Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Money Matters

Eid's almost here. The first few things that come to mind when you hear "choti eid" are: New clothes, Mehndi, Swaiyan and Eidi. Unfortunately, no sawaiyan and mehndi for me this eid, but yayee for new clothes and Eidi!

Eid has changed so much over the past few years. Previously, a whole ten days before Eid, you could feel it coming - the bazaars, the stalls, the shopping. Now, five days before Eid, I saw banners for "Eid mela" and I was thinking, "Already?!"

I remember Papa
(Grandfather), sitting on his sofa, with brand new one and two rupee bills in his hand. To me, he always seemed like a big Santa Claus, minus the beard. He'd sit there and one by one, we'd go to him and collect our Eidi. But there was always one part about the whole deal that every kid dreaded - the tickling. He would tickle us a whole lot, give us a kiss and only then would we get our Eidi of two rupees - a brand new purple colored bill. Woot!! Imagine the number of "Bubble Your Name" gums you could buy! And if you were lucky, you'd find one with your name on it and get another one! :D I remember one moment very vividly. [=))] I got "Win 2" on one of the bubble gums and when I received those two, I got "Win 5" on one of them! Best Eid ever! :P

Every Eid, my mamoo gives me Rs.100. Getting Rs. 100 back in the day was like hitting a lottery. I loved getting those, being filled with glee just by holding the bill in my hands. That happiness was short lived, though, because mum would always take them away - not like "Give me the money!" kind of way, but more like, "Beta, paisay gumm ho jain gay. Why don’t you keep them with me?" Big mistake!

I would buy new bangles, although I’d NEVER wear them. I would like getting intricate designs made out in mehndi on my hands. I would like waking up early and dressing up before Papa
(dad) came back home from Namaz, so that I could give him a big hug and wish him "Eid Mubarak". Chand raat was an event to look forward to and on that night, shopping was a must! I would meet up with friends and go out, basically, having loads of fun.

Now, however, there is no looking forward to chand raat, no hulla gulla, no bangles, no dressing up early, though I still give papa that early morning hug. My love for mehndi has been reduced to something very, very simple with no designs too congested. This year, I didn’t even put on any mehndi. SO unlike Eid! Something I did do, which was so unlike ME, and is something I have promised myself not to do in a long long time, is spending four hours in beauty parlor! Yuck!

I got extra credit to call all my friends up, but nobody picked up the phone. Nobody. *hurt* But, thank you, B, though I forgot to wish you a happy Eid. It was a fun, fun talk. :D. The reason for it could be that for past 3 years, Eid has been coming during exam season…I don’t know.

Now even Eidi has changed! From two rupees, our worth has increased to twenty-five and from one hundred rupees to five hundred! :P Currently, the five thousand rupee bill is the largest one in Pakistani currency, so the value of the smaller bills is going down
(for those eagerly awaiting Eidi anyway).

All this talk of bills reminds me of my first time 'earning' money. Yup, the good old times with the 'tooth fairy'.
(Why I call it earning, I’ll explain later.) I knew from day one that there is no such thing as tooth fairy. I knew my dad always came and put Rs. 10 under my pillow. Some of my friends were aghast to hear of such a thing! To ease their young minds, they would say that “everyone has a tooth fairy and Sana has a tooth uncle”. How that made them feel better is beyond me, but hey, I’m not going to complain. Ten rupees! More than enough “Top Pops” in that money to fill my little tummy. Heh, eventually Papa found out that I knew he was my “Tooth uncle”, so he said he wouldn’t give me money any more since he didn’t have to care about "disillusioning" me. :P But since my dad is such a sweet heart, he gave me Rs. 5 instead of 10. Yayee for that too! Two bags of Top Pops! In a way, it was good that he found out that I knew because then I didn’t have to wait until bedtime to get my five rupees. I'd get it before going to school or to the park! :P I’d just go to him, hand in my tooth and say, "Here you go," and he'd take out five rupees!

Now why did I call that 'earning'? Because it wasn’t easy money! It required two syringes of anesthetics and lots of blood per tooth! Yup, all my milk teeth (ok, all minus three) had to be pulled out because they never fell off by themselves and the new ones would start emerging before then! I have had lots of trips to the dentist’s office! (To know where all that got me, read the previous two posts. :P)

So where was I? Yeah, Eid. Eid used to be uber-fun when I was a kid, not just because of all the reasons I mentioned previously, but also because there was a chance that we'd fly to Karachi and meet family. Now, we have a big 'family dinner' every year on Eid, but it’s nowhere near the same. Everyone is so busy nowadays that nobody lives up to the Eid spirit and it’s gone without any long-term effects. Hmm, I remember having a lot to say, but at the moment, it has all left me, so I am going to end it here.

