The year 2008

Last year when I posted this I had scant thought that yet another year will pass by andddd it will be time to post another year ending thingy.

Hmm.... the end of this year does not seem like the end of a year at all. Partly I can blame it on the fact that TAMIL NADU SARKAR DOES NOT GIVE LEAVE ON 1st of JANUARY COS THE NEW YEAR BEGINS WITH THE TAM NEW YEAR. Grrrrrr......
Another reason might be, there were many things which were evened out in the year that I don't have any thing to anticipate in the coming year. There is nothing that I have planned and have to execute it next year. There is nothing that I have executed and have to await the results next year. Most of the rough and tumble happened in the year itself.

• I got married
• 2 of my closest friends got married
• I was able to trot around the country with my better half
  
• I had a splendid and a pretty educative year with my in laws ( education about the traits and quirks of the people who are to be my family hence forth :D )
  
• I moved in to a new firm and got used to it pretty decently.
  
• Got to spend awesome quality time with my parents and had helova lot of fun
• And the bestest I had a neice, the cutest thing on earth currently :)
  

Touchwood to all that ( I am superstitious in this) I hope I am able to post a placid post next year too. Wish all chancing upon this post a wonderful and glorious year and hope the new year with a new government down the line also brings in a lot of peace and prosperity to the country.

Take control

There is one thing I sternly go by - your life is your own and you should take full charge of it.

I lately heard some instances about a close acquaintance having some problems with her in laws - mostly mother. Its the usual, but way too trivial. The mother in law seemed to me a typical mother in law straight from the movies of the genre of Lalita Pawar. Now she does not help an iota in the house work, expects daughter in law to do everything from kitchen to clothes along with juggling an IT career. She goes to the extent of not taking proper care of her little 8 month old grand child. And to add insult to injury, lady goes on to blame daughter in law for everything, accusing her of not managing the house properly and to top it all accusing her of "torturing" her.

What I felt most unbecoming of a woman is she goes ahead and talks ill about her daughter in law and the alleged ill treatments heaped on her to all her relatives.

I was C-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y appalled by all this happening even today. I was shocked and felt very shaken. One thing that struck me was - what is the son of the house doing? Yes point taken the lady on one side is your mother, but cant you see the person being victimized is your wife? Yes it is but obvious to not notice the minor mistakes of your own mother, but come on is nt there a thing called conscience which says - Woman you are wrong there. I seriously wonder if the guy (and I feel many guys) is bereft of this sense because of the loyalty towards the mother. But I personally feel, if the guy chooses to turn a blind eye to something that is so blatantly wrong, he is a complete wuss. (Excuse my language, but I guess I am way too angered)

Even if not the son, at least the father in law should curtail his wife and speak out when she over steps the border. But no, I wonder what made this "educated" retired man take cover under a newspaper. I wish a lightning would strike him.

If not any of them, then I feel the girl should stand up - for her, for her child. Shes got a career, got independence, and got a life of her. Its mandatory for her to respect elders and in laws, but its not written any where to take allegations lying down. I am not sure why some girls agree to some things when their heart is not into it. I feel its your own responsibility to lay things straight from the beginning. My mother always advised me, never treat your mother in law any different from me, else you will always feel the difference. And never be a different person there, else it will never be a home for you.

Every one should be aware of a daughter in laws individuality and respect that. I hear complains from some of Ks friends who are girls, that their mother in laws don't help at all and they find it real tough to handle house and work. I feel, ya feeling drained is ok, but if you are not able to take it then say it. Unless you tell there is a problem no one will get into ur psyche and pump it out. If cooking twice a day for husband and in laws is taking a toll on you, either ask your mother in law to help a bit, and if she is not in a position - GET help. Hire a domestic help. Do something. What good is coming out of bitching about your mother in law and complaining. End of day, you go tired to an unhappy domesticity.

This is not the adi manav age that girls dont have an existence. No asked you to follow the rules of Manu Smriti which says a girl should be depended on her father in childhood, a husband when married and a son in widowhood. If we choose to have such a life, we have no one but ourselves to blame. Seriously, if you dont assert you have a backbone, people will assume you have none and walk right over you. Take control gurll.

Ps. I am not sure if I am writing a politically correct post, so the views I hold in this post are entirely personal one. I am not being judgmental. But I welcome the views of other, if they can help me see the issue in a different light.

Spreading some Christmas cheer

Christmas is just 2 more days away. The roads are resplendent with shops selling the stars, the lights, the Santa caps. Office is gearing up as well with most afternoons having one game or the other.

I also thought of spreading some Christmas cheer.
So here s an award for my favvie bloggers (and the names are in no particular order)

1. rENU- I love your blog for the conviction you bring into it. Your posts resemble my thoughts to a great extent and I also love the small instances you quote, the details you write about, the mundane actions which reflect your thoughts, I love your blog for the nuances they hold.

2. rAAJI- I loved your blog since I read destinations unknown. I hope I got the title of the post correct. And have loved it ever since, cos its a blog which gives me the intermittent dose of love. :) Your posts about love, college, friends open the window to a thoughtful, sensible and sensitive soul and I simply love your posts.

3. aSHMA-My best friend, how would nt I love your blog. :) Your blogs reveal a self of you which comes only when you write. I would call it the writer self :D where you are much less impulsive, much less stubborn and much more eloquent. I love your blog.

4.sHALOM- Our association has been very short, but still I have been hooked onto your blog since I read-The making and breaking of besan ke laddu. I dont remember how I reached that particular post, but thank God I reached it. :)

5. cHITRA- You post hmm... once in a blue moon. But they are equally eagerly awaited as the regular posts. Your posts ring of reason and logic - 2 things I simply adore. Post more often cos I love your blog :)

Okhay...
Now your turn to spread some Christmas cheer. Go ahead, share the award with people whose blogs you love :D

Picture this!

Been tagged by Renu & Shalom -
The rules are simple:
Answer the questions below and do a Google image search on your answer,pick a picture from the results on the first page, with minimal explanation

Get Set Go!......

1. The age you will be in your next birthday:
Hehe acting coy for once ;)

2. A place you’d like to travel to:

Dunno why kinda have Jaipur in my to be visited list. It crept in maybe when I was studying Rajput history in Class VII. Over time the desire to see the place has taken firm roots.

3 . Your Favorite place:

Would have preferred a better definition of place. Among the places I lived in would rate Hyd as the highest.

