Yours Pinkly,

Assumptions and Presumptions
Pink. No other word I know of has been mired in as much controversy as this. Early on, I announce quite vociferously that I don't run the "I <3 Pink" campaign. That said, I also have to add, and quite categorically at that, that I don't belong to the anti-Pink brigade. My first brush with an anti-Pink being was my friend's brother. I own a baby Pink scooty pep+ and this happened to be the subject of many a disdainful discussion (looks like I still haven't quite lost the flair since my last post!). When I went to the Ramkay TVS showroom to buy, all I had in mind was a bike (fine, scooty) that will give me some freedom to travel at will, with no pain and all peace. The last thing on my mind was to purposefully select a pretty Pink one!

History Repeats
A more recent encounter was at work, with someone I call seedling. Seedling cringes at the very sight of my oh-so-Pink (gel) pen. No brownie points for guessing Seedling belongs to the blue group. Anyway, the irony is my Pink pen writes in blue! So much for not judging a book by its cover! Of course, you can claim that's a blink decision and all!

And it repeats, once again!
On a quiet morning, for the first time in months, I decide to plait my hair and wear perfectly formal clothes to work. Seedling walks in and gasp-asks me about why I am clad in unholy Pink! Holy Pink, I mean holy cow! have I committed a fashion faux pas again?! Looks like the pukish pink was the culprit!

Arguably Neutral
So, with these chance happenings, I began to ponder on what's with all the fuss and mess over Pink? I have always stayed quite neutral on this subject. The more I think, the more I am convinced that Pink simply can't evoke any sense of awe or awfulness in me. It's just a colour! Yes, it is true that the last time I picked a dress for my three year old niece, it was ... Pink! And, the little girl does have ninja shoes the colour of gelusil Pink! But, no, she's not obsessing over the colour. (Oh, yeah, the non-believers will ask me to wait and watch!). Finally, the point - I am Pink-netural!
Pink Science
You may think I am seeing Pink elephants if I say that structured research has been going on for possibly decades now to discern the girl-pink association. But, hey, I am in the Pink of good (mental) health for you can read about this research here and about the Pink and blue project. There is also a hunter gatherer theory on sex difference which attributes girls liking for Pink with the early female ancestors capacity to pick ripe berries!! However, there exists a contradicting notion that Pink is actually washed down red and hence was a colour for the warriors. In fact, during World War II, the Japanese pilots indulging in God-wind attacks painted their war planes with sakura Pink in order to symbolise the intensity of their mission. From such beginnings, today, Pink is synonymous with cutesy gossip girls. While some say this is biological programming, there are others that attribute it to a silly marketing ploy. Case in point is the creation of Pink science kits for girls by several toy companies. In fact, Toys 'R Us manufactured a Pink microscope that had poor optic capacities. Did they assume that girls are born with superior eyesight that they can get away with lesser magnification?! One never knows!

Courtesy: tokenskeptic.org

This provocatively Pink microscope has been the subject of many a discussion which you can find here.

Yours Pinkly
Anyway, I decided to come up with my two cents on the subject. What I have done is list the Top 3 reasons why you should be Pink-neutral (irrespective of your sex). Inspired by this cracked.com article and some ego-boost by an insomniac, here goes my list -

#3 Strawberries or Blueberries?
There are studies that indicate women who consume strawberries and men who feast on wild blueberry juice are likely to have good heart condition. Truth is ALL berries are rich in antioxidants which are good things for your heart. What's more, berries don't care if you're on the blue guy gang or the pink girl gang and shower their goodness with zero bias! So, gorge on!

