A random day off

K and I took last Monday off for admin purposes J. We had some work at the Indian Consulate in a nearby town.

Since it was our day off, we snoozed the alarm. Then woke up with an alarm at 0730! There was exactly 1 hour to hit the road. Two of us split and divided and conquered the morning chores. Chiyaa was quite happy to see mummy hang around. She was also very excited that I was going to drop her. Pumpki on the other hand was the proper drama queen. She knew something was afoot and made a long mopey face and made everything very very hard to do. But, being the assertive parents that we are, we got them packed off to their respective destinations. After that our destination was the consulate. Our job got done quicker than we expected. Score! So we decided to have some breakfast and shop for rugs. We are oh! so getting old! We did not get the rug of choice, but I did manage to find a plant which I bought immediately - much to K's chagrin of course! 

Once back home, we decided to go for a run. Lately us middle aged couple have taken on running. It started with I dragging Chiyaa along. But she is a very reluctant runner. But I wanted to, and I pulled K. When Amma was around, it was our “us” time. Just running quietly J So we went for a massive 8km run while was very tiring but amazing fun. I miss my days with roomie dear and Ashu when I used to go for walks with them. Again just quiet time, when we felt at peace! Some day girls, we will do it again!

Once back from the run, it was time for quick meal prep. We had decided to pick the kids sooner. So no after school club for Chiyaa and early pick for Pumpki. The kids had so much more energy once home which made them so less cranky! But by 1930, they had run out of ideas to engage. They had read their books, had their supper. Chiyaa had done a bit of schoolwork and there was still time for bed. Anyways we decided to have an early night in.

It was the perfect busily relaxing day I could ask for J And today the mayhem of the buses began!!!

The headlines

Social media was flooded with people posing against moortis of Goddess Durga. Starting with Shashti people gave a close insight into their daily life till Dussera. And I lay in pain. Of course part of the pain was emotional since I miss home and whole hoopla of Durga Puja. Yes it’s a bit deal in Odisha (also in Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Assam – but then). So well, I missed home, being at home, being in that aura of puja. I had plans to go to the local temple. They make a moorti. We went there last year and it was quite a good experience. When we reached, the place was quite deserted and we had a very good darshan. Little did we know, the crowd started making their way at 2000 (when we were making our exit :D :P ) and that’s when all the cameras started clicking :D Being the un-social creature that I am, I definitely was glad at the lucky escape. And part of the pain was physical since I was nursing a big allergy (dunno to what) and had rashes all over my hands and face with a mild fever. I was not the best of puja events, but then..

Talking of un-social, there is another social event in the offing. Yep! Diwali! Another reason for people to meet and hang around. I have a couple of ex-colleagues who are close friends now. I planned to host a Diwali dinner for them. Being non-Indians, a little glimpse into a popular Indian festival – I thought that would be a good idea. But then there is a group of Indian ladies who live in the neighbourhood. I had the “good fortune” of being added to one which consisted of 4 other members. Now one of them is quite gregarious, and she suggested a get-together. Hmm, fine I can deal with 4 more families for a couple of hours. I voted yes. Then someone from the group added someone else, and someone else added someone else! Whoaaa!!! Now the group had more people I didn’t know! Well, my vote immediately turned to NO. But I consulted my friends – who know me, who can feel me J Most said “Go na”. “You might make new friends”, “Kids will enjoy”, “Why not” were the arguments (BTW I asked 4 people, 2 of which were my mom and sis :D ) Then I asked the man – K. His heart was into it, he doesn’t mind socialising. But he knows me, and how much I dread it. So he said, fine say no. Halleluiah!! I politely excused myself. There were a few awkward messages with the 2 people I knew from the group who tried to find out “why” I wasn’t coming. How would I explain fear of crowd?!

But it left me thinking. All the people I asked said yes! Something is wrong with me. I even googled “ I don’t like socialising, is something wrong with me”. Got a load of results!! Mostly dealing with differences between introverts and extroverts. Huh! I have known I am an introvert, since I was 10.

Uh well, that was one bullet dodged. But, all dark clouds come with a silver lining. And yesterday had a beautiful silver one. Buses are an integral part of my life. They take me to and from work. But the buses have been keeping an absolutely horrendous schedule. Absolutely horrendous, delays on top of delays. So yesterday as I left work and reached the bus stop, there were 3 buses waiting. But………. To get to them, I had to go across a pedestrian crossing which was showing a big red stop. I waited. Generally I would dart through, but vehicles kept coming, so I had to keep waiting. Then when I finally reached the stop, all the buses had left!! The next was 10mins away! And given the schedule, it could mean 20, 30 – god knows what. There was no option but to wait. And within the next 2 mins, a bus came. Now since the previous 3 buses had swept through all the commuters. And this bus had just 4 people who didn’t need to get down. It was literally like going in a personal vehicle. In the race my bus came second!!! Woo hoo! Small joys! :D

via GIPHY