If by place it was meant spot its this -


4. Your favorite food/drink:

You guessed it! Ginger tea :)

5. Your Favorite pet:

6. Your favorite color combination:

Red and black :)

7. Your favorite piece of clothing:

8. Your all time favorite song:

9. Your favorite TV show:

Currently

10. Full name of your significant other:

Cookie JAR :D thats what I currently call him. Earlier he was bebe :)

11.The town in which you live in:

Chennai :)

12. Your screen name/nickname:

13. Your First job:

IT Professional :|

14. Your Dream job:

Inspite of such headlines somehow the job of an IAS officer is a dream job for me. May be because seen how much power (for good as well as bad) one can wield. You can actually serve the country and make things better (Needs a lottttttt of spirit to be true to the profession but then... )

15. Bad Habit you have:

Seems like a esoteric answer eh? Actually I made a search on "show all my emotions on my face". Liked this pic the most of all that came on the first page :D

16. Your worst fear:

17. The one thing you’ll like to do before you die:

18. The first thing you’ll buy if you get $1,000,000:
A B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L house right in the lap of nature

Abbbbbb kaun kaun karenge yea tag???

Ok.
Shylu
Satish
Rajesh
Ashma
Niceguy
You are the chosen ones :D Dont ask why I chose to punish you guys :) Thats my discretion.

Tagged by Satish

Quite an interesting tag by a fellow blogger Satish. This is how it goes -

These are the questions which I got to answer......

1. Your Oldest Memories
My memory is veryyyyyyyyy weak but there are quite a few of them - bitter sweet ones. But here I will narrate one that is I suppose the oldest of them all.

One of them was being bitten by a dog. Well yes I have been badly bitten by a dog - And here is the story of how it happened. I was at a neighbors place, and was 4 years old. I was playing on a swing in their house. Close to the swing was their pet dog, I do not remember the breed of the dog. All of a sudden, the dog pounced on me, bit me on the leg and pulled me from the swing. I fell with a thud and let out a wail which caused the family to come rushing by and rescue me. Post incident, I remember the gauges, bandages, the 14 injections, innumerable trips to the hospital and me loosing a lot of weight and sheen. I have a snap of mine in that stage and I look like someone suffering from malnutrition.

PS . I have a scar in my leg where I was bitten and I still love dogs a lot.

2. What were you doing 10 years ago
Hmmm 10th December 1998, inspite of being just 2 days away from my budday, I think I was studying for some exam :(

3. Today - Your first thought in the morning
AH! I slept well. It was 5:30 in the morning but still I strangely felt well rested. Maybe office work, the absence of the house maid as well as mother in law tires me so much that I sleep like I have been drugged. I had hit the bed at 2330 but still woke pretty refreshed. Touchwood! Hope the trait continues.

4. If you build a time capsule, what would it contain
My favorite books, some of my favorite snaps of family and friends, my blog in print version :D

5. Tomorrow - Next year, same day
Again making plans to celebrate my birthday maybe :)

6. What do you see yourself doing 14 years from now.

FOURTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN years did you say? You mean Lord Ram would have completed a fultu vanvaas!! Well 14 years from now, on this date I would stilllllllllllll be planning on the celebrations!! But this time not just with my family, but with friends and their extended family and by extended I mean with their hubbies/wiffies and kiddus.
I would love to see myself in an occupation rather than a job 14 years from now, but my attempts to go on an alternative path have failed. So I believe IT is the way for me maybe.

Ab meri baari meri baari :)

I would like Ashma, Renu, Abhishek, Daydreamer, Sanjay, Nitin,Ekta, Raaji and I'll try 2 be truthful to do the tag.

Daag acche hain

Yesterday was a funny day. It started with a big quarrel with K and that too for a petty reason. The reason being - my cell phone had gone kaput!

My Sony Ericsson W580i had been giving me lot of troubles. It used to hang intermittently, mostly when I needed it most :| - so much so that many a times I had to remove the battery to re start it. Removing the battery itself was a tedious task and a separate story in itself. Sometimes removing the battery and re inserting it would not work, and we had to take it to some store for repair. Some pricks and pokes by the mechanic, and it used to come back to its senses. As I am writing this, I remember, the very first day I carried the phone, it got stuck by the time I reached office! After some months it had stopped charging from the ac charger. Well, not a problem, I used to get it charged from the USB charger - a process that used to take 10 times more time than a standard ac charger. But me being lazy and the cell phone being pretty much indispensable, decided to go ahead with the arrangement.

But................ yesterday the cell chose not to get charged from the USB point. It in fact decided to get discharged when connected to the USB port! ARGH!!

I lost my cool and was fretting and fuming about loosing my communication channel. Since the phone was a recommendation of K, he took it personally that I was indirectly blaming him for all the inconvenience. This lead to a war of words, some hurtful some sarcastic.
We started for office after the peace resolution was passed.

But then, the whole incident had kinda bummed us out a bit.
Evening coincidentally, we were able to meet up at a common point. And guess what, K had got paan for me - something which I have a weakness for :) And as we were walking to our home, K said shall we have dinner there? And by there he meant a street side place which served noodles and other dishes which could be made in a jiffy. We were an oddity there, in our formals and office luggage, and sitting on run down plastic chairs with most of the other clientele being there for the pricing of the food ( which is very pleasing to the wallet ) was a good experience. It was an impromptu plan for us and the food there turned out to be too palatable. It was a treat worth having.

After savoring egg fried rice, cauliflower manchurian and one plate of scrambled eggs, we marched forth home. Thats when K gave me the choc he had bought. :D A walk through the streets of Besant Nagar while munching on a choc - Awesome is the word for it.

Sometimes if minor tiffs end up in such superb evenings - I think its worth the pain. You see Daag acche hain!

PS : This post was meant to be posted on the Thursday - the 4th of Decemeber. But work at office held me back. So yesterday in this post refers to 03.12.2008

Recent update - I have given my cell phone for repair, I miss it tremendously :( Am using a Nokia oldie model and that in turn makes me realise how used to I was to the facilities of the other phone: seems water had gone inside the charging pin and I will hopefully be getting it tomorrow.

Bangalore Express

I like Bangalore a lot. That's the place I got some real sweet and sad and warm and tingly memories associated with. And with my best friend A being there, it makes the city all the more welcoming.

Last weekend we made a short trip to the place. And it was a trip full of sweet nothings.

Friday evening was remarkable enough, when all of a sudden, dark clouds gathered and it started raining. And some rain it was, with blinding lightening and ferocious winds. I was all prepared and agog to scoot home soon so that we could be off to catch the train with lots of time to spare and I had promised A some snacks and savories, but seeing the downpour I felt dejected - it was gonna be a close call yet again :( with no time for purchases.

Then all of a sudden, I spotted a girl. Seemed to be a faintly familiar face, someone I had met while traveling in share autos to office. I gave her a buck tooth smile, but she never returned it. Ahem! Wrong number mebbe. Then after sometime she came up and said, did we meet before in a share auto or something? I was like Ya Lady! She was pretty petrified by the way the downpour was shaping up and tentatively asked me - shall we try to get home in this rain? I told, if you have an umbrella to get us till the main gates without soaking like rats, I think I am brave enough to face this rain. So off we went with a flimsy umbrella... and that poor thing was twisted beyond redemption thanks to the winds :(

We managed to get autos and reach till the penultimate stop for me. It was a pretty interesting ride too where I got to hear her love story, wedding plans and future programs. Once I reached the stop, my cell phone was ringing and guess who was it?! Hubby Gubby! He was close to the terminus.

