The creeper grew slowly. And tentatively extended a few tendrils to the rose plant that grew near it. The thorns scraped the tendrils and they withdrew, ever so gently. The rose plant continued on, unaware of the tendrils that had just brushed past, unaware of the encounter it had just missed.

I wish there was a mechanism to swap lives with people. Over and over. On demand, whenever I'd like. For six-month long stints. Or perhaps for a year at a time. I wish lives were transferable.
I'm stuck in the life I've lived for the past 25 years. Decisions have been made, paths have been chosen, a ton has been invested in making me what I am. There must be plenty of people that would want to be where I am. I wish one of them could just take over my life.
She'd look like me, speak like me, act like me, would know everything I do, and for all practical purposes --- would be able to replace me. In my job, in my family, amongst my friends.
No one would know I wasn't there.
But I'd be gone. On a break. Living the other lives I'd thought I'd never have the chance to experience.

Falling in love with someone before they've fallen for you is strangely similar to those occasions in school where you crack a maths problem before those around you have had a chance to figure it out. You bounce up and down on your seat in class, splitting at the seams with the urge to make it known that you know. Your heart aches to share the answer with your best friend, but conventional wisdom dictates that you give him a chance to arrive at the solution himself, so you wait with a maddening patience, doing no more than dropping a hint here and there.
Or you blurt out the answer and see him walk away in a huff, annoyed that you snatched from him the opportunity to learn. You keep your peace but lose your friend.
Or while he takes his time identifying and understanding and thinking about the problem, you review and check and double-check your solution. Hit by worries that you were mistaken after all, that you didn't think it through, or that you missed edge cases in your eagerness to arrive at an answer.

I would enjoy being a bus driver in this rainy weather --- the only
person with a clear window in a fogged up bus :-)

I wonder --- did Cinderella's godmother really do her a favor? Is it worthwhile being a princess for just one evening? Wasn't there the risk of her being unsatisfied with her lot for the rest of her life? How good are our one-off acts of charity?

But nothing ever happens...

I feel strangely sad about the close of 2009. As though a friend I had a really good time with is now heading to board a train. To the past. And I know I'll never see him again. I know there's a replacement called 2010 coming along, on the adjacent platform. But, who knows what he'll be like? I'd rather time just didn't move. At least for a few days more. Till I'm free enough to relax and say bye nicely.

What makes it necessary for those characters in Hindi movies to burst into song (and when in the mood, dance as well) when they realize they've fallen in love? You'd think being uncertain of whether their affection is returned would cause some amount of pain and heartache, but no, they prefer to sing instead. Oh, well..