Some serious shit

 We are undertaking some house construction work. Because of it the entire year was on standby for us since the builders were not committing on a date. Finally it started on the last week of October.

There was much glee in our family when they put the scaffoldings up and started work. We noticed the day's progress with the curiosity of kids. I went to pick the girls up from school in the evening wondering how they would respond to the changes. We parked near our house and I saw some muddy water coming down our driveway. I though the builders had cleaned something with cement and left the water on. We carefully came in and then once we were near the back yard of our house, we saw the manhole was bursting open. We immediately called the builders. They said it was nothing to do with the work they had done during the day but anyways came to inspect. 

We learnt a lot about the way the sewerage system works that day! It so happens that all the toilets across the street join up and flush down through common pipes. Our house happens to be on the top of a hill. There seemed to be some sort of blockage which was causing the water to hold up. And somehow it had chosen our manhole to burst open. So all the fecal matter that was pent up on the drainage was bursting out from the manhole in our backyard. Also any time anyone flushed, the drains were being impacted and and there was an  outburst of poo and everything people were flushing. It was going through like rivers around the house and flowing onto the street forming poo ponds where ever it could find the crevices. 

The stench was horrible especially once we realised that it was poo. We needed to call the central company that deals with such issues. We were constantly on their customer service. Our case was registered but we were informed that it could take upto 3 days for it to get sorted. K and I were quite nervous about the whole scenario. We initially refrained from using the toilets etc. But then we were advised that it would be OK. We somehow manage to go through the river of poo and drop the kids at school the next day. We had a lot of options thank God like going to my sisters house or taking a room in a hotel. But we decided it would be OK to just live it out. 

K and I wore some water proof boots and plastic bags in our hands and approached the manhole. Since the lid of the manhole was being pushed open everytime anyone was flushing the sewerage was coming out every single time. We decided to brave it, make it to the middle of the pool of poo, close the lid and put something heavy on it. First we had to clean the area the best we could so that we could put our four feet. The sludge of shit was dangerous to stand on. After that we dragged the lid and closed the manhole. Last year in one of the storms a portion of our wall had broken. We had kept all the heavy slabs from the broken wall. We dragged 2 of them and put it on top of the lid of the manhole. That prevented any further flushes from pushing the lid open.

The next day was a super rainy one and we did not have much hope of the issue getting sorted. We rang up customer service again to highlight the severity of the issue. Thankfully we had some people come over around 9:28. I know the exact precise time because that is how keenly I was following the events 😅 They had the expression on the face of shit having actually hit the fan. They started investigating from the house  next to ours. There were people staring at what was happening. It was a proper scene! Then they came to our back yard and started their clean up..gawd the stench. They then went over to the manholes in the street and cleaned up and found a big mass of clog. People had been flushing wet wipes down the toilets which had caused such a massacre. 

K was supremely humbled the entire experience. He went and got boxes of biscuits for all of them. We had to get some new hose pipes and the weekend there was a round of super deep cleaning. 

You don't scare me no more big city

Maine blog mata se mannat maangi thi, agar London se sahi salamat laut ayi to ek post likhoongi. Hence this post.

Ok let's start from the beginning :) I joined this new place. They recently started doing induction programs for new starters. The firm is biggish and located all over the UK the events are held in the capital London . I had joined weeks prior to getting the invite to attend the induction event I was not sure how to respond . There is always the option to decline an invite of course. I checked with my manager. The irony was he was new to the firm as well having joined a couple of weeks before me and at the point I went to ask him he was booking his tickets to the induction he has been invited for. He told me to go ahead . I went ahead and booked. Later I learnt from a colleague how she had kept declining the invites and ultimately needed to take just a 2 hr video learning . She recommended the path to me. But you know Murphy? The fellow who said if something can go wrong it will? In my case it is 100% assured it will and to top it, it will snowball into a more ginormous problem. I have lots and lots of examples which warrant a separate post I guess.

Now a little information about me. I am a typical small town girl. Big fast cities scare me. Might be the reason why I have never ventured to Mumbai . I am not into quaint idyllic rustic places either. They bore me till I am suicidal. A place like Hyderabad or BBSR works brilliant for me- just the right mix of modern and tradition, pace and rest. London is big, fast, busy busy busy. The best means of commute is the underground called the tube which requires some map reading skills. I do not have my left and right correct. Imagine reading maps! K loves maps and the tube and London . I asked him to find the detailed itinerary for me. He hovered on the laptop for some time and came up with his commandments. His directions:- come out of the train station, take the steps going downwards they will lead to the underground , see your station , take appropriate train, get down , follow people in suits! I swear that is exactly what he said . Talk about being helpful. 