So we met with the music of La la la la la la la la la la ( music of Sagar movie fame) :D We had tea and bread pakodas at a tea stall..... Hmmmmmm mild drizzle, K for company, warm tea in one hand and bread pakoda in the other ........ hmmmm heaven was close :)

Grub done, we ventured ahead. Caught the bus which would take us home in the nick of time, so much so that, we stepped into the bus at the same time and were stuck for a few seconds at the door :D Making a fool of oneself and still smiling at it - I am excelling in this talent I feel.

Journey itself was a little bit painful since all of a sudden I was having a headache - maybe a sinus prone person like me could blame the rains for it.

Sat morn as soon as we reached Bangy, the ever food loving K escorted me to a restaurant near the railway station. We shared a plate of uttapam while the most lilting songs wafted. The song that made it all the more special was Dhaage tod laao from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. A personal fav.

Reached the destination and woke up dear darling A. And got on with the usual chatter chatter yak yak. A apart from sharing many of my opinions and tastes, also shares a penchant for getting the cold virus. Achoo Achoo Achoo she went hitting sixers and boundaries till noon. Thats when we decided to have a low key day. 3 of us generally lazed around in front of the TV, chatted and dozed intermittently, ordered and had some delectable sandwiches and noodles. Finally at 2000 we stepped out of the house to have death by chocolate - a lovely sundae at a nearby shop, which is a major hit with K since it was the very first dish I had shared with him. Once back, we guzzled generous portions of awesome ginger tea and emptied quite a few containers of snacks and savories :)

Time passed just like that, chatting,surfing the net, seeing pics of each others friends on Orkut, that A and I scarcely realised it was close to 0300 by the time we hit the bed.

Sunday started late, cos obviously we woke up late, were super lazy and there was some or the other thing on TV which was making us sit in front of it. Finally at 1400 we set forth. Again rains played spoilt sport. But inspite of it, we managed to make quite a few purchases. With her wedding coming up, A had quite a bit to do. But alas:( Still, what we accomplished within the 5 hours, was no mean feat.

Back home packing done, we had some pastries and puffs at a nearby bakery. It was really nostalgic to say goodbye, hmm, goodbye to miss A for the last time.

At the station, both K and I were reminiscing the 2 jovial days, we did not do anything, but still the time spent was so special. In the reverie we noticed that there was no sign of the train, though it was expected to depart in 15 more minutes. Thats when I spotted that we were facing platform number 6 rather than 5 (The setup is a bit weird, you cant see the platform number 5 though technically its just behind you. ) So we sccccccccccccccccccrammed to the other platform and got into the train Jab We Met style ( Ahem no no the train had nt started yet :) )

The rains and cold climes had forced me to take a couple of medicines to ward off the headache et al. But thanks to them, I slept like a dead decayed log!

When embarking on the journey, I had armed myself with the fully charged digicam for a lot of clicks. Ironically, dont have a single picture - but enormously precious memories.

Friends are the family you choose - you are an integral part of mine dearie.

Register thy marriage

Yesterday we had gone to register our marriage, a formality to be completed within a year of wedding.

We had the form nicely filled. I had in fact filled it in my neatest bestest all caps handwriting. We had double checked it and taken utmost care to fill it as if our life depended on it. We went to the main window, which had a Lady Don sitting on her golden throne. She had a good thick glass wall shielding her from the spit of the people who come to (beg/appeal/scream/scold/sob ) get their land or marriage regsitered. She gave us a cursory glance as if asking, hmmm Now I have to dirty my hands for these commoners.

She so much as just scanned the application form and pat came her review comments:-

• Put parents age for both bride and groom in the form
• Put parents profession for both bride and groom.

Now, after filling in the whole family saga of both K and I there was hardly space to write anything else. But then, a command is a command, especially coming from a government official. So we some how cringed the ages and professions of both peoples. I think the paper just extended a bit because we were actually able to fill in both nicely.

First change request successfully added.

We gingerly approached the client again. Ahem said Lady Don, give proofs. I was like :O Is it this easy!? I expected she will make us dance salsa before assenting. Then she checked the proofs. My passport was issued to me long ago when I was doing my graduation, so it had my hostel address. Now her demand was, the address I had put for myself in the application form was supposed to be that address. We looked at each other and at the 3 witnesses we had asked to assemble (one being mom in law and 2 family friends ) Then Lady Don calmly said - get a new form.

Wokay .. :| We got a new form and filled the whole Ramayana yet again. This time K had the honours. She had also asked to give in the initials for all the names in the form, the initial signifying the parents name of the person. So I was B. Amrita since my dads name starts with B and similarly every single persons name there, mine, my parents', K's, his parents', every ones name got an extra letter. Weird? You bet. This is called Tamilicization of names :S :(

Whole 999 yards covered again, we went to her - on tenterhooks. She looked. Same look of utter disgust and contempt on her face. Looked at us and said -go to the registrar and get the signature.

Now registrar happened to be a rolly polly man with a lot of chandan on his forehead, seated with atleast 5 idols looking over him. Quite a contrast to Lady Don who was cold and sardonic. He placed his signatures on all the documents while asking under his breath - hope you guys have submitted all the proofs. We said yes in unison. Then his eyes fell on the invitation. He said BHUBANESWAR!??? Who is from Bhubaneswar? Looked at K and asks Neenga? (Means you with respect in Tamil) K said no and said she. But Gollu Pollu chose not to hear that and ask ed me Neenga? I nodded yes.(I thought, if not me then who else MAN? K does nt have a doosri biwi! ) Then he said oh Bhubaneswar has a veryyyyyyyyyyyyyy famous temple. I suggested Lingaraj? He chose not to hear it( Gollu had a mind of his own, and was very choosy in what is important enough to get his ears! ) Then K helped Puri? Jagannath? Gollu Pollu lept from his chair - YESSSS YESSss Yess. I was like - Hello!!! Puri is a good 3 hours journey from Bhubaneswar and a separate city - but if you want to club them together go ahead - but get our marriage certi done :S . Then Gollu Pollu said Very good! Long Live. You are from that place!

I was like ahem thanks ... Long live the King who built the temple and thanks Jagannath - you saved the day :)

Was it pathos?

Yesterday I took a cab from office back home. It was around 2145.

