Hopelessly addicted

So I have been tagged by the Soul of Alec Smart to describe five of my addictions.

Shoes
I am very much into shoes. If I had my way (and shitloads of money of course), I'd have two pairs for every outfit. That would make it close to 300 pairs. In fact, I believe that some day Viv would design me a system which is as follows: Imagine a huge room full of neatly-stacked shoe shelves. The shelves contain shoes of every colour and kind. But you do not have to go in to pick a pair. You just flash a part of your outfit at a tiny sensor on the door, and the LCD screen on the door will show you all the shoes in the room that will go with that outfit. You make your selection (touchscreen, of course), a flap lifts, and a robotic arm polishes the shoes and presents them to you. The system is smart -- it doesn't just map the colour of the outfit to the shoes, it can do a contrast-mapping as well. You can select filters (flats, heels, high heels, straps) or you can just let the system show you everything it has. If for some reason no match is found, the system will then do a search on online shoe shops and present you with the available selection. A touch of the screen will instantly place the order and the shoes will be delivered the same day (your shoe size is, of course, prerecorded in the system). Yes, this is how the system will work. Chalo Viv, designing shuru kar do. Mere khayaal se kuchh saal lag jayenge.


Bollywood
Bollywood has been an obsession since I was a kid. Strange, considering no one in my family is into it. My sundays would begin with Rangoli and end with the afternoon movie on Doordarshan. (Dad wouldn't allow cable TV till my board exams were over.) I'd study during the ad breaks. Incidentally, my sister would only turn up to watch the ads, after which she'd go back to studying. Of course, she was my partner in crime when we would watch Chitrahaar on mute, and our parents would think that we were doing our homework. When I landed in Singapore at the age of 18, I brought with me a large suitcase, my parents' blessings, and a love for Bollywood in my heart, which only grew stronger over the years. It's not like I don't recognise the flaws of Bollywood - the excessive song & dance, the melodrama, the length of movies, the lack of subtlety - but then that's true love, isn't it? To love something in spite of its flaws? I belong to a particular breed of people who believe that only they are born with the right to point out the flaws in Bollywood. If someone else dares to diss it, uska toh... kharcha pani!


Cheesecake
I may be a fitness freak, but when it comes to cheesecake, I never say no. Friends and colleagues are fully aware of how much of a weakness I have for cheesecake and how easily I can be bribed with it. And oh, the best cheesecake I've had? American Club, of course. Simply unbelievable.


Pani puri
When I was 10 years old, my cousin Sid challenged me to eat 30 pani puris. I did. Without batting an eyelid. I was legend. Pani puri also featured prominently in my wedding dinner menu. Of course, I didn't get to eat any, but that's another heart-breaking story. I like the sadak-chhap pani puri, the kind they serve in a folded leaf that's held together by its own stem. The very spicy kind that you eat by the road, accompanied by hazaar aansoo. The kind where you say, "Bhaiya, achhe se mirchi maarke dena!" Thoda ro, thoda khao type. Best pani puri I have had so far? Calcutta, followed by Cuttack. Mumbai ki pani puri was nothing compared to that. And don't even get me started on the nonsense they serve in Singapore, maligning the good name of pani puri.


Blogging
Viv used to call me a net-addict. Yes, it was true a few years ago, but not anymore. I think I'm much better now. It used to be worse. I was addicted, to the net, specifically to blogging. I'd be uneasy if I was away from the computer for more than a couple of hours, and every chance I'd get, I'd check my blog, and the comments, and then other people's blogs, and their replies to my comments, and other people's replies to my comments, and what not. But then those were the days when I had a full-time job and part-time studies and I still managed to write 30 posts in a month. I don't know how the hell I did that, and why I don't can't do that anymore. Sigh, that's another heart-breaking story. These days, I don't get on the net so much, even though I am on the computer at work all day. What's there on the net anyway? News is depressing, Gmail is empty, Facebook has become B.O.R.I.N.G. Blogging and reading blogs is something I still enjoy though. Thankfully. Who knows, maybe after retirement, I'll get back to writing 30 posts a month? If that happens, I do hope some of you bewdas are still around blogsphere too. We can grow old together, tag each other, look back at our lives and smile, while our grandkids laugh at us and the old-fashioned concept of "blogging".