Anyways I did my research . As best as I could. Haggled some co- workers about any details, prayed and set off. On D-day I reached Leeds station on time and train set off. Read 10% of my book. Reached London , checked with help desk for direction to the tube and got there straight. Huh. Pretty straight forward . I went on and started reading the map. Really intently. It was a bit difficult but I had a fair idea of what to do next. There were no crowds of pulling jostling, pushing or pulling me. It was utter calm. Further down the road there was an abridged map for my area which gave me a chance to verify my earlier inferences( which were miraculously correct). Boarded the tube, emerged in the station close to the event. Remarkable. I was lost in the biggish station. Well they are called help desk for a reason and I got my answers straight up. I emerged on my street but as per K's advice there were not a lot of people in suits. Its summer you see. My Google maps was also acting up. Then I saw a group of confused people checking their phones and heading  in one direction . I followed them , they were going somewhere else but I could see my destination. Hurray. Boo ya London . You don't scare me. 

The day was strange with lots of strangers I was forced to interact with. We were supposed to network but if I was into networking what was I doing in IT? Duh! The event finished before time, I could avoid the office rush hour, take the return tube and get home. Finishing this trip has been like finishing an exam. Boy!

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)

I missed my birthday

I am like the character of Lily Aldrin from How I Met Your Mother. I love my birthday. Love it.

And this year I  missed it - as in the usual hullabaloo that surrounds the day, as per me. First up, I missed the customary mid night calls, which I so love to wake up to! Cos of  the time difference, it was an unearthly hour in India, when the clock struck 0000 hours here, there was not a single call/missed call on my mobile. I did however call folks who matter the most at midnight (India time) woke them up and made them wish me :).

K did plan out a trip to London on my birthday weekend(something totally unintentional, as usual this year too - the fourth time- he forgot my birthday. As in not the real day, but the run up to it. The countdown to it. I never let any one who is important to me forget my birthday! ). So there we were strolling on the streets of London, and he did to his very best  to let all the choices be made by the newborn. I adored him for the effort he was making, but then he was a one man army. (Such a sweetu) Another thing that is sacrilegious to be missing but was -  was my new dress!! I have always (ALWAYS) had something new to wear on a birthday since I had a mind to remember. But this time, due to the God forsaken snows, I was not able to grab anything new for the day! Though I decked my self in the choicest of fancy clothes - none of them were new! (Boo hoo) So there was I, with something amiss. Just like Murphy predicts, if something can go wrong it surely will, I ended up breaking the camera. Yea me now Mrs Butterfingers (normally) was trying to maneuver the camera with gloves on (which made me Mrs. Extra Butter-y Fingers) and whooosh it fell down, breaking the battery cabinet. We can still take clicks with a cello-tape stuck on the battery compartment, but then the thing is broken right. The  angel in K who would normally have flown into a Blistering Barnacles tirade patted me, (I am sure some foul words must have played in his head) and took me to the nearest Starbucks so that I became ok. 

Let me not be too pessimistic too, there was nothing like having well cooked Indian food for 4 days in London. Here the rigors of cooking, cleaning, shopping, setting the house straight, etc etc, and doing all of them alone do tire me and bore me. (I miss how mil just like that takes over the house some days back in Chennai. ) So it was an absolute delight to have food served. I threw all guards off and gorged on the heavenly dishes. And there was this one whole day we dedicated to K savoring South Indian food. We went absolutely crazy over vadas, dosas, idlies and the like. Apart from that the folks who just did not and cannot disappoint me ( Sam and the Dino!) They called me across the distance, and a pleasant surprise was another friend of K's who has been stellar in supporting us in recent times. When I returned home, it was absolute D-E-L-I-G-H-T to see the emails from friends. And yes not to forget the scraps and the wall postings (The joys of social networking sites :D ) 

To think about it, last year the same time I was recuperating from typhoid, and it had been my birthday when I shunned the diet restrictions. I had kept my date and had taken all the calls and had an ultimately special birthday with 2 chocolate cakes! And this year had been so different - with something missing, but the very special person being there who was missing last year. 

Why am I being so senti about something which happened a week back? Huh! Silly me. This weekend has been the one stuffed with stimulating conversations with Ashu and Sam, a random movie which had K and I rotfl and of course the crowning glory good fooooooddddd! 

Will leave with the pic of the dosa we ordered at London and in spite of being tremendously gluttonous, were not able to finish :)

Hello World :)

I am writing after a span in which maybe Avatar 2 would have been made by James Cameron :) I am not sure if people remember me (do they even know me?? :S ) 

So like every programmer this is a mike testing post from me... hence........... Hello World!!