On the way, there is a particular junction which manages to have a decent crowd till very late hours. There my cab was slowed down by a bus which was not standing at its designated point. The bus was supposed to stand near the terminus to pick up people, but this one was standing after it had crossed the terminus, as if waiting for some frantic person to run up and board it. I didn't see any one hurrying towards the bus, so I was a bit perplexed as to why the bus was parked in the weird fashion, causing inconvenience to the incoming traffic. Then as my cab slowly managed to cross the bus, I saw - two people waving their hand vigorously, but approaching the bus at a slow pace. And between them was a man, I guess might be in his sixties - who was blind. I did not fail to notice the white stick with the red tip in his hand. He was walking a step behind his escorts and taking careful measured steps. Something told me, the blind man was not related to the two people beside him, but was merely being helped by them.

That sight stayed on with me. Dont know why, I got tears. I had a blob in my throat with the pent up emotions. And I was unable to be normal till some 10 minutes or so.

I dont know why was it so. I saw the man for a fleeting moment - did I feel pity for him? Or was I utterly touched by the selfless way two by standers were helping him? Or was I amazed by the way the blind person trusted them? Or was I emotional because I saw the vulnerability of the old man? Or did I just realise how blessed I was......



PS. I wrote this post to remember the emotion for posterity. Economies world wide are slumping, people are loosing jobs, yesterdays necesseties are becoming luxuries today. But still, I feel we should never stop counting our blessings. Yes, there are people who seem to be having all the good luck with all the goodies coming their way. But, there are also those who have all the bad luck, for whom everything is down in the dumps. So keep counting the blessings, if theres nothing now, count the ones you had, and if you never had any be sure you will have to do a lot of counting in the future! Keep the faith.....

Finally at peace

Small small things make a big picture I feel.
Ever since I came back from my vacation, I was so ill at ease... And there was no big trouble behind it. Only small matters, trivial things.

I did not have a decent pair of shoe for all my outfits. For a person like me who chooses which shoe to wear it was a problem of catastrophic proportions! I had just one "wear worthy" shoe! And cos of that I had to ration my clothes. I had to keep some of them at bay, cos they would not go with the only (yes only) shoe that I had. Boy it was so agonizing in the morning :( I felt all the more terrible because there was one particular darling black shoe that I had got with so much fervor, but it was being an unbearable pain. It used to give me terrible shoe bite in the heel. So there I was all dejected and gloomy, with one stupid shoe :(

But then on the weekend before the one that went by, I went shoe shopping. I had no hopes to get a good pair, but my lone shoe had borne the brunt of a week's incessant rains, and I couldn't be certain of its health. What if it breathes its last during an all important office day!! I could be beyond redemption. So I made an iron will and thought, no matter how the quality, I will get a pair for backup sakes at least. But at the shop, I picked not one but 2 shoes and both to my choice. Anddddddd surprise surprise, I also got transparent heel pads, which I could use with the bitter black shoe :) and voila!!! Since I already had 3 in my kitty, I decided to give a long discarded sports shoe a goooooood wash so that I can be choosy on friday mornings as well :D . Woo hoo! :)

Apart from that, it had been 2 months since I did any sort of exercise. I was feeling like the fattest person on earth. For one reason or the other I had not been able to renew the gym membership. During the Dusshera vacations I had eaten like a properrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr glutton. :( And I was somehow not able to summon the will to re join. I coaxed K to join me to motivate me. But no. For him the early morning slumber was way too important. I was waiting for some divine intervention, some push which would make me turn towards some form of exercising. K said, join after Diwali. Enjoy the onset of winter as long as you can and there is no better way of doing so but wrapping oneself up in bed. Hmmmmmmmm very pleasant thought and verrrrrrrry tempting, but then with tyres and radials shaping up, I again had to give so many items on the wardrobe a miss :(

I was waiting for 1st Nov all the while, but that day also I felt lazy in the morn :( When we were out for some shopping, K turned towards the gym and said, cmon, go pay the membership and start from tomorrow. You will like it. Oh how I love my hubby!! :) And from 2nd Nov, I was back on the treadmill. Feels great you know!

The long pending bed for mil was finally assembled together. The bed has the typical make of stuff from my uncle's factory, which makes me feel as if I am at my paternal house!! The room looks awesome with the stunning bed right in the center of it. With a new mattress right in place, I feel so satisfied giving my mom in law a lavish bed as a Diwali gift!

Diwali itself, though it was a much anticipated event for me, went a tad off key . Some minor mis understanding ruffled a few feathers in the morning. It was supposed to be a great event for me, cos the first Diwali after wedding is a much celebrated affair. The issue was resolved no sooner than it happened but then, the very fact that it was there, left a sour taste. Hmmm well who said life is a bed of roses.

Right now, the weather is taking a turn towards winter, and I think I am getting the groove back.

Sh*t happens

Sh*t happens. And sometimes it happens a lot.
The weekend that went by was a typical example of that.

We had a lot of things on the to-do list for the weekend. One major thing was a bed which we were getting for mom in law. Since one of my uncles has a furniture factory of his own, we had decided to get the cot from my place. It seemed an easy job, all we needed to do was to book a packers and movers, pick the stuff from the cargo dept at the train station and get it home. Fix a call with a local carpenter to assemble the bed again and voila! We had confirmed with a mover and packer nearby. K was on a compensatory off on Friday and had decided to finish off this task that very day. He placed a call to the movers and packers and asked them to come over some time later in the day so that they could pick the cargo. But they did not show up even till the evening. A very irate K said that they better show up the next day else he would be forced to cancel the reservation.

The next day also till 9:30 in spite of numerous calls, they responded only by 10:30ish. In the meanwhile we were frantically looking over the telephone directory to find a replacement. But no one was willing to do it on such close notice. Finally when K went all ballistic, the truck reached home at 11:30. That was not the end of the stumbling blocks. There was a political rally by an actor who was turning into politician and launching his new party. K called me around 12 noon and said, there's a proper standstill out here, don't think I can make it before 4 in the afternoon. I was really restless at this news and just hoped for the best. Mercifully, they were able to reach the station an hour later as the traffic budged. K came back with the bed around 1430. He had his own struggle saga to tell about the very corrupt officials at the cargo section. Thanks to Diwali coming up, they took a bribe of 250 bucks. Sometimes some pests are to be endured I suppose, there is not cure for this rot.

Once K was refreshed we had a sumptuous lunch of aloo parathe and onion raita. After that we started on our appointments to a coupla docs, for the general coughs and sneezes that come with changing weathers. Since the houses of a couple of relatives was on the way, we made a pit stop at each of them. Then there was some itsy bitsy grocery shopping and when we came in home, we realised that it was some 5 hours that we had spent just like that loitering on the streets :)

The next day, started on a low key. We had to get some stuff for K for the diwali. Cos of the dull and cloudy weather, we were generally lazy and did not get started till 1400. The first few shops were duds but then we ended up shopping a lot from one into which we had ventured just to check out the stuff! They happened to have such a good collection that my joy knew no bounds :) Pepped up by this, we ventured to go on a bit further to pick up some shoes for me from a showroom. We were close to destination X, but - the bike had a flat tyre all of a sudden. ARGH!! Luckily for us, K s grannys place was nearby. We reached there, managed to get a mechanic and within 30 minutes were raring to go! Another road block - it started to rain cats and dogs and mice and what not! After a good 75 minutes the rain showed some signs of abating.

