Zip Zap Zoom - went a wonderful Christmas

Just done with the most idyllic Christmas vacation and seriously loved every bit of it.

It was 4 days of holiday and K thankfully did not have to go to work any of the days. That itself was bestest gift I could ask for. Friday evening he gave the surprise of surprises by coming home early. He also chose to skip his customary friday booze party. He has been really sweet lately by giving up time with the "guys" to spend time with me! I love him 10 times more when he does that :) though I keep telling him he could go and have some fun rather than being stuck in the house with a fat lady :) But stay he did and got on with cleaning some surfaces and painting bits of the house where some stains had come along. After grubbing on some frozen samosas, we called it a day.

The next day the sun shone bright, we chose to trek in search of some more Indian fare. Food does call the shots in our choice for outing. We decided to go for a new restaurant and had the most scrumptious Kachodi chat and dhokle. K was developing a mild eye infection, but not letting go of the holiday spirit. Once home, he made a trip to his favourite electronics shop for some window shopping. We ended up spending the evening watching The Inbetweeners and eating lots and lots of Indian snacks that we had purchased on our way back.

Christmas being the day when the city shuts down, we decided to take it slow. We still had to make a trip to the hospital, since K's eye infection was worsening as was his cold. Once back, I got on with the cooking while K attended to some serious enemy killing. All fattened up, we got on with back to back animated movies - Monsters Vs. Aliens, Happy Feet and Ratatoulie. I then chose to hit the bed with a book while K had to get back to saving the world. We saved up all the energy for the next day was Boxing Day - the day when the "SALE" gates open. I do not get the customary rush to shops on Boxing Day. I feel no difference in the options available on this day compared to any other time of the year. But somehow the frenzy is infectious. People do flock to the stores at 5 in the morn!! We too stepped out of the house at somewhere around 1230 to enjoy the sights. We chose to go to a mall far far away with a group of K's colleagues. Since it was a holiday, getting there got a bit painful since transport facilities were way limited. We took close to 2 hours while a normal day should have taken us there in 45 mins. But then it was totally worth the pain, since the decorations, the activity and the general festive fervour charged me with the same emotion. Did not splurge a lot, but it was amazing to catch the guys go crazy in the shops! Now that does not happen very often! Caught up on some reading in the evening along with catching up on 50 most annoying celebrities of 2011 :D (The stuffs people countdown and people watch :D )

Tuesday heralded the very last day of the Christmas holidays (boo hoo). We had a couple of friends invited for a small eatout and K helped me hugely inspite of his illness and eye infection. He was an outright darling from the outset.

As K started to work today morning, I could not help but treasure the wonderful time I had with him. It was a near perfect Christmas.

A fine balance

I love anything Indian - cuisine, couture or culture. Same goes for books too. I simply love Indian authors. R.K. Narayanan is an all time fav with others like Shashi Tharoor, Jhumpa Lahiri, Amitav Ghosh being authors I love going back to. Last week when I finished reading "A fine balance" by Rohinton Mistry, I had another name to add to my list of "wow" authors.

A fine balance is the story of four people from different background who end up having a strangely symbiotic relationship. Its a weird juxtaposition of Dina Dayal, a Parsi widow; OmPrakash and Ishvar, two tailors and Maneck a student. Its an odd ensemble, but the way life makes strange partners is something to be watched out for. I loved the backdrop of each character that the author provides. Its elaborate but not boring in the slightest bit.

There are a host of supporting characters - 

• Shankar - the limbless beggar who is strangely optimistic inspite of his physical deformities
• Beggarmaster - the one who employs Shankar and ends up having a link with the four main characters 
• Maneck's mom and dad - who rue the loss of pristine mountain beauty in their quaint hilly town and somehow end up distancing Maneck as a result  of misplaced angst
• Rajaram - a slum dweller with the tailors who again ends up having a lot of say in the flow of things.
• Ashraf Chacha - the guru for the tailors

There is a lot of characterization and a lot of sub plots. It ends up making the book 614 pages thick, but somehow there is not a bit which feel extraneous. Every bit is relevant and ties up neatly. Some of the twists and turns might seem  a bit too fantastical - but then the book is a work of fiction. Set in the 1970s, the backdrop itself is an interesting revelation. 

Being a die hard optimist, the book's macabre turn of events and pathos did not bog me down. But then, some episodes may put off the very emotional ones - cos there is only so much suffering one can see. Taste for yourself and see, if this Booker nominee  ends up painting the world in shades of black or shades of grey for you. 

End tak sab acha ho hi jaata hai

Disclaimer : Philo post ahead :P

The other day I was with a bunch of people who were reminiscing about days gone by and about India. I was going with the flow for sometime after which they lost me.

