Winding down and easing in

 December has a sense of winding down. There is a degree of laxness in  routine. There is a general chilled out attitude. This year it was more so because  Pumpki 's swimming classes were cancelled for some renovation work in the pools. This took out the hectic after school dashes on Wednesday. Pumpki loved it since she had more time to pursue  her art and craft projects.  Chiyaa had a lot of cancellations of her guitar classes as well which were very much to her glee. 

The Christmas holidays were a mixed bag. There was a whole lot of relaxation but there was the season of sickness as well. We somehow scraped through it and managed to land in January. K was the first to hobble back into work. I took the first 2 working days off sick since I was in no position to sit through a full work day. The weekend before start of school, we geared up with uniform ironing, books setting and the regular activities that are mandatory before start of school. But then it snowed. It snowed like there was no tomorrow. 

Sunday evening we received messages from the school that there might be delayed start to the school day because of snow and the disruption it was causing. We heaved a sigh of relief since we didn't need to start at break neck speed and be jolted into reality on 6th of January in the snowy and icy conditions. We woke up all relaxed at 7am to receive the news that both schools were closed. The hurrays from the kids went through the roof. One additional day was like manna from heaven. They spent the day baking and playing video games. Everything was already ready so there was no news for preparation for the next day!

One extra day did give us a more pumped up demeanor for the rest of the week. We woke up on Tuesday to news from Chiyaa's school that it was going to be closed since the premises were not safe from an ice and snow perspective to house the  kids. Whoop! We got Pumpki ready who was a bit dejected at having to go while her elder sis was to be at home. K painstakingly cleared the paths Nd worked up a sweat defrosting the car. He was about to start for the drop when I decided to check the emails for good measure. Her school had emailed that they would be shut too! OMG! The best thing ever for parents and kids alike! Another relatively relaxed day and we were ready for the week 😅

We had to grin and bear through 3 days only before a relaxing weekend. The start times were relaxed and we picked up both the kids together. It was lovely to have them come home shrieking and shouting and regaling us with  stories of school. 3 days indeed were not too hard and we slowly eased into the weekend. Sometimes snow is good  🙂

The best half term ever

 I remember writing this ages ago! It was my very first term break with Chiyaa and tiny Pumpki. Now both are in school, Chiyaa in high school! And I just enjoyed my February half term with them. I must confess it was my best half term everrrrrrr!! 

With Chiyaa in high school, our wake up times have moved to an earlier time since she needs to be out of the door somewhere around 740. Pumpki still has an 40 more mins before her school start. So while I need to wake up around 0630 on a school day, with the school holidays I could wake up at 0800. It was full 90 minutes of extra sleep! OMG that itself is enough to close the case as the best half term ever ever ever. 

I let the girls be by themselves for the first 3 days. Since they are at an age where they have similar interests, they get along well - well most of the time. Their plan was lego for this time. So though the living room was an utter mess, there was some solid play time invested there. It was wonderful to see them creatively weave their way around the different creations of theirs. After some lunch it was time for another shared interest of theirs - video games. Pumpki doesnt quite have the dexterity to play some of the tougher games, but she does a swell job watching Chiyaa play and cheering her on. It was amazing to see them enjoy those sessions as well. I mandated some time for reading and practicing their musical instruments. Those boxes ticked, with an intermittent reminder to drink water and have some fruits - that was pretty much my job done for taking care of them 😂

3 days flew and the next 2 days I was on leave. Thursday we went to the city centre. The idea was to meet K and have a quick meal some where. But we chanced to meet a family friend as well and she joined us! More the merrier! We had some amazing pizza and then said our good byes. We went to shop for some mats for the girl's new room and a couple of plant pots as well. That done, we trekked to visit my sister who lives in city centre. The idea was to surprise her, but it ended up being a flop since she was not at home and we had to ring to find where she was and how long she might take 😝 The kids love visiting their aunty anytime and they had a good time stretching their legs. My sis had to get on with her work and we bid our second set of good byes before making our way back home 😊 It was a lovely day but the next day our plans were even bigger.

As a treat for Chiyaa's birthday I had booked in a nails pamper session with the girls. We had some manicure and pedicure done and our nails painted as well. It was the first for the girls and they hugely enjoyed it! By the time we were out, we were starving and rushed to the nearest cafe to get some food. We got some flowers and some grocery cos why not and marched home. The girls just loved showing off their newly painted nails. 