#2 Well, there is no Blue Floyd, is there?!
Actually, there is. But, Blue Floyd is basically on a parasitic diet feeding off Pink Floyd's music and aims at "deconstructing PINK FLOYD'S legendary music compositions to its more primal, elemental form" as a homage. Anyway, for an all boys, commercially hot band with a God level guitarist, Pink is hardly the name. Or maybe, it is the perfect name considering the band name is a tribute to two great blues (uh, okay!) musicians - Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

#1 Ever heard of Pinkoholics Anonymous?
If you haven't heard of this ultra-secretive community, I am not surprised. These are Pink-neutral men who claim their mission in life is to promote feelings of fraternity amidst the haters and lovers of Pink. They are all over in visible light but hardly go by this name. When you see a guy supporting breast cancer awareness, he's most likely a member of PA. They are sworn to secrecy for life and entry to this club is demonstration of some archaic pagan rituals. While not much is known as to what these rituals are, some prominent members of PA include this famous author and the metro-sexual Nawab in-waiting seen below:

Courtesy:surajmob.in

Moral of the story is
After all, Pink is just a colour!

My life - In blog post titles...more or less!

Yesterday, I was animatedly explaining to a friend about how inspiration to write a blog post about something or everything comes to me all the time. The peak period always coincides with the time when I have to cross the busy Old Airport Road (Bangalore, of course!) at its point of intersection with Outer Ring Road. Given Bangalore's traffic, this could be a lethal move! But, more traffic woes reserved for another story. Oh! the crucial element is that I never can finish the blog post in my head but I can always come up with (what I think as) nice titles and at least the first line. So, here's some -

Breakfast Blues
The seven day weekend
Salsa and Sadness
Of methods, madness and mood swings
Irksome Ignorance
My Angel of Happiness
Card Catastrophe

So, now that I have successfully demonstrated my ability (or lack thereof) to alliterate salsa with sadness and mood with madness, here's a short abstract of what I was planning to put in these posts. For the imaginatively inclined, feel free to skip this and let creativity run amok!

Breakfast Blues - Every morning, on my way to work, I pass this legendary Andhra-style (but customised to Kannada cuisine which basically translates to putting sugar in everything including salt lassi) restaurant. Thanks to Pavlov, we know what the sight (but no smell) of this restaurant can evoke in me. This was going to be a post about my hunt through the (dusty, dirty) streets of garden (ahem, what was that again?!) city to find the perfect morning meal!

The seven day weekend - I got off a call with a (still in college) junior (yes, I am aging! Sigh!) and she was explaining how she gets this impression of me being obsessed with Fridays and weekends. Six months ago, when people spoke of Monday morning blues, I would be like, " Uh, what in God's holy name is that?". Today, I will reluctantly put up that brave face to refute that I have succumbed yet grudgingly agree that I do wait for Fridays. But, my reason being that's when I get back home (to hot, humid, sweaty Chennai! Ah! I can already feel happiness soak every cell). So, this post was to be my categorical denial of my addiction to Fridays. It was to shed light on how I have a mature mindset (yeah, right!) of the seven day weekend!

Salsa and Sadness - I won't elaborate too much on this. But, as the title suggests it's my desperate attempt to get back to dancing (Bharatanatyam, it was!). I shall stop here.

Of methods, madness and mood swings - From the time I saw the movie, Laws of Attraction, I fancied using the phrase "method to one's madness and madness in one's method". This title was a satisfying attempt to satiate my need for word-porn! After a day of observing myself, my reactions that change in matter of minuscule milli-seconds (didn't we talk of my ability to alliterate?), my mood swings in response to moon cycles (God bless Linda!) I decided to let the world gain some knowledge of my neurotic nature.

Irksome Ignorance - This post was to be my thesis on how to sabotage the veracity of the age old maxim - Ignorance is Bliss. Specifically, it was to talk about the much hyped India Inc. and what that really is. By nature of the subject, this post will become controversial and will be expanded in detail in the near future.

My Angel of Happiness - A tribute to an amazing human being I have had the fortune to know. (When I type angel, I inadvertently type angle all the time and then change. So, now, I think why don't I just write a post on my angle of happiness. Okay, that ain't sensible!)

Card Catastrophe - My bad luck with cards continues. It follows me like a bad curse wherever I go. (Curses were never good in the first place but never mind!) After losing my first debit card to not-knowing-limit-for-one-day-swiping aka clean-account-but-never-use-that-card-again, my ATM only card was swallowed by a blood sucking vampire! Er, I mean card sucking ATM machine. I am now basically card-less, not to mention cash-less, not to mention job-less. (Now, I shall stop.)

