Professorin or Tsarina?

Nah..the title's got nothing to do with any professor of mine. I just can't decide which title I like better. I know..I know...I know Tsarina means the wife of a Tsar and Tsars were cruel but the word has such a nice ring to it..making it so very deceptive. And Professorin..well..that's from Little Women. I know you're saying,"Oh no! Not again!" but That's what Professor Bhaer calls Jo after they are married and start their school at Plumfield.

*Turning all gooey*

Would like to be called Meine Kleine Professorin. Would like a house like Plumfield with its huge apples trees and vegetable patches and annual events like apple picking. Would like pets. Would like this..would like that..yupp...the post is about just that..my likes..stuff that sends me into raptures. (Yes, I have been called 'opinionated' in the past but in my defense..I'm not opinionated, I'm just very well-informed about my likes and dislikes)

So, since we started off with books..here's a little secret, 'I love books.' I used to be able to read practically anything. But besides the increased academic load, came the pressure of taking sides- LOTR or Harry Potter, Rand or Salinger (and it is my belief that whoever indulges in this is just trying to show off that they've read a lot, including book reviews and essays because most of 'their' opinions sound like reproductions of some literary critic.) So, in protest I choose to read negligibly little these days. Anyway, most of this reading is too heavy for me. I like simple books about childish games and treasures, fights and growing up like To Kill a Mocking Bird, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables and Rose in Bloom. That does not mean I don't read other genres. I am a sucker for black humour - Catch-22(it starts and ends there), any Forsyth or Alistair McLean (spare me the Sheldons and crap)..of late Da Vinci but the book must necessarily be less of atomic bomb scare-U.S. saves the world..i like secret agents, SIS men, CIA...Jason Bourne or the lead in Fist of God to name a few. Heck, Fist of God is why I am pursuing engineering. Can't leave out Mr. Dickens now..way too important a literary figure - Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Cities..*Sigh*...I'm becoming nostalgic..the library of my school in Mumbai with its Victorian wooden paneling and long desks and "library period", my first tryst with Treasure Island, when I was too scared of pirates to go to sleep at night or leave my mom for even a minute in the dark.

What's fascinating is that with every book, I become Laurie peering into the March's living room through his study..enjoying their daily routines-knitting together, singing, pranks and then eventually being one of them, being in that living room instead of peeking into it. Every book thrills me, saddens me, angers me in the right places..that's why no self-help, no preachy stuff - Chicken Soup is strictly ok though Paulo Coelho is accepted whole-heartedly..his writing has a sense of deja-vu..can't help it. Anyway, enough books..let's move on to something else.

I love poetry..cruel, gripping, downright heart-breaking poetry- limericks and John Donne stay away. From Eloisa to Abelard tops the list. Please do read it..all lovers of poetry and all lovers in general. The Highwayman, Lochinvar, Clouds, The Way through the Woods, The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk, The Slave's Dream, Leisure- my favouritest. I also like Shakespeare, Prospero's monologue at the end of the masque in The Tempest being the best piece of advice I've ever received.

I hate to admit it but I have feel-good movies. Yeah..Top Gun remains an all-time favourite but I like to watch You've Got Mail or When Harry met Sally or any Audrey Hepburn when I'm sad. I like happy endings. If it's sad it should be downright pathetic..I like to sob my eyes out when one of my favourite characters dies in a movie/book- It's like one of my teachers said "crying cleans your eyes".

I like identifying myself with characters in movies and books and fretting whether I am going to turn out to be as rotten as them, like Scarlett O'Hara. Oh..the other extreme is valid too..I am comforted by knowing that there was a Holly Golightly or a Celine.

I like singing at the top of my voice while my favourite songs are playing. And this holds especially when I am alone in my room or going for a car-ride with my brother. Blame this on my genes (because my mother does this too..to the extent of ruining tapes) but I love to listen to a single song for entire days together when I get obsessive. I like dancing(or whatever it is I do) when I'm all alone in my room. (MRL, next time you hear any crashing noises from my room..you know the source)

I like flowers...fresh dewy ones (or you could splash a little water on them too..city folk, us...never mind). I like lilies..long-stemmed white calla lilies are my favourite..too weddingy?..I don't care...they make me wanna cry and smile at the same time...like it when that happens. Next come lilies of the valley. Next tiger lilies..oh what the hell..like all kinds of lilies, followed by gladiolas(white ones tinged at the rim or plain white ones), daisies (only white ones), blue morning glory, yellow evening glory, orchids(blue, pink and Google says 'sonchafa' is also an orchid..that too), geraniums (red ones..after reading a haiku by Ruskin bond), carnations (white, blue and pink ones), hibiscus(cos they brighten up the pooja so, better than just mogra)..roses if they have to be mentioned..long-stemmed white ones..not the wild ones but the trimmed and prepped bouquet ones. I like googling for pictures of flowers and arranging them in a bouquet in my head..it makes me all-smiles..very very therapeutic.