Moral of the story: Things change. Eid’s changed, but one thing that has stayed the same in spite of it all is the sucky Eid transmission on TV. Twenty years and I haven’t seen a single good Eid transmission!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Tag, you're IT! :P

Today: is a new day
Height:
of khwari - filling this thing up
Color:
blue
Piercing: doesn't hurt too much
Tattoos:
are cool on back, heart and ankle! =))

Right Now:
Time: is bad
Mood:
is thuss
Taste:
is yummy
The weather:
is hot
Bad habit:
sleeping
Current crush: Orlando bloom
Biggest regret:
none
Perfume(s):
are good
Thing(s) I want to do: are too many to list/be truly happy for one

Favourite:
TV show: (s) are for non-sleepers
Book: (s) are good with pictures
Non-alcoholic drink:
Pakola
Milk drink: mango/strawberry/ice cream shake
Brand:
Nestlé (milk brand, right?)
Color: All colors, except magenta
Emblem: Wassat?
Perfume:
'Thanda paani'. Men's perfumes! Not too spicy!
Designer: me
Chocolate:
(s) are my reason to live

Have I Ever:
Broken the law: Is that a piece of a decoration?
Misused credit card: The fake ones you get in wallets?
Skipped school:
Nope, too big to even try. I have skipped over puddles though.
Fell asleep in the shower/bath:
When a shower is 2 hrs long, I don't see a reason why not.
Had children:
Yes, sent them off to boarding school and now I am enjoying life with my uber rich husband.
Been in love: Love has been in meeee (What? Being lame wasn't part of the deal? Pfft!)
Been hurt: Or been the reason of hurt?

Random:
Have a job:
Yup. 'Online dating'. Sleeping does count, right?
My CD player has what in it right now:
Spider webs
If I were a crayon, the color?
Sky blue
What makes me happy?
Cloudy day, smell of french fries, squirrels, good fun conversation with friends, and strangely, talking to myself.

When/What Was the Last. . .
Time I got a real letter:
Which letter? a-z?
Time I got an email: Two hours ago
Thing I purchased:
Mobile credit
TV program I watched:
Lost
Movie I saw in the theaters: The Chronicles of Riddick/Spiderman
Time I hugged:
10 months ago
Song heard:
Sister Hazel - Your Winter
Place I was [besides home]:
College
Phone call: Shez
Time I was depressed:
You're kidding, right? :P

What Comes to Mind When I Hear...
Car:
Porsche
Murder:
Mystery
Cape:
Town
Cell:
phone
Shoe:
Shwe
Fun:
-ny
Crush: shave-ice
Music:
No good without you, baby, music's no good at all(8)
Love:
is crazy
Chalk: White and icky

I am thinking about:
Good times
I said:
that
I want to:
sleep
I wish:
for ice cream
I miss:
many people
I hear: love songs
I wonder:
how it would have been ...
I regret:
nothing
I am:
wonderful
I dance:
funny *hop hop bop ble bop bounce bounce bob*
I sing:
horribly
I cry:
a lot
I am not always:
nice
I write:
terribly
I confuse:
people
I need:
you
I should try:
everything new
I finish: late


(Tadaaa!... I don't see a point to this though.)

*Note: This blog post has no thought put into it. I just put down the first thing that popped into my head when I read the questions. So NOW I realise, that I haven't answered anything that has been asked. E.g., 'Favourites'.. There's only one thing left to do now, "meh"! *

Friday, October 13, 2006

Dentist, Root Canal And Me - Part 2

I posted a site for info on root canals, but didn't bother to go through it myself. Turns out, one sitting is not all it takes for root canal. It takes 3-4 per tooth! The first time around, they gave me anaesthetics, so by the time they died out, all pain had subsided and I didn't feel a thing. But yesterday... Oh boy! I didn't cry, I didn't scream, but I could've scratched someone's eyes out. I just clenched my fists and prayed that my mum comes and covers my ears. It's a childhood thing, but one that's lived on. I am more scared of noises than the actual scene, covering my ears and screaming helps to decrease the pain (or maybe covering the ears came from the fact that my screams are pretty horrific), I don't know. I wanted to scream, but I didn't want to act like a girl! (OK, OK, act too much like a girl!) Then I'd gloat about it, feeling so proud, telling others that my procedure was painless because everyone I know who has ever had it done, complained about the horrifically unbearable pain. Heh, I should stop believing the "I am a special little girl" bit. :P Saturday is going to be another painful day. Enough to make me consider getting the other one extracted!

A friend asked me if I cried and I told him that I didn't. I told him that I am a strong girl and I don't cry over everything. Heh, wrong. He has seen me cry over trivial things and seen me bear the most difficult ones. It's crazy, actually. Small things make me want to cry while big things make me want to "be strong". It's the same thing as how I find difficult subjects (difficult for most) easy and the easiest subjects, difficult. Maybe the reason is that I give too much importance, either to little things or big things, I can't decide which right now. But it's the importance factor, I think. I really don't know.

Sometimes a small thing like missing a pen can make want to cry and throw things about. I have a lot of "nakhras", but I am not crazy. Usually when people see me crying over small things, it's not actually the thing that's making me cry. More like snapping, when pent-up emotions reach the top of my emotional pitcher.