On Sunday I had to visit another town to see off a friend. She was my room mate in Hyderabad in India. She had been in the UK for the past 5 years. And if one stays in a place for 5 years, one tends to accumulate stuff. Some stuff one doesn't feel like throwing away. She had tried to get rid of most of her belongings that she couldn't carry, sell or donate locally. But some she wanted me to take for safe keeping. Either she would make a trip back and collect them God willing, or she rather I use it instead of someone else. Since she has a 16 months old baby, my kids really enjoy going to her place. It was an amazing day with her kids and helping her wrap up stuff. It was an emotional experience saying that good bye for sure because one has no idea where life will take us and where we might meet again. We have somehow managed to meet once every 5-6 years by the twists and turns of fate which is not true for so many lovely people who have come through in my life 😕 It also made me nostalgic of all the house moves we had done in the UK. Approximately 5 in 7. years before we finally settled in this house. I remembered us leaving Ipswich where we were quite unplanned and had to leave a ton of stuff with a family friend. It has been 7 years since we saw them *sigh* One day ours paths will cross again, till then we have Whatsapp 😌

Since we had this trip on Sunday, and the next day was the start of the new school session, we were more or less sorted ahead of schedule. Chiyaa and Pumpki took their time in the evening for some more uninhibited telly time before hitting the bed for the next school session on Monday. I must say it was the most amazing half term I have ever had. It was full of so much activity, so many emotions and so many experiences that it was the most whole some block of days. Touchwood, heres to many more 🙏

I know what I was missing

 A holiday! And I finally had one. Not a day out in the parks, not a trip to the nearby zoo and back. But a proper staying out of home holiday. And the last one we had was two years ago!

Faced with the pandemic we took a very conservative stance towards holidays. As the world opened up briefly last year around summer, we decided it was still too early to go for holidays and trips. We were more than content with the local forests and parks. During winter last year, we made a few day trips to zoos and other outdoor venues. In UK internal travel restrictions were to lifted on the 18th of May. But we had to plan in advance. Again we took a very conservative stance and booked a place close by thus making sure we were within England. Not only that the place was 1 hour from home which made it the same county which would ensure that we would mostly be under similar restrictions if things went downhill.

But planning a holiday is no child's play. Add the fact that we were looking at summer half term which is a very busy time given the probability of good weather. Also there were millions of stir crazy Britons who were desperate for a holiday..accommodations of choice were in short supply. I was close to giving up. But my dear sis nudged me on asking me to keep looking for my sake. It is important to rejuvenate and travel is rejuvenating.

I was getting frustrated. But K happened to send me a link for a probable destination. It had my interest piqued. One thing led to another and I booked a forest retreat with hot tubs. If nothing else, the hot tubs would be a novel experience ;)

There was a month and a half's wait before the holiday. A week to it I asked the kids to pack their stuff. They got super super excited. They took out bags, packed clothes, sweaters, jackets, and started counting down. Me being me had to review their choice of clothes and accessories. And as with any holiday I decided the kids needed new clothes. Nearly a year of lockdown had depleted their clothes reserves and added a lot to their pyjama collections. So 4 days prior to the hols the three girls were sitting all agog in front of the laptop choosing dresses. I ended up purchasing some real stylish clothes for the girls which was a wholly entertaining experience in itself. We made a trip to the mall to collect the clothes and tried them on there. It was novel experience since trial rooms were not available to avoid social contact. Doing something as trivial and mundane as trying out clothes made me feel good. It was some amazing mother daughters time I must say! As a pleasant surprise we met one of Pumpki 's nursery friends and her mom and spent close to an hour talking while the kids played. It was a really pleasant experience.

The day of the holiday the kids could not contain their excitement. Somehow the nice weather made sure that we were in the garden pottering about. It had been a very busy weekend with a lot of washing of winter wear and the likes and packing them up. It was finally warm!!!

Our holiday was quaint and idyllic. The sceneries were just breathtaking. There were few crowds and many places were just left for us. It was very amazing just walking and walking. The kids showed immense will power in walking close to 10k -13k steps every single day. The hot tub at the end of the day was a major motivation to keep them going. Seeing their enthusiasm we are sure they are up for many walking holidays in the future. :) We all watched a ton of TV, I read and finished the good part of a book. We ate take away food and just relished living some where else. 

It was the best 4 days we spent in a long long time. It was just splendid and I daresay perfect! Touchwood.