I am ok with musing about by-gone days. But then the optimist in me, somehow feels, things work out for the better not for worse. Don't they? In our childhood there are not much burdens to carry and studies and games make up life. There in untold fun in it but studies are utterly painful too ( Gosh I cannot fathom how I ploughed through all the huge chapters on Dravidian history and Indian Independence struggle! and I can never ever surmount entrance examinations) It works up to a joyous worklife. Deadlines are dreaded and Monday morning blues are a norm, but then the joy of splurging at a mall, being able to get something extra special for parents 25th wedding anniversary are things we can do only now. All leads up to getting married and setting a family. Its horrendous cleaning someone else's mess and having chores for additional people but then the sense of belonging is not something that cannot be done away. The stage of building one's nest and then seeing the young ones fly is tough work, but then don't they say, they are rocks in the river bed which give the river its song. The retirement phase might spell boredom for many, but then is'nt this the time to help the young ones grapple with their lives and catch up on all the wonderful reading in the world.

Maybe I sound annoyingly optimistic and maybe I am looking at the world through rose tinted glass which have an extra film of gloss for me. I do not deny that life is tough in each and every stage. But then I see more sense in seeing the good rather than the bad. I do understand the feeling of homesickness and ruing about life back in India, but I feel its healthier to enjoy the good at any place while the opportunity presents itself. Once back in the home-land, its time to savor the delights for it would mindless to wish for life else where then. Same goes for any situation and scenario, is nt it better to keep the good parts and forget the, er... not so good ones?

Ek aur Diwali Khatam

And I am waiting for a next one already.

No matter where I am festivals pep me up. I am at my chirpiest best and can somehow feel the gigantic vibes of good will allll around. Call me silly. But thats just me :)

This Diwali was no less special. The sun shone splendidly! In October having the sun shimmer down tireless in the land where the sun never rises is awesome. The morning was spent in quickly catching up with friends. K wanted to whet his feeling of nostalgia and asked a couple of friends to go closer to the bursting crackers so that he could savor the sound of them. He was in no mood to work and said he had spent most of the day making calls or chatting with colleagues. The British counterparts did bring up some sweets and savories which were matched by the Indian colleagues. There was a lot of munching and grubbing going on which added to the festive splendor. 

Amma was in full throttle and had started making sweets 2 days prior to the event. There was besan barfi and coconut laddus to be savored. She also make some kheer on the day of Diwali. I had plans for kachori and chole for dinner. Once K was back, he got on with helping me in getting stuffs in order and lighting up the candles as Amma made a trip to the local temple with some neighbors. 

I had called over a colleague of K's who has turned out to be a bit pally with me. Once she came over, she too helped me with bits of the cooking. While we were engrossed in dishing out the food, the heat of the candles and the cooking did make the fire alarm go off. But after some time when I suddenly turned to see the diyas, I noticed one of them burning with a big flame. And within the blink of an eye, it spluttered and another one started burning with a big flame. K was playing some computer games, and I thought it might be better to handle the situation silently. And I poured some water over the candles. It resulted in a conflagration! (I read up later in the internet that one should not try to extinguish a wax fire with water. And more over, the flames were getting bigger because there was some melted wax too which was catching fire) Now this caught the attention of K even though he was engrossed in a game. He came rushing and doused the fire by putting a thick towel over the candles. Then he gave me a look - which said - Woman you had nearly set the house on fire. Since we had a guest at hand, he spared me the sound hearing which came lashing down as soon as she stepped out. The judgement was passed that there would be no candles going forward and I either had to manage with some sort of electrical lighting or ask some one from India to get some authentic diyas for any occasion I wanted to light up things. All said and done we had a happy and safe Diwali. Wish everyone else too had an amazing time! 

The festival of lights done for this year, waiting for another gorgeous one! 

Life has gotten me to a stage

1. Where I do not fit into any of my clothes. So much so I have to rampage K's wardrobe to the extent that he runs out of stuff to wear
2. I am not bothered about the waist - at all! In spite of not fitting into clothes (Imagine!!) And I keep gorging on humongous amounts of food. The food just keeps on coming and I am not complaining. 
3. I was one who could sleep at a stretch for like 8 hours, but then its been forever since I slept at a stretch. I simply have to wake up at least twice at night :( I hate it but then there is no escaping. For some reason or other, to get into a comfortable position, to eat some more :D or simply to use the washroom - I HAVE to wake up. 
4. I keep a tab on days, weeks, months like crazy! 