I cry when my anger reaches its peak because when I am the most angry is when I am also the most helpless. Helpless because I know I can't break stuff nor do something about the situation. I am not very rational when I am angry. Crying while angry is actually a good thing because it kinda calms me down. Or else, may God help you.

I am quite short tempered. I get angered easily, but I also calm down quickly. It's like when I am angry, I'll show it, get it out and it get over with. It's the exact opposite when I am sad or hurt. I don't know which is more dangerous.

A month or so ago, I came up with something called the "Approach". The main idea behind it is that I am not supposed to open up, speak my mind or be blunt in most situations where I would normally do so, in front of people who:
1) don't know me, or
2) were ever so judgemental,
basically saving myself the load of trouble that "speaking my mind" brought me. But then I took it to another level. I used the "Approach" on friends too and though I didn't really miss out on much, I hurt plenty of my good friends on the way, friends who know what kind of a person I am and who truly care about me. Though I may not always open up, I would like to say to all of my friends, "Thank you so much" and "I am sorry for being selfish". I have been more open recently and it seems to be going fine, so I'll stick with it for a while and see how things go.

This blog post was supposed to start from my dentist's appointment and end on how I am strong, yet not so much, but I rambled and got a little off. Anything to avoid studies, I guess!

(Today while writing the date on my exam paper, I noticed it's "Friday, the 13th". If I was superstitious, I could've blogged about that. I am not. :P Oh, but black cats are wicked, broken mirrors bring bad luck and walking under a ladder can make you fall in the gutter :P *rolls eyes*)

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Dentist, Root Canal And Me

As a child, whenever someone mentioned root-canal I used to think, "hmm, how cool would it be to have canals made inside your mouth, have canals instead of roots! So that even the inside of your tooth can feel the yummy sweetness of choco". I thought that they put mini pipes inside your skin making "canals". (Was so mistaken!) As a child I also used to congratulate myself to have the healthiest of teeth of all (apart from the braces deal) , considering the amount of sugar I used to take on hourly basis.



Well, all that changed a year ago. I got two cavities, between teeth, and not inside one! So I still say it wasn't "keera". Occasional pain was normal, but my fear of the dentist always used to get the better of me and I never went to get it checked. (Big mistake!). Plus with university, I never got time, bunking one and two periods is fine, but entire day? I think not! (*ehem* it was basically the dentist reason:$)



Finally I got the time (and the pain became unbearable), so I went and got it checked. HA! one hell of a lecture on choco intake! They treated and treated, filled, un-filled, gave loads of medicines! All in vain. Root canal was inevitable.



Instead of "canals" instead of roots, I have one dead tooth, waiting to wear its "crown". I didn't feel a thing. ( Anesthesia is a blessing). I still don't feel anything, apart from one heavy mouth. My lower jaw and part tongue's asleep. (So if I post a voice recording of this post, it's be like... "thoo the phaainn itthntt theree athh yeett" *tissue for cleaning the spit* Gross I know :P)



* Side note:- 'th' = 's' *



The dentist is officially the scariest doctor. The tools! Weapons of mass destruction. Had my eyes closed tightly shut,and fists clenched, throughout the procedure. If only the sound of the tools grinding my teeth was bearable! (wasn't!), ears are still ringing with the noise. (Prep-ing myself for nightmares - more reasons than one). The poked and they poked and they poked! They had pins, 100s of them, (actually quite cute, colorful and all) , they pinched and they drilled and blowed and they sucked the saliva out!



Finally after 45 mins of grrr,zhhinngg,teeennnn,khrich khrich, the procedure ended. One cotton bud to hold the filling in and one heavy mouth to bear for rest of the day. Would it pain? "You might feel 'discomfort' but it should not pain while eating hot and cold, oh and you aren't supposed to eat for a while" *mental punch* , I was almost tempted to ask "please explain your definition of 'discomfort'. MY lips feel so weird, I can bite them and puncture them and I won't feel a thing! (*thinks* hmm, how would a lip piercing look?) After a day and night of sniffs, tissues and headache, It's actually a relief to have a painless surgery. Who knew that root-canal would make me feel "better", in more ways than one.



Still waiting for the swelling to go down to check if the "discomfort" is bearable or not. I am not crazy about studying, and to find excuses, for not doing it, is easy to do. But to be handed such an excuse in a surgical tray! I think I'll pass. Ooh just checked the cotton! It bled too, still no pain :D!



*Appointment on Tuesday to make sure all's well*



*Sponsor: Medicam toothpaste, instant relief for 2 hrs, put on teeth and feel free.*



Ignore the last post, was just checking if I can post through email, I can, and thankfully too, beta.blogger's blocked, for God knows what reason. *mental curse*



For other misguided kids, choco does ruin.


Root Canal



A messed up x-ray of my teeth, (its old, i dropped coke on this one,so they wont let me have the new):



Thank you for visiting :D Time well wasted, no? ;)