St. Val's Day

And here comes the day that seems to bring out the worst in so many of our fabulous Indian politicians! And even more so from those of their so-called followers who are sent out in groups, always in groups, to enforce the wonderful morals for which these politicians have appointed themselves as guardians. The army of something-or-the-other, out to protect the boundaries of the ideologies they feel will be of the most benefit to them.

But this year, the ugly face of these politicians was well and truly blackened! Of course, the fantastic Pink Chaddi campaign from last year was also hugely responsible for the much less gung-ho posturing by these parties this year. The crippling hold the Shiv and MN Sena's hold on Mumbai has been unquestionably shaken - Rahul Gandhi himself has banged another nail into that coffin. That man - theres a lot to admire in him. Rahul totally rocks!

So here's to love! May we all have an abundance of it, always. And to celebrate, I'm going to plug in some cool love songs on this blog!

This one here is Hoobastank singing "The Reason" and its good!

And just coz I can never love a song well enough untill the lyrics truly sing out to me, here they are...

I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with every day
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That's why I need you to hear

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

And the reason is you
And the reason is you
And the reason is you

I'm not a perfect person
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

I've found a reason to show
A side of me you didn't know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is you

Umbrella Day!

Wish everyone a very happy Umbrella Day!

(The cute drawing is from Darkris, who has loads of lovely drawings on her site. I just couldnt find anything prettier than this drawing for the all important umbrella article!)

So I guess this must be a huge achievement for those wonderful, hard-working folks at the World Umbrella Foundation (or WUF, as they like to be called) as umbrellas all around the world finally get their due. A holiday of their own! Its the day to marvel at this wonderful invention, and as the website says, "On a rainy day, we are sure glad that someone was smart enough to invent it." Amen, to that.

I have a sneaky feeling that if the invention of the umbrella had proved a little bit more of a challenge, we wouldnt have quite made it this far as a species. I mean, imagine the challenges in thinking up the lever or the pulley or just rope for that matter. And doing those while the rain pours down all over you... just dont see it happening. So thanks love, whoever you are, for the umbrella.

On a slightly tangential note, and also because I am too lazy to make this a different post, was just thinking of someone else who has been mighty impressed by the humble umbrella (and is also raking in a lot more moolah than the original inventor).

As regular readers (ha!) would know, I am blissfully unaware of the latest popular tunes and heard Rihanna's "Umbrella" for the first time at my hairdressers. It sounded good, but only today did I really listen to it properly and, I must say, it totally grooves. And more than the lovely tune itself, the lyrics really caught my ear and just thought I'll put it down here.

Am also planning to introduce music into this blog (if i can get the hang of it), and this one might just be the first. So keep checking, oh regular reader (please?).

You had my heart, and we'll never be world apart

Maybe in magazines, but you'll still be my star

Baby cause in the dark, we can't see shiny cars

And that's when you need me there

With you I'll always share

Because

[Chorus]

When the sun shine

We'll shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath imma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

[Verse 2]

Fancy things, will never come in between

You're part of my entity, here for infinity

When the world has took it's part

When the world has dealt it's cards

If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart

Because

[Chorus]

When the sun shine

We'll shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath imma stick it out 'till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh)

Under my umbrella(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

Ella ella eh eh eh! Its really a lot more fun than you would expect from all the eh eh's!

Update:

Trying this for the first time, lets see if it works. Heres to music!

All work and no blogging...

...Makes me feel real dull!

Its interesting though. There's been some general craziness going on in life, but I guess thats pretty much normal. Isn't it?

The other day, we went to my son's school. One thing's been worrying me a bit, its that he seems scared of slides. I see other kids going on the slides all the time, and I kept wondering how to make my boy lose his fear. Finally managed it this time! :)

I think it helped that there werent too many other kids on the playground at the time. The little guy finally agreed to try the shorter slide first. Of course, initially he wanted me to hold his hand all the way up and then on the slide down too. But I could see him losing his fear and enjoying it soon enough! In fact, he went ahead and tried the taller spiral slide too, and soon it was a chore for me and S to drag him away from the playground! :)

Watching children play is a lovely feeling. The pure joy of just running around screaming your heads off, jumping around for no reason at all, every little thing becomes a game. You fall down, you check if daddy saw you, if he did - bawl a little bit while dad soothes the hurt; if he didnt, just dust yourself off and get back to it!

The image is of a painting by a child, part of a lovely collection of paintings called Art for World Friendship. Couldnt think of any better way to embellish this post.