Since it has been the full-gestation-period-of-a-human-being (plus a couple of weeks) since my last post here, it’s only fair to come back with a super-kickass, uber-awesome post about how I’ve been living it up these past 10 months. Only fair.
Unfortunately, my life has had only the blink-and-you’ll-miss her appearances by a certain (I find her very elusive) Lady Fairness of Justicevilleshire..and those few cursory appearances by Her Highness have instilled within me a deep and very profound need to never go out of my way to make something appear fair. So I don’t ever go out of my way to make something seem fair. It’s positively non-Libran of me. Either that..or I really have nothing overly-exciting to bring to the table here..which could possibly justify my long hiatus from my own blog.
Where have I been these past few months? I didn’t really go gallivanting to the ends of the world in these months. I did, however, travel to Assam and Meghalaya and had the most amazing few days when I stayed at a farm in the middle of nowhere.
Nor did I do/indulge in any new and challenging activities..like feed sharks or get scuba-certified. The closest I came to learning anything new and helpful (like a foreign language) was downloading an app on my phone called Duolingo. I did, however, learn to make sushi. Besides that, I pretty much just lazed around, worked when I needed to, ate a lot of Nutella and french fries and sushi, along with a healthy dose of bacon.
I traveled to Bombay a couple of times and Pune and Chennai once each. I finally got some pictures with my best friend of 14 years (we had 1 picture together..until this month)..so I pretty much went crazy making picture collages of us –
I made friends with a lot of dogs.
I took a lot of pictures..and posed for even more. I read a fair bit, sketched a little, watched a lot of TV shows and shopped for clothes, shoes, books, art supplies and cute little Tintin-themed strips of band-aid.
And yes..this month, I quit my job. I got offered a couple of jobs that I hadn’t applied for (I’m too lazy to apply for jobs the 1st month of my sabbatical). Well..we’ll see about it soon. Work and stuff.
That’s me..the 1st day after I quit my job. Sketching in my Doodle pad..watching Audrey Hepburn having Breakfast at Tiffany’s –
I’ve watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s about a million and ten times (at least). I often wonder about what I find most engrossing about this iconic opening scene –
Is it AH’s incomparable screen presence? I’ve seen all of her movies (multiple times) and nothing seems to ever come close to this. Not Sabrina. Not My Fair Lady. Not The Children’s Hour or The Nun’s Story. Not even A Roman Holiday..for which she won an Academy Award..and pretty much did the near-impossible act of out-“actoring” Gregory Peck.
Is it Hubert Givenchy’s brilliance coming through that stunning black dress? True, this dress set trends for the next half a century and is arguably the most famous black dress in the history of couture. But Givenchy has given us plenty of jaw-droppingly-stunning moments dressing AH. I mean..the white gown from Sabrina consistently ranks as the most beautiful dresses in cinema. Then there’s the darling red dress (even though we only see it as a black dress on screen) Sabrina wears – I mean..just look at how smitten both Linus and David are!!
Is it the simple..almost mundane breakfast of coffee and croissant that resonates with me? Let’s face it..for all my fancy hangups at odd times, I have a full breakfast spread complete with pancakes and waffles with 4 different kinds of syrups and sauces, 5 types of eggs, bacon, 22 types of ham and an equal number of cheeses, 18 different kinds of cereal da da da..well..almost never. A cup of coffee and a croissant are just so identifiable. So..normal.
Or is it the idea of a place in the world where life’s troubles and sadness..the blues and the mean reds..can vanish for a little while as you sip your coffee and bite on your perfectly-buttered croissant? I don’t quite know yet.
And then I listen to ‘Moon River’..the beautifully haunting lyrics by Johnny Mercer set to Henry Mancini’s nostalgia-inducing tune..and I can’t help feeling that beyond AH’s aura and Givenchy’s exquisite fashion creations and the perfectly-buttered croissant for breakfast..is the music. The words. Simple. Evocative. The kind of stuff that can totally lead you off on a tangent while you’re trying to earnestly explain your actions for the past few months (especially since they didn’t involve anything earth-shatteringly interesting). I’ll get down to it as soon as I’ve finished humming the bridge, I promise.
“Moon river, wider than a mile
I’m crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way
Two drifters, off to see the world, there’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waiting round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river and me”
Did I say I also sketched? Maybe this is what I meant –
Or this –
There was also a birthday card that was deemed too risqué for social media –
Beyond this, life goes on. Time to start working on the novel now.
A little bit of Pixie dust 