We thought rather than wait for a dry spell, it was better to speed off and get home in the light drizzle. The drops were like snow flakes. But a few kms from our home, it turned into a downpour. I hate rains from the bottom of my heart. I simply loathe them. I detest each and every aspect of a rainy season - the dampness, the not so crisp feeling on the clothes, the inconvenience. Ok ok rain lovers, I understand your feelings - K is one! So we have daily arguments on the pros and cons of the rains. But yesterday once it was raining like there is no tomorrow, I just gave in. And I loved it when we splashed through the puddles and gave a wash to some cars :D , the vacant road with us being probably the only people in a two wheeler :D , the blinding rains which fogged Ks spectacles, but he would nt stop to clean them but somehow managed to do so while driving itself and the chill in the winds which gave one goose flesh :) When we came home, we were given a dressing down by the geriatric watchman and we felt like errant kids being reprimanded by a senior.

Back home - with steaming cups of ginger tea, some savorioes and Ice Age 2 on TV - I felt yea sh*t happens but the rains come in soon to wash it off :D

Return to normal state

This time of the year, always gives me the same kind of feeling :(
The feeling of emptiness.
Its the end of the Puja :(

For me Durga Puja/Dushera is not a festival per se... its a culture. Its a time, which fills me with a plethora of feelings. And its a time no matter where I have been and how I have been, for 5 odd days at least, I am happy, contended and strangely at peace.

This year puja was a pretty well planned out event and I was all enthu for it since July. Everything was going too smoothly. My holiday was to be with my husband and mom in law. I was to visit relatives, make trips and be with my parents after 9 odd months!

But I had planned an important event a day before the vacation was slated to begin. And somehow that very important task did not get accomplished. It left me a bit shattered and very very disappointed. I could not see the reasoning as to why it should have happened, a task involving pain staking effort over months- but then some things are supposed to happen and when I am able to fathom no rhyme or reason, I leave it to some ultimate power. Maybe that thing was not supposed to happen so it did not.

The next day was a flurry of activity which included a lot of shopping. And in the evening when we were all adding final touches to the packing et al, we got a minor glitch. A scenario which demanded instant decision and which would disrupt our plans. There were raised voices, high tempers and tears as the three of us discussed, debated and deliberated. Finally we decided to bid time till we are back from the vacation to get the final plan of action. But in spite of that, there was a sense of anticipation. We set on the journey with questions, uncertainties and hope- hope everything will fall into ultimately.

The on ward journey to my home seemed soooooo long and tedious. I could barely contain my irriation when the train slowed a bit. Finally we chugged along and reached bhubaneswar after 22 hours of travel.

And homeee ah! home was home. Perfect, spacious, welcoming. The lights on the streets, the tinge of coolness in the wind, the warmth of being surrounded by my mom, dad and sis!! - nothing can beat that feeling.

The next day onwards, there was no end to the invitations we had to accept- friends, family, relatives, each and every one had to share a moment of fame with the newly weds :) This being the first trip K and I made home, we were given celebrity status :) And boy cant go on to describe the calories we gorged on. Food was delicious, so did not have the heart to say no. I am a miserable failure when it comes to saying no anyways; any aunty says - itne pyaar se tere liye banaya hai - bas - I should have a heart of lead to say no.

We made a trip to Puri and stayed at the same resort where K and I had had our mini honeymoon. This time with the whole bunch with us, it was even more fun. I am not a great fan of the Puri Jagannath temple. But this time for the first time, I felt His aura! It was so humbling. It was like, God has chosen me to be convinced of his divinity. I could completely understand why the temple stands to be so popular in spite of the utterly obnoxious attitude of the priests there. I could fathom why there are innumerable songs, which go on lauding the Lord. I could understand the depth of the words I used to just like that sing when I was learning Hindustani Vocal. I felt touched. But the best part was yet to come. I turned to see my mom in law - and there she stood - dumbfounded and flushed with her eyes nearly on the verge of tears. I did not want to break the spell, and only after some seconds, I went ahead to touch her shoulder and escort her closer to the idol of the Lord.

Hmm.... quiet an experience I must say.
The days that followed were too fulfilling and satifying. But then all good things come to an end. This time it was a bit less painful since I was traveling with family. Bidding goodbye to my parents and sister was heart wrenching - but then since we still did not have one confirmed ticket, we were in the middle of a bit of confusion, which took our minds out of the pain of parting. At last when I lied down to sleep, with no thought , the tears poured in.

The return journey seemed so lacklusture, and I remarked to K - hey returning seems so boring, it seems faster, but still its kinda numb. He said - yea return trips are like that - they lack purpose na!! Hmmmmm those words stayed with me.
Reaching the house in Chennai, we had to get on with some setting up cos the working week began the very next day. So while there was a lot of hustle bustle through out the evening, the night seemed deadly silent. When I called up home to check out how my folks were doing, I learnt the conditions were no better there. Every one was missing us a lot.... :(

Today morning, when K mentioned he was feeling a bit bummed out and feeling out of place. If he could sense the momentum of the change, imagine my state. Hmmm it felt terrible in a word.

I am in the most depressed state now I suppose... feeling as if there is nothing to look forward to. I know it takes some time to come out of the hangover of such a good vacation. Hmm just hoping to keep myself real busy and get rid of the blues soon........

BEET ROOT RED

Today something happened that has prompted me to write this post.
But before I write what happened today maybe I should write what happened on Monday.

Well, Monday I had a training at a pretty grand hotel. I have this weird habit of getting all captivated by architecture and decors in new places. More so when I have only my eyes to register the things around and commit them to memory. From the time I got into the hotel, I was all eyes for the design of the gate, the exotic plants, the decor of the reception area, the chandeliers, for nearly everything. As I was moving towards the basement which was the venue for the training, I was a bit surprised to read a board which said "Please watch your step" After reading that I got extra cautious and stepped with increasing wariness. But then I think the very next Milli second, I fell down. On the steps. Wham! Twisted my ankle, broke the slipper I was wearing, hit my back against the step and on the whole felt Terribly Miserably EMBARRASSED with half of the hotel staff rushing in to rescue me. DAMN! would they give me just enough privacy to pick the crumbles of my pride??? Hmpf! I walked stoically like a classic Sagi towards the end of the staircase. There a couple of genuinely concerned hotel staff asked me if I was fine. I said ya with a smile :) and then asked the way to the ladies room. In the ladies room was sent another hotel employee - a lady to be precise- to ensure my well being. Now that slipper looked somewhat like this. And I was nearly in love with it :(



The part where the straps meet had kind of come off. So I asked her for a safety pin with which I could just be mobile for the day. She got it in sometime and I hoped that none of my office employees were witness to the earth shattering event of a hippo rolling on the stairway. I walked off to the training room with a stiff upper lip a raised chin and all other signs of pride I could think of. But boy! wasnt I embarrassed.