Hope someone is listening out there *Dejected sigh* (Read - please leave magnanimous comments, I am dying to hear from you all)

Well, what had been up with moi? Hmm... well I had gotten used to checking emails at the library, when suddenly one fine day I log and get a comment in red highlighting - We have detected suspicious activity in your account from China and locked it. Please enter your mobile number underneath for verification. Very gingerly I gave the same. Got a confirmation code from Google. (Getting an email from 'Google' - it looks so snazzy in the inbox!! ) Entered the confirmation code and gave a high strength password for the account. But then I was so scared, I stopped checking my emails at any public place.... That my dears was the reason I was out in the dark all the while. It was but last Monday that we got internet at home! Yes God save the Queen, while the masses are bereft of basic facilities like the Internet!!!!! So while I got real busy uploading all the pending photos and chatting with friends, my creatives juices ran completely dry and I wasn't sure what to post out here. But finally I summoned the courage, and am blurting out something. 

Will be out with a neater post soon, but quick updates 

1. K got promoted!!!!!!Huraaaaaaaaay... It was long pending long due and much deserved. (I am not being boastful but I faced the brunt of being hyper ignored cos his love for his work supercedes his love for me) But there were a host of other promotees among his colleagues. There was a very gung ho atmosphere and this coming close to Diwali made the celebrations even more appropriate. )

2. This reminds me, had a very vibrant Diwali here, even though far from near and dear ones. Lavish cooking (chole bhature and gajar ka halwa), decorations and some decking up, marked the day :)

3. My kid sister, defied me and got her nose pierced!! Yes she did it (My mil is very proud of her ! ) But that kid knows what to do for style and nothing in the blue heaven is stopping her.

4. I feel The Social Network is a very crisp movie and worth a watch.  (This is not an update but then felt like saying :) )

Humm....Cant think of anything else, while at the same time, my head is clogged with thoughts. Will be more coherent in my next post, till then will leave with some images of Diwali :)

Guess whos coming for dinner

No no it wasnt someone very famous that I should be waxing eloquent about like Julie Powell did in her blogs. They were K's technical manager and one of his teamies with family. We had been meaning to call them since a pretty long time. And finally things worked good and our routines coincided for us to meet up. The time was set-Saturday night!

We had an elaborate menu planned -  matar paneer(a dish that K loves and mandates that I cook when someone comes since the calorie content of the dish doesnt permit his conscience to have it on normal days), stuffed puris,onion and mint rice, lady's finger in curd and gajar ka halwa for desset. We had an awful lot of shopping to be done for this. We had decided to get started on friday, but a torrential downpour prevented us from doing it.

Saturday morning we rose early to get started. First was a trip to the nearby 'Asian' store to get most of the stuff. After a humongous purchase we realised that we had not been able to manage the carrots,peas and milk. We took the trudge to the departmental store which was on the opposite direction. On the way we decided to finish some bank chores and also sneak a peak in the library. Now how can one manage to sneak a 'peak' in a lib!!! We ended up spending one and a half hour there. Finally with all the shopping done,we came back home all famished. By luck, I had cooked a huge quantity of rice the previous day,so lunch was old south Indian style curd rice. The acute hunger made the curd rice taste even more divine! :)

It was 1400 hours by the time I got to making the first dish matar paneer and K got started with separating the mint leaves. One dish down after 45 mins, I prepared the lady's finger while K was busy grating the stubborn carrots. It was close to 1640 when the ladys finger dish was ready and looked little in quantity for 6 people.K was of the opinion that he should get some more of the vegetable while I was in utter panic mode :S. There was the rice, the dessert and the puris to go and I would need to rework (damn office lingo) on the lady's fingers (a funny name for a vegetable if you think about it) again!!!!!!!!! So rather than being cool headed and discussing and deciding on a good course of action, like most couples we got into a fight(My stance being I would make dal as another dish, K being the lady's finger is a tasty dish and deserves to be more in quantity)  We continued our spat while I kept slow killing the carrots in ghee and the rice cooked oblivious of the domestic cauldron. Finally the smell of the halwa which was close to something to die for (how humble can I be eh? ) distracted us. Now K is a person who likes his halwa just the right sweet and he does nt know what is right sweet. Huh. And when I gave him a spoonful of it, he was like 'Mu this IS perfect, you should make this again'. When K says one should cook the dish again, that means he really likes it.(He is such a sweetu he never ever criticises a dish unless it completely lacks chillies :P) Phew!fight over thanks to the carrots and the bill was passed for chane ka dal being the addendum.

