Thank You...

... for the Blog Award Keirthana. And those kind words. It was quite unexpected. :-)

Now, I am to do the following:

• Thank the Blogger who nominated you.
• Add the Versatile Blog Award picture to your blog post.
• Share 7 random things about yourself.
• Nominate 15 Fellow Bloggers.
• Inform the Bloggers of their nomination.

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I shall do the nomination bit first. 

I'm probably not the right person to hand out awards, because I don't follow too many blogs keenly. So my list is going to be short.

Crimson Shadows (Shruti) - Wisdom written mostly out of personal experiences (I feel), she has this uncanny ability to put into words complex/perturbing/ambiguous feelings with amazing clarity. Lucid, is the word that comes to mind. She clearly has 'the gift'. 

Vini - Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not nominating her just because she's my sister. She does have a way with words. She's known as the 'writer' in the family, and for the longest while I didn't even bother trying my hand at it, because I didn't think I could be any better (than her). People generally assume that we don't appreciate what the other person writes. But that's not true. No real need to comment on each other's blog (when we can say it directly, right?). So, anyway, here's the *official* award!

Sam - When she said she was going to quit blogging the first time, I knew she would be back. And she did. With a new blog. And how it has caught on! She creates stories out of simple everyday stuff (which she keenly observes). I like the stories and the analogies. 

***

Now, seven random stuff about me (*hint for those who want to quit reading to do so*). 

1. Believe it or not, I hardly weighed a kilo when I was (prematurely) born. I spent the first 40 odd days of my life in an incubator and was taken home later (my twin sister gave mom & dad company, though). "The nurse brought you to me in the white of her palm - just one palm. You were like a baby rat." - is how dad chooses to describe it, always. Mom couldn't travel back to India for her delivery (she was in Dubai) because the Doctor advised her not to for medical reasons - twins, high BP, etc. She still maintains that I (we) probably wouldn't have survived if she had carried out her delivery back here as planned, given that most of the hospitals (in my hometown) were ill-equipped then. Every time they narrate this tale (to anyone) I feel special. :-) 

Also, It's a different matter altogether that from being 'weight-less' and under-weight I'm on the other side of the spectrum now. Not funny. :-P

2. My face mirrors my feelings - which is to say that I can't "act" for nuts. You'll know what I'm feeling/thinking (quite vividly), especially if it's not pleasant. If I get upset, I get upset. If I'm disappointed, I'm disappointed. I haven't mastered the art of masking feelings for 'social' or 'log kya sochenge' reasons...not yet.

3. Which brings me to the third point - I'm generally easily irritable. Also, for some inexplicable reason can lose my temper irrationally, without quite realizing or planning to. Snap, just like that. For those who've watched Manichithrathaazhu, it's like the famous 'Athentha Alli-kku aabharanam edukkan njan koode poyaalu?' moment. Like the time I argued with my Biology teacher in 12^th Std. over 1 mark (or was it half?) which I thought she denied me, but gave another student for a similar answer. She didn't expect it at all (me being the normal 'nice' and 'well-mannered' student); nor did I, truth be told. The Parent-Teacher meeting that followed was...interesting. 

Don't worry, I'm no psycho. I have my 'moments', is all. :-P

4. I am clumsy. Women are *supposed* to be the better-groomed and behaved. Nimble and good at 'finger work'. Well, I'm not that. I usually end up spilling/dropping some bit of food while I'm eating. (Heard of 'there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip'? - it's quite literally that). Not the 'go-to' person in case - you need your hair tied, or eyes written, or nails painted, or dupatta draped in some special manner (but I can drape a Sari decently); or splinter taken out of a wound, etc. I usually can't open candy/biscuit/chips wrappers, and end up fetching a pair of scissors (to open a Rs. 1 toffee even). I am no good at any of the 'crafty' or decoration stuff either. Must be those 'un-womanly' fingers (according to me) that I inherited from Dad. (I mean, they're supposed to be long, slender and all that, right?).

5. Childhood wish - being a news reader. Like on TV. This was in my pre-teens, (before all the 24x7 news channels mushroomed and 'breaking news' happened). Grandpa was a stickler for news. Come what may, all of us kids had to stop playing and be silent when the evening news on Doordarshan began. (And I figured that reading it would be a good way of keeping up with what's happening).

It has more to do with being 'the voice', I guess (though I don't claim to have a good one. I've often wanted to know how a recorded version of it would sound). I've been fascinated about 'making announcements', especially during school/college (though being reticent meant I didn't do too much of that).  I suck at impromptu or by-hearted stuff. I'm comfortable reading out. See the connection - news reading --- teleprompter...? I liked it whenever I had to do the 'Tid-bits' section in the morning Assembly at School.

All that's until a lot of people told me that I speak too fast. 

My mouth trying to catch up with my mind, I'd like to believe! :-P

6. I believe in sun signs (and such stuff). For those of you don't - have you read Linda Goodman's The Sunsigns? With all the awesome descriptions? :-P And I like taking personality tests and the like. I think it's a fun activity to see if the tests match who you are (or think you are). Not that I take them seriously. It was quite the time pass when I joined Facebook in 2008 (when it had very few features & was poor in performance, these tests were the only things I liked). And then they became crap. I still remember one that said that the Jane Austen character I resemble the most is Fanny Price from Mansfield Park. Recently I bought that book, for this sole reason. (Yea, sometimes I can be silly like that. Also, I need to read it!).

7. I ramble. Like MAJORLY. I can write really long mails - personal or professional (those at the receiving end will vouch!). My blog posts are usually on the longer side (especially the earliest ones) - and this is no exception. I know it's not such a good thing. But yea, I make up for my lack of oral communication through the written. (That's only my theory :-P)

Now, I congratulate you if you've put up with another of my long-ish posts!