Thank God for small pleasures

They say, when one has got nothing useful to speak about, one talks about the weather. And this is going to be my second post about the vagaries of nature. Call me boring :(

The weather has gone berserk, it has gone crazy and in the very very very good way. Its sunny!! (I feel like going and kissing the sun - a la Hanuman style) Yeyyyy! Literally every single day since Monday I have been jumping in joy seeing the bright sun. While last 2 weeks had made me bring out my autumn jacket, this week has me roaming even without a light sweater. Its hello floral skirts and summer frocks! And flip flops. There is no ear piercing autumn wind, there is no dampening rain, its just sunshine and lot of warmth all the way through. Touchwood! Seems like Bhagwan ne meri sun li.

Somehow the weather reminds me of home sweet home. This is exactly the sort of 27-28 degrees temperature that remains at my state during Dussera. This is the time for Puja Pandals with huge mandaps being erected with extravagant statues of Goddess Durga. The general work atmosphere would be lax around this time with people taking time out to visit family and friends. Nights would lead to illuminations and popular Bollywood music blaring out of loudspeakers. The food on the streets is to die for. I have not tasted street food which can hold the mirror to what we get during Puja anywhere else (I might be sounding way too chauvinistic, what to do, I am a bit too attached to my quaint little city). It is also this time that winter slowly sets in, with the markets getting slowly loaded with cauliflowers, cabbages, peas and carrots. This in turn ushers in the season of fried rices, gobi and matar ke parathe and gajar ke halwe. Yum yum yum, the tongue is on cloud 9.

It is as if God has snatched a bit of those joys here. With the sunshine, the crowds are back on the streets, colourful clothes have made a comeback and everybody is surely smiling. And I am ever grateful to Him for this.

Whats wrong with me

I simply hate any form of precipitation. Rain, hail, snow - nothing agrees with me. I cannot fathom how people can go poetic over rain and cloudy weather. I see them as spirit dampners and as a major inconvenience.

But yesterday something really weird happened. I was walking back home from an errand and it started raining. It wasnt the normal drizzle which is so rampant in this part of the world. It was as if someone was pelting huge liquid stones. Then the intensity increased. It was nearly like a huge thunderstorm. People who were trying to save themselves from the rain, accepted who was the tougher contender. Wet passerbys exchanged smiles which said "Some rain mate!". It was first funny to watch people frantically tries to maintain their umbrellas against the gales. But then it seemed somewhat heart warming. I nearly let out an "Aww" at the fate of the flimsy umbrellas at the hands of the mighty winds. Even mine was being blown haywire and I had to hold on to the fringes of it.

Coincidentally I had some rain related Tam song on my ipod. I did not understand it, but somehow the feel of the song pepped me up. That was bizzare behaviour on my  part by any standards. As if to reward my happy approach towards something I have always regarded as disgusting, the sun shone all of a sudden. With the shining sun along with the torrential rains, there came - Yes a SPLENDID rainbow! I could not help but smile ear to ear at the sight of it!

A good weekend

Just done with a long weekend and it feels great! Most weekends are made up of K going to work as usual, so they never give me  a feel of being any different from the other days. The only difference might be K runs down to have his lunches. But then its all the same with some time spent on books, some on the telly and others chatting and lazying around. But this weekend was fulfilling to the hilt. I spent Saturday in going back to cooking like I had not done in a long time. I dished out Puris, Jeera Rice, Chole, Aloo Capsicum, Gajar ka Halwa and Raita. I wanted to eat a huge meal and I left no stone unturned in cooking one up. we lapped up the dishes not knowing there was more food coming our way. One of K's colleagues extended an invitation for dinner. Hmm.. more more food. We were groaning literally like pythons but the food was so scrumptious that we took one helping after another of Dahi Vadas, Dosas and Idlies. Oh boy, gluttony is so so sinful. We all had a really good time and it was at 2300 that we finally hit home.

Now the bank holiday weekend had SVU top 10 episodes. And thats what we got latched on to once we reached home. Inspite of being sleepy and stuffed, we braced up and watched one nail biting episode after another.

Sunday K had to scoot back to work, while we saas-bahu took it slow. I had a good long chat with folks back home. In the evening it was Cowboys and Aliens (a movie not to be watched at all!!).  Once back it was late night TV with SVU again :)

Holiday Monday was jam packed. Mil took over the kitchen while I got busy with doing stuff around the house. After a weather-wise cold and damp Sunday, Monday looked sunnier which pepped me to no end. Then the best part of the day came up. Roomie dear called me. It was such an amazing pleasure catching up with her and realising how we still have so much in common. :) It was simply brilliant. After having a lunch which was to die for, I took a quick nap. Then along came another of K's colleagues who is a good pal of mine. And off we 3 went for some shopping. It was an exclusive 'me' shopping with both mil and B giving me a barrage of choices. Its so easy to shop with females, men simply do not understand the nuances we see. A really exhilarating shopping session later, my wardrobe was richer by 4 items while I was poorer by many many pounds. The good run continued as we all sat down for tea and lots of gossipping. We literally set the house on fire till K came back. The evening saw the consumption of mooli parathas and the top 3 SVU episodes.

