Danke!

And why did I choose the particular word? Well call it the QT effect :D. I happened to watch Inglorious Basterds over the weekend. (The 14th November weekend. This blog took a lot of time to shape up :( ) It is a must watch movie - I would rate it as the best of the year! Yep after Kill Bill this is yet another fare which completely blew me over.

But I am not out here to thank Mr. Quentin for making a movie which is simply beyond words. The Thanks is for my dear sis and the K :) Yep, over the weekend I was down with fever. Viral fever to be precise. And some fever it was. It kicked in on Thursday evening. When the temperature used to come, it used send such chills that I could barely stand. My palms and feet would turn numb and the only thing I could do was lie down. What scared me most was I anticipated a repeat of this. Another bout of malaria was of course not something I wanted in another decade. So I was pro active and started popping the pills well in time. Moreover my sis was supposed to make a trip, and we had oh so many plans. I did not want even one of them to go awry. So there I was taking medicines, taking fluids, taking rest and praying fervently that I be well before she lands in Chennai.

But then when something can go wrong it does go wrong, does nt it? So the fever never came down, but God did send the pouring rains on Saturday morning. With rains being so adamant, the TV and the washing machine decided that they might as well go on a French leave. So there we were with blasting rains, a sick wife, no mom in law to lend a helping hand and 2 of the most important appliances kaput. After receiving sissy dear, K and she got on with the household chores like a house on fire :). There was K on one side,arranging the house, soaking the clothes and washing them off with his bare hands. Sis on the other hand was on with the kitchen chopping, cooking and the whole nine yards. Before 11 all the stuff was done and we were set for the movie. Thankfully the crocin worked before the movie and I was sentient for the entire 2 and half hours. But no sooner had we come than I started getting the shivers again. Sis made the most amazing maggie and then I popped another pill and hit the bed at 1700. I woke only at 1930 to find my kiddo sis blissfully curled round me in sweet somber :)

I was feeling much better and chose to watch "Everybody loves Raymond" with K before retiring at around 2100. And the best part was my sis slept through the night. Poor thing, she has so much work and studying at her work place, that she had barely managed 4 hours of sleep per day for a week. So she slept straight 15 hours when she got the chance! Thank God she slept that much cos the next day the responsibility of all the cooking waited for her since I was feeling no better. She had turned into a very nice cook in fact. After eating the lovely lunch she made, we all slept like logs.

Before we realised it was evening and it was time to bid goodbye to her. Last time when she had come, it was barely for a day. Still we had so much fun. But this time all she did was take care of my house and massage my head, run errands for me and do a zillion and one things. She reminded me of the the joy of having family when one is ill. Nothing can match my moms tender loving care. My sis though came a close second. And K who in his normal form is not so demonstrative of his love, was so considerate. He even went to the length of taking leave the following Monday to take care of me (on second thoughts it was more to watch Primal Fear and True Romance :X) I made it through from the fever so much quicker just for the 2 of them. Thank you both so much!

Chayya bina jiya jaaye naa :(

Thats what people in Chennai call a cup of tea - chayya. Its one of the beverages I love and can have any quantity at any time. My love affair with tea began since I was very young under the tutelage of my father. Yes you read it correct - my father. My mom makes a tea which is close to in-consumable for me. Its bitter. She makes a real hard drink of the poor tea leaves :( While my dad savors the tasty version - you know the one with lots of milk, just right sugar, some cardamom and ginger for sure. That is what he asked me to make one day, since mom was not around. I happened to taste my own creation just for the heck of it (My mom rues the fact that she is such a hard core addict of tea. Its the petrol she needs at least thrice a day; earlier it used to be five times! She always wanted to keep her children out of this dreaded addiction). But that day, when I tasted that divinely aromatic drink - I fell in love with it. Till date, its one thing I never ever say no to. Though kudos to my mom, she so fervently wished that we should nt be tea addicts, that till date neither my sister nor I am addicted to tea.