And todayyyyyyyyyyyyy........ today of alllllll days...... today being a FRIDAY!! Today being my last day at office before I go for a vacationnnnnnnnnnn!!!
My supervisor picked up today to ask me to do some real lousyyyyy work. And I gave my logically tested and proven arguments against the extra effort. But no! The boss is always right, so I was like what the heck, I might as well go ahead and finish it off.

But I am a person who does nt take a illogical defeat lightly - I mean - if I had the logic, the arguments were in place and what I was saying what was technically correct and with the best knowledge under the given circumstances - I just don t understand why people wont accept it!! So during lunch I went on and on and on about the illogicality, the lack of understanding, the utter studpidity and the utter wastage of effort that was being demanded by my manager. All the while I was talking in hushed tones but after my diatribe I looked sideways. ON THE VERY SAME TABLE, OPPOSITE TO ME, BUT 2 CHAIRS AWAY WAS SEATED NONE OTHER BUT - BUT - THE one.

Boyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!! I wished I could hide under the table. Go somewhere. Go any where. And I gulped the rest of the lunch somehow :( And made it to the exit.
The lady I go for lunch with said - hey dont worry, I dont think he would have heard us. I was like thanks for the encouragement buddy, but even I am gonna pray that he has real bad sense of hearing :S :(

So I completed the tedious task he had given me with all the more alacrity lest he find faults :S I hope its all green after today :S

Come September

September is such a nice time of the year. The autumn air some how brings in many facets of me - one moment I might be full of anticipation, the other I would done a totally pessimistic attitude to the way of things, and yet in another I would be full of profundities.

And it being the 9th month of the year, its somehow a perfect time - to look back. To look back at the beginning of the year,how was a new year kick started, how sunny the summer was, how well the glooms in the monsoons were coped. And it is also the time to look forward - to a jam packed festive season, to weddings and get togethers and most important to a glorious wintery year end to compensate for any rough time that went by in the year.



Some how September especially September end, the mild chill in the air et al, makes me stand and take stock. With the Dusshera time coming up, I savor the wait for those nine days. Psychologically I feel as if all the elements of nature are gearing up for the festivities. The roads seems extra bright to me, people seem happier and I am flooded with nostalgia of my home town and state. I literally teleport myself to my home town and get gooseflesh. Whoa!! nothing like this time.

With 3 more months remaining for the year to be over, this time gives me a feeling, ok just three more months, this is the time to sprint. You got to cover up on all the lost time, all the lost connections with people, all the un fulfilled desires of shopping, all the planning for next year and the year after that - now. You just got 3 months!!

I will be home with my parents for a good 10 days after a long time and I think the skip in my gait is un missable. I am not sure why I penned down this post - maybe to keep still for some time atleast :)

Positive People

This I feel is one of the very rare posts inspired from office. :)
There have been days in office when everything seems so repulsive. Everything seems to antagonize the way I plan to take to get somewhere.

But then sometimes there are folks whose very presence gives that awesome positive aura that hey presto!! I am back.

I had a person in one of the previous firms I used to work with. Brilliance in the form of a human being - that's what he was! I used to adore his skills - be it technical or inter personal. And somehow I observed this weird pattern, the days thing would be going haywire, I would chance to meet him. Even after a chat of say a couple of minutes, I would be so enthused with positive energy, that I would be at my productive and effective best.

Similar is the case with my US counterpart now. I am simply amazed at the length and breadth of knowledge he has. If I was in his place, I wonder if I would be able to go from one day to the other.

Being an immigrant from Brasil, he has the cutest accent possible. He has this quirk of humming ta pa ri da pa ra ta pa di da dum as he is working on. During the calls, when there are moment when he has to stop by to fetch some document or grab some detail, his ubiquitous humming has all the folks on the other side of the call in splits :) And his sense of humour is a biggie feather in his cap. Working with him is such a pleasure. Its not only the dedication he demands from us by raising the bar himself, but he also has respect for our personal time, our space. That is something which is so commendable.

Yesterday I was getting news which was irking me from left right and center, and I had decided to give two hoots to work and just get home and put my feet up at the earliest possible time. But then during the evening call, just the customary status updates itself, made me feel - what the heck; why should I be postponing something which can be done today. And the only thing that made the day yesterday, was getting the job done- on time, on demand ;)

Well, I just hope I have an iota of the positive vibe these folks exude. Its sometimes one of the best gift you can unwittingly give to others. (Apart from a smile which can raise hearts )

Up and Down

I was on a trip to Hyderabad for 2 days. I am always so gaga about the place, that it sometimes gets on the nerves of K. So I call it the city which cannot be named ;)

I had asked Dino to book the rooms for us... and strangely.. the guest house itself was a pleasant surprise. Since Dino is awesome at underplaying his talents, he had said not to have any high hopes on the place especially since I was paying one grand per day. I somehow thought, the room would be one with the bare minimums - satisfying only one criteria I had stressed upon - cleanliness. But then when I reached there - it was neat no doubt, but was a good piece of construction as well. The wood work of the room was very tastefully done which was a treat for the eyes :) And with a tv and well functional ac - and a very BIG and beautiful bathroom(the tiles were too cute which depicted dolphins taking a splash ) - what more could I ask for?

Once refreshed I ventured to visit pals at my previous firm. It felt different, but not weird. I wanted to meet so many folks, there was so much that needed to be said and expressed in the short time. I could literally feel how I and my friends were literally rushing on the words. There was really too much to talk. I always feel that no matter, how much you talk over the phones, how many hours you spend over messengers(even if daily), there are so many thoughts which come over when you actually meet the person. Mundane things seem to jump into the forefront, demanding immediate attention and the conversations just go on. And once its time to say the good byes yet again and depart- one is left with so many more thoughts- and a hope - ok next time.


Going back through the same lane of the office after 5 odd months made me very nostalgic. Some how - afternoons make me nostalgic. During the weekdays, I am so ensconced in the office environs, that I rarely get a chance to take a peek outside. So the days I do get an opportunity I dunno why, I fall into a reverie. Every person passing by reminds me of some by gone days. As on that day, I saw a person hurrying across the street with a file. And I was reminded of my last day in that office, when I was scurrying around getting a demand draft done to pay off my dues to the company and then the whole evening of my penultimate day at Hyderabad zapped through, making the heart ache.