I was yet to take a shower and the clock was ticking towards 1730. I made the dough for puris, fried the stuffing and scooted. We were all set, but around 1915 when the dal was yet to get started with I did it again! I panicked yet again! The puris rolling started getting all messy. Thats when K stepped in to save the day, and rolled one Perfect Puri. Then there was no stopping him as he rolled and fried all the remaining 10 puris in a jiffy! How I love my man :D. I made dal in the meanwhile and we were all good to go exactly at 1950.

The guests came in at 2015, and after the usual starting problems with everyone staring at everyone's face, we jumped on the food. But one of the couples had an 18 month old hyper active toddler who was draining them off their energies with her antics and the other couple had a 7 month old baby who was sleeping but had drained them off their energies. So there we were guarding the lil kid and K and I were nearly running around with our plates. We wrapped up dinner real quick. And there was so much to spare. :( Once the guests left, I was like, maybe the dishes did nt come good enough. K said,comeon, God heard my prayers,I wanted more for me!(K can be very greedy when it comes to food and I am on seventh heaven when he likes my food. Baaki duniya jaaye tel lene :P). I was utterly at a loss, that how would we ever finish those gigantic portions  of food. On the Sunday when we finished the halwa, we counted one down :). There were many more to go. Finally on Tuesday evening we had finally cleared of the remains of the Saturday :)

The dinner might have been a fiasco but pulling it off with K was such fun. He was the sweetest person on earth that day being at my beck and call. We should do it again sometime soon:).

Will leave  with a pic of the halwa :)

And the touchdown

I did write about the run up and the last lap, but forgot to write about the touchdown, the day I finally travelled to be with K after a span of 4 months and 17 days. (Huh I sound so melodramatic, saying as if it was 4 years and 17 months! )

On the eve of my travel, there was franctic packing and lots and lots of phone calls. Me being the preemptive types, had started making the calls 2 days prior to the actual date, but then there are oh! so many contacts. And with the travel plans and dates being packed like sardines in my calendar (I always wanted to use this phrase :) Did itttt!! Aint sure if it matches this scenario,  but then who cares :D ) Now back to the point, after the mindless packings and the telephone sessions, I finally had things under control at around 2230. Thats when I had to call up dear A. Well.... she was the one who was through with me like a shadow, and my agony aunt along with Roomie Dear. When I called up A, we had the usual banter of  "Packing shacking ho gai" etc for quite a  while. When it was time to wrap up, moment spoiler that she is, she said " tu kal chali jayegi, main bahut miss karoongi tujhe". And that was it. Realisation whacked my bony head Wham! Yes, tomorrow I was going to travel so far away. And hell, I was going to miss everyone! I got that big bad blob in the throat, the ones you get when you cant wail aloud :(

I retired to bed, thinking I would never get a wink. I was palpitating. Tomorrow, would be the day, it seemed so near yet so far. I kept thinking, random thoughts, and drifted into a sound slumber till 0400 hours the next day. It was dad's birthday! His 60th. Pity I was leaving him. Last year, on his birthday, we had seen sis off for her training, which was again a sad moment. :( .

Till it was time to move along to check in, my entire gang was just chit chatting and making fun of the deperate, the weird, the bedraggled, the jazzy  and the whole league of travellers in the airport. When the moment finally came for me to move along for check in, my mom sporadically burst into tears and so did mil!!! I was like ruko inhe. Till yesterday these two women were all prayers and slokas, that their kids be with their spouses, and now look at them with their hyperactive lachrymatory glands. I was going to miss them tremendously though I had not admitted the fact till that time. My mom, my (silent) dad, my sis, my mil, were waving me off. And in all that movie style I saw everyone, my friends A, Roomie dear, Sam, my colleagues. I thought, here I was leaving everyone that meant something to me, to be with someone who meant (nearly) everything. (ARGH!! What a cheesy dialogue. Kasam se kisi card se nehi utara. Khud likha. Dunno how I came up with these *Shivers* )

The flight itself was uneventful though tiring. I read, watched movies and tried to sleep but was not able to for more than 20 mins. Maybe I was too anxious to reach and there were pangs of nostalgia too. It felt like a free fall, a daze. I was in the same state till I walked out of the airport when I saw K holding a biggggg bouquet of roses and for some reason I got tears. (It was his birthday too! Yea my dad and K are born on the same day! ) (And K is not at all a flower person, like me. He later admitted it was his colleagues idea to take something for her ). I had pictured the moment to be with all razzle dazzle ( a heavy dose of Yash Chopra and KJo movies do disturb the system. ) But it was just normal, we walked holding hands as if we were never apart.

PS. Strangely that night when I hit the bed, after some 20 hours  of wakefullness, I did not sleep a wink. It was just last night, I was with everyone with everything belonging to me, and I had slept like a log. The change that had happened over a day seemed too big, too sudden.

I was nothing but a bundle of emotions.