Now, why on earth am I blabbering all this? Well, it is cos, this very thing I love- has been made a paid thingy in my office!!!!! Imagine no more free tea. We got to buy it! I would not mind spending 4 odd rupees and getting a good cuppa. But the tea that is being dished out is so lame, it barely fills a paper cup and the tea bags seem to have lost all aroma. I do reiterate that I am no addict to tea. In spite of it, tea drinking is like a ritual. An excuse to move from the desk, some time to relax and give those sore neck and legs some motion, and on cold rainy days like Chennai is having right now, it feels divine to sip that warm cup. But sadly, that cup is now where :(

When the email was first sent out that there would be no more free tea from SRK's birthday onward, the mango people thought "Oh! come on this won t be possible to implement. Anyways everyone will go to have tea outside office which will result in man hours wasted which would in turn force the non mango people to roll back the idea." There was a seething of a revolt, the jitne bhi tu kar le sitam hans hans ke sahenge hum types attitude. I felt as if I was part of a an andolan, an important satyagraha. There were some emails floated to garner support and the public forums were replete with messages with some employees becoming demi Gods with their innovative ideas. But then, nothing moved the bade logs.

Finally the day came, one cold rainy chill morning here. The day sans tea. Ideas were afloat again. Black tea, hot water, getting tea from homes in thermos flasks, going to the houses of folks staying near office and having tea (ready to pay them also if they were insistent) and many many more. But then black tea is not equal to tea. Hot water is OF Course not equal to tea. Getting tea from homes - thoda zyaada ho gaya. Going to folks staying near office - not that besharam :( So Day1 we decided to go out and have tea and check the turn around time. Day1 it was 35 minutes. Day 2 new shop - it was 55 minutes. Day 3 - It rained so hard, we had to buy the tea at office. But then how long can this continue? Slowly I see some satyagrahis succumbing and yes, in the long run I wonder how I can hold on. So though sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab humare dil main hai not much zor will power main hai :'(

PS. Did not have the patience to translate the Hindi text - apologies if it is majorly incomprehensible to many.

This and that

Has been quite some time since I updated my blog. There was nothing of importance which made me think or pen down my thoughts. But there sure were some or other stuff happening. All the time I used to think, I have to write this in my blog, I have to write that in my blog. And so here are the thiss' and thats' :)

• We got a car. Yea finally. Its an Indica vista gala red hottie :) It was the end of a long drawn search. I don't think there was any brand we left in the small car segment. There was a lot of perusal of online reviews, motoring sites and consultation with people with experience. Ultimately we settled down for this make which promises to "change everything" - cos this is the one which fitted K's obnoxiously long legs. It had everything we wanted - more or less a 5 seater, with steering height adjustment, enough space so that even after K has pushed the driver's seat, there is enough space for people in the rear, good stable structure and decent mileage. Yea we were advised against the buy with the most heard suggestion being - its more of a taxi car. But then our counter was - if something is so popular for commercial use, it should be a more than safe bet for personal use. And yea - I did look longingly at the tubby Maruti Swift (it did not give much driver space for K), K did wish i10 was a bit bigger (it more or less a 4 seater car) and we both gave a Chevy Spark a miss for the same reason (it being a 4 seater). But now this thing is for the keeps, while we both are on fine tuning our driving in traffic.
• My sister made a trip to Chennai and boy was it great. She was here for a day, but the girls day out with her was simply amazing. One full day was spent in shopping and loitering around. When we both get together we don't just shop, we splurge. That's what we did this time around too. We scouted the entire Spencer Plaza and enhanced our wardrobe as well as shoe rack :) Ah! The joys of spending :D
  
• A friend of mine made a monumental move in her life, a move to move on to family mode. She did it after a lot of struggle and strife. But end of day her determination prevailed and she moved on. She and I share the same sun sign, so inherently we have somehow understood each other. And I completely understood the step she took, for the one she loved and I wish the best of all for her new life ahead. But with her being gone, one of my tightest bonds with one of the cities I love the most, has been severed :(
  
• Just 2 more months to go for the year to end, I am kind of in a reminiscent as well as planning mode. Hope everything I know and wish as well as everything unknown but destined happens for the good.