Evening it was time to meet my ex roomie. The easy camaraderie that we always shared was bang in place. And though I did most of the talking during dinner cos her throat was in a shape, it was a real nice time. Shes passing through times which are topsy turvy times, but then shes the same hard core optimist that she always has been! I was feeling a bit jittery that she was passing through all that she was passing through, but then she never did as much as get a crease on her brow!!Wish you much better times ahead roomie dear..... The darkest hour is just before the dawn( The dark knight :) )

The next day I had to attend my friends wedding. I wished I could be near her all the while and I could be with her for the entire duration of the ceremonies. But then I was starting back home on the same day and I had to scurry off after being at the wedding for some 3 hours. This friends wedding was a big deal at her home. It was being a bit tough finding an alliance for her. But at the end, it all went on fine. I could see the glow of satisfaction on her moms face, which nearly brought me to tears. I know she was in the midst of too much, to be aware of the events, or of the transition she was stepping into. But when I left from the wedding hall, the feeling was of regret that I could not be with her for longer and happiness that she was "settled".

As I started back, I was a bundle of a lot of emotions. Each part of the city somehow evoked some memory. The malls reminded me of the joyous evenings, some sections reminded me of the road I used to take for the CAT mock tests, the street that led to my house made me reminiscent of the quaint life there.... Phew! I cant pen down all that I felt I suppose.

If I would have written this post yesterday, it would have had sadder intonations. Cos, I stepped into a house without my niece. She was with us for 3 months and then yesterday poof! suddenly she was gone - leaving some used clothes, her smell of milk, the smell of dettol( she was all of 3 months only :) and went back to her dad s place yesterday), her empty cradle which brought both K and me to tears and a deafening silence. The house used to reverberate with her cries, with footfalls to rush to her, with endearments to pacify her. Yesterday all that remained was a lull.

I just thought, this too will pass. Time is undoubtedly the bestest healer.
So I am in much better spirits today though I miss my dear chutki dearly......

End of an innings

Yesterday was my dad's last day at work. Technically.
He still has lot of years more which he can put into work, but yesterday was the end of term by Government rules.

We always used to tease my dad a lot that when he retires he would get bored and all. But some how he used to give an impression that he was looking forward to retirement. He used to make such lavish plans of spending his time with 3 of his fav things - cricket, news and newspaper. I some how could never digest the fact, that my dad who loves being outside, would be at home all day long. Yea he is a very lazy person .....but being at home whole day long - nay, thats not him.
I used to pull his leg by telling - you gonna make mom's life hell by bullying her around whole day long. And since she has so many years more before she retires, it will be all the more troublesome for her.
Then he used to reply - no need to bother for me. I will be engaged in some thing or the other. Every day just gossiping with my pals can take solid 2-3 hours. And then I will get on with TV.

I used to think - may he be his chirpy self always. Cause I had heard a lot of tales about people being depressed when they retire. My grandma, was very cranky for nearly a fortnight after she retired. And she used to get all teary eyed on seeing the big fur teddy bear her students had presented her.

Hmmm ... I used to think, may be its the same kind of feeling I have when I leave a company. On my last day with a firm - there have been 2 occasions for the same - I would meet up every single person I have had a more than mere professional relationship. And those farewell parties et al :( The sending of that "Last day at office/Adios/ etc etc " mail. Those moments kinda make one relish the good and only the good of the days at work. No matter how bad some days might have been, no matter how unscrupulous the boss might have been, no matter how pathetically un responsive the team mates might have been - end of the tenure one remembers only the applause, the accomplishments, the accolades - and that makes one feel so nostalgic :( . I used to think would nt it be the same way for dad? I any ways have a new job, new colleagues, new work to look forward to- but being at home full time ........ hmm now thats a tad scary :S

Some days prior to the actual retirement, he popped a surprise by saying that he would be joining another organization!! Well well well... my dad too is averse to being at home all day all alone. He was not as lazy as I had assumed him to be.

And yesterday the D day came. Evening when I called up home, my sister said that he was pretty irritable. Seems he was in a foul mood ever since he got back. Hmm and I could somehow empathize with him. He had had a lavish farewell, he had been attending quite a few farewell parties over the past week - but yesterday was a big and tearful one. In the morning one of his old colleagues came over and wished him luck on his last day at work. I think no one missed the opportunity to make him feel that 31st July 2008 is the day when he retires from work.

He used to crib a lot about his work place - which entailed 2.5 hours of travel every day. He was at loggerheads with some people in the office. He used to look forward to his retirement. But then, when it came, I don't think he welcomed it.

But Papa, don't worry. As you said yesterday - I still have 5-6 years of work with me. He has this knack of rattling statistics. So as usual yesterday he said, life expectancy has increased - its 75 in India now - I aint old :) 60 is not senior citizens any more. Its gonna be 65 soon. True Papa. You still have lots more in you. Its just the end of an innings. You still have to rattle those concepts of bio chemistry and microbiology to many many more students. You have a long long way to go. Retirement is just another word.

Sweet nothings

Nothing specific to write, but I am full of emotions. Not ones which exult you, not ones which bog you down, not ones which make you raise hell, just simple smiles, small irritations, mild tempers, subdued impatience. A little sprinkling of emotions is what is making the concoction of my days.

I am not taking the damn auto rickshaws to work any more, on the contrary its the public transport - yea local buses for me. Bothers the wallet much less, but 2 other factors are more satisfying than just the economics of the action. The first being - I leave a smaller carbon foot print - imagine the one I was leaving till now , taking an auto alllllll the way over 15 kms!!! Now being a person who is as green as green can be (personally I don t like the color green) I am loving this fact. And the second fact is - I am with K for 25% of the journey :) The walk from home to the nearest bus stop and from there on till the first bus stop where we take buses to our respective offices which are exactly opposite in direction. Now in the time that we are together - we discuss investment options, fight over this and that, tease each other, complain about office, joke - in short - a time filled with sweet nothings :) I simply love this time. It makes me look forward to starting for office :)

The year started with my wedding for me. And I am looking forward to two of my greatest friends getting married - one in August and the otherrr on my BirthDAY!!!!! I am just too happy to see them having those changes in their lives, its really entertaining you know to listen to them crib about their future husbands. HaHa - I feel like a Daadi maa :) hehe and I think with an evil grin - Bacchu , kuch din aur fir tussi samjhoge ate daal ka bhaw!! *evil smile*
Andddddddddd apart from that a very special person is very much in love and loving it - but would not admit that :) Ahem! How I love teasing all these folks during our regular calls!!

Quite a year it has been and it will be quite a year to look forward to. Have taken up a couple of personal as well as professional commitments which give me the jitters some times - but what is life with out that dash of blue.
Heres hoping alls well for all of us. :)

The end

As my last blog pointed out, yesterday started on a miserable note.

Since I was on my cribathon, I ended up pissing off K big time. And when he gets pissed off, he scolds. And when he scolds, he can be remorseless, spiteful, hurtful :(
And he feels damn guilty for being so, but sadly he cant help loosing his temper either.

Hmm so as soon as I got to office the first thing I did was type out a short and crisp sorry mail.