Parting note - These posts may eventually even end up appearing as longer, independent ones. One never knows! I hope ya'll had a good new year (ugh, that sounds so wannabe Texan!). Happy New Year wishes, anyway! This being last Earth year and all, rake in all the cheer you can and cherish (you will know it when you read this! :P) all you know!

Cheers!

Once bitten

Once bitten,
Twice shy.

Once bitten,
Never try.

Once bitten,
Always awry.

Once bitten,
Forever dry.

In memoriam

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying;
And the same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

(In memory of a dear classmate and friend who on 15/12/2011 sought solace among the stars)

Loss

Yesterday, the world came crashing down. Quite literally. I was sad and my every cell was aching with agony. I had to depart with a dear and a very near one. Traumatised by the inexplicable loss of my beloved, I chose to turn those memories non-ephemeral by composing, for my love, a brief epitaph.

Dear Love,

Thou came to me at a time of dire need. When the one that I was dependant on had cracked up and began threatening me with watch-out-girl-blue-screen-any-minute-now, thou prevailed upon me as a reliable companion. I have treated thee poorly and dropped thou one too many times. But, thou loving self never once has betrayed me. Oh! how am I going to get over your loss? Oh! how am I ever going to commensurate your cause? Your sunshine one liner displayed every time I switch thou on never failed to charge me up. Nor was there ever a need to charge you before at least three full days. You were trustworthy beyond measure, you were my greatest treasure. You have seen all my highs, and a few wet lows! While thou fancy counterparts with fancier names reveled in the hands of the so called posh geeks, I loved thee too much to replace thou with a tawdry piece! Oh, love, why did you leave me and go? I am so lost without thee but life moves on and so should I, they say. I now have your distant cousin in your place. He looks flossy but you were classy!

The Bard of Avon best summed up my feelings for thee - Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds - Thou shalt be remembered forever in body and soul persisting over the vagaries of Time! For my beloved 1100, mobile phones may come and mobile phones may go, but you will stay in my heart forever!

(uncontrollable sob....whimper....cough....clearing of throat)

May you rest in peace forever!

(In memory of the greatest and best mobile phone ever invented and my beloved companion at all times - my precious 1100)

I am at a time when

...someone I recently made friends with had to refresh my memory about this blog space I own. (Alzhemier's showing up early?)

...I have four posts in my journal and two on the laptop either half way done or left unfinished. Lack of time. Or ideas. Or both.

...My English is at an all time low. I have begun describing most things with just two adjectives - cute or cool.

...I have become a complete social recluse refusing to talk. My standards have definitely plummetted and my per day word count is crumbling down like the Greece economy.

...I read about random things from American Healthcare systems to how to keep yourself fit when you are stuck doing sedentary work . (I really need to get a life!)

...Chocolates no longer offer the solace they used to (but thankfully, Tinkerbell saving Peter Pan still brings tears to my eyes).

...Time is no longer a constraint or has become more of a scarce commodity (Sounds confusing? Well, I am now officially employed).

...I am still trying to find out what I wanna do with the rest of my life (Okay, this one never really goes away!)

...I no longer have to spend too much time styling my abnormally straight hair (one may wonder what is there to style in a straight hair but yeah anyway) at least for the next one month (My stylist's efforts are not in vain this time!)

...I have begun to warm up to the idea of calling a city apart from Chennai 'home'! (This was HARD!)

...I have two analytical pieces to write as an outcome of the (Public distribution System 2011) survey (my 'engagement' (read internship) the summer I was out of college organised by Jean Dreze (member of the National Advisory Council (headed by Sonai Gandhi)) and Reetika Khera (one time student of Jean and now an Economics Prof at IIT-D) )- more about that in a later post) and have successfully (and shamelessly) been procrastinating it for how-many-days-now (lost count!)?!

...I have become more parenthetical than before (Proof : See previous line).

...I publish blog posts at a time when I am supposed to be busy learning/practising Hyperion (For the love of God, I will do what I want when I want - This one thing about me has not changed!).

...I look forward to Fridays now more than EVER before!(Yay! Tomorrow is a Friday).