Friday the 13th indeed!

The only claim to fame for this day has been that when I was young and had gone visiting some family friends, I had no option but to watch 4 parts of Friday the 13th- all consecutively! And the darpok that I have been all my life, this day has always been imprinted in my mind- and the movie too! Yet, I have never been very superstitious in life and also always believed that Friday the 13th was my lucky day...after all 666 is one of my favourite numbers! ;)

But yesterday I experienced a very different side to the day- and the wrong side, for once! Had an appointment in the morning and there was too much work and correspondence to complete, so left in a hurry. Only to find out, and after reaching the place, that I had left my wallet at home. Told the guys to postpone the meeting later (I was the client so could afford to say that), went home,sped upstairs, got my wallet out and ran down to the waiting rick. Almost reached the venue when I found out that the wallet had no money nor my card! Great! Trooped back home immediately, searched, rearranged my stuff and got out- this time making sure I don't have to come back for anything at all. After all, the heat here is a killer!

The meeting went off fine. And I had to run some errands so did that and took a rick home. There the second crazy ordeal started. At the start itself, the rick guy dashed a scooter, had an argument, moved out, went ahead a bit and dashed a car, then went a little more and dashed another rick....and almost crashed into a cyclist- all with me in it! Too bizzare a situation for me, so I promptly changed the rick, but not before telling the madman to be off the roads-permanently!

Came home to find my refridgerator had conked off, the milk had got spoilt as had all the other foodstuffs. So I complained to the company (after all it's just a year old since I had bought that piece!) and asked for someone to come and get it repaired. Lo behold! By evening, the fridge suddenly sprang to life and this without any reason or work done on it. Which meant I had to shell out few hundreds for the 'visiting charges' of the company representative!

Just when I thought I could not take it anymore, I realised I was supposed to go for an architectural event at night. And there was soooo much pending work! Also, one of the first time that the food (for Tara) would not cook fast at all nor cool down either! I actually had to completely dress up, and then take Tara out for a walk and also run with her! All in all I managed somehow only to realise I was late for the event!

Got out, but no rick! And the only one I did manage to get was probably the slowest in Pune! Why is it that when you want to reach somewhere real fast, the universe conspires to ensure you are late? The one good point that happened was that the event had just started and I had the pleasure to listen to a good speaker! But then I found out that save for a few, who I could count on my fingers of one hand only, there was no one I knew and the ones I knew never turned up!

The day or rather night ended with me meeting a gay (but real sweet and happy) fashion designer who was desperately trying to sweet talk a friend to be his muse... and he was the one who finally dropped me home as there was no transportation available at all! The bad point of that being he was being latched onto by another guy who was extremely irritating and a lech to boot- and worse was that he seemed straight- which meant he was letching at me! And I had to literally suffer this fool gladly because he was accompanying the person who was dropping me home!

Phew! All in all it was a crazy day! But come to think of it, when you rewind the scenes, it was also fun...
So Friday the 13th, here's more to you! :)

The shoe vs the sandal. (01/12/01.)

If it was a choice between her and me
With whom would u rather be?
A stranger for whom your love has just alit
Or someone who has seen you thru every bit
She may be glamorous, beautiful and bold
But isn’t old still gold!?
She may make your heart skip
But will she hold you when you trip?
Days and months will fly fast
Is it a lifetime that her love will last?
Choosing between us is of course your call
Although let me warn you… she will surely make you fall!

(C) http://love-marks.blogspot.com/

Nursery Rhymes alright!?

Found myself wondering how morbid some of the poems/songs I had learnt,were. The childhood ones to be precise. And even more specifically, the English rhymes.

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Take for example, 'Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down, broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after!'. Poor Jack- imagine actually happening to a little boy- we'd have to call 911 asap! And imagine that poor girl coming rolling from the hill.....!!!

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Then there's 'Inky pinky ponky (please don't laugh on this one, we did learn it!)... Father had a donkey. Donkey Died, father cried. Inky Pinky Ponky!' As a kid too, I always felt bad hearing about the poor donkey....but understood it's significance much later.

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And, "Piggy on the railways lines, picking up stones. Down came an engine and broke Piggy's bones. "AAh", said the Piggy, "that's not fair". "Oh!" Said the engine driver, "I don't care!" Where have those animal activists gone? You teaching a kid to run over a pig and saying it's ok!?

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Some more:

"Barber, barber, shave a pig!How many hairs to make a wig?Four and twenty, that's enough!Give the barber a pinch of snuff"......

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Good night, sleep tight,

Don’t let the bedbugs bite.

And if they do, then take your shoe

And knock ‘em ‘til

They’re black and blue!

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"Goosey, goosey, gander,Whither shall I wander?Upstairs, and downstairs,And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old manWho wouldn't say his prayers!I took him by the left legAnd threw him down the stairs."

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"Rock-a-bye, baby,in the tree top.When the wind blows,the cradle will rock.When the bough breaks,the cradle will fall,And down will come baby,cradle and all. "

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"My Bonnie lies over the ocean,My Bonnie lies over the sea.My Bonnie lies over the ocean,Please bring back my Bonnie to me.
Bring back,Bring back,Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me, to me.Bring back,Bring back,Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me.
Last night as I slept on my pillow,Last night as I slept on my bed,Last night as I slept on my pillow,I dreamt that my Bonnie was dead.
Bring back,Bring back,Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me, to me.Bring back,Bring back,Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me"

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"Solomon Grundy,Born on Monday,Christened on Tuesday,Married on Wednesday,Took ill on Thursday,Worse on Friday,Died on Saturday,Buried on Sunday: This is the end of Solomon Grundy."

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Many of these rhymes have a significance/ an adult explanation of thoughts, but why introduce these thoughts to kids? As a child, I obviously never understood the nuances of the poems, but would feel bad while saying some, and didn't know why. Now, when I re-read them I realise the subtle negativity that flows through them, which sub-consiously stays on in the mind.

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And this is not to sound political correct. Neither is this post on the line of thought as those who think Enid Blyton and other children stories are racist, sexist or xenophobic.(now that thought is utter rubbish and I certainly do not agree with it- but that on some other post...)

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My question is, what on earth are these morbid poems doing in children's books and why are they taught in schools?