When Dreams Whither and Die

Life is not what I dreamt it would be:

Knights in armor; oh the chivalry,

Fancy balls, handsome princes, long lovely dresses,

Palaces, fine things, and romantic kisses...

Whatever happened to my dream?

Why does real life make me want to scream?

I can't scream, I must be strong,

Maybe my true strong prince will come along.

Who am I fooling?

All my schooling?

It was all for naught,

If only my sister, with my prince, hadn't fought.

My prince began to loath me,

He couldn't even stand the sight of me,

So I tried my best to win his favor,

In whatever way, whatsoever.

I was selfish,

And as I undid my father, I did relinquish

For a while. Until I realized I did never see the whole game,

I brought shame unto my family's name.

With that shame I still live,

What a heavy burden, which I can not share or give,

My father dead, my mother and brother dead too

Of my other siblings, I have no clue.

They wed me to the imp,

Foiled was the plan to wed me to the cripple prince with a limp,

I was hounded, I was whisked away,

And to the tallest tower to stay.

Whatever happened to my dream?

Why does real life beg me to scream?

I can't scream, I must be strong,

Maybe my true strong prince will come along.

From the tower I came descended,

A whining prince in tow, undefended,

Winter is coming,

And a surprise awaiting.

My new father awaited me,

He said "Guess who your new husband will be?"

I masked my shock and sorrow with joy,

Alas I am still treated as a piece, as a toy.

I was a dreamy young girl once,

I dreamt of gallant princes and Knights,

All to be shattered and prove me a dunce, 

Everything to wither into the winter of night.

I was taught the story that princes and knights were honorable,

I was shocked to learn that this was naught

The queen herself proved to be dishonorable,

This is the new story I have been taught.

I am now a woman grown,

It was not as I thought it would be, and the truth of it makes me groan,

My family gone, and I am helpless with no one to trust,

I am me no longer, but I am another; and men still lust.

Whatever happened to my dream?

Nothing goes my way it seems,

I can't give in, I must be strong,

Maybe my true prince will come along.

Someday...

Till then Winter Is Coming,

For spring I shall wait,

The Summer was strong and shinning, 

The Autumn reality grim and stark with a cold fate.

-Pree for Sansa 9/23/2013

And to the tallest tower to stay

They wed me to the imp

Life is not what I dreamt it would be:

Knights in armor; oh the chivalry,

Fancy balls, handsome princes, long lovely dresses,

Palaces, fine things, and romantic kisses...

Texts From Dad - Game of Thrones in Real Life

Me- Hi
Dad- Where is she? I can't find her
Me- Who?
Dad- Ma
Me- I don't know... where are you? What's going on?
Dad- I found her next to south wall full of snow covered!
Me- What are you talking about?
Me- Game of Thrones?
Dad- Yes. Now we are playing real life GoT.
Me- Where are you and ma playing game of thrones in real life?
Dad- At Wall Mart


Get it "Wall" mart!

They aren't too pleased with season 3... wait till they see the red wedding... :-O

Texts From Dad - Pentathlons

Dad- where r u? What's up? R u coming? What do u say now? Love- Babi
Me- at pentathlon
Dad- What is that- a jungle or a store like pantaloon?
Dad- or like a python or mython like the dam near durgapur?
Me- a competition
Dad- who can compete you in Ummm... Ummmm....

the equestrian event

Indian Tea Houses

Chai or Tea (commonly made with black tea, milk and spices), is a part of Indian culture, Bengali culture rather,  and diet, as much as rice is. Along with chai or chaa as Bengali's call it, we  have to have some snacks- whether it is chaat, singhara (commonly known as samosa), sweets (rasgola), marie biscuits or and biscuits (known as cookies in America). The biscuit might be a british thing, to dunk it in the tea and eat... mmm.

The Italians have their biscottis (delicious) with coffee, the French have their cafe au lait, the people in Westeros (fictional place in A Song of Ice and Fire) have their meads, ales, and Dornish wines...and the Brits and Indians have biscuits. Well maybe the Brits have tea and crumpets (hehehe!). We all have our drink and a side snack to comfort us at the end of the day. I love the tea and biscuits. I love dipping my biscuit in my tea! Personally I do not like it when the biscuit gets so soggy and breaks off and descend to the bottom of the cup, but some people like it. I do however enjoy the soggy biscuit with the subtle flavor of the tea. The chaa can be black, with or without sugar, with or without milk. It's up to you. If you're drinking it black, you can add some lemon... One thing you must have with tea is "Adda" in bengali that means "chat" or "gossip". Just a light, non-serious form of conversation.

In the west we do a type of "adda" over beer, or drinks. However in India or Bengal, chaa serves as the drink of choice for "adda". Its a social bonding experience, usually done at dusk, in the garden, some cozy spot, or the side of the road by the chaa-waalla (tea trader), or the maidan (field for sports). Did we get this culture from the Brits? or is it Bengali?