The weekend was satisfying and relaxing in every way possible and I loved every bit of it! (Touchwood)

The Wisdom of Sam

Since I have absolutely run out of ideas and since there is NOTHING sansanikhez happening at allllllllllll ( Ok Gods and the powers that be, I am not asking for anything from Aaj Tak News. Keep the sansansi else where) But then my blog looks so derelict. So I am going to take the idea of Furobiker and put ahead book reviews. First up - Wisdom of Sam by Daniel Gottlieb.

The book is about the simple lessons on life a quadriplegic grandfather learns from his Autistic grandchild - Sam. Its not life changing nor divinely inspirational and of course it is not a self help book. The book is simply about the Wisdom of Sam. 

The book has a simple narrative. Each page is steeped with Sam's simple charms. Be it forgiveness, happiness, madness, empathy, death or any of the myriad aspects of life. The author has given "our" way and Sam's way - and Sam's is way better :) 

My favourite is one where Sam rakes leaves with his father and at the end of plops into the pile of leaves and muses "Now, this is my kind of place." The author asks us to in a same way "just experience our place" forgetting what we are doing at that moment. He says "Can you forget, just for the moment, the task or the outcome or even the process and just experience who you are right now?" He goes on to state, how we attach a lot of importance to our identity and Who we are. But our identities evolve and so does the sense of comfort associated with those identities. So the important question is not "Who we are?" But it is "What we can contribute while we are at a given point". Just like Sam, being fully aware and concious, awake and alive just experiencing life - knowing that a pile of leaves is his kind of place!

There is another incident where Sam does not fare so well in the school wrestling competitions. When his grandpa asks him "So, Sam why do you think you've lost all your matches?" Sam replies after a brief pause "I don't think I am tough enough. Pop (that's what Sam calls his grandpa) do you think you could toughen me up?" What Sam got was a lesson in resilience which the author describes as "faith that I could get hurt and still be okay." "What Sam needed was trust that he had the resilience, in himself, to meet the unknown, to experience it, and to survive." Don't we all need these lessons? 

I could go on writing excerpts from the book, but there is one staggering piece that I cannot miss. The author says "Before a child is born, God infuses that child with all of the wisdom he needs in life. Right before the child is born, an angel comes and slaps the baby on the face, causing it to forget everything it's learned. But every now and then, there is an uncommon child like you, Sam. You make me wonder if the angel got distracted and forgot to slap you before you were born. Right now you seem to have more wisdom than most boys of your age. You are uncommon, you are a teacher, you are a blessing, you are love."

The roller coaster that was

The house seems funny. Every corner reeks of their absence. The bathroom has been emptied of the cascade of toiletries. The dressing table looks deserted. All of a sudden coats hangers are free. The entrance which looked like one to a temple thanks to all the shoes is neat.  Luggages - where are they suddenly?

The last 21 days were a blur. It was exactly 3 Fridays ago that we made the trip to Manchester airport to pick my folks. I could not contain my anxiousness of seeing them for like 2 minutes. I was imagining all sorts of worse case scenarios- they missed the connecting flight, their luggages were lost, they are held up in immigration and a zillion more. I was going berserk to the point of asking K to contact information center. After 30 minutes of agonising wait (which is quick by normal standards) I saw my dad. Woo hoo!! Bye bye worse case scenarios. Its time to head home.

After a days rest we had a week long travel programme. That done, it was life as usual but with a lot of zing. I did not have to take the ipod for walks, cos I had dad. Its real fun taking a walk with him, the inquisitive him asking lots and lots of questions. Afternoons were spent strolling with mom and sis and visiting all the shops on the high street. I simply adore shopping with mommy and sister. There is simply nothing as cool as that. Our choices are so in sync, they help me pick stuff so so so easily. Every single day for 2 weeks we spent the afternoons shopping. Some days were just research strolls where we did market survey:) Other days were dedicated to shoes. :) I could drone on about each and every day but then all that is history.

Things were just different with them around. But then all good things should come to an end, and heres hoping for good times to come back again.

Full House

Amma joined us on the 20th of last month and the Chennai trio was complete. And last week on the 10th, my mom, dad and sis reached! Now that's are a real full house!

Our joy just knows no bounds. It is just so amazing to be all together. The whole plan had so much ironing out to do. Dad has his post retirement activities which he did not want to miss out. Sis had her work. Mom had her responsibilities for my  maternal granny. So along with all this, it was a marvel that all 3 of them were able to manage these 3 weeks to come here. It would have been a cherry on top of it, if K would have been able to manage some leaves. But then perfect is boring.

