-01-07T13:40:00.000+05:302006-01-07T13:55:25.143+05:30

Back in Mumbai! Feels good to be home…The place is still the same, though my eyes see them a wee bit differently. I am making these little negative comparisons that everyone who appears from abroad after a while tends to make, and having expected this, am not that boggled. Hope to settle into my old environment soon while putting to good use the fresh outlook I have gained by being away from it.

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1135926418795895352005-12-30T12:36:00.000+05:302005-12-30T12:38:53.116+05:30

Wish everyone a very Happy New Year! :)I have been too tied up in this past one week or so to post a Christmas message, but better late than never as they say...Leaving on the 2nd of January for Mumbai. After all of 11 months. My next post should be from home, Sweet Home...Bye Bye HK! loved you and will miss you...

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1134975797917109762005-12-19T12:32:00.000+05:302005-12-19T12:36:16.460+05:30

By the amount of material that appears on this blog, one would think there's not much going on in my mind -- that is, if one considers a blog a reflection of one's mind, if not one's life in general. The fact is, a lot goes on in my head at any given point, thousands of ideas are jostling together for space, but the moment I try to pin them down on the keyboard ...poof! they're gone.I simply do

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1134545262758715272005-12-14T12:52:00.000+05:302005-12-14T13:00:09.000+05:30

I have a particular quote as part of my default signature in hotmail:Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)-- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.As I have mentioned many times before, I love quotes (ones that strike with wit) and love to note them. Have a file at home especially dedicated to quotes...Few days back, I came across another interesting

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1133358312822674372005-11-30T19:14:00.000+05:302005-11-30T19:20:03.483+05:30

Exactly one month more for my return to India! While I am naturally very happy to be going home, I also feel a trifle sad looking at the year gone by and all the things I have come to love and all the things I will certainly miss. Am sure good things lie ahead, nevertheless one can't help feel nostalgic about the good things one leaves behind...but, like a friend said to me recently, c'est la vie

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1132040957067416722005-11-15T13:18:00.000+05:302005-11-15T13:26:55.976+05:30

To enquire the price of an item from a Chinese salesperson, I typically say the following:"I buy this, how much you give me?"(No, my verbal communication is not as stunted as the sentence above might lead you to believe. It is just that I have got into the habit of using only "key words" with accompanying actions when having to communicate with non-English-speaking Chinese.)The Chinese

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1131075445039215522005-11-04T09:05:00.000+05:302005-11-04T09:07:25.053+05:30

I love shopping! I'm sure most guys at this point will say, "So which girl doesn't?" (have heard too many male friends cracking a joke or two on this subject!). Well, to my disappointment, there are many of them, and I have had the (dis) pleasure of meeting them.Fact is, before I came to live here all by myself, I had not had the scope to study so many different types of personalities this

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1130482441680363872005-10-28T12:21:00.000+05:302005-10-31T20:04:39.880+05:30

We're planning a Potluck dinner tomorrow in celebration of Diwali! The plan was hatched almost two weeks back and since then there has been much excitement and much exchange of recipes, menus, and the like. Happily, I have acquired some little proficiency in this department since last I wrote about these matters, and now even have special requests from my office junta for batata vadas, bhajjias

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1128312970550813582005-10-03T09:44:00.000+05:302005-10-03T09:46:25.920+05:30

Given a choice between an extremely stingy (someone who spends too little) person and extremely generous (someone who spends too much) person, whom would you choose? (I do know that people needn't be either extreme and a healthy balance is possible and desirable, but here my motive is not to preach on the advisability of striking a balance in one's spending/saving habits but to force a choice in

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1126865624043677992005-09-16T15:42:00.000+05:302005-09-16T15:43:57.483+05:30

Have a holiday on Monday on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn festival.A week or so back I saw colourful lanterns being sold in shops everywhere and since a few days even apartment complexes (mine included) were decorated with lanterns. I was told that this festival is celebrated by lighting lanterns. It's all so colourful and wonderful -- same as Diwali except for the crackers!A friend of mine

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1125915670359491612005-09-05T15:50:00.000+05:302005-09-05T15:53:12.446+05:30