The point of the matter is, chaa is a ritual in Kolkata. after lunch, in the evenings before breakfast... In a way India has it's own tea-rituals. India has it's own Tea houses, although not as fancy as the Japanese Tea Houses. India's tea houses are rustic, and can be found in the cart on the road-side. It's truly an experience, and if not experienced an entertaining, and awesome sight to see.

India has been getting the reputation more and more of being the worst country or most dangerous country for women, it always has been. Recently more women are speaking up, and more people are standing up for women. So we are hearing more and more of the horrors. It's not recent, however it seems the violence against women is being aggravated further as more people stand up FOR women. There is many an argument against women and not to mention the sexually repressed nature of the culture, and conservative-ness, and what ever else. I recently came across this article on why and how a woman should travel India. Which is so well written. One line in particular struck me "One reason: No country will fascinate and frustrate you more." It's the small things, and not just in India, but every country. So look for the little tea stalls, and enjoy some chaa and biscuit. Forget starbucks, forget chai tea lattes and have the real thing... I sure miss it!

A chaa stand

The neighborhood chaa waala

There also maybe a chaa lady - Pic by Chirasree Charaborty

the chaa tastes best out of little earthen cups!

The Two Towers

Remembering...

As my heart breaks,
I feel the pain of thousands again.
Remembering the fear, the shock, the pain,
The anger, and all the emotion this day takes.

Remembering the lives lost,
The war it cost,
More lives were taken,
The whole world shaken.

Remembering the strenght of the masses,
Even though the two towers lay in ashes,
The city lived, and lives on,
The spirit will shine on forever, on and on.

House Cleaning

I cleaned up my facebook finally!
from a 1000 to 600 something...

Why did I have to "unfriend" so many?

There are people who I always reach out to but never reply, or there are people who are not that close to me, I haven't seen them in years, acquaintances etc. I didn't get rid of them entirely, they are all transferred to a different more professional profile (kinda working on somethings right now, and really need to go into myself, and share less, its a very personal thing). Really just sorting and finding who my true friends are, my friends who hang out with me, who are excited to be with me... There is such a difference, and I am here open to friendship, its all up to the other person.

What makes the other person a good friend?
1- honesty
2- communication
3- nurturing the friendship / making it grow
4- being truthful when feeling flaky about showing up, communication
5- being there when times are bad
6- being there when times are good
7- give and take, take and give
8- being genuine
9- humble
10- loyalty
....

There are so many things that make a good friend, and some people have said I am a difficult to be friends with cause of the high standards. Well I am an extremely empathetic (an empath), I am sensitive, so I need to surround myself with the best. To protect myself, my heart, and its hard to keep giving, I am not martyr.

People move on in life, and grow, make their own friends. It is understandable that some would not be able to or wish to stay in contact. I see no why they should linger on my personal page. I'm not in their lives, they aren't in my life. I think my sis did a sorting of a similar sort recently, and I have friends who have done the same. Although I say this, I often end up in one-way friendships, I let people do that to me, but I can't anymore.

I need to surround myself with people who are excited to be with me! Who want to hang out with me, who aren't using me, or I am just another picture on their facebook wall. I will not be that person anymore... I will not reach out and not get a reply for vast amounts of time...

I will not tolerate arrogance. Why is it that when some of my friends have received PhDs they began acting haughty, or in laymen's terms - they became total jerks. Isn't education supposed to better people? Why am I suddenly lesser, and not deserving of their respect? My father (an Indian man) always told me PhDs are always respected, and most respected. Do they always give respect though? You get respect if you give respect, not if you studied something for longer than another person. So you have some letters in front of your name, so you have another paper, so you spent more money to educate yourself, so you may earn more... so what? In the end "Winter IS Coming". In the end we are all but carbon molecules...

(that sure was a little rant).

I will be mindful to not become a jerk when I get more papers saying that I know "stuff", in the future. It is tough to be mindful, and it is always important to apologize to friends when you realize you have hurt them. I love the healthy communication, respect and love I have with some of my friends. Yes it's almost like an relationship. In fact it is. Maybe that's why people think being my friend is so demanding... what good is a friend who is not there for you when times are down, who won't go to watch movies with you, who lies to your face, who never stays in touch, who doesn't respect you or your feelings?

Yeah... surround yourself with Good people, Good friends... not Cool, but Good, and they will automatically be cool, cause you are cool. When you have a good friend, it won't even seem like so much work, because it will be so natural.

Breathe

biking with climbing friends.. ok climbing family!

fun time with friends!... family...

More Game of Thrones with Family

Dad- I knew she would tear the paper
Me- The queen?
Dad- yeah and then they captured Ned Stark, what a shame.