I like having imaginary pets. As of now, I have three- Figaro, whom you've already met. For those who don't recollect that's my podgy Persian cat. Then there's Barty and Maggie. Barty is short for Bartholomew and he's my goldfish with a long, wispy silver tail and Maggie is short for Magellan, my lizard. (she's not exactly a pet..just walked in and now she keeps the cockroaches away) There's also Snap, the porcupine on my key-chain and Chloe, my stone dolphin (ring a bell?) I like to talking to this menagerie of mine.

I like long walks..long, endless walks. I like the beach. I like walking through the waves. I like leaving footprints in the sand and then watching, amazed, as they are washed away by the sea. I like sitting next to my mum in the waves and being thrown about by them. I like the dawn. I like it even better when it's misty and the greenery around looks illusionary, like I have to take it all in without blinking my eyes. I like the rain, from a drizzle to a heavy downpour- I like it all. I like watching everything being washed clean by the rain. I like gasping at lush greenery. I like being scared of lightning. I like all the members of the cat family, except lions maybe, they're too dirty. I do play favourites though, liking tigers best of all as is evident by the numerous photos and other paraphernalia I have about them. I like dolphins and whales too. And owls.

I like staring out of the window while on a ride-be it car, train, bus..plane not so much. I like looking up to get a glimpse of the stars and giggle inwardly about the earth's rotation when I am walking. I like feeling cold. I like getting up early on exceptionally cold mornings, going to my parents bedroom, getting under the covers, waking them up by my incessant chatter and then falling asleep myself. I like the sunshine on my shoulder *grinning*, especially when walking from my department to my hostel. I like having a spring in my step and occasionally jumping whilst walking.

I like talking. If you ask any of my closest friends, they'd say this should come first. I love talking...even to myself. I like to take two different sides of a debate and argue it out, I like to enact entire dramas on those aforementioned walks down Acad Lane while playing all the lead roles myself.

I like shopping..I know..which girl doesn't, right?..but I generally like shopping..for anybody..works better if it's a friend or my dad/bro. I love shopping for trinkets.(for myself..got truckloads of them) I like the German language, the smell of fresh cookies and coffee beans, my mom's cooking(the aroma and the actual stuff), clean laundry(again..both), wearing clothes when they've just been ironed, wearing my favourite pair of jeans and t-shirt for as long as I please..phew! Aren't you tired?

Anyway...I like enjoying my meal..it can be anything I'm eating (delicious food is always a plus) but I like fine dining, complete with my mum's good china and all my cutlery and glasses in place having salt and pepper and lemon slices and herbs and green chillies and relishing my onion rings or anything that is being served(so people who crib about food while eating, stay away..dampens the mood) I like hearing the ice cubes fall from their tray into the one below, when I tilt the one above. I like cooking with my brother.

I like being pampered and indulged like a small kid at times..because on all others I'm stuck with being the elder sister.(careful not to use the word 'big'..cos my bro is a good head-head and a half taller than I)I like laughing, especially at my brother's jokes.(I can laugh at the same one every single time, endlessly) I like smiling at old ladies and children when I am out on the street. I like watching the city lights or staring at the fog on the city skyline from my apartment window. I like watching ships disappear into the horizon.

I like making lists and planning and checking things off once completed.(really..I love using organisers and planners and diaries and all the like) I could never maintain a diary regularly, else I really like writing and when I did write a diary, I liked it. I like my scrap book-adding to it, leafing through it, sharing it with someone. Yeah..sharing reminds me..I like sharing my food..not getting pious and saying the less-fortunate, just saying while out, I like sharing the meal with whoever is around.(except non-veggies...they hog mine and I don't get anything in return :))

Most of all, I like being happy. I don't quarrel with loved ones, don't lose my temper as often and get anyone to smile if I'm happy(oh..cho chweet and thoughtful, right?...don't worry..stopping now)

Leaving you all with the photo that's been tripping me for the last few days..calla lilies...smile everyone.