I really relish that fact that my family gets along famously. Big touchwood to that! And somehow by the grace of God, we do happen to pull out some or the other get together. 2008, we spent the Dusserra vacation together at Bbsr with trips to Puri and Chilika being the highlights. 2009, when sis got her posting at Mysore, we all managed a trip for 4 days when we travelled like crazy. 2010, was a bad year by all standards. 2011, and here we are all together. Could not thank Chubby God enough for making this happen.

The travel agent/tour operator inside me was kicked alive by the presence of so many people. And I made plans like crazy. I had a 2.5 days trip to London and a 3.5 days trip to Scotland planned to a T. Since K was conspicuous by his absence, I had a lot of things to take care of. Surprisingly my dad who is annoyingly fussy about food, place or stay and literally everything was very well behaved. A proper rice and chappatti person, he lived on sandwiches, salads, pasta and pizzas for 7 days! He was a sport to climb the tallest peaks in Scotland, which even the moms had given up. Being the fast walker, it was amazing fun to strut beside him. I am so proud of you Papa! There was even this one time, when he being the impulsive adventurous one, broke off from the herd and ended up getting separated from us. This when we were in a ferry. He got down in some stop where we were not supposed to. But then when the womenfolk returned realising a missing Papa, he was standing guard at the gates of the stop with the most ridiculous smile on his face. I was fuming but seeing his smile did not have the heart to reprimand. Amma of course did give him a nice hearing ;)

The moms as usual were the voice of advise and reason and were ever watchful. Tour done, we all concurred that India simply rocks. Be it history, architecture, nature or any realm, India can put the entire world to shame. I just hope someone gives our tourism industry a booster shot :(

Anyhoo, now its time for the next good thing about holidays. FOOD. The house is brimming with it. Both moms cook in a frenzy and we gobble food like theres no tomorrow. K has resumed his habit of coming for luch whenever he can cos who wants to miss a the cosy feel of home. Along with good food, there is also shopping. It is such fun shopping with mom and sister. I have been able to stack up shoes and purses again.  

I do not do the dishes, vaccuum the house, throw garbage, cook or do anything at all for that matter. But everything gets done. Some parts of the house do look like the waiting room of a railway station. ( Picture this) 

But I am amazed that six people are able to fit in this real minuscule place.I think when we got place in the hearts there no need for rooms in a house. (Kitna zyaada filmi dialogue

hai - shame on me).  

Guess who is in town

Since I am really bad at keeping the suspense let me let out the secret. Its amma :)

Post our visa extensions, we were looking forward to mil making a trip here. It would be a double whammy - we would get to see her and she would get to savour a  change of weather. We pulled our socks up and got everything sorted real quickly. Her passport did take forever to come back from the British consulate, thanks to a whole lot of bank holidays which crept up in between. But then one fine day after what seemed like an eternity, the passport stamped with the visa arrived. Woohoo! She had everything ready, savouries packed for her dear son, some ready to eats set aside for colleagues here and her usual stuff. 

Though I was looking forward to her coming here, I had my own set of apprehensions. Our apartment is not small - its minuscule. Two of us keep coming in each others way, and I had my worries  if three would be able to fit into this match box. Well err... who wants to queue in the morning for the wash basin ;) I also had my reservations, as to how would she find her life here. She leads a pretty active life back home, with long hours everyday dedicated to services in temples. She has her family close by and she has the time and opportunity to visit my sister in law too. But here, it would be preposterous to even think about these. I wondered how she would fare having a restricted social life. And my last worry was, how would it change us. Being just the two of us for close to 10 months now, I had forgotten how was it before that :D 

When she finally reached here, I realised what a waste had all the thinking been. We all just fitted together perfectly like the pieces of a puzzle. Even in this small house, there was no loss of any privacy for anyone. We  have carved our own spaces. And mil hugely helped me in feeling at ease by venturing out on her own. She was a real sport to go out walking and shopping entirely on her own from Day 3!!! Her confidence awes me and impresses me hugely. Its a fact - she is miles smarter and bolder than me too! Kudos to her.

Now the vessels get done sooner, there is more variety on the dining table, and I got company for my evening teas. She speaks to her family daily- something that she did not get time to do at Chennai. She gets to see sis in law and my niece most of the days through the web - again something that never happened before. Its like she is more connected with everyone in spite of being so far. Ironic but true.