Looking forwards and back

A bit of history lesson first. I recently read an article which said that when Julius Ceaser implemented the Julian calendar, there was some debate around which month should be the first month. They chose January after the god Janus who has 2 heads, looking forward and behind. So it seemed an apt choice where January would be the first month which would be one for introspecting about the past and looking ahead into the future. So as I stand on the 3^rd of January, let me look back and forward.

I have given the year’s recap so I will not go on that topic again ( I tend to speak about the same thing again and again! L ). I will look back with a narrower vision – at the holiday season in particular J

December hails the advent of Christmas, which drives people into a frenzy. There is something in the air with the shopping, the crowds, the lights. Kids are super excited and the excitement is contagious. The office Christmas parties are a major point of discussion around breakout areas. Traffic starts dwindling as people start taking time off. Some days there are huge jams because everyone is out of the house shopping! One can never predict. But the unpredictability has a certain charm to it. Its all easy and light. From around the middle of December, the Christmas spirit is definitely on. It all feels awesomely festive, vibrant and joyful. It also heralds the office Christmas party.

I had the office Christmas party on the 20^th of December. It was my first at the new place. Office Christmas parties can go any way – they can be very boring or they can be fun or they can be something in the middle. The parties at the first place I worked were proper sit down affairs, where people sat around a table, had food, wished each other happy Christmas and went home. In fact one year, the management (which was very snooty) did not even bother keeping a party. They handed some cash to the team leads in January to take the team where ever the hell they wanted! It was quite flippant, but we had a heyday mocking management. The second place was a mix. People started prim and proper, had food. The chats slowly got louder and the booze flowed. By the time the meal was over, decibel levels raised, talk got wonton and I never stayed much longer than that to see the worse ;). I always had the good ol excuse of ‘got to pick the kids’. Not that I ever thought I missed anything. But from the office gossip I gathered that some conversations did go out of hand.

I wasn’t sure what to anticipate here. During the last catch up with my line manager, she let me know that, the next 10 days, she did not expect anyone to work! Ahem, sounded good to me. The day of the Christmas party, there was an hour long round up meeting, general chit chat, followed by secret Santa. No one was in any mood to work. The lunch was slated for 1300, but people started moving at 12! Surely there was no need to get any work done. The food was amazing, the conversation was easy. I followed the gang to the pub post lunch and stuck to the alcohol free drinks ( I don’t drink alcohol. Never got a hang of it, and never had the need for it). around 4, it was ‘got to pick the kids’ time and I made a move. The next day was a Friday and we ha 6 people at work! Well that’s 20% attendance. There was an extended breakfast with people sitting around for 1.5 hours and chatting. But the penultimate day at work for the year and there was an issue in production. The senior guy (good that he was around) and I put in a fix ( I gave in my best, with the mere 2 months work of knowledge that I had ;) ) . Well that made coming in to work worth it.

Christmas eve, the office shut down at mid day. It was a lovely morning with the sun shining and people running helter skelter to get the last minute shopping done.  I finished work and went home with some delicious cakes.  I reached home and saw the kids in the bath screaming the roof off. The holidays had truly begun!!

We do not get many gifts for the kids for Christmas. We are against the culture of big expensive gifts. Chiyaa far from believes in Santa Claus anyways :D which is good and bad. Good cos I like the fact she is being so realistic – I don’t know how , genes? upbringing? I dunno. Bad cos I cannot bargain with her that she behave well else there would be no gifts for her :D   But, they live in a country where gifts are a big thing, so mummy and I had got something for them before hand. We don’t even put a Christmas tree J have not yet, since the kids have not demanded yet. So… Christmas morning madame Chiyaa was a bit upset that there were no gifts under the absent tree. I told her, "you never know, Santa might have hid it!" I asked her to search ( I had not bothered to wrap the gifts or to keep them in a nice place, they were still in the hideout :D ) She rummaged through the house. And she found it! And she was mighty pleased with her gifts. There was a board game for her, a puzzle book for Pumpki and a doll for both. We spent the entire day separating the two kids, because they kept wanting to take what the other was playing it. We had some delicious mummy made puri and chole which gave us the energy to keep acting referee.