Dad- The guy who saved Tyrion is the true king isn't he?
Me- Bronn? No he's a sellsword.
Dad and Mom- What?
Me- A Mercenary. Basically if you send him to assassinate someone, and the supposed victim offers him twice the amount, he'll come back and kill you.
Dad- So the Catelyn gave him money and job no?
Me- But Tyrion can offer twice or thrice as much and more.
Dad- Oh. He prefers stock option... hmm.

Oh Boy!
 
 

Game of Thrones Takes on the Family

My parents finally began watching the TV show "A Game of Thrones". I first tried to get my grandparents and parents watch the show by telling them that George RR Martin based the story on the War of Roses, the history of Britain's succession. By episode 3 everyone was intrigued, my grandmom was grossed out by the gore; not a surprise since she does enjoy softer films. My grandad was hooked, and my mom loves anything BBC or Masterpeice, or British Period films, so she was keen on watching it. My father tags along on whatever my mother watches. At the end of the day she who runs the kitchen runs the remote!

Dad is in and out of the first episode, he's on a business call, then he snoozes, and suddenly I catch him giggling to something Bran says. He is up and watching. My mom is engrossed in it, and has lots of questions, 3 seconds after she asks the question, the question is answered. Episode 2 she asks who's knife was sent to kill Bran? Just as Catelyn has the same question. 3 seconds later, Petyr Baelish says "it is my knife". This happens many times.

Every time they show Bran, my father asks- is this the guy who fell? So now he is known as the boy who fell. Tyrion is ofcourse the dwarf, although they kept asking me who the imp was, whenever the characters referred to Tyrion as the imp. Cersei and Jaime Lannister were named the Incestors by my mom. The King's council became the Venture Capitalists of the olden days; they find investors, and throw large grand parties to run the King's Kingdom. They are both convinced that the the entire King's council other than Ned Stark, is bad, evil, and up to no good. By now they are hooked.

Sansa became Sasha for a while, and the names got confused with Cersei. I have no idea how! They both like Ned Stark, and my dad likes the fat King Robert. I hope they come to like Arya as much as I do. My mother is Jorah Mormont's biggest fan, she might have a crush, and my dad is fearful of Khal Drogo...

Dad: is he Indian? (referring to Khal Drogo and what culture he represents on the show)
Mom: no he's not. He might be french.
Dad: He is Indian!
Mom: No he isn't! If anything he might be middle eastern.
Dad: You know the Syria issue...
Mom and I: Not now!

On the topic of Khal and Dany, on  their wedding night, the Khal whisks Dany away on her horse and consummates the marriage on the beach. The entire time my dad was convinced he was murdering Dany in pretense of marriage. Later in a different scene she is shown alive, and he asked surprised: "I thought she was killed!? Is this a flash back?" Awkwardly I had to explain that it was sex and not murder. Later that night he dreamt that the Khal and his blood riders were trying to take my mother away and he punched and kicked in his sleep to fight them off and keep her safe. Unfortunately my mom had to feel the kicks and pushes!

They are both so hooked, that on Wednesday at lunch break this was the conversation:

Mom- I can't wait to watch the rest tonight!

Dad- don't start the cinema without me!

Me- it's not a cinema!

Dad- it is so long, it's more than cinema!

Then Catelyn took Tyrion prisoner at the inn, both my parents exclaimed shocked: "Why did she do that? He did nothing?"
I had to explain, however the evidence was clear, Catelyn made her first idiotic move.

They predict that Jaime will kill Ned Stark, or Ned will kill Cerse and Jaime. If it was only that simple. Right?

Mom just texted me: Why did the sister still breast feeding?
Me: they are psycho? she has post partem issues?
Mom: Oedipus comlex.

She has a point, but also she coddles her kid too much for some reason.

Mom- who is Baratheon...
Me the dead king and his brothers... (oops i let a spoiler slip)
Mom- K
Mom- how many chpters in each cd?
Me- 2
Mom- thanks. we are on episode 7... omg your father is so hooked on this. he loves it.
Me- what happened on 6?
Mom- the brother got killed. he gets his golden crown.


The joys of getting people hooked on something so good!


Breathe

The Game of...

Everyone plays a game;

There is the game of love,
Until you become jaded and frayed.
Some play silly games, innocent as a dove,
Until your heart is broken from all the games played.

Men play the game of thrones
Across cities, countries and continents,
How the people weep,
When the Rich play their games.

There is The Game,
That no one can never be win,
No throne to claim,
No prize at the end. Just naught. Fin.

Valar Morghulis.

The game of life,
Some are aware of it, Some call it strife,
Some are caught up in the petty,
To worried about wealth, or looking pretty.

The game of life,
We all seem to play,
Some play it with ethics and morals,

Some with another man's wife.


The game of life,
A tricky one it is, some play it with a knife,
Some play it well, some play you for a fool,
Some are conniving, while others... pure evil.

Some play bravely, others are loyal and true...
Which one are you?
What game do you play?
Oh hark, you will pay you toll at the end of the day.

Valar Morghulis.