So the long and short of it - things are still the same, though they have changed :D

My dil goes mmm

• When I sit bored on a Friday evening, mulling over the most worthless stuff like what's the big deal about Friday?  What's the point in giving so much importance to the start of the weekend? How easy it is for guys to bond over work etc. (No rhyme or reason right? I think crazy sometimes *sighs*) As I keep sinking into more morbid thoughts, K knocks on the door and says "No booze party today, am all yours" ;)
• When after n attempts at the mock tests for a certification, I finally pass one
• When after feeling utterly bored once K has ventured out to work real early on a Saturday morning, I do my set of step ups (I step up and down at the fire exit of our apartment as a means of cardio) and come back feeling recharged, revitalised and rejuvinated!
• When I cook a real good meal which K loves :)
• When I drown myself in back to back episodes of MTV Roadies Season 8 
• When K reverts his decision to go to work on a fine Sunday morning
• When we shop groceries together (after eons)
• When we loose ourselves in chole and rotis at an Indian Takeaway
• When we sit and watch a movie ( Seven- yes old movie, and long over due. But an amazing watch) 
• When we feel guilty over the HUGE doughnuts we hog upon
• When we finally retire feeling good about a weekend well spent  :) 

Wassup?

Sometimes I am amazed at how perceptive people are. Reflections said "U r really busy huh.....I've noticed tht most people dont blog all tht much when they r happy with whts happening in their life;-)". 

And truer words have not been said. Yes I am really busy.  And yes I am happy with what is happening in my life (Touchwood) Btw what is happening in my life??!! :S 

NOTHING. :P

Yep, you heard it, nothing is happening. Its life as usual. I would love for lots of things to happen. Love to see some motion on my sis's work front. Love to see some action on my daily routine. And I do sometimes think about a lot of things. But then as a generally lazy friend of mine who is even lazy in thinking said, Zyada sochne se faisle kamzhor ho jaate hain. (Thinking a lot makes decisions weaker). So taking her cue, I am going to proceed on some ground breaking decisions. Keep watching this space :P

On second thoughts as long as the stream of life goes on without ripples, one should not complain. Cos you can never be sure when wishes turn into horses and scare the living day lights out  of you. Any hoo, I digress again. I should have been writing about what is happening in my life.

Life is taken up mostly by work which is again mostly done by K. Now that spring is slowly making way for summer, there is lots more reading and reading in the sunshine for me! And reading in the sunshine leads to dozing off. With more sleep comes sparkling skin (so says my Mommy, if you sleep well skin main chamak aati hai  so rather than applying all those artificial products take a nap- so says Mrs Know-all aka Mummy). So yes  I bring more nikhar on my twacha as K has eaten his left hand's thumb nail away thanks to the never ending vagaries of work. (Yes he still bites his nail, and believe it people, he does not have a left thumb nail anymore. Which is worse given the fact that he is left handed. To add more spice to the scenario, he is just not letting a new nail grow, cos things at work are not improving).

How gross can I get, I spent the better part of an entire paragraph talking about nails! Yiekssssss!! Apart from a missing nail and family members, its a new experience for us just being us. For the first time, we do not even have the intervention of a domestic help. Its just me and K, living in fancy abandon. There is no worry of an earring lying here, or a watch being lost amongst laundry, or bothering to lower the voices when an argument begins. We are the master of all we survey in this minuscule apartment and there is a unique joy to it. Discovering new routes for walks, sitting in the sun in some new found park after a tiring walk, enjoying the company of others but loving that of eachother - those are simple things that still add the sparkles.    

Thankfully the Easter weekend has been blessed with sunshine and I am looking forward to devouring more books (there is one technical one which is gyrating on the shelf for my attention. I should give it a shot too) . Let it shine!!

For the sake of filling some space

Its been way too long since I wrote a post, but then in true India TV style nothing sansanikhez was happening for me to write :(

But then I thought, this blog is my space in the great big cyber world, to fill up with my thoughts (which I deem are very important and worthwhile :D ). So I will go ahead and scribble a whole lot of stuff which does not have much relevance :D.

Well first up, I get a very good feeling about this year. And in true morning shows the day fashion, January passed with celebrations of a new year.February had a very close friend take a big leap on the personal front. March had my oldest dearest friend finally getting a little bit of what she wanted - a big achievement on the professional front. April? Well didn't April rejuvenate every single India by having the beautiful Saturday the 2nd when India (and Sachin!!!) Finally LIFTED the ICC World Cup! Along with it came-Spring here. Sunshine - something I missed dearly. People also went ahead and bought flashy cars(more specifically i20 Magna) in April :D

And a Lady Luck was pleased with me, and I made a friend. It was pure serendipity. And having a friend here after so long, is amazing. So till now things are bright and shiny. Heres hoping for a heady dose of sunshine and brightness for all!!!!