The next day was boxing day where people go crazy shopping. I do not see the point of it. Allegedly stuff are half price. But I wouldn’t wake up at 230 am even if stuff was free. I don’t want such stuff. Anyways, the craziness continues through the day and mummy wanted to have a look. The last time she was around this time, I had been expecting Pumpki and was due to be induced the next day, so we never managed to venture out. But this year we did! The places were jam packed, my God people like a good sale indeed!! We too participated in the sale by being onlookers and spending some money on eating. Yeah we got our priorities right.

The next day K went to work while the four girls spent time pottering around the house, going to play area, and generally moving without any routine. I remember waking up late, sipping the morning coffee without the rush, getting the girls ready for moving out and having a good time. Who needs alcohol when the morning start with coffee. On Friday, Pumpki turned 3! We had a nice lunch at a Kerala restaurant. The food was delicious and enjoyed by all. The stroll in the city centre cheered us all up. We would have loved to go on longer, but the gravitational force on the bodies heavied by food was getting too tough to resist. Home was the way to go.

The weekend, the girls spent reading a lot of books and colouring and drawing. We had some called friends over for dinner on 31^st and the weekend was the chance to get the shopping done for that. K and I ventured out – and it was our ‘us’ time , yeah grocery shopping :P Mummy jazzed up the weekend by some mind blowing cooking! 31^st night Chiyaa was all enthused because her friend was coming. She was very compliant and well behaved during the day. Once our friends and their children came, there was easy conversation while the young ones got busy playing. The food mummy had made went down really well! It was nice to have company till 2300, after which they thought it would be conducive to make a move. We stayed up to watch the fireworks at London Eye on TV and then wished each other a happy new year and drifted off.

1^st was a holiday, but it was not a time to waste. We had to get the future planned. Well , not all of it, just the holidays. You see I am a freak when it comes to holidays. I book and plan mine and other's impacted by mine or impacting mine like a maniac. We had been having conversations about the coming year, how to cover for school holidays and who takes what leaves, which grandparent comes in when, etc etc. We had to get the deal finalised. We had to ration and allocate the leaves to cover for school holidays between us. It took 5 iterations. :D The real deal looks much cleaner than this first draft.

Amma has her travel slated from May – September, to be with the kids, beat the heat and provide the much wanted presence of elders at home. If all goes to plan, mummy and papa might travel around the middle of December to be around for the birthdays. We have gone as far as December 2020 to probably pencil in a trip to India! Man proposes, God disposes is a true and famous adage. But as we look ahead, we can hope that God looks at all us kindly and helps us.

Summer Sun

I love the summers. The sun shining down. The kids at home. The lack of routine. It all spells awesome.

Last summer I was freaking out before the vacations began. How to keep two kids entertained at home. I am one season older. So of course more accustomed. I took the first week off for being with the kids. And it was amazing. Waking up at 0730! Relaxing coffee followed by play time with the girls. Then a trip to the park, lunch, siesta for the little one and screen time for the elder one. Evening another trip to the park( yeah we have a lot of parks around), then dinner followed by books or TV or games. No routine, no sleep time - Chiyaa would keep playing and suddenly say 'I am tired' - her cue for bed. So would Pumpki. She would mention 'I want to lie on the bed' and off we would go. 

We made a trip to an amusement park too. We stayed in an on premise hotel. It was two days of purest fun! There were rides( we elders are chickens so we all went for the kiddie ones), walks, dancing ( mostly by the kids) and fun and games in the water park. What endeared me most was the bonding between my daughters. I am so so so happy with the way they bond that I just hope it stays like that forever. It's not hunky dory all the time. Pumpki tends to go for the toys Chiyaa is playing with which results in us telling her to relinquish it. Which in turn leads to her getting upset since its always she who is asked to give up a toy. Then a whole lot of screaming and shouting ensues. 

On the way to the resort, Pumpki was getting a bit fidgety in the car.  Chiyaa made all the effort to keep her happy. She kept offering toys, sweets, singing rhymes and the whole lot. It was really sweet to see the effort she was putting her baby sister engaged. The night Chiyaa drifted off to sleep first and Pumpki roamed around aimlessly asking for didi. They are lost without each other. They seek each other as if  pulled by some gravitational force. On the return journey Pumpki fell car sick. Chiyaa got the wet wipes and spare clothes ready even before we stopped the car. When we moved on, again she was the responsible elder sis taking care of Pumpki . They are two amazing creatures who drive us crazy and make our hearts overflow with joy. May the love always shine as the summer sun.

Ab aaj ki baat

Let me take a break from my Yaadoin ki baraat and come back to the present for a while. 

