Random Pics

 Above are snaps of my avian pal Lucius from Sharjah as well as a picture of our dearest hostel persian cat who pees on everything in his way. Below are pictures of my visit to Dubai Mall and the gigantic aquarium with its eels, stingrays, sharks and a variety of fish as well as a snap of Bloomingdales.

Goodbye Stranger!

Uptil seven years back, I lived at peace with myself and never felt the need to look for something more. This came to an end, with the arrival of the King of Swords who's largely responsible for the state I'm in right now. He lured me into his trap with an air of detachment and somewhat good looks (which are slowly waning). He drained me emotionally and then left me at the mercy of his pompous and quick-tempered partner in crime, the King of Pentacles. Now this wasn't the sort of guy I'd even look at twice, owing to his awkward mannerisms, priestly lectures and a terrible sense of humour but in my vulnerable state I needed all the support I could get. He further messed up the situation with an artless expression of simulated feelings and bogus sugar coated words. It took me about a year with the continuous replaying of 'Wouldn't it be Nice' by the Beachboys to recover from something I thought akin to Love, with his pusillanimous sibling, Knight of Swords tiptoe-ing all over my cyberspace like a stupid little girl and sending me crappy invitations over the internet which I couldn't have bothered about even if I was the loneliest person on the planet. Moving on from this assortment of freaks, I encountered several guys at college who weren't too out of this world but Boy, was King of Wands some catch! He never seemed aware of his surroundings and always danced to an imaginary tune in his head. Friends said that he was the biggest loser they'd ever encountered and warned me against losing my self-respect for him, but I didn't listen, as always. He was like a breath of fresh air from the emotionless freaks of the past. But several phone coversations and one love poem later made me realize he wasn't my type at all. And that brings me to my current situation. Seven years of disappointment, four assholes in succession, broken dreams and lowered expectations are enough to shatter one's hopes once and for all. So dearest Prince Charming, whoever you are and wherever you maybe at this exact instant, please understand why I'm giving up on my pursuit of you from this day on.

Forsyte Saga (2002)

Starring: Damian Lewis, Gina McKee and Rupert Graves.

This film centres around the life story of the beautiful but poor Irene, who makes a huge mistake by marrying Soames Forsyte and getting herself trapped in a loveless marriage. The controlling and seemingly hard-hearted Soames is unable to understand his artistic and independent young wife who refuses to be one of his 'possessions'. She in turn, is unable to tolerate his need for control over her and his inability to express passion without coming across as hurtful. Their relationship disintegrates within two years of marriage and Irene finds love in the penniless architect, Philip Bossiney. She threatens to leave Soames after he gets abusive and eventually does leave him, after Bossiney dies in an accident. Meanwhile, Jolyon Forsyte is busy carrying on a relationship with the governess of his daughter, June, following a separation from his wife, Frances. His family disowns him and he settles down to start a family with the governess Helene. He learns that his wife is dead and proposes marriage to the governess, who accepts. Helene dies later, and he falls in love with a mourning Irene in whom he sees a reflection of himself. The two of them have a son, Jon Forsyte. Soames moves on with his life and has a daughter, Fleur from his second marriage. Second cousins, Fleur and Jon fall in love, ignorant of their parents misdeeds and pasts. The series is concluded with Fleur finding out the truth about their parents and marrying a wealthy suitor, leaving Jon heartbroken.

Hell's Oven: Right at The Centre of It

Staying at home on my usual one-month long vacation has enabled me to take stock of my life and where I want to go from this point. One thing is for sure; I'm done living in hell's oven. It's the kind of sickening place where you get half your money's worth for every food item you purchase, making you some sort of semi-functional humanoid. It's a place where you're asked for a continuous output of information but are given measly input, on the condition that you're willing to travel several miles for it, as a result, rendering two-thirds of its population, complete morons. Everyone is more than glad to take material gifts from you, showering you with pseudo praise and affection soon after but leaving you to perish on the street from starvation right in front of their houses, months later. It's the kind of place where people occasionally complain about the pitiable state of their lives, but have no real intention of getting out of their self imposed plights. They yearn for monstrously ugly villas, truckloads of money, permanent jobs and faithful spouses. Yet, it never occurs to them that their pursuit of happiness could be simplified if only they could act saner, learn new skills, acquire more knowledge and become better people and not the pretentious saintly douchebags that they genuinely are. I'm mad at myself for having permitted others to drag me into this shithole and madder at time for not passing quicker. Spending another two and a half years here is unthinkable especially since I refuse to play along with the devil's helpers any longer. I'm sick of the 'friends' who leave you at the mercy of people they know you hate, leave you standing right beside them to witness their grotesque shagging sessions and sick of the ones who are never there for you when you most need them. Family tires me with their endless demands and impositions. Relatives on social networking sites happen to be the worst, with their pathetic posts which are in reality, desperate and annoying cries for attention. I mean who really wants to know what some sad old wrinkled hag wore to a party? You'd just be glad she's still alive and made it this far. And the flaky cousin who's constantly uploading photos and changing his relationship status to show the world how popular and desirable he still is? You'd have died never to be in his shoes, the day you witnessed him drop a bomb in a classroom full of cute eighth graders. Anyway, enough about the distant past. More recently, having to stand in the proximity of the Devil's spawn during my dearest grandfather's funeral, was more than I could bear. I could've grabbed a shovel right then, hit them all on the head and sent them flying straight into their afterlives. The disgust at encountering them wass just too overwhelming; the equivalent of having to endure an abscess in your brain for a few minutes. Year 2014! How I long for you! Your arrival is sure to kick me out of this zombie like stupor which I walk around in nowadays. The word 'Freedom' has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I don't even want a great love life anymore. To be forever free from the chains binding me to this private hell I've landed myself in, is all I ask for.

Random Must-Watch Romance Films

1. Sweet Jane

Jane, an HIV-positive heroin addict, meets Tony, a young AIDS victim with no family, and the two form a bond. Tony helps her get out of dangerous situations which she places herself in and she returns the favour by taking care of him on his deathbed.







2. Ruby Sparks

A novelist struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.





3. Happenstance

Audrey Tautou plays shop assistant Irène, who on the way to work takes a seat on the Paris metro opposite an older woman who tries to interview her for a marketing survey. On hearing that Irène's birthdate is 11 March 1977, the woman reads her horoscope : today she'll meet her true love, but she must be patient. After she leaves the metro, a young man sitting alongside tells the older woman he was born on the same day and asks her to read the rest of the horoscope.

4. Moonrise Kingdom

An ex boy scout and a depressed girl flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them.






5. One Day

After spending the night together on the night of their college graduation Dexter and Em are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, sometimes not, on that day.

6. Big Love

This sexually explicit art movie jumps back and forth between two story lines, one tracing the obsessive affair between a teenage music student and a biochemist some ten years her senior, and the other chronicling the police investigation that ensues after the man has murdered the girl.



7. Leap Year

Anna Brady plans to travel to Dublin, Ireland to propose to her boyfriend Jeremy on February 29, leap day, because, according to Irish tradition, a man who receives a marriage proposal on a leap day must accept it.

Anna Brady plans to travel to Dublin, Ireland to propose to her boyfriend Jeremy on February 29, leap day, because, according to Irish tradition, a man who receives a marriage proposal on a leap day must accept it.