When a man loves a woman

Are we supposed to be done with feeling in love and all? No right? I think we have to be lovey dovey the entire month, eh? 

But it ever so happens that I loose it sometimes somewhere in the beginning of the year. I just allow myself to be thrown off the track. This time it happened on the day following Valentine's day. Something minor happened, but me being all Sherlock Holmes, took it way too seriously.  ( Roomie dear, you know each excruciating detail). So I let my drinking habit kick in (Yes people I confess I have a drinking problem. When sad, I don't revive myself with the normal happy stuff like mindless movies or silly sitcoms. I go to a big mug of ginger tea. And I keep on drinking :D ) I don't feel a lot better, I feel bloated, I feel as if there is acid building in my digestive system and I sit on the banks of the river called guilt thinking about the sugar (=calories) I took in with the mugs of tea. 

Its a slippery slope friends. I know anyone with a drinking problem will vouch for it (or for that matter anyone with a chocolate addiction) So Tuesday night I retired to bed way too early (inspite of the gallons of tea) . And when I woke in the morning, K had the whole house arranged, all the dishes washed and even cute post its for me. He took the day off and we spent all the time having a How I Met Your Mother marathon and eating lots of ice cream and the cakes. I did not budge as the local pizza joint had our dinner ready. It was entirely K's show with him doing all the stuff from choosing the pizza, fetching the stuff, getting it re-heated and also cleaning up.  

Today as I slowly limped back to normalcy (its back to 2 mugs per day, the mugs have to become decent civilised sized ones, the one I am using currently is more like a beer mug),life looks a bit better. I would want some more sunshine God. But till then Thank You Chubby God for one person who has held me through and just stood by, unquestioning, just the right amount of sugar and just the right amount of spice. Bebe you rock :D

Ps. 

1. I love the movie When a man loves a woman - makes me go Awww... and cringe with a feeling of love. Yes even an un-romantic person like me

2. While I was writing this post, I had this song going on, completely situational. Yea, tumse hi tumse har baat hai!

3. Promise completely up beat and non - senti post next time. 

Just go with it

Furobiker ji asked, whos getting lucky this Valentine's day, and yea I got lucky over the weekend.

I was getting sick of the zillion plus one advertisements for Valentine's day. Add to it lots of pink balloons adorning the streets and pink hearts where ever your eye turns. To add salt and pepper to injury, even the library had all romantic books lined up in the many display section. I was like enough already. I had K, clocking close to 14 hours at work.

But then bhagwan ke ghar main der hai andher nehi. So the man who would not step out of his office before 2200, called me at 1700 asking if we could go for a movie!!I was like neki aur pooch pooch. Hell yaaa!!! Movieeee!! We chose the comedy Just go with it, my kinda movie - a no brainer but funny. But before the movie started we had 2 hours to kill. So we just went with the flow, window shopped for games, for clothes, and then a light drizzle made us stop at Statbucks. The time with him, was typical, with K still cuddling his brand new HTC desire, while I cuddling the Cafe Mocha. (Is nt that what comfortable companionship is all about). I would give my right arm for more moments like that :) 

Saturday was a heavy lunch followed by - shopping!! I was able to grab some shirts in a sale, which came close to 50% cheaper. Then got some creams and lotions again at a Valentine's discount. That was followed by K being able to grab some Italian shoes. What ensued was some glorious time at the salon getting some tlc for the hair. We were ready to call it a day, but then K treated me to a lovely sub sandwich ( we have fallen in love with them!). I could not have asked for a better Valentine's weekend -  walking in the rain, silently holding hands, shopping for what the other person loves -  it could nt have been any better. Touchwood! And happy Valentine's day  to all!

Heroine worship

I love Friday evenings. Who does'nt. But I love them a lot. Friday evenings are the time, when K comes home early. And then after spending an hour or so with me, goes for his weekly daaru party with the 'boys'. I am left all by myself.

I do not spend the time doing some super useful productive work. I go for the latest uploads of the soap Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa. Its not that I am an ardent follower of the show, or like any contestant in particular. It is just for the  diva who graces one of the judges chair - yep, call me oldddddddd school but I simply worship Madhuri Dixit.

I know I am just among the countless Bollywood followers, who one time liked her movies.But she seems to have a strange hold over me. I remember way back in school, I used to vehemently support her when fans of Sreedevi used to chastise her for not being talented enough.  I would watch every Madhuri Dixit movie with such alacrity. Dil,Beta,Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Tezaab, Parinda,Khalnayak, Mrityudand-these are names which are coming on the fly, but each and every work of her, is nearly indelible in my mind.