Today was brilliant! Because today we had a photo shoot !! Yeppie. When Chiyaa was barely 4 odd weeks old, we had on a sudden spur and by virtue of amazing marketing skills of the salesperson had purchased coupon for a photo shoot for the three of us. I had somehow asked the lady to extend the validity of the same till the time she might be able to sit. The voucher lay in one of the many 'unclaimed' stuff zone, when one day I decided to take some action on  it. So I went ahead and booked an appointment. Today was the day.

We made some cursory plans as to what we were going to wear - one was an all denims look with parents and kiddo decked in jeans. The other was full on Indian with K donning a kurta pyjama, Chiyaa in ghagra (God did she look splendid!) and me in salwar kamez. The third look was 'just casuals' :) The photographer was a very charming fellow who was all encouraging of our choice and color of clothes and fabrics (I don't know whether he was just being patronizing to make us comfortable :D, but who minds compliments even they are not meant :P ) The session was good fun with we being encouraged to play around with the little one. We were made to tickle her and play lots with her which was super fun. One hour, the kid behaved like an angel and was all smiles. After which she started getting tired and sleepy and fussy. The photographer was again all praises for her cooperation.(I am so proud of the lil one! I know all moms are proud of their babies aint they  :) )

Chiyaa slept off blissfully in the pram which gave us the chance to grab a nice cuppa coffee and some sandwiches. It was real nice just sitting in the coffee shop with K - silence and coffee... mmm.. .nice :) We also had plans to buy a tv! Yea yea the techno freak hubby wants a Biiiiiiiig one for a 'better gaming experience'. We booked the tv and it was time for mommy shopping. I got K's share of my bday gift ;) a coat :) Then the 4 o clock showers started and we scooted home. Back home I prepared a meal which thankfully was to K's liking. And as we zeroed in on the movie Aiyya to watch for time pass - I remembered arreeee aaj kaa possssst!!!! Hence this utterly hurried in post.

Ignore any typosssss pleaseeeeeeee

Super Sunday

There is something about Sunday isn't it? It always prefers being on extremities. It is either depressing, filled with dread and apprehension for the Monday lurking round the corner. Or it is lazy and idyllic filled with warm and fuzzy things.

Luckily yesterday happened to be one of the good ones! During the customary morning call with Chennai granny we were skimming through some old photos trying to ascertain whether Munchkin goes after her mom or her dad. K chanced upon some old pics of his college days. And he realised it had been eons since he had chatted with one of his oldest college mates. 

To get a hold of him, he made some calls to some other friends. Two hours flew by and he caught up with friends far and away                                                                            in the search of the elusive one. Even I had the opportunity to speak to one of his very close college pal who is also a new mom. It was mostly updates about our respective babies, but then, it was rather fulfilling to fill so many gaps. 

We managed to squeeze in some lunch after which K got on gossiping with yet another friend who is also currently in the UK. I busied myself with making some egg chops :) but could not help giggling at their conversation. They were on about old profs, quirks of friends and their shenanigans in college days. Seriously guys can roll on the floor laughing at such silly stuff :D 

As the egg chops got massacred with some chai K managed to find his longggggggggg lossssssssst kumbh mela ka saathi. They were talking like sorority sisters!! Yack yack yack yack. After talking for some 90 mins, they realised that omnipotent Skype exists! Skype connected - it was shocking to see his 20kg weight loss. It was pleasing to see his wife. It was awesome catching up.

For quite some time after the call K kept reminiscing. He was just so happy. Is there anything which can make you feel better than seeing the one you love so blissful?

The kadi mehnat se bane egg chops.

Maika*!

*Parent's home for a married Indian woman


There is no place like maika for any Indian woman. It is better than candlelit dinner with the husband, gossiping with friends and even shopping for shoes! And thats the place I made a trip to on the 21st of November. It was an impromptu decision. There were lots of push and pulls. One push was my parents were getting immensely lonely with both the kids out of the nest. But one major pull was I had a go-live in December. I could not ask for leaves. One push were there were flights from Chennai to BBSR!! While the counter pull was K was not able to get leaves and I would again need to go alone. Finally I gave in to the pushes and booked the tickets :) I did not manage to get any leaves and had to keep working from home. The project was in a decent enough shape, so I was not so worried about it.