Once I got my bearings, things started looking up. Work was going on at a nice and decent pace. But all the while I was kind of thinking that K might be all sulky through out the day. Cos, he says I make his day!

I was wondering if I was able to get home soon, and in case he was also able to make it to home at a decent time, we would do something together. I was thinking about sometime at the beach(which is very close to my home), but then the last time we had been there, we had fought on trivial matters :(
Then I thought, ok! roadside food from some stall would rock! We are both addicted to the veg rolls at a stall near our place.
And as K started from office at 1830 he text messaged me "Frankie on the way back?" I replied "You read my mind! "

I was all agog to go home.
But Murphy Chachu came up. And I was delayed at work. :(
I managed to start from office at 2030 hours. I called up K and said "Frankie plan cancelled :(". He was ok with it, but said we might need to go out to get some stuff for home.

I knew I would be tired by the time I got home, but I could not resist a bike ride to run the errand, so said yes.

I got home at 2100 hours, and we set out.
He parked the vehicle and started walking in the opposite direction. I was taken by surprise. Then I realised, we were headed to my favvvvvvvvvvv restaurant!
K's way of making up for being harsh with me in the morning.

Dinner was sumptuous. But dessert was best - a sundae called "The last time I saw my waist" :D

International Cribbing Day

Today is International Cribbing Day.

Today you can crib about anything and everything(your work, work location, pay, manager, bai, watchman, in law, inflation, weather, wardrobe, malls, etc etc etc) to any one(friend, mom, spouse, cousin, bagal wali aunty, generally to the air, trees, road). And if some one comes over and cribs you either have the option to shut up and listen or crib back.
Hmmm well wish there was a day like that. But that is how today has been for me since the morning.

Yesterday I was in a very lethargic and un motivated state of mind. So I ended up wasting a lot of time though there were important things lined up for me to do. That in turn had the cascade effect of me going to sleep with a truckload of guilt and ending up sleeping a bit late.
I had planned to go for a walk in the morning. But since I woke up late, I had to cut short the duration of the walk. It was something like going and saying good morning to the beach rather than taking a good long solid walk. Now having a bad exercise session irks me to no end. I am an extremes person in this. Either do it with full gusto or don t do it at all. Today, I neither had a longer sleep, nor I had a good walk, nor was I was able to something useful after coming back from the walk since I was so divinely pissed off. You see the pattern? :) As a result the irritation, the bile was just increasing exponentially.

And I started cribbing to K.

He tried to make up by booking tickets for some movie over the weekend. But then we remembered we had some other commitments and a movie would not be feasible. Damn!

Hmm so I thought, better get to office soon, atleast there I could make myself useful. But but but - fate gave me one more chance to crib even more. Water stopped coming! There was some stored water so I managed, but then - what an already pissed off person does not need is more creases in the routine.

And my cribathon continued - building up a nice little pyramid, taking all variables into consideration. Coincidentally - the bus we boarded to get to office had an ace cribber as the conductor. Voila! Everyone seemed to be on a roll.

So go ahead! Celebrate Cribbing! :)

Life comes full circle

Life does come full circle in the end. Nehi ?
The other day I was reminded of a scrap by a friend of mine. He asked me if I was all settled at Chennai. I said ya kinda. And then his next scrap said "Life comes full circle does nt it?" I said to myself, Hell ya, It does. I had started working at Chennai, and I still remember how I was crying as if I was being put on no man's land. And now it is the place I will call home for a long time to come.

During my college internship at Delhi, I had a big time crush on a guy. He was the most impressive and intelligent person I had met. And towards the end I realised that he was a from southern part of India. His name completely defeated the fact, it was more like I was unaware, people with that surname hail from the south. At that point I had jokingly mentioned to a friend, if I ever have a marriage out of love it will be with a person from the south. And that is exactly the case now.

Last year, when I moved to a new job, I was a bit nervous. I was more nervous as to the genre of work I would need to do and since the company was not a very common name, I was hearing quite a bit of rumors. 2 days into the job, and I bounced upon a person who painted a picture of the place being worse than Guantanamo Bay. I was so mortified, that I took a flight for a day to get back to Chennai, to attend an interview; much to the vexation of K. That time I was not able to convince him that I was having apprehensions about the new job, he simply would not buy that. So I told, the interview I am going to attend is for my dream company and I would not like to miss it for the world. That time, last year I did not crack the interview. One year later, I appeared for the same company so that I could be back with K and was through. Ironically, my mother somehow held my current company in very high regards ( I dont know why, but mothers have their own reasoning system ) During my initial days of professional life, when I was lethargic to make any moves, she used to ask me, why dont u try there. And I used to dismiss her suggestion by saying, that place does not have good work for my technology. And I have chewed my own words and am working in the same place.

But the most surprising event that has happened in recent times which had made me ponder over the circularity of things has been one of my friends. When I was in my initial phase of courtship, I used to spend a lot of time on the phone. And this friend of mine used to get very irritated on not being able to get through me at the first go. I used to tell her, "I am always available for you. I generally keep talking to him cos we miss each other a bit. But you want to talk to me, I can always keep the call and talk to you." But some how she always used to get a bit offended by it. And now :) Shes engaged. And trust me her phone is rarely not busy :) See.... :) Life .........

There have been many many such instances in the recent times which just made me think, we are never ever able to fathom the bigger picture. In the meanwhile, I have done quite a bit of settling in my new life. Its been nearly 6 months since I paid a visit to my parents. A friend of mine said, you are living at home now, why would you want to go home. Yet another friend commented, maybe K is keeping you very happy. Mmmm... Well... first is correct but I still miss home. And second is partly correct and I still miss home :) More on the nuances of settling in my next post :)

Hmmm Ego massage on a lazy morning

How Sweet Are You?
	You are a Sweetie-Pie. There is absolutely no one sweeter in this world than you! You top the sweetness scales and are a true Sweetie-Pie! You are bashful and earnest and everyone adores you! You wake up each day with hope and optimism, and your smile looks like it is straight from the sun! You never have harsh words about anyone and will be there to lend a helping hand to whomever asks. You are the sweetest thing out there!
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What one word embodies you?
	I am the embodiment of Beauty. You are a person that views the world as this magical place, finding beauty in almost everything. You find beauty in the most simple and fundamental things, as well as in more complex things such as people. You're not one to look for beauty, you just see it. You understand things for what they are, and expect nothing more.
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What Animal Were You In Your Past Life?
	You were unicorn. You were mysterious and noble. You have fairytale traits, and other people can only dream in envy. Your nature is completely impossible to decipher and behind all that, you know that you shine bright, for only the luckiest people get the chance to know you.
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Which Sholay Character Are You?
	You are Jai. You are the person of great intuition. The best part of your personality is that you will go to any extent to help others without harming others, though you will not show it. You are the man of courage. Though a very serious person, you are protective about others. You always make the right decisions.
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