More than just her acting, her dancing, her prettiness, it was her aura of being a good person and being a model celebrity than most captivated me! K scolds me for this, but I am not an objective person, I take another person in totality. It is much more important in my yardsticks to be a good person rather than to be a successful person. I hold the same thing for celebs too. I don't understand how could marriages of 10 years falter (marriages are for keeps, yes old school again!) , so in the same light Aamir Khan, Azharuddin, Tiger Woods and many more, fall from grace when they go for another woman. I knowwwwww, its irrational, they are not brand ambassadors for morality. But then, I feel, one should be 'morally' and 'ethically' unquestionable be it in public or private domain. For this reason I would worship the ground beneath the feet of Sachin Tendulkar (another person whose picture itself can bring a smile of admiration on my face).

I think I am deviating from the issue at hand. The thing is she still enthrals me like she always used to. I have a silly smile on my face when I hear her re-living her experiences. I am still  so charmed when she takes on the dance floor. I know people will sing praises and nothing but praises in the face of a person. But when the contestants and her peers tell she was this and that, and a nice person and bestow a whole lot of laurels on her, I choose to believe each and every word of it. I really see her living the life which is so model -  an atrociously talented person, who inspite of being in the tinseltown, was some how monk-ishly untouched by the vagaries of fame,  someone who married so sensibly rather than going with the trend of getting married to someone from her own trade, someone who knew where her priorities lay and settled to domesticity.When K struts by and mocks her, or makes some smart comment, I take offense. I am like in a shrine, where I am held in awe by the one and only Madhuri Dixit- someone who was really number one and insurmountable in my growing years. 

I can go on and on waxing eloquent about her every facet, she is a true diva in every sense of the term for me. 

PS.These thoughts are entirely mine, readers may choose to disagree. I just like her so much, that I could not help but write a post about her.

I also have the same question

So how was New Year?? Yea its already 3 days old, but then, it remains new for the whole month of January. Does nt it? Yes it does!! 

Well I will return the favour first by answering the question myself. We had some shopping to do cos there were folks we were calling over, so the evening started with crazy grocery buying. By the time we came out of the departmental store, my super-sharp-shopping-vision caught the four letter word every girl loves (Come on don't start thinking dirty now, bad people) It was SALE. Yessssssshhhhhhhhh, then which force on earth could stop me from dragging my bedraggled kaam ka maara thaka haara husband to the shop. But surprise surprise, I first spotted something for him! And it fitted him to the T, so we crossed the moat safely. Now MY turn. And I saw something along the similar lines(they are calling them 'boy friend' shirts. Huh. ) And surprise surprise number 2, K liked it and I bought it per K's choice! (Now people with a partner will nod their heads approvingly that this is a miracle. The lady never buys what the bloke suggests :P. Rather  its a mild elimination process, what the guy chooses must not be bought :D ) But I not only bought it, I bought it without trying it on! I was sure cos K liked it, it would fit me. (Such a story of true tyaag and balidaan is the material for the next Romeo Juliet stuff aint it? )

Then the eve was flooded with making calls :) Yes, New Year is a religion among my family and friends. So mom, sis first ( Dad celebrated New Year to the hilt with a peg ;) and was fast asleep by then ), then grandmama, aunties and the friends. Since, I am super senti about New Year, I got ready with making a sweet dish, while K watched some slasher with lots and lots and lots of blood. I wasnt game for such stomach churning and retired with a lovely collection by Graham Greene called May we borrow your husband (Again a must must must read ). When the clock struck 12, did my small prayer with the new shirt on, and waited for the sunrise of a new year. 

01/01/11 started top notch with some usual calls, and then a long tread to a city centre just for the heck of it and psst.. if possible do some shopping) End of day, I was one attire richer and had a good solid walk with K. It was a simple but lovely start. Sunday was the day when we had invited K's manager for dinner (I have brutalised all the folks from K's team with my cooking and their family was the only one pending). While Sunday mostly went in cooking and cleaning the house, and some real hard core racing on the Wii, what was truly endearing was the time in the evening. My simple recipes were savoured by our guests, there was a bit of the demo of the Wii and the best part was the lovely conversation that flew. It was not a fiasco like this and we had no idea how close to 4 hours flew just like that. I will always cherish the evenings as one of the most warm ones! 

Today a really peppy sun shines as people pull themselves out of holiday hangover and march to office. Good luck to all for a gorgeous new year with things that ones heart wills. I know Ashu moved to their OWN house (wow amazing feeling eh?) and Roomie dear moved in some anticipation of stability. Hope inspite of the initial dislocations, this year is a gift which brings satisfaction. 

Will leave with some disturbing images of chilli paneer, matar ke parathe and kheer. Not suitable for ravenous foodies. Viewer discretion advised.

(Main apne hi khane ka kitna build up de rahi hoon. Whatever happened to humility :D)