The flight which should take 2 hours uncannily made it in 1hour 40 mins :) So even before my parents had reached to pick me I was already there. Coincidentally I met a colleague of mine who was on his wedding vacation. He was supposed to have started the previous day but ticket problems stopped him and he ended up taking the last moment flight. Chit chatting with him in my mother tongue, feeling the tinge of chill in air as I stepped out and seeing the good ol' Konark Chakra motif at the entrance, I could not have felt more at home :)

To top my joy was the shiny new black dad's Swift Dzire! After getting home and dumping my stuff, I did what I do best - slept!

Next day was a trip to my granny's place. Meeting up with the whole bunch of cousins and aunts and uncles. I still get celebrity status there, being the eldest grandchild and the now being the only grandchild married and that too in a Tam family, I am till date questioned about my daily routine and stuff like that! None the less its fun. Food that followed was simply out of the world.

This time being at home was a bit different, with sissy not around. The house was a bit more silent. I also saw mom and dad having gotten involved into separate routines, one involving their own books, their own tv shows and their own household chores. How much change children bring to a house! Since it was a bit quiter, I was a bit more observant of things. I noticed K's first perfume bottle , a gift from UK still being there (though empty :) ), my best friend's long given gift - some 9 years old, posters and novels, as old as the hills - seriously only ones maika will have these treasures. There is a memory attached to every simple thing that one does. While sitting and talking to K on the balcony I was reminded of how we used to talk some 5 years ago. Things were so different then. While taking out the blankets for drying in the sun, I was reminded how sis would always insist on taking out the thicker blanket even if it was not that chill. While seeing some old clothes, I was reminded, I used to wear them for college some years back! Which in turn brings in a fresh flood of memories.

The most unexpected part was, I was to attend a wedding of a distant cousin. His father also happened to be my dad's colleague. So there were a lot of old colleagues of my dad invited. There, everyone was so amazed to see me! Many uncles had taught me in college! Some were neighbors when we stayed at Rourkela long time back. I had changed a lot since those days, and everyone was pleasantly surprised to see me. Even I felt top of the world meeting so many old faces...And attending a proper Odia reception is something! I was too used to the Tam style of the normal food being served in the traditional way. But here we had pani puri, chicken tikkas, fish fingers, and the entire array of veg, non veg and Chinese dishes! That too spread over a sprawling lawn with corny Hindi movie numbers like Bole choodiyan and Tujh main rab dikhta hai in the background. Hehe it was some fun.

I was enjoying to the hilt..... But then some things are too good to last :(

Stolen Moments

Time management is one of the most common classes in our office. Time and again we keep receiving emails for yet another time management course and as habit, I drag to the trash folder :) But time management is one thing any one needs heavily.

Many a times I feel, K and I hardly have time for each other. I rise around 0630 and attend to the chores in the kitchen. After an hour and a half, when I am done with my duties, and ready for the gym, K wakes up. He is around in the house for an hour or so when he gets ready for office and packs the lunches. By the time hes ready to leave for office, I come back from the gym and have a 40 minute window to get ready for work. Evenings are equally crammed. Some days in case hes early ( which is a big rarity, I get caught up in something. ) Even if I am early, many a times I have some pending tasks which I cater to from home. Else he gets immersed in preparing for a certification he is planning to write. I do not complain about this, cos this is life, but then when we cross each other passing by (he starting for office and me returning from gym or he hitting the bed while I am on with some work, he with his mug of coffee while I am starting to the gym etc) we kinda miss each other. But its good in a way because every time we are together, we relish those precious times.

Like last weekend. We ventured out just for the heck of it in a bus to a land far far away for a haricut :) Yep we chose to travel some 20 odd kilometers while people do come to some salons in our area for a nice hairdo. And fate had it such, the main person (the "Billoo Barber " we had heard a lot about and gone to see ) was missing from the salon that day and we had to make just a round trip. On the return we got famished and had an amazing Chettinadu meal!! We were soooo full, we decided to do our tummies a favor and walked back the entire 4 km stretch back home. We chit chatted, and discussed so many things - my opinion about his friends, his childhood days, my memories of our time in Papas government quarters and so many other things we rarely talk about. The walk from the hotel to our home, is something we both will cherish for a very very long time.