Don't break the heart that loves you...don't let the....As blogspot doesn't have a 'Current Music' indication feature, am forced to begin with the song playing in my head.I have only once before written about something I bought; now again, feel like sharing some of my excitement. Yesterday was my most expensive purchase ever -- a Compaq Presario notebook and something else too ...that might

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1123222735140130342005-08-05T11:45:00.000+05:302005-08-05T11:52:53.370+05:30

Have subscribed to Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day. What I like about it is not only that it gets me a new word (sometimes a familiar one, of course!) everyday, but also along with it a small history of the word -- the history is what I find fascinating.The word that I received today was "small beer". It means (apart from the obvious "inferior beer"), "something of small importance". Apparently

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1122025073732915592005-07-22T15:06:00.000+05:302005-07-22T15:17:51.870+05:30

I can't believe I will complete six months in Hong Kong on July 31st. Exactly six months! That is the day I was scheduled to travel back to India too, but plans have changed, and I'm going to be here till end of December.I still remember my first day here and how utterly miserable and longing-for-home I was. How I tried but couldn't imagine how I would spend six long months (as it seemed to me

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1121313647624964502005-07-14T08:56:00.000+05:302005-07-14T09:43:24.693+05:30

Was reading a short article 'A Telephonic Conversation' by Mark Twain. The concluding words:"A man delivers a single brutal "Good-bye," and that is the end of it. Not so with the gentle sex - I say it in their praise; they cannot abide abruptness."I must say I agree! I usually get this feeling of "incompleteness" if I cannot end a telephonic conversation (for that matter any communication!) in,

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1120552537636717082005-07-05T13:49:00.000+05:302005-07-05T15:08:34.433+05:30

umm...I have been 'tagged', if that's the correct way of putting it. :) I am not much of a list person...so without much ado or preamble, here are my answers to the questions ...Number of Books I OwnNever thought of counting them...must be not more than 100, I think... I usually do not buy books if I can borrow them from a library...or unless I want to particularly own them...Last Book I

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1119932190110056582005-06-28T09:44:00.000+05:302005-06-28T09:51:40.580+05:30

I've never been a movie buff. But ever since I came to HK, movies seem to have become a part and parcel of everyday living just like food or water! I don't remember being so enthusiastic about the latest Hindi releases as I am here...and I notice that it's not just me; most people who are abroad seem to go through this transformation in the movie department -- wonder why?Other than English and

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1117095218054365602005-05-26T13:41:00.000+05:302005-05-26T13:43:38.060+05:30

All of us seem to be running very fast... somewhere, someplace... as if in a hurry to get there... but where are we running to? What do we hope to find at the end of this journey called life... I still haven't figured it out, but most people seem to have and I have to congratulate them.At a very young age in life, I realised that money meant something. I don't pretend to say there are not others

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1116576204636147852005-05-20T13:31:00.000+05:302005-05-20T13:33:24.643+05:30

Long time since I shared some lovely words ...here goes...A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and ThouBeside me singing in the Wilderness--Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!-- Omar Khayyam

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1114571431343840862005-04-27T08:39:00.000+05:302005-04-27T08:45:48.623+05:30

I am very fond of "conversation". People who do not know me too well might be surprised with this admission, but those who do, know it only too well.The good part about sharing a house with a girl of one's own age group is that there is a wide scope for conversation (I won't call it gossip, since the subject and intent wouldn't qualify it as such). And happily for me, the girl in question, that

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1111632450958554942005-03-24T08:06:00.000+05:302005-03-24T08:25:09.253+05:30

It's almost two months now since I came here...can't believe how time has passed!Weekdays are spent in office and the evenings involve deep pondering over the very serious question of 'what to have for dinner?'. This question takes so much of our attention in the evenings, that in free time at office, I find myself browsing for 'recipes'. The more recipes I read, the more involved I get (what

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3241069.post-1109230929371757542005-02-24T13:10:00.000+05:302005-02-25T07:23:10.933+05:30

So, I am well and settled in Hong Kong!I had intended to write much earlier than this, but lack of time to write and lack of convenient access to the net has resulted in this postponed post. Now that I have got down to it, I hope to be more regular...especially now that I have more to write in terms of experiences.So much has happened since I came here, so many thoughts have flitted and circled

Sylvia D'souzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251448111985087480noreply@blogger.com0