I am still alive I swear. I just have nothing intelligent to say right now. I’m tired and falling a little behind in my “stuff”. Still, there’s good swell coming and Sunday is looking like a good day to go an attempt to not drown.
Sunday
May 25, 2008 - Leave a Response
I hate Sundays! They lead to Mondays 
Sunday evenings bring with them the looming deadlines and the dark clouds awaiting in the the coming work week. Makes me feel glum
Here’s to the next Friday… I’ve started waiting for you already 
Earthquake…are we ready for it?
May 23, 2008 - One Response
Earthquake was a movie I saw as a child. It was exciting to watch Charlton Heston running around rescuing people, and a bit scary to see what all can actually happen if an earthquake strikes. But honestly, that was it for me.
Growing up in Rajasthan I’d never ever come close to feeling the shudders of the mother earth till the Jan 26, 2001 earthquake that shook Gujarat. I was getting ready to leave for college, for the flag hoisting ceremony, when I heard windows clanking without any wind. My mom and I got excited (really excited and not scared at all) to see things move on their own, like the ceiling fans and wall hangings etc. But that was it, it left me excited and not a bit scared. Till I heard of the massive life toll in Gujarat. It was too bad.
It was only now, very recently in November 26, last year that I got the fright of my life! My husband and I were woken up by violent shakes and clanking windows, and things falling off the bedside tables. He was quick to react, pushed me off the bed and went to unlock the house, but I just stood there, shocked, in the doorway. That was the day I realised how fragile a world it is that we are living in! It is SCARY!!
The recent one in China has left me all the more scared! The death toll has reached 10,000. My GOD! What are they going to do? It’s like your life has had a full stop-period-start a new sentence/page/chapter? You’ve got nothing left but yourself. We just look at these tragedies, feel sorry for those who suffered and move on. But just pause and think for a moment, what if something like this happens to you? To us? Are we prepared for it at all? I’m not! Disaster can strike anytime, and it never comes with a warning.
So here are somethings to do (in an everyday routine, just to be sure) and something I’ve promised myself to do too:
-
A. Always keep your car’s petrol tank full or atleast suffecient enough. My husband has a habit of taking it till the end. No, you shouldn’t. Be prepared for any kind of emergency.
- B. Store extra drinking water at hand (it’s something you can do everyday, helps in case of water shortage too. Use the old water to make tea, cooking etc). They say it should be one gallon of water per person, per day.
- C. Keep some extra food. The best is shelf-stable food like cookies, snacks, cereals, nuts, dried fruit, and juices etc. Keep rotating them. Mind the expiry dates.
- D. An emergency kit/emergency-go-bag (for the car or keep it handy in your home)–I don’t have any, but will make one this weekend. It must have:
- My husband’s swiss army knife. (Okay…it goes in my bag. You can buy yourself a good victorinox one, available everywhere in NCR now).
- Matches, candles, torch, batteries, and a whistle (remember Titanic?)
- Emergency cash in all denominations – 500, 100, 50, 20, 10 plus some change
- Local Map
- A pen and a notebook with emergency numbers–hospitals, neighbours, relatives, friends
- I don’t intend to keep this, but ideally your bag should also have an extra pair of shoes/slippers, change of clothes, a towel, your extra pair of specs
- E. At home also, keep a stash of matches, candles, flashlights, extra batteries at a convinient place. Infact keep a matchbox and torch in your car too if you don’t plan on making an emergency-go-bag
- F. Always keep your first aid box ready, have one in your car, keep checking for expired medicines/ointments
- G. Keep your cell phone charged-always, battery as well as talktime. (You listening ausy?)
That’s all I can think of for now. I hope and pray I never get a chance to actually use these things. But it’s just good to be prepared in any case… If any of you reading this feel I’ve left out something, or want to share what measures you take for emergencies, please leave me a comment.
I’ll close this with a prayer for those who lost their lives, and those who have lost their loved ones, their homes, their everything on May 12, China. Please join me to pray for them.
My mood today…
May 22, 2008 - Leave a Response
Sharing my happy song with you! I’m feeling exactly like this… HAPPY, and HAPPY-GO-LUCKY! This usually happens to me when the week is nearing the end.
I loved this the first time I saw it and even now 
Sometimes wish I was a meerkat or a warthog in Africa, hahaha! What a cool life!
Well here’s wishing you a happy day!
And ofcourse, how can I forget my favorite baloo. Ooh I love to see him dance in this. I can watch it over and over again! Sigh! What a life…
Wet and WILD!
May 21, 2008 - Leave a Response
No, not the amusement park—it’s the summer I’m talking about—this has been a wild summer to start with! Rains in May!!?!! Never heard of! Never seen before! But it’s happening… Since Saturday, May 17 I guess.
BBC Weather says it’s gonna get worse on Friday with South Easternly winds upto 7mph. Whoosh!
If I’ve not said it earlier, I LOVE RAINS!! Absolutely adore them, even the thunderstorms, I feel very romantic and filmy.
But not these days, I don’t have time to romance with these surprise rains these days. My days start with running around filling up buckets and vessels of water. A bain to live in Gurgaon, no power/electricity and no water. Everytime the wind blows a little harder the electricity department cuts off all the supply!
So, yes, its been wet and wild here, and I’ve been crazily busy with work and home. Quoted William Henry Davies’ lines from Leisure to my friends—I’ve not been able to meet up for months now—yesterday…
What is this life if, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare
We have no time to stand and stare
We have no time to stand and stare…
And not time to write posts even…
Ta for now!