And the next day I did something I had never done before - I invited 2 of his friends for dinner. I always have fond memories of mom hosting a lot of get togethers for dads friends and their families. I was a tongue tied ungainly teenager then and remember being very quiet. My feisty sister was an epitome of cuteness and quietness too. I remember one of dad friends ask her one question after another to get more than a monosyllable as an answer. But none the less as I look back, those days were idyllic with all the elaborate cookings and choosing the best dress to wear and tidying up the house (rather pushing all clutter behind the cupboards :) ) Last sunday when we hosted K's friends, I could understand how happy my mom might have felt going through all the pain of cooking, arranging and later even cleaning. Post that, as we both were sipping the Coca cola, K got talking about some of his wishes and random aspirations. We were discussing them, as if they were events about to take place in the coming week and were charting the plan of action for absolutely hypothetical scenarios. Do not remember how time passed by, but I do remember feeling very satisfied after that long drawn conversation. :)

Luckily fate gave us another chance to steal some precious moments last Thursday. K and my workplace are in the middle of no where and both the no wheres lie diametrically opposite to each other (@!%^@!$!) But Thursday, K had to come in the direction of my office to meet a team mate of his whose father had expired. We both decided to return home together. Once K reached my office, we had snacks together. It was more just to be together rather than out of hunger. Just as we started for home, it started pouring. And we shared one umbrella and came home drenched. I hate the journeys in share autos I undertake every day . Its like smoking a cigarette, each one takes 5 minutes of happiness from my life :( The days it rains when I am commuting, I hate it even more - much much more. But for the first time since I joined my office, I liked the journey back home. It felt like good old times in Bangalore where our love more or less blossomed in one fated auto trip where K gave me his shoulder to rest upon *blushes*. Once home, we had yummy mil made pasta and yummy me made masala tea and the soporific sound of rain drops dancing on the balcony in the background. It was bliss, I felt happy to be where I was - with a loving friend ( I still do not look upon K as a husband :) ) and an mil who adds a unique angle of wise support to our domesticity.

I am not sure when again I might get such pleasant moments with K. Maybe they should have a course on "personal time" management course for people who work in God forsaken work places and have a lot of personal hobbies and interests to accommodate and who .........the list just does nt end here :) (I should start working on designing such a course maybe :D )

Mazdoor Union

Zindabad zindabad!!

I hate communism. But I Lourveeeeeeee them for giving us Labor Day! Chuttiiiiiiiiii!!

This was a weekend I was awaiting with bated breath. This year since its inception has been damn hectic; and all my plans of taking breaks, vacations, time offs have been going for a toss. I have had to work on weekends- many times on my own volition, on holidays, work from home after office hours and all that jazz. I was anticipating something untoward to happen this long weekend too - upar se election vilection ka time hai bhai - one never knows.

But then I think good Lord looking over me from the high heavens thought, ok let the sloth sloth around this time. And I ended up having the lazzzzzzzzzzzzzzziest 3 days possible.

Friday I lazily woke up at 8 ( very late by the standard of a good bahu) Once done with the morn chores and seeing K off (he had office all the 3 days) and done with an early lunch - I hit the bed. And i dozed a good 4 hours! Evening I caught up with some blogs, orkutted, chatted and generally browsed. Saturday was spent equally leisurely in the company of magazines and books. Evening we had invited Ks newly wed cousin and his bride for dinner. Mil and I were scurrying around in the kitchen, me busy with matar paneer and she with kolambu. Luckily both the dishes came out yummy yum. The couple wanted to get some shopping done and I escorted them to some areas near the beach to get the stuff. We never realised how we just like that passed 2 solid hours going from shop to shop.

And it was really endearing to see the newly wedded couple. Theirs is again a love marriage and the guy is head over heels over head in love with the gal. There he was playing the perrrrrrrfect hubby. Running to open the doors, pulling out the wallet zap as soon as they reached the billing counter, buying gifts secretely for her and asking me to hide them and to the extent of running to pick the shopping trolley for her too. I was like Dude, till 2 days ago she was doing all this on her own, and you get married to her and treat her as if shes some princess from Egypt. Then the girl was like, I swear, 2 days into marriage and hes like this - let a year pass, then I would have to remind him who I am. To this he solemnly replied - I wont change. I was like, touche :)

It was a real pleasure hosting them over. And sunday, mil and I bonded over the tv. Random we were watching shows all over the place :) End of day we made two bigggggggggggg jars of musk melon milk shake and mango milk shake - gulped a good amount (WOW) and kept the rest for the bebe of the house.

A gooood lazzzzy longggg weekend. Bring on the monday now. Am not afraid of it :D